LeakeSpeak

Last week, we were privileged to have a visit from one of our state’s senators on the federal level. He was in the region for several days in order to visit his constituency in a couple of dozen villages. A professor friend of ours arranged for the senator to come visit us at our GFM base.

I expected the visit to only last about ten minutes if he came at all, but the senator graciously spent a full hour with us. We really enjoyed getting to know him a bit; he is a very humble and personable guy. He came to see the various projects we are doing, so we showed him our drip irrigation system, our well drilling and hand pump technology, and the water filtration we’re working on. He even came up to my and Erin’s apartment to see the biosand water filter we have in our kitchen. (We are hoping to start a business selling these filters in the fall.)

The senator was interested in what we are doing, commended us for our efforts to help the people of our region, and gave us his contact info in case we ever need assistance with anything. We all dressed up for the occasion, and the women served café con leche (coffee with milk). We spent a good 20-30 minutes over coffee discussing Mexico, its government, and the senator’s work. He narrowly missed being elected the governor of our state in 2004, but he is determined to win the election in 2010. We had the opportunity to explain that Jesus is the reason we do what we do, and we gathered around and prayed for him before he left.

The opportunity of the visit, from our perspective, just landed in our laps, but we are grateful to God for the opportunity to meet an influential person in government. I am encouraged these days by some positive things I see happening in the Mexican government on the local, state, and national levels. God wants those in government to rule in a way that honors Him, so we welcome any opportunity to pray for governors and to encourage them to act justly and in the interests of the needy.

Here are a couple of photos from the visit:

The senator meeting our staff and summer interns

The senator meets Lauryn

Me explaining our drip irrigation system and other projects to the senator

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