After an extensive political battle, the Matamoros dump we used to visit as a ministry site was closed by the Mexican government in early 2008. As a result, we no longer have a dump ministry. The location itself had been an illegal dump all along, which the Mexican government chose to ignore to allow the scavengers to continue their way of life. By March 2008 the government had already cleaned up the site. Matamoros has another legal dump where all of the city’s garbage is now disposed. Scavengers are not allowed to live there.
God spoke to me at the dump. I didn’t think I was able to get off the bus because I had mixed feelings about it. After a bit of hesitation, I got off and began handing out bread. I heard God saying there is someone specific you need to give this bread to and I found him 15 minutes later! He was on an old bike just staring blankly at the garbage. I walked over to him and said hi, introduced myself, and God Bless and walked off. As I left, God was telling me this man needs a hug. So I grabbed my friend who spoke more Spanish than I did and had her ask him if I could just give him a hug. He said “of course” and I gave him a HUGE hug. After that he asked if I had water so I ran to go get water and I was told that we had 8 minutes until we left. So I ran back to where he was but James told me it was time to go and there was noone else to give water to. I saw him buried in the trash and told James. He took me over and we talked with him and told me I had a huge heart and how great it was to meet me. We said our goodbyes and walked away, but I walked away actually feeling like a disciple of God!
Erin Schroeder, Colorado Community Church
