What does shivering and syncretism have to do with each other?  ...well... not much... they’re just things I wanted to tell you about...

Winter has struck... the temperature has dropped to about 7 or 8 degrees Celsius...(this is now Sunday, and it went down to 3 degrees Celsius this morning! This is the coldest it has been for years...) and to top it off, there has been a constant drizzle for the last couple days...  We don’t get sub-zero temperatures here but when there is such a drastic change in temperature, you’re damp, there is no heating in houses and you have to wait longer (in a cold drizzle) for the bus - its not long until you’re chilled to the bone... and you feel like you can never get warm.

I am SO thankful for a house to live in... with a roof, no leaks, windows and walls... we have a nice bed with a pile of blankets... dry clothes and more still in our drawers if those happen to get damp... There’s a gas tank and stove – to cook up a warm soup or a hot coffee... We even have a heater in a couple rooms... and the weather  still is miserable... What about all those people who live with drafts, leaks and without extra clothes or blankets?

Several weeks ago we gave all of our students and their family members a couple sweaters each from our storage room.  That will help some - but not much...  Adela, one of our newer students, her husband and 4 kids live on the edge of the city (nothing to block the wind) in a small shack (maybe 4 m. X 4 m.) made of tin and plastic... I’m sure the makeshift walls and roof don’t keep out the rain – let alone the cold...  Jenny and Raul moved into their new brick “house” a couple months ago – with 4 kids...  They’ve never had money to buy window frames or glass... so they have sheets hanging to cover the open holes!!!  Others live in wood rooms... with gaps between the warped boards... One, maybe two, out of all our students actually have a bathroom inside... all the others have to use “outside” facilities (and some just the outdoors without even facilities!)  Some of our students have to walk well over a kilometre to catch the closest bus...

It makes me shiver just to think... and then if you think about those who are living on the streets... with only their glue or drugs to numb the cold... Sigh... There has already been at least one street person die in the cold... It makes you feel guilty for being able to huddle close to the heater...

I’ve called a few of our students and there are quite a few of them that are sick... especially the babies – with colds, fevers and runny noses... So you can be praying for health... with this cold brings a whole downward cycle... Many people live day to day... so a couple days where there isn’t much work affects their menu and their lack of a good diet can lower their resistance to sickness... and the cycle goes on... “Esperanza” is an extreme example...  she is a little lady who sells orange juice and candies on a corner in a downtown market...  The  only family she has is Mery Laura – who is off the streets now – but still very much struggling with daily life (her 5-month-old baby is sick right now, husband is an alcoholic and teenage son running away/being rebellious).  Esperanza struggles with diabetes... has had bouts in the hospital... and gradually sold or pawned most of possessions that are of much worth.  If she can’t get out to sell her juice (or if it is so cold that sales are down), she not only doesn’t make money, she actually gets behind because she still has to pay fees for storing her carts every night... and paying her little debt that she took out to buy a variety of candies... rent... bus fares... and food...

The other day Mery Laura called me crying... her mom was basically bed-ridden, down to 25 kilos (that’s like 55 pounds!) needing care which she couldn’t give... She asked if I could drop her mom off at a hospital in a little town that took in people like her without charging...  Well... we went to one town... - they said no... and sent us to another town which had a hospital run by nuns... There the doctor sent her home saying she was just suffering from malnourishment and sadness... all she needed to do was eat...  

A simple solution...  but is it that simple?

   *   *   *

When you get into a really tight spot... your faith is tested and tried... Will you choose to hold on to Christ, trusting without necessarily seeing or understanding his plan?  Yesterday (its now Monday!) we read about Isaac who was 40 years old when he married Rebekah... She was barren and Isaac prayed for a child... In the same verse (Genesis 25:21) it says that God answered his prayer.  Isaac prayed... God answered... Sounds simple... easy... but if you go on to verse 26, you’ll read that Isaac was 60 years old when the twins were born!!! Twenty years of praying... and waiting!!  Wow...

Anyhow... our desire for the people who come to El Jordan is that they will put their faith solely in Christ... and learn to walk with Him... (That’s our desire for our own life too!) One area where it is a temptation for especially our girls to lean elsewhere is when health issues are involved... When going to doctors doesn’t seem to help, they often are tempted to go to the witchdoctor or “healer”...

In the last two weeks, we have found evidences of the witchdoctor hanging around the necks of two of our babies... When confronted, the moms explained that their babies have “mocheo” – a sickness that doctors can’t heal... The amulets are part of the cure – to help draw out the sickness or to keep it from coming back...

I explained they were putting faith in something/someone what wasn’t God... that in resting their faith in those rituals and amulets, they were actually choosing against God...  We need to be for Him... or against Him... there is no room for middle ground... God demands that we have NO other gods before Him... any type of idol is strictly forbidden... “For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”   We told them that El Jordan is a place of God... that we couldn’t allow those things inside our place...  God wants all of us... not just in the good times... but in the hard, difficult-to-understand times too... “If...you seek the LORD your God, you will find him IF you look for him with ALL your heart and with ALL your soul.”  

The moms took off the amulets off their babies while in El Jordán... but they still need to choose what they will do elsewhere...

Please pray for the people we work with... that they will choose GOD... and only God...  Pray that the Holy Spirit will be working in their lives... and that at El Jordán as we teach His Word, that will take root in their lives... grow... and give fruit...  

Thanks so much for praying... we appreciate it so much...

Because HE is faithful, Corina (for Marco and Keiden too)