Back in the summer of 2019, I had gotten the opportunity to serve on a mission trip to Baja Mexico. One of the places we had visited was a community living in an abandoned landfill in Tijuana called “Cañón de las Carretas” translating to Canyon of the Wagons. We were able to provide food for the families there and interact with some of the people in the community. This place was truly like nothing I had ever seen before and I wanted to learn more. So I contacted Dave Hessler, the founder of Life in the Canyon which is a program that helps to provide for the families of Tijuana while also spreading the message of God. He was able to tell me about his journey that has led him to where he is now.
Dave had been encouraged for many years by the church and by his daughter to embark on a Mexico missions trip. He had tried to avoid this for so long telling himself “I didn’t want to be out of my comfort zone traveling with 50 people I didn't know, sleeping who knows where, doing who knows what....and in a foreign country where I didn't speak the language.” But after much encouragement and convincing, his journey commenced. He described Mexico as “Hot (July), dirty (fine dust blowing all the time), and uncomfortable (military blockades, graffiti, metal bars over doors and windows, and evidence of poverty everywhere you looked)”. He was inching his way through the days in Mexico, looking forward to the moment he would return home. It wasn’t until the last day of the trip that he had visited the Canyon. His job was to make breakfast at a local church but along the way, he was able to interact with some of the children there and witnessed their living conditions. “Shacks with no doors or windows. Electricity stolen from a nearby power pole. Water being hand carried. Food being sold on horseback. Cows in the street.” He was astonished by these sights, a way of living he had never seen before, but wanted what these children and families did have. The children were filled with so much energy and fire and wore smiles that radiated joy. They had parents “who greeted you by saying, may God bless you”. “There was no sorrow on their faces....just the opposite. A sense of peace. You could hear it in their conversations....I may not have a lot, but I have enough. I am grateful to God for my children and our health and that we have a place to live and food to eat today.” Dave got to talk to this 11 year old girl and at the end of the conversation, she asked him if he was coming back tomorrow. “In that moment, God broke my heart.” From this moment, Dave had felt that God had shifted something in his heart. He realized that everything he already had in his life was enough, and that anything more he wanted to be able to give to these people. That is when he knew God was telling him to move to Mexico.
The mission trip ended and Dave returned home. He had teetered with God’s decision for him and asked for a sign. The next Sunday in church, the Pastor began to talk about the Mexico missions trip and displayed a picture on the big projector. “ The girl in the photo was the one that had asked me if I was coming back the next day. I got my sign.”
He first returned to Mexico volunteering in the kitchen at a church for their local breakfast program. There were only two people running the kitchen: the cook and the server. Dave’s job was simply to wash the dishes and mop the floors, but knowing he wanted something more out of his journey here, he began to reach out to the mothers who came to the church. At first their gatherings were small, only consisting of about three mothers, but then more started coming and more started opening up and sharing their stories. They talked about their struggles, but asked nothing from them. Most knew who God was and had a relationship with Him, so their only requests to Dave was for prayer. And this is how the ministry at Life in the Canyon began. When Dave realized that food was not their only scarcity, that they lived in houses with holes and a tin roof and had no running water or electricity, he decided that he needed to do something in Mexico beyond the breakfast program.
Now it is ten years later. Dave currently lives in Tijuana, Mexico and continues to serve for the people in the Canyon. Throughout his time there, he has seen God perform so many miracles in the lives of each and every family. One story Dave shared was about this little girl named Sarah (name changed for discretion).
“I was walking in the canyon and as I passed a parked car, there was a little girl leaning out the window. Her name is Sarah and she speaks English. She's eager to talk with me. I remember thinking how I was busy and didn't want to take the time to be distracted from what I was doing. Then I thought about how when I look at things as obstacles, they are actually opportunities that God puts in my path each day. As I stop to talk with her, I see a little boy of about 3 in the back seat with her. He's wearing spider-man pajamas. I didn't immediately realize that her mom was in the driver's seat. As I talk with Rose (name changed for discretion), she tells me that the little boy Anthony (name changed for discretion), is actually her brother. He was living with her father in Tecate. He was recently arrested for attempted murder and Anthony was living alone in a house with other drug users. Anthony couldn't live with his mom, because she was murdered in front of Anthony the year before. So Rose went to rescue Anthony. She was telling me that she just got back from selling some metal for money. (It's how she survives.) When she was selling things, she thought it was great that everything sold and it sold quickly. And then she realized that God was at work. The money she got was not for her. It was to help Anthony. That was why Anthony was wearing spider-man pajamas. He didn't have any clothes or shoes and that was what he wanted. So she spent the money on Anthony.“
Stories like these are what keeps Dave in the Canyon and inspires him everyday through the work of God and from the love and grace of these families. He now has a lasting relationship with Anthony and Sarah. Though they ask for nothing even when they have very little, he occasionally pays off their credit at the corner store without them knowing. When he returns to the office after a day’s work, he is greeted with huge hugs and smiles from the kids. Dave says it is “one of the best parts of my day”.
God had completely changed Dave’s life around and set him in a direction he never knew he would be heading for. My last question to Dave was “What would you consider to be your greatest life successes?” and this was his response, “I found that my definition of success has changed. It used to be based on how much money I had, how many cars, how nice of a home or car, ect. However, today, my definition is much different. My ability to bring all things to God first, to seek his guidance over my own, to be patient in doing things in his time....that is success for me. It sounds easy to do, but in reality....it's difficult. So I feel the most successful when I am able to do those things.”