"Lord, when was it we saw you?"

 DAY 4 of the Holy Week Fast for Development and Peace

 In Matthew 25 Jesus shares the terms of our final judgement.

The righteous are baffled at the words of the Lord, "I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me."

"Lord when was it we saw you?" they ask as they are welcomed into heaven.

And they are answered, "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me."

At Development and Peace we do not carry out the works of mercy named above simply because its a nice thing to do, or to feel good about ourselves.  We do it because our very salvation depends upon it.  We do it because this is what God requires and it is through doing what God requires that we realize our true humanity.

On April 2nd over 250 members of the Latin American community gathered at St. Jane Frances school (Jane and Sheppard Ave. in Toronto) for the first Development and Peace "Hispanic Family Day."  The theme of the conference was "Agua Para Todos" - Water for All.

"I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink."  Children young and old, heard about the 884 million people who lack access to clean water in our family to day. They heard about what Development and Peace is doing to change that.  Families added their water drops to our growing river of justice.

Most of the people who came to the day are immigrants from the 11 Latin American communities where Development and Peace supports development projects to the tune of over 5 million dollars this past year.  These projects including helping communities gain access to clean affordable water - sometimes at great personal cost.  In El Salvador staff from our partner CRIPDES were arrested en route to a demonstration against the privatization of the water supply in Suchitoto. 

One of the touching moments of our Hispanic Family day came from learning that one of the many volunteer organizers who helped to put the day together used to work for another one of our Salvadoran partners - FUNPROCOOP!

A HUGE thank-you to every who has donated and pushed this fast over $1000 raised for Development and Peace.  Your generosity means the world! Anyone learning about the fast for the first time who wants to join these amazing donors can do so by clicking "Support Me" at my fundraising page