Working Faith

"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?

Can such faith save him?  Suppose a brother or sister is without

clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to him,

'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,'

but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."

James 2:14-17

Gary and Grace Pendleton and Gabriela Lopez
load up the car for food deliveries

Carina, Maria and Marco Fajardo at their home in Mendota

Felipe and Araceli Perez in Firebaugh

Graciela and Valeria Martinez in Firebaugh

On Tuesday afternoon, we loaded up Gary Pendleton's car and headed out to Mendota and Firebaugh to deliver food to three families.  Gabriela Lopez, the Community Services Coordinator for Fresno Economic Opportunity Commission, located the families and accompanied us on the trip.  She shared stories of the hardships these families have endured. Farmworkers on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley have been hit hard by drought, freezing and the economic downturn.  Many acres of farmland are not being cultivated, leaving no work and no place else to go for many families. But, beyond these general hardships, individual families have their own stories of enduring trials: 

 

Our first stop, the Fajardo home in Mendota, is one where love and patience flow like a healing balm from the hands and heart of Maria Fajardo as she cares for her invalid 14-year-old son, Diego, who was stricken with meningitis a week after his birth in Mexico.  He is bed-ridden to this day, and must wear diapers and be fed a liquid diet.  Maria patiently loves this boy, wiping the drool from his chin, shooing the flies from his face when they sit outdoors. Her other children are attending school here and her husband works.  But the family struggles to make ends meet as they live in a very tiny apartment in Mendota.  When I told Maria that Diego was blessed to have her for a mother, she responded that she is blessed to have Diego, this invalid boy, for a son!

 

Next, we stopped at the home of Felipe and Araceli Perez in Firebaugh.  Felipe's foot was injured in a farm machinery accident back in 2000 and he has not been able to work in agriculture since then.  His wife learned English and got a job to support their three children who attend school in Firebaugh and are doing very well in their studies.  Felipe has made the most of his time, helping other people who are recovering from physical injuries and he has come to know so many people in the community he is running for Firebaugh City Council in this election.

 

As a point of historical interest, the Perez family lives in a very modest house in a "government camp", now under the auspices of the Fresno County Housing Authority.  This is the same "government camp" where Gary Pendleton, who was delivering the groceries, spent his growing-up years, the son of a farmworker who migrated to California's Central Valley from Oklahoma in the 1940's, as part of the great Oklahoma Dustbowl migration.

 

Our final stop was the home of Graciela Martinez, the mother of five children.  She and her husband and their children (seven people) live in a single-wide mobile home in Firebaugh. She had two friends on her porch when we arrived and one of them wondered if we had food for her family as well.  Graciela will share some of the 25-pound bag of beans, 20-pound bag of rice, flour, sugar and other essentials with her friend.

Thank you to everyone who contributed food for the Westside Farmworker Relief Project! Your faith is working!
--Posted by Mama O.