By Alice Benavides, Jenks, Ok.

I stepped out of the car and immediately noticed the pungent smell of livestock. I looked around at all the little huts that made up the barrio, Spanish for neighborhood. The area seemed deserted except for the pigs. Make-shift fences connected one dwelling to another, holding back the snorting herd.

Spanish speaking people began to emerge from the little dwellings to see what the Americanos wanted. It wasn't long before a woman recognized Jeanie. She raised her arms to give her a welcoming hug. The other women did the same.

Jeanie and I had traveled across the U.S. border into Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, to bring used clothing to one of its poorest communities. Although Jeanie had made this trip many times, this was my first.

Just getting the clothing across the border was a miracle. Relief overwhelmed me when the Aduana, or Mexican border authority, waved us through the check point. It is illegal to bring large amounts of anything into Mexico that can be sold.

I was jarred by the extreme poverty. Toddlers ran around naked. Older children wore perhaps only a pair of shorts or only a shirt.

Their material need was great; however, their need of Jesus was greater. That's what drew Jeanie to these people. She, like James, knew the importance of good deeds. She couldn't say, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled" (James 2:16), without helping them-without reaching them at their need! Her outreach is what spoke the love of Jesus to their hearts.

After the greetings, we handed out clothes. Ladies stood around the vehicle laughing and giggling, holding up the different articles of clothing. Joy and peace were evident on their faces.

After the clothing was distributed, one of the women took us into her home. Her face beamed as she showed us around the two-room dwelling. The first room contained only a cot where her husband slept. The floor was dirt and uneven. The back room was for preparing food.

Finally, Jeanie took some time to minister the love of Jesus to the people of the barrio, and then we left.

Jeanie's window of opportunity to minister to these people ended shortly after that trip. I am glad to have been a small part of her ministry. Not only did God do a miracle at the border and in the hearts of the people in the barrio, but He also did a miracle in me. It truly takes very little to make people happy when Jesus fills the heart!

©Alice Benavides, Jenks, Ok.