“But if anyone has the worlds’ goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?”                                   I John 3:17

Today we will visit Oaxaca, Mexico.  Here we find Aurea Carmela López Cruz – 36 year old mother of two.  Her mother died when she was 2, then was raised by two older siblings.  She said “my father thought that girls didn’t need to go to school.  They were only for cooking, being in the kitchen and having children” but her sister begged and pleaded with her father until he gave in but only if she got up early and did her work in the fields, shucking corn first.  Aurea got her diploma, married and was introduced to Heifer International.  After intensive training they were given a pig.  She had 10 offspring.  They passed the gift to a neighbor.  They sold others and purchased a cow and chickens.  Their enterprise now consists of 9 cows, 16 pigs, 18 chickens and 68 chicks.

Aurea Carmela López Cruz and her daughters, Citaly and Cristal, gently cradle some of the family’s chicks.  They have more chickens than ever before, and their farm is more productive.  Now they always have protein-rich eggs and nutritious vegetables to eat – with plenty left over to sell for income.

It all started with the gift from Heifer.  Will we start to help someone today out of the depths of poverty and hunger?