Later today I am travelling to New Jersey!!!  A supporting church there invited us to their mission’s conference...  For a while the trip was up in the air because of our little lemon acting up... but the doctor (and second opinion) both think that I am “fit to travel” as long as I’m careful and don’t lift my bags... I picked up my renewed passport just this week... but Keiden’s paperwork which was submitted in July isn’t back yet...

 I’m travelling alone this time because:

· paperwork not complete for the “boys”

· it’ll be easier for me to “take it easy” without Keiden being clingy with so many changes - and me not being able to pick him up...

· the workshops aren’t done yet and Marco really needs to be here right now...

· between several weeks bed/couch rest and being down to one vehicle between us  (Marco’s pickup is STILL in the shop – its now 3 weeks longer than originally promised.) everything got pushed back and we just weren’t ready for all of us to travel...

THANKS Montvale for your generosity!!!   I’ll be there until Wednesday – and then travel to Kansas City, MO and Leavenworth, KS until Monday the 21st...  If any of you happen to be close by... I’d love to see you!  (Sorry for the late notice!!!)  Please pray for us – for Marco and Keiden at home (we brought Keiden’s Peruvian grandma to help during this time...) and for me as I travel and speak...

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The workshops continue to have its challenges... the stealing...  trying to find people to look after the place at night... Marco being 6 weeks without his pickup to do all the hauling of supplies – and during those same weeks, the back door to my truck decided it would have trouble opening...  It has been “fixed” no less than 5 times and I think I heard Marco say again today that it wouldn’t open again!!!  It isn’t a major problem... but it makes hauling construction materials more complicated when you have to maneuver them through the side door!!!  

            Do you remember the Saturday when Marco was going to tell the workers not to come to work on Monday because there wasn’t cement – and when he got to the shops the cement truck was unloading – several days/a week EARLY!  Well... the following Saturday, Marco was getting ready to tell the workers that we had to “pause” the construction because of lack of funds – when “out of the blue” the son of the man who is donating our soccer field showed up with a check! We are seeing God work day by day... and we trust Him with tomorrow...

            Please continue to pray... we feel the tension of being in the middle of a battle...  I can’t explain everything... but we don’t want to be caught off guard...

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Just a little update on Tania Montaño –  our student who found (on different days!) a Styrofoam cooler and a lid to fit it -  which she is using to sell juice under a tree beside the road...   She is selling little hamburgers (?) and breaded cow’s stomach (!!!)... and NOW guess what she’s found!!!! She found an aquarium in the garbage – the bottom piece of glass is cracked – but washing it up it works as a “display” case for her food while keeping the dust and flies out...  Isn’t God good?

            Tania was telling me about a day when she didn’t have ANY money for the next days’ breakfast for her kids – or anything else... Before she might have been tempted to escape the pressure by going drinking or back to the streets...  but now she prayed and went to bed...  The next morning she was woken up by a neighbor lady knocking at the door – bringing 5 dozen clothes for Tania to wash...   Casting all your cares upon Him for He cares for you...

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How am I... and our little “lemon”?  Well... I was on strict bed rest for a week... a more lenient rest for another 2 weeks... and things seem to have healed up quite well... although the doctor still doesn’t want me to lift anything... go on bumpy roads... or be racing up and down stairs... Our little lemon is no longer a little green lemon... he/she is now the size of a nice sized pepper (approx. 5 ½ inches long)!!!   Please continue to pray for us...

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At one of our last volunteer meetings, we discussed Christmas on the Streets...  The decision was basically unanimous to make cuts to the activity, limiting its reach to only street people/detained people/our students.  The reasons for this are:

· When we started allowing churches to take the meal/gifts to “extreme poor” it was with the understanding that the help would be temporary – and over several years they would gradually become independent and continue on their own... In this way we could continue helping more people... In the end, we found in a lot of cases, that there were INDIVIDUALS within the church that wanted to reach out, but the church as a whole wasn’t supporting them...  Our continued involvement might actually be allowing churches NOT get more involved...

· Our desire in opening the activity up to churches/extreme poor was to encourage local churches to develop a heart for the needy in their neighborhood and in that way maybe prevent some kids from ever ending up on the streets... As years went by, we starting seeing the majority repeatedly concentrate their efforts on the same group of people – although poor, often members of their own outreach/daughter church...  They weren’t reaching out to new people on the “edges” – rather their own people who they, as “mother churches” should be the ones sacrificing themselves to provide for their needs...

· We figured out that for the meal we serve – plus a goody bag with a gift and gospel tract – costs were between $2 and $3 per person...  Multiply that by 5000+ and the amount gets intimidating...  What we’ve done in the past is use El Jordán’s “buffer” money for expenses and usually by January, the expenses would be covered...  God has ALWAYS provided...  Our difficulty this year is that with our construction, that buffer is gone and we have to limit ourselves to what we actually have on hand.  We’ve been wrestling with the question if the amount of money spent on Christmas is warranted – if we’re being good stewards...

Anyhow...  we have communicated our decision with the churches, hoping that they take up the challenge of continuing what they began doing along side of us while we concentrating once again only on street people...   This automatically brings down our “totals” almost by half and leaving room for coordinating with new churches willing to reach out to the pockets of addicts and street people around them, we estimate cooking for (only!!!) 2,800 to 3,000 people this year...

Last week Marco bought 330 baby chickens for our property... on prepared food, they’ll grow to eating size in 45 days...  These are designated for Christmas on the Streets... (although we shouldn’t count our chickens before they grow up!)

The day after I get back from the States we will have our first “public” meeting with churches who want to work alongside of us this year...  Let us know if you’d like to get involved from afar...there are several ways to do so...

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I’ve been meaning to write an update on  Giovanna for a long time... for those who might not remember, she was operated on in April or May for what ended up being an aggressively malignant brain tumor.  Doctors gave her 6 months to a year to live...

She had a near death experience during her operation – and she felt that God allowed her to “come back” for a time – to be able to witness to her many, many friends and acquaintances that are still on the streets, in drugs and delinquency...

For the first month or so after her diagnosis, she was at El Jordan more often than not – for encouragement, teaching and guidance... We started noticing strange changes in her attitudes – a diminishing desire to study the Bible and listen to counsel... and an increase in her own self-confidence – that she was God’s direct messenger.  We tried to figure out whether these were symptoms of the tumor growing and putting pressure on her brain... or whether the enemy was using and confusing her... when she moved to another city... 

Her dad phoned me the other day to let me know that he had brought her back home – and could she come back to El Jordan... OF COURSE!!! ...but she still hasn’t come by...  We’ve been so busy with graduation, open house, Uncle Norman and Nancy’s visit (bed rest... one vehicle!)... and we haven’t had a chance to look her up...

SO... please continue praying for Giovanna... and that God would put it in her heart to come back to El Jordan...

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Well... there were a couple more things I wanted to write about... but its probably long enough already... and I need to get some sleep before I travel...

THANK YOU... for your prayers... support... encouragement... I wish it was possible to stop and visit each one of you on my trip north... but God willing, in a year (and a half maybe) we will be able to make a longer visit – as a family...  You can pray towards that end...  Thank you... and I’ll write again when I get home from my trip...

Lots of love, Corina...for all of us...