Dawn, thanks for sharing about your own financial struggles and about what you learned from your time in Mexico. I have spent some time on short missions trips to mexico and I also was always amazed at the joy I saw even amidst such difficult situations. And always came home feeling incredibly humbled and blessed. Thanks for sharing!

None of it compares to true poverty, but it was enough of a jolt to make me see how truly bad some people have it, as I had almost forgotten what I had seen in my short time in one of the more impoverished areas of Mexico in the late 90s.

Those people were quite brave and never seemed to be upset or worried on the surface, and appeared quite cheerful in our presence, despite the fact they were paid so meagerly and lived in shacks made of nothing more than 4 sheets of plywood and a rusty tin roof. To call the dwellings houses would have demeaned houses, and yet they were still willing to work alongside us, building a church building and operating a small service for the children between school lessons.

If anything was ever inspiring to see, it was the people of Reynosa, Mexico and their determination to just live with what they had, and they never outright asked for anything, even though they had next to nothing and slept on hard dirt floors.

It was a humbling experience for a bunch of teenagers from South Carolina. I’m glad I went, because it showed me that things in the world still needed to be changed beyond the small scope of my sheltered life in the states.

saw this post via the front page of blog action day. it’s great that you’re participating.