The dump has been an ongoing love 
affair of mine for the past 3 decades. The needs are so glaring. Today there is a cold epidemic here. Colds, Diarrhea and Burns kill more kids down here than anything else. These kids are all walking around looking like glazed donuts. (Blame Bill Cosby for that one). I NEVER leave feeling good, always aching to be able to do more. When we go over and feed them, we drive up and honk the horn. They come running out knowing that we have food. We feed them until it all runs out, that is the hardest part, when we run out and there are still kids left looking at me.
“Sleep is hard sometimes and it comes and it goes mostly being awake at night. The pain is bad because of the bed I sleep on but then I think of those people in the dump who have to sleep on the concrete floor and I am thankful for a bed with a little foam on it,” Deb said when she was visiting.
The more accountable I am TO others, the More I will be able to do FOR others. HERE ARE SOME PICTURES IF YOU WANT TO SEE THEM dean peters family and kids at dump
IF the gospel could be summed up in one word, it is OTHERS. Not Bible thumping, not preaching, not weirdness, not meanness, but the gospel is about, if someone is hungry, feed em. If someones in the joint, visit em, if someone is grieving or afflicted, help em. Doing unto others as you want them to do. IF you are in the desert dying of thirst, someone MAY want to give you salted peanuts, cause that is what THEY like. No, if you are dying of thirst you want water. Others First, that is the Gospel of Jesus. Everything else is just dribble and blah blah blah until the first base is covered. What is important to ME might not be so important to THEM. When I see the people I can see them with what I had or have or have not and compare them to who I was. This is the life they know:
“So we went to the market today. I was standing at the top of the stairs to the only real market that is inside. Winnie buys her chicken and eggs there. Standing on top of the stairs and looking out into the market there are all kinds of people and colors walking the dirt streets. Everyone is carrying their food whether on their heads in a bucket or in a burlap bag. There is plastic everywhere because everyone puts the fruits and vegetables in plastic first. There are people walking around begging for money in the market. Every once in a while you give them a cordoba. Its not much but it adds up I am sure. There are sometimes real foul smells as you walk along and the thought of eating something right then and there is less than appetizing. I did buy some tangerines and a grapefruit today. I find if I buy the fruit, like you I don’t eat it fast enough and it goes bad. I end up sharing it with the guard at the end of my street or the girls who work in the kitchen at the school.
There are guards on the streets at most intersections. The neighbors pay them to keep trouble away. They ride there bikes through the streets at night blowing a whistle to let you know they are around. When you go into your house, you have to unlock the gate and lock it right back up. The gate is high and rot iron. On top of the gate is the wire you would see at the prison. Razor wire or wire from the fences that kept the cattle in place. I cant remember the name of it. Anyway, then you have to unlock the lock to the house. All the windows are covered with iron so hopefully no one can break in. The locks are pad locks. They take nothing for granted. The house I live in is sparsely furnished. Four bentwood rockers, a couple of sofas one being a loveseat and a table for a sewing machine as Winnie’s mom is a seamstress. The room is about as big as your living room and playing area. We sit with the doors open morning to night to let the breeze blow through the rooms. It is a welcome breeze.
I noticed today that there are more flowers blooming on the streets. Again, I don’t know what they are but they are pretty. Yellow flowing flowers. They are beautiful.
The streets are full of cars, buses and bikes trying to get through the day. Tomorrow promises to be warm and sunny again. I will welcome it with open arms.” (Thoughts from Deb)
FINANCIAL$. IF you want to see what I am spending daily, write [email protected] and she can show you where every penny goes, and how we got the following numbers.
For those who are interested. scroll down.
transparency
Food Center is costing $2000./month all expenses included
feeding say 80 people a day x 30 days = 2400 feedings per month
$2000./2400 = .83 cents per child per daySchool is costing $1800./month all expenses
teaching ect 13 kids x 20 days= 260 teachings per month
$1800/260 = $7.00 per child per day or
approx $140.00 per month$250/month for food at school
13 kids x 20 days = 260
$250./260 = .96 cents per child per day or
approx $20 month
feeding say 80 people a day x 30 days = 2400 feedings per month
$2000./2400 = .83 cents per child per daySchool is costing $1800./month all expenses
teaching ect 13 kids x 20 days= 260 teachings per month
$1800/260 = $7.00 per child per day or
approx $140.00 per month$250/month for food at school
13 kids x 20 days = 260
$250./260 = .96 cents per child per day or
approx $20 month
God is love
1 John 4:8
