To explain the following letter… I started it back in mid- September… planning to get it written before the city’s international fair (September 21 – 30)…  I knew if I didn’t get it finish it before, who knows when I’d get around to it… Well… here we are… almost in the middle of November!!!  …I better get it written before we get too busy with “Christmas on the Streets”!!!

We’ve had some really special times over the last couple months… filled with some major activities – participating in the international fair, our 7th anniversary, the end of our classes at El Jordán and graduation, and our exposition (where people come in and buy directly from our students). We’ve also had lots of visitors… Ben and Dorcas Sawatzky, Paul and Gillian Robinson, Arnold and Mary Ann Hicks, Uncle Norman and Nancy, Mike and Leann Dingman and Sandy and Susy Bell!!!  Thanks to each one of you for coming… sharing with us… and encouraging us!!!

Anyhow… this is what I stared writing almost 2 months ago…  Sorry!

These weeks ahead of us are pretty crazy…  This Friday, a 10 day international expo/fair starts… where El Jordán has the privilege of participating.  (The fair has a pavilion that is dedicated to social work – which is where we are given a booth.) This is a great opportunity for our girls to sell their products… and it is also a great boost to their esteem… knowing the stuff they made is going to be sold in the famous, annual “Feria Expo”.  Please pray:  that the girl’s products sell well…  They are learning to work honestly with their hands and to live a correct life before God.  Pray that our kids who have dedicated themselves to working honestly will be blessed by God for their obedience and effort… and that they’ll be even more eager to keep on working…

Also pray for the volunteers who are setting up and tending to the stand.  Normal activities continue at El Jordán…  With the Fair open from 5 p.m. until midnight or 1 or 2 a.m., it makes for really long days…  Pray for strength for all of us…

(A little note… We did really well at the fair… averaging about $120 US a night… it was our best year ever.  We were disappointed when we were allotted a really small space because with more students and a wider variety of products each year we need more room.  Anyhow… the day the fair opened, the people from the adjoining stand decided not to participate… and we were given first option to spread our things out…  Very nice.  Its always exciting, especially for the students who help man the booth, to see people come by, appreciate and buy something they have made… )

On to a different subject…

Something that has been on my mind lately is repentance.   We have been looking closely at this topic in my Bible Study with the newer girls over the last couple weeks…  Because it is an essential ingredient for salvation, I want to make sure they understand.  It isn’t just saying sorry… even if you cry and seem really sad…  It is more than knowing that something is sin and offensive to God… It involves a change in direction… confessing, leaving sin behind and doing what is right before God.

In 2 Corinthians 7:9-11 it talks about he difference between “crocodile tears” and true repentance… and the fruits of each one…  The first only tightens the noose around the neck while the second brings LIFE and cleanliness…

Last week, the girls started talking about how they have changed since coming to El Jordán and learning about the Bible.  Monica shared that the other day she went to buy fruit in the market with a 10 boliviano bill… The little old fruit vendor gave her change for 20 bolivianos…  Monica walked two blocks with the fruit and the extra money.  She knew the money wasn’t hers… and knew what she should do… but it was a struggle because she could’ve used that money for her own needs…  She stopped at the corner… something wouldn’t let her continue.  She turned around and walked back to the fruit stand.  The lady looked a bit worried when she saw Monica, “But I gave you back your change!”  When Monica gave back the money and explained what happened, the fruit vendor was so happy -  that was her savings for the day.  The lady gave Monica a couple of nice oranges…and repeated, “thank you, thank you, thank you”. 

Monica said that she couldn’t believe how happy she felt inside for turning around, and doing what was right.  Her daughter was with her, and learned a good lesson that day.

Some of my other girls shared similar experiences – where they recognized that what they were doing was wrong… and did what was right… Telling the truth when they had been lying…  and so on.  The high road isn’t the easiest… but it sure is the best.  If we want to be followers of our Master, we have to “deny ourselves, pick up our cross and follow Him.”

About a week ago, on Thursday, Marco and I got a phone call…  There was a girl we knew, very sick in the State hospital.   Her boyfriend/partner is a Peruvian man in jail…  Angélica had lived in jail with him and her son for 7 years.  During that time, no one ever heard of or met her family.  She was completely alone… except for “Taca Taca” (her partner) and Michael (her son).  He didn’t have any family or friends outside of jail either… so when the authorities evacuated her to the hospital “Taca Taca” was desperate to find someone to help…  In Bolivia, if you have a patient in a hospital, a family member (or someone!) HAS to be there to buy any medication (or syringes, surgical gloves, micropore tape, IV fluids, electrodes, catheters or whatever!!!) the doctors might ask for.  Patients can die if there isn’t someone to look out for them.

Angélica’s situation was further complicated when they diagnosed her with AIDS.  There is still very much of a fear and ignorance in dealing with AIDS… and in a hospital situation, AIDS patients are often ostracized and not well cared for.

Other women from jail (wives) were taking turns caring for Angélica.  When we arrived at the hospital that night we were met with a sad sight…  How she had changed since the last time we saw her!!!  Angélica had already slipped into a coma… her breathing was very labored.  Her tattoos were now distorted from the extra skin that hung on her bones…  Marco and one of Angelica’s friends went to the pharmacy… so I stayed back…  They say people in comas can often still hear although they can’t respond… so I began sharing with Angélica about God’s love for each and everyone one of us… it doesn’t matter what we might have done.  I talked to her about repentance and salvation.

All of a sudden, Angélica started moving... and making noises as if she desperately wanted to say something.  I began getting a bit worried…more so when she started to convulse.  I went looking for a nurse… and they sent me off to buy some diazepam and syringes. 

A Christian lady from jail showed up for the late night shift… and together we started praying.  The day before, she had called a Pastor to come to the hospital...and apparently, Angélica made a decision to put her trust in Christ. 

Marco and I stayed until about midnight… leaving our number with the lady to call, just in case… The nurse gave her opinion that Angélica would probably hang on for several more days.

At 1:30 a.m. we got a call to say that Angélica had peacefully passed away minutes before…  The lady had been reading her Bible out loud… dozed off… and when she woke up – Angélica was gone… leaving such a peaceful look on her face… and a sweet smile.

In Bolivia, people have to be buried within 24 hours… There is also the custom of a wake – where people accompany the dead person, all night, until they are buried.  Because Angélica didn’t have any family – well, we had to make the arrangements… Who would come to the wake?  By that time it was about 4 in the morning… and we dropped by one of Angélica’s old “stomping grounds” to let her friends – prostitutes and transvestites – know that she had passed away.

With only a couple hours of sleep, I went to my Bible Study with the girls at El Jordán.   We were still talking about repentance... so I told them about Angélica.  A girl – only 25 years old who had been a prostitute and done many other  bad things… lived in jail with a criminal boyfriend… died of AIDS… …SO SAD… and yet… repentance changes everything!  God’s grace and mercy are so amazing!!!  Wow… God’s grace and forgiveness who lovingly took the broken pieces of Angélica’s shattered life – a life that for most didn’t seem worth the bother – and gave her in return, NEW LIFE… life eternal.  A life so blackened and distorted with sin… washed whiter than snow with Christ’s blood shed on the cross in payment for our sins.  Angélica who never really had a home here on earth, only the jail or the streets… now has found her dwelling in God’s presence.

There was complete silence, and wide eyes, as I talked about Angélica that morning…  The importance and power of repentance renewed in me… and made clear to my girls.  As amazing as repentance is in a situation like that of Angélica – it is even more so in a life that has the opportunity to make that change in direction here on earth…experience the new life God gives… a be a light and a testimony to others around them.

 

A little note on the side… please pray for 7 year old Michael… who was left without a mom… living in jail… We brought him home the other day…  he is such a smart little guy – but you can see how he has been influenced by his surroundings.

Continuing on the topic of  change in direction – but with a different meaning…

I need to tell you about the place we had for our boys/men’s ministry.  Quite a few of you have asked what happened after the neighbors banded together to oppose the idea of having our boy’s workshop in their neighborhood.  The boys’ shop was moved into my old apartment at El Jordan so that they could continue their classes while we tried to figure something out…  it is only a temporary solution because the space, atmosphere and air circulation is just not adequate… 

We had a couple possibilities – like trading the house we had use of - for a place closer to El Jordán… but… the places that wanted to trade were horrible… and the place we thought was great (three empty lots right in a row – just a block away from El Jordan) wanted to possibly sell but not trade.  The other option was to return to the first place and fight for our right to function there… but… knowing the deep rooted opposition there is, even if we won the battle legally, Marco and the boys might always have to pay the price – with being scapegoats for any problem or crime in the area.  …and that is a price we weren’t willing to pay.  We want a place that is  theirs… a place where they feel welcome and free to change… without being reminded by the stares or scorn of the neighbors of “what they once were”.  I always tell the kids… the disgrace is not “once having been…” whatever the accusation may be… the shame is to keep doing those things…  

Anyhow… when the door kept closing on the possibility of us returning to the original workshop, the mission went ahead and sold it to other people that won’t have problems with the neighbors…  I have to admit, it wasn’t easy for me to move all the machines and furniture out of the workshop... back into storage until God provides the right place.  It wasn’t easy to tell Ronald and Sandra (our caretakers) that they had to find somewhere else to live…  nor was it easy to hand back the keys… 

It meant we were back at square one…  There has been a change in direction – although not in our firm decision to work with the boys and men… More than ever, we are convinced of the necessity of working with them… The work with the girls will never be able to flourish completely without working with FAMILIES…  We need to find a place where we can do that.  We thought that the Pororo house was a great solution – because it is close to El Jordan, it is big enough and because it was a mission property there was a possibility of it changing hands without costing us market price.

When I start worrying about how much lots of land cost around El Jordan… and how much it costs to build… I have to stop… and remind myself that one – this is God’s thing.  Two – He has provided for El Jordán up until now in such amazing ways… He CAN (and should be) trusted…  I need to wait for His timing and direction.  Why did all this have to happen?  I don’t know…  maybe to show us the interest that the boys DO have in a program like this… that there is a desperate need and validity to it…  that it is worth taking this next step… even though it seems like such an overwhelming step…

Please pray with us about this situation…

·         that God would guide us – in His timing and will in all of this… that we would know what we are supposed to do…

·         for the boys that are a bit scattered right now after the graduation…  Some of the boys are working… others we aren’t too sure where or how they are…

Please pray for a new place for the work shops for El Jordan…  When we write up the idea of our project, we’ll send it to you so you can understand more fully what we have in mind for our boys…

Some of the things that are happening here… Tomorrow (November 15th) Medin Johnson gets here from Kansas City, MO to make thousands and thousands of cookies… She is amazing…  she has helped us in this way for about 7 years now… She makes up delicious cookie plates that we give out to individuals and institutions that have helped El Jordan throughout the year.   Also, this Saturday we have a breakfast for local pastors and church leaders… to encourage them in their work…  and to challenge them with Christmas on the Streets (and for the Extreme Poor)...  We have Eulogio (our maintenance, security, gardener, everything man) recovering from an appendicitis operation… and when he recovers from this he needs a gallbladder operation!!!  He is so used to being physically active that it isn’t easy for him to be under the weather…  Heidi Gladman is back in Canada for a couple months… you can also pray that she has a great time with family and friends… and for the people who are filling in her shoes here while she is away…

Thanks so much… for your interest in what we are doing here… and we are truly thankful for your support – whether financial, in prayer or encouragement…  THANKS!!!

Lots of love,

Corina