Engage students share hope in forgotten neighborhood
By Angela Tiffany
A group of children with hair the color of strong coffee break into a run as they see the silver van pull up to the concrete basketball court. With smiles and waves, they are the welcoming party for the group that begins to pile out of the 15-passenger van that the people around here tend to call the “mini-bus.”
Known as La Cancha, this court has been home to a children’s outreach for over two years. Each Saturday morning the “mini-bus” (a Speed the Light vehicle) makes its way to this neighborhood, and this basketball court, to bring songs, fun and a life-changing story to the children of El Colli.
El Colli is a forgotten neighborhood in the city of Guadalajara, Mexico. Mention the name and the city’s citizens tend to recognize it, but once you have stood on its mostly unpaved streets, you realize the neighborhood’s obscurity.
“It’s like stepping out of the city into a small town. It’s going from civilization to people barely scratching by,” said Jennifer Aleshire, an Engage in Missions student in Guadalajara.
While the neighborhood is just minutes from largely upscale housing developments, the houses here tend to be very small. Many homes have dirt floors, no indoor plumbing and most are devoid of the hope that comes with a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Responding to the needs of this area, missionary Amy Shoop, with students from Engage in Missions, began to look for ways to reach out to this community. “El Colli’s close proximity to an affluent world is what drew me here. Here the largest mall in the city is 10 minutes from such desperation,” expressed Shoop. “There is a necessity here, both physical and spiritual.”
On this particular Saturday morning, Engage in Missions students begin piling out of the van and start setting up for the day’s activities. Some work on putting a puppet stage together while others set up child-sized tables and chairs. A tail-gating tent goes up in the middle of the court to shield children from the sun. The set-up process is done by memory, it is what happens after the set-up that changes.
Children continue to arrive for the next half hour while Engage students play games, color and chat with kids and moms. The final call is given over the loud speaker and at 11 a.m. the program begins.
Loud songs with lots of movements are the first order of business. Children jump and dance as they sing that “Jesus is my superhero.” Next up are games, with girls and boys encouraging their teammates on to victory. Then, children are given a chance to earn prizes by learning a Bible verse.
The morning program concludes with a story from the Bible. The kids watch and listen as they see four Engage students pick one of their pint-sized friends up on a sheet. They sit enthralled as they learn about the four men who carried their sick friend to Jesus. They are learning about prayer today, about what they can do to “carry” their friends and family to Jesus. At the end of the message the children bow their heads to pray a simple prayer. A prayer that Jesus would come into their lives and that Jesus would protect and heal their families and friends.
In this area where so much despair, regret and poverty exist, a message of hope is being proclaimed. A forgotten neighborhood is being changed.