Hasta la vista MEFI

It has been a time never to forget. Kids who are feared on the streets became kids who looked after our family and played with Tabitha, Oscar and Zara. Kids who didn't need to bother with us, allowed us to be part of the MEFI family.

They are never to be taken advantage of, and we didn't want to ever take close up pics, BUT, as family, many wanted to have a photo taken with us, and so, just as a little example, here is a kid who loved to make our kids laugh, and who our kids loved to be around.

It's very Mexican to not smile, although we'll always remember him for his laugh and jokey nature.

Friday was the street kid church service, and Heather shared some of her life story and why she became a Christian. It was especially interesting for the kids to hear about how her Dad had lived on the streets in his younger days, but how he found hope in Jesus.

Thankfully Carol translated. She's so much better at switching between languages than I ever was.

Then it was time for the Agnews to do their Von Trapp time and share a song, and after some group singing, for me to preach for the last time here. I shared about a Parable that Jesus told from Luke 14. It's about a Master who has a feast and invites people to come who end up making excuses not to attend. This Master then sends his servants out in the streets to bring in the poor and disabled. Even as there is more room, the servants are sent to bring people in so that the banquet is full. It's an amazing story that teaches that God wants His Heaven full, and everyone is invited, you and me. A terrific thing for these kids to hear.


As we say 'hasta luego' to the drop in centre, memories will be of the singing. Not as tuneful as you might like, but full of passion. The food, corn tortillas, the pool game and the table football that we bought about 10 years from a donor, and is still going strong. The bible studies, when kids asked questions not to be difficult, but genuinely because they wanted to know more about the God of the Bible. The prayers every meal time for other street kids, people in hospitals and prisons.

MEFI is one special ministry, which provides a family for those who have run away from their own. A safe place for those who sleep rough. Hope for those who for the most part have given up. Praise God for this team, and place. We will truly miss you.

Please join me...

This blog is a news feed, but forgive me if tonight I need it to share some more difficult thoughts. We have started this week praying every day to be useful and with Heather here, we have been able to offer a time for kids to share some more personal physical ailments.

So far Heather has been dealing with the usual cuts and scrapes, but also fungal infections, and STDs that I thought disappeared a long time ago. It's been so good to be able to offer this so that kids can put their minds at rest and also receive treatment in confidence.

We are in our last week of working with the MEFI ministry and even now if amazes us how kids open up and share a little of their stories. There has been a common story this week with kids who have talked about what has led them to be living on the streets. A separation of parents, a mother's new boyfriend, and then physical abuse, resulting in kids running away from their families. It's hard to imagine, but some are 9 and 10 years old when they do that.

One kid this week broke down in tears as he told me that he had been sold by his parents when he was 7, and they had come to find him last week and asked for his forgiveness. He had never finished his primary school studies and couldn't really read. Now he is 24 and involved in prostitution. (There are a few kids who are involved in prostitution who are at the drop in centre at the moment.) He wasn't sure if he could trust his parents again.

What a privilege it is to be allowed into the world of street kids in Mexico City, to be trusted to hear of their hurts, and listen, and shoulder pain, and take it to God in prayer. I need to do a lot of that tonight. Please join me...

Tired but fulfilled. Please keep praying

We've had such a busy week.

After another amazing day at the drop in centre, this week teaching the kids about why the Bible is the ultimate authority when it comes to talking with people who have other different views about theological matters (for the past weeks we've been looking at Jehovah's witnesses, and Mormons...) and they've been thinking about how they would know whether something is true or not, or whether to trust it or not.

It was one of our most absolute joys, the first of many this week, to see a family which meant so much to us when we were here. Cesar and Irma are such hard working and humble people. They run a church in the south of the city, when we left Mexico 8 years ago, we had been privileged to help with English classes, kids clubs and my first time preaching in Spanish. Now, their children are grown, and at the best public University in Mexico City and Cesar and Irma continue the church work. 

Then Heather arrived. She's an amazing family friend and is a hard working Sunday School teacher from the Livingroom Church. Her flight was 5 hours late arriving, it came in at 5 in the morning, but she was up for a cultural tour to ease her into Mexican life, so we took a trip to see one of the most important cultural sites in the Americas, La Villa, the Basilica. It's important to know about why Mexico is the way it is, and why it holds the beliefs it does. 

Then another day at the Drop in Centre, where I had to preach again, we played football and Unihoc with the kids, while Heather began to get ready for treating some of the kids, their wounds and illnesses.

When we got back from football we had a visit from 2 ex street kids who are now back with their family, have their own children and made a trip down to the centre to see us. This is the kind of dream that the work here exists for. Showing Mercy, so that kids can hear about Jesus, and find hope, and re-integrate back into their families where possible. 

This work is slow, and needs more patience than the average saint, but the smiles in this photo tell a story of hope and courage, tears and joy. A faithful mother who searched for her girls and wanted them back, and a team who encouraged and prayed and bridged a gap in love.

It's been a long week with less sleep. We've had time with Alex and Paty in the evening, catching up more, with a missionary family, and all the while driving hours and hours every day in horrific traffic, avoiding pot holes of course, and we are tired. Very tired. Please pray for us in what will be a week of mixing street kid ministry with helping with a holiday Bible club for 2 days.

Monday - Drop in Centre. (Bible study, crafts, games and health checks)

Tuesday - Visiting the streets again. (Football, Uno, giving out food and sharing something from the Bible)

Wednesday - Drop in Centre (same as above)

Thursday - Helping with Holiday Bible Club in La Loma church

Friday - Drop in Centre (Street kid church, sports and health checks)

Saturday - Holiday Bible Club

Sunday - Preaching in La Loma and sharing some songs as a family.

God bless you all and thank-you for praying and remembering the Agnew family.

A visit to the streets

A scrap of land, surrounded by traffic, with the tell tale signs of rubbish strewn around and some tarpaulins hanging. That's when you know there are street kids around. We went as a family today to one of the most well known and trusted groups and were reunited with some faces that we met in 2001 when we first visited Mexico to help someone working with street kids.

Oscar brought one of his footballs that he has bought here, knowing that he'd need to leave it behind, so we got to kick the ball around with some of the group first, then we had a time to share some hope and challenge from the Bible. The group here is varied, from some who live here, to some to used to live here but now have left the streets, to some who are good friends and will come hang out from time to time. Some have been on the streets since their teenage days, and although some are in their 20s and even 30s, they are still classed as street kids. The group here are older than the kids who come to the drop in centre.

After sharing from the Bible, it's time to eat. Our kids had no fear of being part of the team, giving out food. They love to help, and with their little Spanish, 'gracias' and 'de nada' go a long way. Here in the photo you can see Pati in the purple, Julio in the Yellow and Alex with the white striped polo shirt alongside team Agnew. They visit the streets to continue the work of sharing their lives and the hope of Jesus with groups in the city as well as run the drop in centre.

This was again a day of mixed emotions, for although it is good to see some of the kids we knew still alive, it hurts to see some of them continuing to harm themselves with drug use.

It was also a reminder of the sadness that hangs over groups of street kids. Oscar Suarez Islas was one of the most amazing street kids we knew, and they have this cross as a memory of his death in 2013. He inspired the naming of our own Oscar. The streets claim the lives of too many of the kids that MEFI work with. Asking some of the guys about other kids that we would have known from this group, we found that some have died since we were last here.

We have 2 weeks left here now before we return to Scotland. Please pray for us as we continue to encourage the MEFI team in their work, and come alongside some of the kids whose lives are touched by their compassion and dedication.

A typical Sunday

If you've ever been to the The Livingroom Church, you might know that we are very grateful for the use of the Wallyford Miners' Club, which is normally a pub, so we have to be out of the way for normal working hours. Usually we get in at about 9.30am, and have 30 mins to set up the rooms for our service and Sunday School, then we have 1 hour and 15 mins for what we do, which includes time to sing, pray, let people know what's happening during the week, and then get into the Bible.

Things couldn't be more different at the church that we have been going to on Sundays.

We arrive at 12pm taking about 45 mins to get there from where we are staying, although some from the church have been there from 9.30 for prayer, then Sunday School for the whole church until 11.45am, then the normal church service.

So, while in the Livingroom, we have to be done in 75 mins flat, in La Loma, just for the service, they sing for 60 mins. It's loud and lively stuff in Mexico. Part of the singing time is a prayer time, when many people go up to the front to pray, and so the Pastor will pray for them in their needs. Tabitha declared today that he must do the longest prayers in history.

Then there is the preaching. Our time in the Miners' Club is limited, here, if the Pastor wants to preach on, he does, today it was 1 hour and 10 mins. (And good stuff too!)  ((I preached the Sunday before and was considered very short at 45 mins!!!))

In the background you can see the Mexican flag. It's important to have that in the churches here. In a country where the majority have been brought up Catholic, for some, to be Mexican is to be Catholic, displaying the flag reminds people that even though they might not be Catholic, they are still true patriots.

We started at 12, and finished at 2.15 today, then we had 20 mins of announcements and asking for help for various things in the church, including a holiday Bible club from 25th to the 29th of July, which we'll be helping at a little. We finally left church at 3pm after chatting to folks that we knew from being here before and finally we have an hour's journey in heavy traffic to get home. 2 more to go...

Stretching your limits

On Friday, it was time to share with the 20 street kids again in their 'Friday Church' service. What do you do when you only have a limited number of occasions to share with a group of kids who have experienced different abuses, losses and disappointments in life, and are sitting right in front of you?

We arrived at the Drop in Centre, and Carol went with our friend Margaret and Tabitha to the centre of the city to look for craft materials for MEFI. (I make that sound easy, but I assure you it is not). Meanwhile the street kids were finishing their shower routine and getting something to eat. (Not a great idea before a church service.) I was trying to go over what I had chosen to say, and first one of the kids who has been really incredible at the centre, very respectful and considerate, came in to chat in the office where I was working. He just wanted a quiet space to chat, to find out a little more about our family, how much longer we were going to be helping with the work, and how he was grateful that we were there.  As soon as he went out, another kid came in. He started to tell me that he was from Veracruz, and his father had walked out on the family when he was very young, and his mum had a new boyfriend who hated him, and would hit him, so he ran away from home. He was 7 at the time, and after street homes for young kids, and moving cities, he had been in Mexico City for about 7 years now. He's about 24. I told him that he had been just a little younger than Oscar when he ran away from home. It was hard to stomach.

Food time again.

Talk about raising the stakes. What do you share, in Spanish, with a group of kids who want to know more about God?

Well, you tell them about Jesus, who helped the poorest, the outcasts of His society, and showed them respect, and told them how to be right with God. You tell them that they are valuable in God's eyes, and that they can turn to Him. With the best Spanish you can muster, stretching your vocabulary and grammar to their limits, you point them to One who died for them because He loved them.


This is the work of MEFI, the work of the team who give their energies to talk, play, give haircuts and pick out head lice, treat wounds, (we've seen all that and more this week) and yet take the time to share with them something that can actually give them hope for the future. PLEASE pray for this team.

Just to finish though, I hope you can make out in the picture below our Oscar, who has fulfilled a dream to play football in Mexico with street kids. He even scored 2 goals this time. (I think he gets his football skills from his mum...)

Meanwhile right beside the football pitch was a play park, so Zara got to find ants, butterflies, flowers and weeds, slides, cobwebs and plenty of dust. 2 happy kids.

What about our kids?

We can be in our car for up to 3 hours on the days when we go to the Drop in Centre. That means making our sandwiches and getting our lunch ready and travelling over an hour to the Centre and then back for dinner. There is an office where the kids can have some time out from the street kids, to write, read, draw or eat.

But Agnew kids don't sit for long, so here are some of the kinds of things they love to get involved in.

Tabitha and Oscar love to wait on tables when it comes to meal times. Here is the service hatch from the kitchen and on the right in the photo is the Drop in Centre cook, Rosa, who has a lot of work to do preparing 2 meals for up to 25 people at a time. When the street kids have had their first serving, if they are still hungry, they can line up for more food. Zara loves to help in this way. It may mean filling up plates, or giving more tortillas, or pouring more juice/coffee/other Mexican hot drinks.

Eating is very important in the Drop in Centre of course, and it must always happen after a time to pray and thank God for the food, remembering other street kids who may be in trouble, without food, in prison or in hospital. It's also a time for the usual games of making sure that everyone gets their fair share.

Another thing that is very important in the Drop in Centre is play/game time. 'Uno' is a great game which produces lots of laughter when someone has to pick up cards, and here you can see Tabitha remembering her numbers and colours in Spanish. We'll need to buy new packs of these cards for the Drop in Centre soon, as they have been so well used that you can hardly shuffle them anymore.

Another terrific game that they love to play was made by a team from America who came down. Starting with 6 pool balls each, you set them up as you like at your end, then take turns to throw the 'white' down the channel to try to knock your opponent's pool balls into their trough before they can get rid of  all of yours. If it is a draw, you then start with 5 etc. etc. until there is a winner. It's a great game for some kids who's motor skills have been impaired by solvent abuse.

There can be a lot of banter during these games which of course goes over Tabitha, Oscar and Zara's heads, but the street kids who use the centre love to include our kids, and try their own English words out, and with Mum and Dad in sight, they feel involved, useful and safe in the Drop in Centre.

We are so proud of these 3. Even for Carol and I it can be daunting when you are in another culture very different from your own, so please keep Tabitha, Oscar and Zara in your prayers too. From the travel, to the food, to the language, this is quite the experience for them, and not an easy one.

Thanks again for following our escapades, and more at the weekend. God bless you.