We have “chapel” on the last Friday evening of the month... in a desire to help bridge the gap between “our kids” and the local church...  and in an effort to reach their family members.

In our yearly planning, we discussed our chapel...   Our students mentioned two main reasons why it was hard for them to make it... bus fare and getting home at night...  Although we try to get done by 8:30 p.m., transportation is still a problem.  Living on the fringes of the city means that some of our students have to take two buses,,,  Complicating matters further are bus drivers who will avoid picking up an adult with a bunch of kids who don’t pay full fare but take up space... Some girls wait so long to get picked up by the first bus that by the time they get to the second bus it might be too late, too full and too difficult to be picked up (with a group of kids)... 

Solution?

Changing our chapel to the afternoon had two problems...  local churches wouldn’t be as free to be involved... and thinking of our girls’ families, any children who studied in the afternoon or men who worked a regular job during the day wouldn’t be able to participate...  Chapel would end up being for the same ones who attend our classes – and already hear devotionals... attend Bible Studies... and we want to reach out to the people around them...

The other idea was, after chapel, to drive the families to a place where they only had to catch ONE bus... this would help their pocket book and hopefully get them home...  This seemed like the better option...

After hearing this, Tania’s boyfriend/husband Ronald decided to come, along with their 5 children...  We saw the bus they needed so I sped up to get a good ways ahead of it...  They tumbled out of “Royce” as I flagged down the bus...  The older kids pulled the younger ones along... the mom had the baby in her arms and making sure all her kids were accounted for... When the bus driver realized it was a big family getting on his bus, he shooed them off and said he wasn’t going much farther...   I was able to witness the frustrating reality that bus drivers don’t like picking up a mom with a group of kids... (On one hand, it was good that the bus driver shooed them all off... it wasn’t until afterwards we realized that one of our other little girls, in the flurry of activity, had gotten mixed in with Tania’s 5!)  I felt bad leaving them where another bus would hopefully go by... but I had another family to drop off... plus one of our very overdue pregnant moms...  That night, Tania and her family still had to wait a long time before a bus picked them up...

At the end of our chapel in March, Marco answered a phone call... One of our students, Lidia (Paola) was pleading for help...  She had given birth to a baby boy the day before – they were kicking her out of the medical post she was in... her family hadn’t showed up... they hadn’t given her anything to eat... and she had no money – for food nor to get home...  

Marco was taking our “street” visitors back “home”... so I thought I’d go and see what was happening with Lidia since I was already heading that direction with Patricia, a single mom with three children who come on two buses to chapel...   The escaping bus scene repeated itself...  As I flagged down the bus,  Patricia had 2 year old Samuel in her arms and was pulling sleepy 6 year old Priscila along while 8 year old Jorge was having trouble getting his big bag of bananas out of the truck... (At El Jordán we buy bananas in bulk once a week to resell to our girls... we can sell them for 1 Bs. a dozen in comparison to 5 to 7 Bs. a dozen in the market...) The bus driver didn’t want to wait and took off... leaving us all staring after it...

Patricia said that was the best place to catch her bus... to just leave her there because I still had to drop off another family...and Lidia was waiting for me as well...  As I left, I joked with Patricia... “If you’re still here waiting for a bus when I’m on my way home, I’ll pick you up!!!”  Ha... ha... ha...

From there, I dropped off the other family near their room... and went looking for Lidia... that took me a while – but eventually I found it... going through some major puddles... lots of mud... and asking directions from at least half a dozen people...

I couldn’t believe what had happened to Lidia... At 3:30 the morning before she went to the public hospital nearest to her house which is part of the government program offering free childbirth...  The little money Lidia had saved up for a time like this was soon gone with her taxi fare... and buying a few things the hospital asked for...  The baby was born a couple hours later... they served her a little broth for her breakfast... and to her great surprise, she was put into an ambulance with her baby... and taken to this little medical post in a way-out neighborhood...  Not only was this medical post in the middle of reconstruction... smelling of paint and full of dust, they also told Lidia that they were only going to give her the medical care and a bed – as a favor to the hospital... but they didn’t provide any food or extras!!!!  So here she was in a back room of a construction site, no money, newborn baby, no one knew where she was and she was hungry!!! 

On the following day, the ambulance from the hospital showed up bringing another mother and newborn...  She had a cell phone... but wouldn’t lend a call to Lidia...  That day, Lidia drank water for her breakfast, lunch and supper... Later, the husband of the other lady showed up... and he lent Lidia his cell phone!  Crazy!!!!  To top off Lidia’s days... the day before the baby was born, her landlord had told her when her month was up, she needed to move out...  She had a week (and no money) to find a new place to live...

As I was getting Lidia something to eat (10:30 at night!) I got a phone call from Patricia, wondering if I was still in that part of the city... because no bus had ever stopped to pick her up!!!

When we got to Lidia’s little room that she was renting, the three other children were all alone... The father of the newborn left in the morning and hadn’t come back... My heart felt heavy as I left Lidia... and didn’t get any lighter as I backtracked... and sitting on the side of the road where I had left them, was Patricia with her three very sleepy kids... waiting for a bus that never picked them up...

I had never been to where Patricia lived – free of charge in exchange for her taking care of the place...  It was off to one side of the jail... no lights... nor running water... the only neighbours nearby were the frogs croaking in the lagoons of water all around...  The “room” had walls made of tarp and a roof of tin...  Patricia tried to point out her little “house”, but even using my imagination, in the pitch black I couldn’t even make out its shadow...

I had to leave “Royce” about half a block away from the “house” because the “road” was full of water...  I left my brights on to give us visibility... Patricia and I slipped off our sandals... picked up a kid each... and walked through the squishy, muddy, knee deep water...  Patricia came back to pick up Jorge while Samuel cried on the other side... little Priscila trying to comfort him...

My heart, already heavy, got even heavier leaving Patricia and the three kids... as I pulled away in reverse, the darkness enveloped this little family, waving to me from across the water... while I headed to my very comfortable house, bed... lights and water... Sigh... (In the next couple days I’ll write a bit more about Patricia’s situation...)

Friday night was our chapel for April... It rained almost the whole day...  which means that even fewer buses are running – especially in the muddy outskirts...  A few families phoned to say they wouldn’t be able to come... We resigned ourselves to only having a few people out...  At last minute our preacher phoned to say he couldn’t come... but that he’d send a replacement... 

In the end, chapel was great... we had around 45 adolescents/adults... and almost 30 kids... lower than usual... but still a nice group... Even “nicer” than the numbers was the opportunity to praise the Lord together... volunteers... students... their families... and others from the streets...  The “replacement” brought a video of a Christian ventriloquist from Costa Rica who through his “puppets” told a story of kids who had suffered growing up with an alcoholic dad... who couldn’t fathom that God... if He really existed, could have allowed them so much pain and suffering...  The message of God’s love, salvation and hope was presented in such a clear way... using terminology not usually used in “church”... which touched every heart in the room... I don’t think there was a dry eye there...

Afterwards, Katty and Roly and their three kids, said goodbye quickly – in order to find a bus, that after the last chapel, they didn’t get home until 12:30... They didn’t say it in a complaining way at all... they love coming to chapel as a family... and singing with all their hearts... 

Juan Carlos, “Coné” loves rock music... his favorite “star” is Marilyn Manson... but he has been coming to our chapels regularly...  He brought two other friends along on Friday...  On his way out, he asked for a bit more tea... I asked him if he wanted a bit more bread too... he said he’d take it home...  he sleeps in an abandoned car...  As he said goodbye, he said that he’s been thinking a lot lately – that he doesn’t want his life to end the way it is going... that he would like to fulfill his heart’s desire...  I asked what that was – and he said – “to be an instrument for God...”

I thank the Lord for the opportunity we have in our chapels to reach out to so many different people...  The sacrifice they make to come to chapel challenges me...  How many of us would come to “church” so happily, knowing that it takes an hour and a half to get there... and might take 4 to get home?

Please continue to pray for “our” people... that God would be working in their hearts... drawing them to Himself...  That is what our chapel is all about...

Thanks...

Lots of love from...

Corina... for Marco... and the little one... (who should be with us by our next chapel!)