Food Distribution at Los Pinos

Our friend, Leo, is a fourth year Baxter student and will be graduating in two weeks. He has been preaching at Los Pinos. We decided to go to church at Los Pinos this morning to hear Leo preach one more time before he graduates and returns to the Dominican Republic. We had a small gift and wanted to say good-bye to him and his family. The singing this morning was great. It is always good, but better than usual. Sometimes I can understand Leo and sometimes I can't, depending on fast he speaks. A few weeks ago, I understood almost everything he said. This morning he preached hard and fast for about 45 minutes. I understood almost nothing. Then Timoteo began to make announcements. I completely tuned out because I knew there was nothing that concerned me. All of a sudden there was an excitement in the air and no one was leaving. I had not a clue what was happening except that Leo was standing outside one of the windows and, one by one, calling people's names. He and Timoteo were distributing the tuna, sardines, and oysters. I had wondered since Wednesday how the food would be distributed in Los Pinos. It is such a large community, with so much need. It was not announced that food would be given away until after church. Otherwise, there would have been standing room only. Luis, Timoteo's son was in the kitchen assembling the packages of food. Everyone got the same amount. Like I said the other day, it does not matter who gives the food to people who need it, but it was a blessing to be able to watch Timoteo and Leo giving food to the people in their congregation. They were happy and having so much fun with each package they handed out. It was a blessing to watch the faces of those receiving the food. I must admit, I was not dry-eyed.

After a family received their food, most of them sat down and waited until everyone had their food package. It was all very touching. I have seen the way people that don't have food ration it. There is no telling how long that meat will last these families. There are many happy families in Los Pinos tonight.

Terri