Jamie talking with a deportee named Victor

We are loving tijuana! We have made so many new beautiful friends and are so blessed to be here, surrounded by such an uplifting community. The weather is perfect, so far its been mid 70’s with a nice coastal breeze!   Our DTS class is going well. We are in a classroom in the mornings and then have work duties or ministries in the afternoon. The class is a bit different than what we were expecting but we are learning a lot and getting to spend time in God’s word!

Fish Tacos!

We talked with friends and family about the “tent city” area in TJ (Tijuana). That is a place where homeless deportees were staying and sleeping which we visited in October. When we arrived here a few weeks ago we learned that “tent city” no longer existed. The government had come in and loaded the 300 plus homeless people on buses and took them away. Nobody knows where. There is no accountability for the government here. Police then blocked people from sleeping in this place. The group from YWAM who goes weekly to feed and minister to this area had to come up with a different place to meet with the homeless. Most of the homeless already live in the canals in TJ. Unless you can find a shelter you almost have to go here to sleep. The canals aren’t a place you want to be. Smells like strong sewage, trash everywhere, used needles all over the place. Heroin and other drugs are used in the open almost as if its legal. Hundreds of addicts and prostitutes call the canals home.  Stories of murder and death are very common. People have set up camp under bridges, in the sewers, dug holes in the dirt anywhere to lay down and hide from the sun. It’s a scary place. YWAM is currently going to the canals and giving out soup and talking and ministering with people since the tent city is no more. They also have partnered with La Rocha, a local church/shelter near the canals. The church also has a Rehab ranch that addicts can enter. To be aloud in the shelter you must be off drugs and completely sober. They have programs to help deportees get their paperwork needed to get a job here in mexico. It is a long challenging process. YWAM is leading bible study groups at the shelter. La Rocha shelter according to some of the deportees is the nicest in TJ. It sleeps close to 100 people. Most shelters are known to be “drug houses” and many have been shut down by the government because they have become so bad.

Inside Mobile library bus!

Mobile Library Bus!

Please pray for Zona Norte (This is the rough area of TJ). and this unique situation. So many people are being deported here everyday. We met a guy named Henry who lived in Pasadena, CA for 35 years. His three daughters, mother and four sisters all live there. That is the only family he has. He was deported one year ago. His family is still in CA and he cannot go back. He was fighting tears as we talked and prayed with him. So many people seem so hopeless.

This is Tom. He has been deported 9 times. We met him in October and he remembered us.

Zone kids in Zona Norte