Thanks to the generosity of the U.S. Alliance family, we’ve been able to to extend our COVID response in Guadalajara to hundreds of Mexican families in need. Especially hard-hit are the many families who run small businesses that have had to close their doors.
Every two weeks, we distribute food and supplies through the church initiative we’re a part of—SouthPointe Church Planting. Our food bags, which feed a family for a week, also contain face masks, soap, and biblical literature. We’ve distributed them across four neighborhoods in Guadalajara and to more than 50 families in the small community of Apan, a town about eight hours from the city where we are planting our third campus church.
Watch the video.
Missionary colleagues helped us buy four used sewing machines to produce the face masks we distribute. And thanks to a generous grant from one of our Alliance Missions structures—CAMA—which supports disaster-affected Alliance churches to serve their communities, we purchased four more machines. We now produce 200 masks a week; the women sewing the masks receive a monthly salary to help them pay rent during this crisis.
The following is a thank-you email from a woman who received one of the food bags our teams distributed:
Dear Pastor Roberto,
Today a boy named Joshua brought a food bag to my door with the name of your church on it. I want to sincerely thank you for caring for others no matter what their beliefs are. I am a 74-year-old diabetic living alone and cannot go to my job and have not had any income for weeks. In spite of the difficulties, I am at peace because your offering helps me see the faithfulness of God, who will be always be with us until the end.
Those begging on the street corners know us as the pastors who are helping in this crisis. People who were once antagonistic to our churches are amazed that we help without asking for anything in return. Thank you—your generosity and selfless giving make this possible!
by Bob and Cheryl Fugate, Alliance international workers serving in Mexico