In my last update, I said that I would try to write more about Patricia… who, after chapel, I dropped off at a corner with her three kids and big bag of bananas where we thought a bus would pick her up… A couple hours later, she was still waiting… I took her home – one room made of tarp and tin… We carried the sleepy kids through mucky water to get to her “home” - which I never saw because it was pitch black… It broke my heart to leave them in the darkness while I went home… to comfort… a bathroom, shower, warmth and bed…
I met Patricia not long after she arrived in jail with her two small kids… For a while, she showed interest in learning about the Bible and God… but the struggle of being alone… with her two kids.... and no visitors won over… and she began avoiding me while starting a relationship with someone in men’s jail…
She got out of jail over a year ago… now with two school aged kids, a baby boy and high hopes of starting a stable home when her boyfriend got out of jail… She faithfully visited and waited for him only to be bitterly disappointed when he disappeared, the same day he received his freedom… Days, weeks and months went by… hope faded, and Patricia resigned herself to the fact that she was alone… with three kids to feed and care for…
Jeanneth, our student who lived nearby helped Patricia with the little she had… encouraging her… and inviting her to El Jordan… At the end of last year, Patricia started coming to Bible Study… with a renewed desire to honor Christ with her life…
This past February, Jeanneth decided she should return to Potosi – a old, cold city in highest highlands of Bolivia – to share Christ with her family… and be a help to her aging mother… At about the same time an old “friend” started offering her help to Patricia – this “friend” is still actively involved in drug trafficking…
Patricia couldn’t afford to pay rent… which is why she was living in this tarp shack… It was somewhat near her kids’ school… and she was scratching out a living by washing clothes for other people… She started going to night school to fulfill her dream of finishing up her high school… but this meant that the kids would be at “home” alone… in the shack with no neighbors nearby… with only a flickering candle to give them light, waiting for their mom to get home…
Patricia would find them, curled up together on the bed… sleeping… with their children’s Bible open in front of them… their comfort and refuge from the fears of the night…
Washing clothes didn’t bring in consistent enough money… and Patricia found a place where she can work as a maid… and take little Samuel (her youngest) along with her… Supposedly, she works half days… but she is gone from early morning until 5 or so in the afternoon… She quit night school to have more time with her kids… but Jorge and Priscila – 6 and 8 years old - were still on their own… going to and from school… (they go in the mornings)… finding something for lunch… and then waiting for their mom to get home…
Until that night when I took them home after chapel, I hadn’t realized how dark and dismal their situation was… Putting myself in Patricia’s sandals, I began thinking of the temptation of the old “friend” who lived only a couple blocks away in her comfortable house… I thought about the tired, sadness I saw in Patricia’s eyes… If I was a single mom of three little kids… struggling to provide for them yet only being able to offer a tarp shack surrounded by water and overgrown bushes… would I resist the temptation of “one little trip” delivering a little package??? I could make more money than having a Mount Everest of clothes to wash… or months/years of being a maid… I wouldn’t do it for my own comfort… but for my kids??? …to give them the basics… food, a safe room… an education… medicines when they were sick????
A couple days later, Marco and a few other guys went out to Patricia’s house to clear the bushes… she was already thinking about finding somewhere else to live but it was part of the agreement with the owner that she had to clear the lot in exchange for living there… When Patricia got home from work that day, she was met with the surprise of having the lot cleared… something to remind her that there were people who cared… who didn’t just say “God bless you” and continue on their way…but actually helped out those in need… (1 John 3:16-18, James 2:14-17)
Now the lady who Patricia works for offered her a little room to stay in with her kids until she can find a place to rent… The kids are happier being closer to mom even though now they have to travel across the city on a bus to get to school… Please pray for Patricia… that the seeds of the gospel would grow and firmly root themselves in her heart… that she would see how God provides for her every need… and that her boss would let her leave work early on Mondays to come to Bible Study at El Jordan…
I also wanted to give you an update on Ruth… She showed up at Bible Study on Monday… hobbling a bit… but walking and very happy… When she was in the hospital, Ruth called her boss to tell her know the situation… that she wouldn’t be able to work for a while… and to look for a replacement. The lady told Ruth not to worry… that they’d figure out some way to make do… So… on Monday, Ruth went back to work… her boss welcomed her back… and told her just to do light jobs for a while… and she still let her leave early in order to get to Bible Study at El Jordan!
…so… once again, Ruth asked to please write and say thank you for your prayers… she is so thankful for the way God has taken care of her… and how He used this situation to touch Ronald’s heart… so… Thank you!! And please continue to pray for this family… for Ronald to come to know the Lord, for a complete healing of Ruth’s foot… and continued provision for their needs. (When Ruth got home, she found out that Ronald had not only sold his shoes… but also the laundry tub and I don’t know what else in order to buy medicines and things that were needed when she was in the hospital!)
Anyhow… I wanted to get you caught up on these girls while I had some time… and also ask you to pray for the transportation situation in Santa Cruz… the bus drivers are fighting to put up the bus fare from 1.5 bolivianos to 2 bolivianos… (7 Bs to $1 US)… For our girls, especially those who take 2 buses to get to El Jordan (and 2 to get home) this is really tough… It already is a sacrifice they make to get to class… With the struggles between the bus owners and the people, the buses are irregular in the outskirts (where our girls live)… so our attendance has been quite irregular… Please pray that this won’t discourage our students or their teachers…
Thanks so much…
Have a wonderful day… thanks again for your prayers and support…
Lots of love, Corina, Marco and our little one…