Juan and Lourdes, pictured here, are not your typical example of a newly married bride and groom. For one thing, they have 12 children together. Yes, 12! But they were just as happy as any married couple you would expect to see on their wedding day.
Lourdes and Juan live in a very poor area of Juarez. Juan works in construction and as a day laborer whenever and wherever he can find work, and the jobs tend to be few and far between. The family lives in a two bedroom house with a dirt floor and holes in the roof. But they are very happy together, in large part due to Lourdes faith and joyful attitude. “I’ve never heard her complain,” shared one of our volunteers who visits them regularly. “Whenever we go to their house I hear the kids singing praise songs to God as they play outside. I never see the kids fighting or arguing. Once we were there as one of the older sisters came home from school that day and from all the cheering and excitement of the younger siblings you would think she had been gone for months. It’s a beautiful sight to see all the love they have for one another.”
Having come to the Lord’s Food Bank for many years, Lourdes heard about a program we were sponsoring for those couples who wanted to get married in the Church. The parish priest in the area had asked us to help him with this program, and Lourdes and Juan joined the classes.
After many months of preparation, the big day arrived for the 6 couples who had successfully completed the course. The brides were adorned in wedding dresses that had been donated and each lady was given a ribbon bouquet. The relatives pitched in and helped with food and decorations for the reception held after the ceremony. There was so much joy that day as we celebrated with these couples. Towards the end of the festivities, prizes were awarded for various categories and everyone laughed and cheered when Lourdes and Juan won “for the couple with the most children.”