Ciudad Juarez is all over the news these days. Drug-related violence everywhere
and people are steering clear. What you don’t hear in the news is anything about the
hard-working families in the colonias outside Ciudad Juarez that are struggling to
survive. Even more so now that mission teams from the U.S. have slowed in record
numbers. Fathers, mothers, single mothers, grandparents, and children work hard
to put food on the table. Most families in the colonias consider themselves fortunate
to have one meal a day. Miss one day of work at a factory, for any reason, and you
lose your job. The average daily wage of a worker in the colonias is $10. This is not
even enough to provide basic necessities for your family. An entire day’s pay doesn’t
even cover the most basic human needs. So then you find yourself in a position to
choose between providing your children with an education or trying to give them
shelter. One is necessary to keep a family safe and alive during a harsh winter, and
safe and protected from brutal heat in the summer; the other is the key to your
child’s future.
Leaving the colonias on October 30, 2010, after building a home for a loving,
grateful, hard-working family, we realized the Christian community in the United
States alone could make an incredible impact with minimal effort. The cost to build
a home for a family down in Mexico is $8,300. What would happen if we all gave a
dollar toward this cause? How many families could we shelter? How many families
could then use their limited resources to educate their children and help others in
their community?
Join this effort. Give a dollar and change the life of a family forever.
These are our neighbors. And they have no help but us. No government programs,
no welfare, no food banks, no shelters. They have the community around them, but
the community is in the same position they are in. We are looking for 8,300 people
to give one dollar each. We are looking for 8,300 people to spread the word to 8,300
more.
How will this work?
We’re spreading the word. We ask you to spread the word. Send an email to everyone you
know. Post it on Facebook. Take up a collection at work. Pitch the idea to your church. If you
own a business, consider giving a dollar in the name of every employee. Walk your
neighborhood and ask each family for a dollar. Propose the idea to your school. Tweet about it.
We live in the information age. Let’s see what kind of difference we can make in the colonias.
Let’s just see if the media will tell this story. The story of eightythreehundred.org.
The website will be updated regularly as the dollars come in. When we reach $8,300
we’ll post a picture of the family who will be receiving a home. After the home is
built, we’ll post a picture of the family with their new home. A before and after so
you can see what your dollar did in the life of a family. At the same time we’ll start a
new fund for the next eightythreehundred home.
Give a dollar and change the life of a family forever.