What Would You Fight For? by Ruth Mercy: What we do with our "Now", will determine our "Then".

What we do with our "Now", will determine our "Then".

It is autumn here in Chile, the leaves are falling and snow sits on the mountains. Fall is my favorite season by far and I have never spent it in a foreign country. It is beautiful in some places, all though lacks much compared to the north east in the United States (in regards to the colored leaves and especially the corn on the cob, which is really bad here).

Seems like forever since I’ve had a chance to sit down and write, we have been going at quit a pace. Just after my last post we drove to the city here in Chile that was just devastated by a horrible fire. It burned for days and wiped out a whole village. People who already had very little, lost it all. We got there a day or so after it had been put out and there were many volunteers in the city, helping rebuild. There were local artists and singers performing in the center, raising money for the victims. They asked us to perform in their spot and help them raise money which we gladly did. We never ask for money when we perform, but this was a special case since everyone knew it was for victims in great need and we were able to raise a lot. The crowd was full of tired workers covered in soot and sad faces that eventually left with a smile and a little hope. From here, one of the artists asked us to go to a center where all the victims were lodging until they could rebuild, so we went there next. This one lady in a wheel chair was so old and sad that she had lost everything she had ever had. It made my day to see her laugh like a little girl when my brothers acted like clowns. We left late a night and pushed on to the next city.

This is where all the victims who had lost their houses were staying.

As in every big city we arrive at, once again we start everything from scratch. Find a place to stay, get some groceries, get permission to perform down town, get our pamphlets and music cds copied and start exploring and discovering the city. Everything here is much more expensive then anywhere we have been to in Latin America. Like for example we have a small card with a beautiful picture on the front we give as a little gift. To print 1,000 in Colombia cost about 8 dlrs, here most places charge around 60 dlrs! Or to take a taxi say, 5 miles in would normally be less than 4 dlrs, and here it would be about 15. Even eggs and other basic groceries are super expensive. So anyway, we just have to do a lot of leg work to find the things we need at affordable prices and decide what to get and what to give up.

The down town center is so busy it is unbelievable. I have not been to a city this condensed and packed, not even New York is this busy all the time. The weekend we got here there was a big miner’s convention and we were able to reach people from far out cities in Chile. Getting permission has been a big headache. They just keep giving us a run around and making up one reason after another to delay the process. A lady was explaining to us that all though this is technically not a communist country because the people have freedom to vote, the government makes all the laws, many laws, which the people have no vote in.
All though there is “freedom of speech” there are so many laws defining how and where you can go, many people consider it communist. So we have been going out a lot with out our musical equipment just walking the streets and talking to the people. Large crowds gather to listen and it has been such a privilege to have the opportunity to teach so many the beautiful Gospel. The harvest is so plentiful.

Since I have gotten behind in my writing, I’ll go through things quicker so I can catch up. We have been able to get into all the prisons here in Chile. After much research online I was able to find enough information to decide which prisons to try to get into. I then went to the actual prisons, talked to the guards on duty, who then allowed me to meet the Colonel in charge. I also went to the main office where the top Colonel who is over all the prisons, welcomed us and said how grateful he was that we would offer our presentation to them and told me how much they needed this. He said any prison we want to get into he would arrange it. This was such a blessing to hear after coming from Peru where it was quit the opposite attitude from the main office.

After clearing security, it was a long walk back into they indoor area where we performed.
Once we set up, they then brought the men in in single file and we were able to
shake all their hands and greet them as they came in.

The sight of so much barbed wire and huge walls is very depressing and sad.

My sisters and I performing a choreography.

Last week we did a number of presentations within the walls of Chile’s prisons. Story after story of so much suffering and pain because of one mistake they made, some years ago when they were teens. The conditions are bad since they are at double capacity and the food they eat is just horrible. Some of the men were so thin and pale from not getting enough nutrition and in some places the smell is just horrible. On top of all they have to endure, some of these men are missing limbs, in wheel chairs, blind or disabled. One man in a wheel chair named Guillermo, was from the US, had a horrible car accident and now was here. Many I talked to were serving fifteen, twenty years, some a life sentence.

Inside one of the patios in a large prison in Chile.

Some of the men can only get out during certain hours and so drop ropes down to
get items up and down that they need, like washed clothes.

There is no sadder sight then watching men just being brought into a prison.

One day, after securing dates to visit the prisons at the main office, my sister and I were meeting with a nun who was the head of a home for the elderly. We had sent her an email telling her what we do and that we would like to visit her Convalescent home. She was so excited to have us, set a date for us to come and asked us to also visit another home 6 blocks away, after hers. When we were walking from this home to the metro station, about a mile and a half, we begin to pass a number of parents walking with children of special needs such as downs syndrome. These children are very beautiful, we have had the opportunity to work for the Special Olympics, at places that use horses for therapy, as well as performed for schools that cater to those with special needs, so we always look for an opportunity to touch them in some way.

Any way, my sister and I figured there must be a school nearby and so we asked one of the parents. They told us there was, about four blocks back. We went back and met with the director who was instantly excited about the idea of giving these kids a special show. Normally getting into places is always a bit of a process, time, letters, meeting, ecs. But here, it’s like the door was already open and we just walked in. The directors attitude was amazing; he had worked here for 42 years and had basically built the school into what it is today.

There are around 400 kids, from ages 5 to 26 with all ranges of disability such as Autism, Downs, Epilepsy, Physical handicaps, and some that have suffered abuse so sever it has caused mental damage. He gave us a tour of the school and set up a date for us to come, only problem, it was the same date we had just set up for the two old age homes. This was going to be one long day but it would be a day of destiny! Surely these are the ones that are important to the Lord, the forgotten and the unlovable.

The little boy in this picture to the left of the girl in glasses, name is Samuel and he was so excited and bubbling with energy, I will always remember him.

So Tuesday came around and we were up before 7, got to the school at 9:30 and set up our equipment. They kept the kids inside until 10:15 and then all the chairs filled up with all these precious, excited faces who instantly started clapping to the music. Wow! 400 kids with special needs is a lot to handle! They all want to be hugged and get your attention. I was amazed how attentive and obedient they were. To hear their laughter and see their amazement at the magic made me want to cry and so many wanted to dance with butterfly wings or participate in some way, there was hardly enough space. Some of them were so smart and quicker to get the meaning of our skits then many adults. We told a story with our costumes that taught how they can love like no one else can. When we were done a little boy with downs syndrome said on the microphone to everyone exactly everything the story meant.

Since my brothers and sisters and I are Second degree black belts in Tae Kwon Do, we use what we have learned to help others learn how important discipline and focus are. We brought up a lot of the kids and taught them some moves as well as how to just stand perfectly still and quit their mind. It was just beautiful, they were more into it, and took it more seriously then most any group we have done this with.

After we were done the director spoke on the mic saying that in his 42 years he has never seen anything like this and that we taught them what love really was. His words really touched us. Some of the special kids that are now older, are taught skills to help them get jobs and fit into society. Some of them were learning to cook and they cooked us a breakfast of sandwiches and juice. This was a really special experience.

This is a picture of us with all the kids who made us breakfast.

After this, we had to get to the old age home and meet with the nun. We set up and then helped push the wheelchairs of the elderly from upstairs to outside down a ramp. It took a while to get them all together and help the nuns since they had to be moved very slowly. Some of them were very old and barely aware, some where blind and others deaf and we had to be creative to communicate with them. Some were very much aware of everything and so excited to get to see their own mini circus. The nun told us that out of all the people here, only ten of them have someone that comes to visit them. One lady told me she had been moved from another home after the floor collapsed because it was so old. She told me she had always wanted to travel and her eyes welled up with tears as she realized that would never happen. Right now, we think about the here and now, but all too soon, the “then” will become now and we will realize we can no longer do all the things we used to do. Time is chasing us all; we got to seize it before it seizes us.

Helping get all the folks outside.

It was so beautiful to see men and women in their eighties and nineties laughing like eight year olds and then really listening as we told them to talk to Jesus. The head nun later made a video of our time with them and put it on u tube: Here's the link if you want to see it, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwQ5tCx4vtU. I think that is a funny picture, a nun uploading a video to u tube!

After we helped return the folks to their rooms, we had to make it to the other home and set up there as well. It gets pretty exhausting hauling in and out all out equipment and I thank God for His oh so real grace. At this home the people were much worse off and many were barely coherent. One lady was 109 years old! We mostly just talked with them, loved them, and my mom sang to them. We visited them with our frog costume and they like touching his soft fur. I gave this one old man a little stuffed animal of an otter and when he held it he laughed so hard it made me laugh as well. There is a flea market close to where we live every Saturday and we were able to get some scarves and hats for the elderly and some little stuffed animals for the kids without spending to much as well as candy and other little prizes.
After we left here, the traffic was horrible because it was rush hour. We had to go the center to pick some things up, stop at the grocery store to get something to make for dinner and then finally made it home! We were so blessed, felt so full and SO exhausted. My parents are amazing; they go all out all the time! We hit our mattresses and were out.

This was the second home we went to.

We make up little packets like this that we use for prizes for those
that participate.

Some things we got together to use as gifts, scarves, blankets, stuffed animals
hats and gloves (Its winter here and the elderly get very cold as do the prisoners
within those cold walls.)

I would like to encourage any of you reading this to make an effort to do something out of the ordinary and out of your routine, like visit a convalescent home. There are so many people that have just been forgotten in their old age and don’t have family to come see them. You could bring some flowers or something, ask those in charge who you could visit and just spend 20 minutes with them. Or visit the war veterans, a homeless shelter, volunteer to do an activity with the disabled or maybe be a Big Brother or Big Sister. It takes some effort to find these kinds of opportunities but it is so important and can change a life, both theirs and yours. If we do nothing, then nothing is what’s done. There is so much more to life than just living for ourselves.

I would also ask that if any of you happen have a friend or know someone who is looking to donate to a good cause, you could tell them about this blog. I know there are a lot of good foundations that are well known and that people donate to, but I assure you, if anyone would ever donate anything to us, it would go directly to those in great need. We are affecting tens of thousands of lives each week. I could gladly account for and document where the money would go if that would help. If any part of our ministry has touched you in anyway, maybe you could pass it on.

The Paypal account is at whatwouldyoufightfor@yahoo.com.