NELLIE

Nellie lives wherever she can, in a shelter on the streets, in a borrowed house, with anyone willing to take her in.  She has no clothes, no belongings, nothing she can call her own.  Nellie is a large, middle aged woman who was recently released from prison.

Nellie had been a police officer in Mexico, but when drugs and other types of corruption became common among her fellow workers, she got caught up in their crimes.  Eventually the police department was disbanded and Nellie and the others were incarcerated.  Nellie was severely abused and overly punished while in prison for her part in crime because she had been a police woman. She was beaten, half starved and misused.  She gave up hope and became bitter and angry and mean.

When Nellie was released from prison and began her life on the street in Reynosa, she met Pastor Gerardo who was ministering to the young people who gathered around him during the day. Gerardo played Christian music on his car radio, read the Bible to them and prayed for their needs. One day he looked around to see Nellie sitting on the curb on the side of the road and she was crying softly.  The music was touching her deeply.

Through prayer and counseling, Nellie decided it was time to turn her life over to the Lord and she accepted Him as her Savior right there on the street.  It was as though she had been set free! Nellie was very happy!  She watched for Gerardo’s car every day and was first to greet him and to thank him.  Several others were meeting there on the street by this time and they all enjoyed listening to Gerardo and also enjoyed the fact that he listened to them.  They met together daily for several months until circumstances changed and Gerardo no longer drove daily to Reynosa.

Recently in Nuevo Progreso, Gerardo was driving down a side street near the local fire department when he heard someone yelling to get his attention.  And there was Nellie!  She had found her way back to her original town of Nuevo Progreso and was living in a small shed alongside the fire department and near the baseball field.  They greeted each other and Gerardo learned that Nellie had been in town for several weeks, but didn’t know how to find Gerardo and his family or the church. She had begun visiting a church down the street from her dwelling.  She told Gerardo that she would get so happy worshiping the Lord in church that the other people stared at her.  But she said she was so happy to be set free and to become a child of God.

Gerardo reported that he will continue to stay in touch with Nellie, but will encourage her to attend the church of her choice, and that may be one that is near where she lives. Nellie has an occasional job selling bottled water to tourists outside of local stores.  Maybe she will work her way up to a job that will improve her life.  Meanwhile, Nellie has come home to where she started, to the Lord and to Nuevo Progreso.

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."  Galatians 5:1