Spreading God's Word in the Sierra Madres Mountains of Mexico

To the Glory of God our first Feed the Poor Soup Kitchen in Chapala was held Monday October 17. We are happy to state that it was a great success and ran for 10 weeks. We were able to serve large bowls of fresh homemade (delicious) chicken and vegetable soup with tortillas to 146 people on the very first day. We fed the public, the staff at DIF, all 29 inmates and 6 police officers at the Chapala city jail, all 16 children from the Love in Action orphanage, plus 12 of the homeless at the Chapala Plaza. In God's Will the Chapala Feed the Poor Soup Kitchen was held every Monday at the DIF building. We arrived promptly at 10:00am to begin cooking. Soup was served from 11:30am until 3:00PM, or until we ran out of food. The team captains for the Monday soup kitchen were Barry and Madeliene Brumfield.
	Madeliene and Barrett hanging the banner for the Love In Action children's home that we support. The Love in Action children are from different family backgrounds. Some are in foster care awaiting adoption when available, others are being cared for temporarily while their families work out problems at home.


That's me, Barry, on the left and then Gary and Don. We're striking an obvious pose... while pretending to be the cooks. Gary and Don were always there like clock work. Two kind Christian brothers, serving God's people.	Grace (left) and Madeliene serving God by service to His people, as they adhere to Proverbs 31:20 . That's Barrett in the background opening another bottle of hot sauce.


Some of the boys from the village enjoying soup and good fellowship. The children were appreciative of the food. They ate quietly, no food was wasted, and all of their cups were empty when thrown away.	The Mexican boys loved the soup, but true to their traditions they poured on lots of Chili. "Hot sauce" to we gringos.


A couple of pals, enjoying soup and mugging for the camera. These children are so full of joy and always express a great amount of love for each other and toward us.	A mom and her children. Although most of these families are living at or below poverty level, the parents and the children are always very neat in appearance, with shiny groomed hair and clean clothes.



These little girls live in the village. While on their way home from school they stopped in for a bowl of soup. I'm sure their mom is making dinner for them at home.	Another one of the precious children from the village. He's on his second bowl of soup.


The children were very well mannered, as are all of the Mexican children. They were of course, curious about what the Americanos could do in the kitchen.
We noticed that many of the children give thanks to God for their food before eating. Nothing was taken for granted. Many of them took the empty cups and used spoons home with them.	My wife, Madeliene Brumfield, readying one of her soups to feed the poor in Chapala. She is a blessing to me and a humble servant to the Lord.


This is Brian, one of the little boys from the orphanage. He's a sweet little guy, a bit shy, but still curious enough about the camera.	This little girl is feeding soup to her brother. One of the wonderful Christ-like character traits of the Mexican people is their deep love and care for others.

The Monday Soup Kitchen Report
As of Monday, January 16, 2006we had served soup to the poor and hungry of Chapala for 10 weeks. God blessed our efforts by sending His children in need to us. We saw new people each time we served and we had also established regular patrons; including children from the village that found their way to us on their own, elderly couples, widows and widowers that live near by and even from far up the mountain above the village. We were blessed to be allowed to feed several different families brought in by the mothers, which included as many as six children each. We also sent quart and half gallon size containers of soup home with some of the elderly and mothers with large families in order to tide them over for a day or so. We fed the prisoners and guards at the Chapala jail and last but not least, we fed the children from Love In Action children's home; if they couldn't come to us, we delivered two gallons of soup to the children's home. During the ten weeks our Monday soup kitchen was in operation we fed 1561 people.

We are touched by the gratitude and respect shown through the gracious manners of those we fed. This is one of the many reasons we love Mexico and its people so very much. God’s Holy Spirit continued to fill us with great joy as we went about serving His people.

Serving the prisoners of Chapala Jail

As part of our Monday soup kitchen effort we also fed the prisoners in the Chapala jail. To help you visualize the need here consider that in many jails and prisons in Mexico, food for a prisoner must be supplied by the prisoner’s own family or friends, or they receive only a ration of bread and water from the government representing that particular jail. It’s a bit harsh, but serves exactly what is intended, to make jail time an unwanted and seriously avoided experience.

At our first Monday Soup Kitchen we didn’t know how many prisoners would be in the local jail, nor even where the jail was located. We had no previous permission to bring food to the jail, but being motivated to do so by the prompting of God’s Holy Spirit we continued in trust. As we began filling and packing containers of soup for the yet unseen prisoners we realized we didn’t have a clue as to how many to bring. During our discussion of quantity needed, we all felt God’s Spirit assure us He would take care of it. As the 36th container of soup was placed in the box, we agreed as one that 36 cups was the correct number that should go to the jail on that first trip.

We had a local fellow direct us to the jail and upon arriving were treated with guarded curiosity. The guards carrying machine guns went on full alert as we three gringos bearing a box and crate with unknown, and certainly unexpected contents, started up the front stairs. Entering the small and sparse office we set the box and crate down and I sought out the chief jailer to request his permission to serve the prisoners. He too was very curious about our intent and leaned over to peer into one of the boxes as a guard lifted the lid with the barrel of his Mac-10 machine pistol. Satisfied that it was only food and not weapons or other contraband, we were allowed to pass the soup containers through the bars to the prisoners. The prisoners, in years of age from sixteen to sixty, were living together in one room of about 16 by 20 feet, with no beds and no chairs. They sat and slept on the concrete floor, some had blankets, and some did not.

As I passed the first soup through the bars, three of the youngest prisoners came to receive the food. They did not take the first containers for themselves, but passed them to the others standing waiting behind them. When we were down to only seven containers left, the prisoners did a head count among themselves to see that all were fed and they found one fellow sleeping in a corner. They asked for one more cup for him and he was roused from his sleep and fed. Having fed 30 prisoners, I counted six containers of soup left in our box. I turned to the chief jailer and asked him how many guards were on duty. Including himself, there were six total. We passed out the last six containers of soup to the jailers. God keeps a perfect count.

We’ve continued to feed the prisoners and guards and God continued to amaze us with His guidance. The number of prisoners varies, as did the guards, yet we were prompted each time which quantity of containers to bring and each time it had been right on the number.

I’ll give you just one more example. On our second trip to the jail we again questioned the quantity to bring and leaning on God’s guidance decided that “possibly there were still the same number of prisoners and guards at the jail this week”. So we packed up and delivered 36 containers. This time there were the same six guards on duty, with two of them away at the time, but only 24 prisoners. Hmmm… so we fed the 24 prisoners and four guards leaving an extra two soups for the two guards that were away. We thanked the guards for allowing us to bring the soup and began to leave taking the extra six containers of soup with us. In my mind I questioned the need for the extra six containers, but in my heart the Holy Spirit sang a song of assurance and I gave praise to God that all was in His hands. As we started down the front steps the two guards that had been away returned in a police truck with six young boys in handcuffs riding in the back, all prisoners. We returned and unpacked the extra six cups of soup. I saw a bit of wonder and awe in the eyes of the guards on duty, for even they had not known that six new prisoners would arrive shortly. God knows what is and what is to be.

Our Monday soup recipes included the
following, which we varied each week:

Mexican Chicken and Vegetable
Mexican Bean & Chorizo
Pozole
Fideo

The fellowship we enjoyed while serving God and his people was wonderful.

We thank God that He blessed our efforts and may He be glorified in all that we continue to do.

In Christ, Barry L. Brumfield