• tired of being trapped by drugs or alcohol
• frightened by seeing their decadent lifestyle mirrored in their small child
• hoping for a free handout or an easy way out of their troubles
• a dead child in their arms
• needing a listening ear, a word of advice or someone who cares…
• wanting money…
• caught in a difficult situation and not knowing how to get out…
• wanting something different, but not knowing what nor where to begin…
• and so many more hurts, scars and feelings of hopelessness…

 

The focus that we´ve tried to keep as we “walk alongside of” these people, is that GOD wants to do amazing things in their life… BUT first they need to get things right with HIM!!! Then, like the Israelites had to learn, getting things right with God isn´t a magical amulet to make all of our problems disappear… it is the beginning of a whole new life adventure of learning complete dependence on HIM… (I just heard a great illustration about riding a tandem bicycle with Jesus…

 

(http://www.inspirationalarchive.com/texts/topics/God/tandum.shtml if you feel like reading it…)

 

This year at El Jordán, we intentionally refocused our classes, service, outreach and Bible Studies on remembering what Christ did for us and having that in place, how our hearts should be overflowing with thankfulness, worship and service to HIM… (Hebrews 12:28)  Rather than getting wrapped up in our own lives… or in other people´s lives… CHRIST IS ALL!!! …everything SHOULD flow out of that vital fact…

 

Usually our “anniversary” at El Jordán is tacked on at the end of our “graduation”… we sing “Happy Birthday”, blow out the candle and eat cake…  We wanted this year to be different… where everything else took back burner to thanking and praising God… 15 years isn´t a “silver” or “golden” anniversary… but they are fifteen years where we can testify, without a doubt, of God´s faithfulness!!!

 

Our guest that arrived the earliest: 7 a.m. (got mixed up with p.m.)… and the guest who arrived from the farthest away: Jeanneth, our student who once again came the 18 hours on bus to celebrate with us…  There was a knot in my throat all day long with all the emotion… a letter just can´t contain it all…

 

Here are some highlights:

 

• family, who used to be volunteers or students, coming “home”… One of our first students, Liliana, isn´t making good choices at all right now… but her kids, who I probably haven´t seen for almost a decade, came to our anniversary, wow… in their faces I could catch glimpses of the toddlers and little kids I used to know… wow…

 

• Elias, who in Intensive Care had promised with his hand signals that he was going to be at our anniversary to give thanks to God… was… still thin, a bit pale… but alive, recovering… and thanking God… He gave his testimony of how he used to be so obstinate, but that God had taken him to a place where he had to recognize that it was ONLY BECAUSE OF GOD…  He called Mariela, who has never felt any self-worth, to be beside him, in front of 275 people, to publicly thank her…

 

• Having my brother, Bill and sister-in-law Jacqueline here from Canada… they were also here 15 years ago when we dedicated El Jordán to the Lord… Bill spoke for our anniversary and of course, did a great job…

 

• Singing with a roomful of El Jordán family, “Your faithfulness is great… Your faithfulness is incomparable…there is no one like you, my Blessed God, GREAT IS YOUR FAITHFULNESS…” while we saw pictures of God´s faithfulness in El Jordan… The great thing is that praise isn’t about sounding great or looking pretty… it’s about hearts lifting JESUS high… I don´t think there was a dry eye in the place… I actually don´t know, because my eyes and heart were overflowing…

 

• Almost 50 of our little kids (ages 3 to 11) dressed all in black, singing their hearts out… “We have SO MUCH, SO MUCH, SO MUCH, SO MUCH, SO MUCH, SO MUCH to thank God for…” They proudly sang  , jumped (Marlee 3 seconds behind everyone else, every single time!) and rapped (with their sunglasses on)…. all of the cares in the world disappeared, and everyone joyfully sang along, “We have SO MUCH to give thanks for…”  Amen!!!

 

• We gave all of our volunteers matching shirts so they could all come in uniform that night… When they were called up to the front, it was amazing to see them appear from everywhere… Wow… It is always a special treat to see the El Jordan team all together… we are blessed with so many freely sharing their time and talents with us… Only a few of us knew that the Mariachis were going to arrive in time to sing “Congratulations” at the end of our program… but we were ALL surprised when they walked in early… and ended up serenading our well-deserving volunteers!!!

 

The song we chose for our PowerPoint that showed an overview of the last 15 years was “The Creed”… (Please take a couple minutes to listen to it… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuDI-sk2nJU ) The pictures took us on a tour from 1998: visiting on the streets… 1999: getting our own place… 2000: renovations, 2001-2003: volunteers coming, classes starting, our first graduation, exposition, wedding, families being touched… 2004: the “place next door”, 2006: the walls of “Jericho” coming down… our new building going up… and 2011: the workshops “happening”… God´s fingerprints all over everything!!!

 

“I believe in God our Father, I believe in Christ the Son, I believe in the Holy Spirit, Our God is three in one…”  HE is the one who brought all the people together… who provided for every brick and tile… who changed our hearts and others… THANK YOU God the Father… Christ the Son… Holy Spirit… We are witnesses of YOUR might, faithfulness and mercy…  We praise and we thank YOU!

 

Going back to the Israelites… “and Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’” Joshua 4:20-22

 

This year, we´ve been “setting up stones” to remember what God has done for us… Volunteers and students have had a chance to write something that Christ has done for them on a “stone” (paper)… so that we can place them up on our wall… as a testimony of HIM…

 

Some of the stones:

 

“If only the walls of El Jordán could talk, they´d be my witnesses of how the Lord changed my life. Every corner, everything in this place, speaks of HIS love.  I can say that this is the place where I was born again to never more die, instead, be with my Heavenly Father and that is why I thank God for this precious place.  I pray that it never change, but that it keeps on cultivating God´s love.”
                              

 

“God brought me to this place so that I could learn more about Him. El Jordán taught me how to be a woman and a mother. I might not be the perfect mother or wife, but with the grace of God and His wisdom, my family is doing well. God is the center column of my home. Thank you to the marvelous people who taught me more about God each day.”
(Martha S. is now married, baptized, active in the local church… “graduated” out of our program and taught several classes this year…)

 

“God changed my life and has given me lots of happiness. He has given me many things. Thanks to Corina, I´ve learned to read the Bible, and learned about God. Thank you my God for having so much patience, bless Corina and help her a lot.”
(Carlota C. still has a long ways to go… but we see her heart softening as God works in her…)

 

“First of all, I am very thankful that God has given me the opportunity to know him and know that He loves me. He has blessed me with my two daughters, my family, my mother, and my sisters. In spite of my errors and stumbles, I know that He is still with me and always waiting for me. I am thankful because His faithfulness with me is great. He protects me and my family, knows our needs, and hears our prayers.”
(Valentina, age 20)

 

“God rescued me from my addictions and the depression I had because of so many bad things happening, and little by little He is changing me. May the Lord continue working in my life so that I can keep changing. Thanks to El Jordan, and all the volunteers for teaching me… Here I have found a new family. Thank you and many blessings.”
(Lorena C… has been coming to El Jordán for 2 yrs.)

 

“I am thankful to God for everything He has given me, for my children and for changing my life. I am glad that I know God.”
(Elizabeth V. started coming to El Jordan in 2015)

 

“When I started learning about God my life changed completely. I no longer desire to drink alcohol and now my daughters don’t see me drunk anymore.”
 (Monica Q., coming to El Jordán for 1 year)

 

“My life changed completely when I started coming to El Jordan. There I met marvelous people who taught me that there was someone caring for me in every moment, and that person is Jesus. For this reason I am thankful for El Jordan, because they taught me about the Lord. Now God is a part of my life and my family.”
 (Jenny S, mom of 5, student with us for 8 years)

 

“I am very thankful that God showed me a place as special as El Jordan where He has taught me so many things. First of all, to love God and to love my family.“
 (Veronica C. single mom of 4)

 

“God has done many things for me, he is always faithful... He has given me a job using skills I learned in El Jordan. He also gave me a house. I am very thankful for everyone who helped me. Thank you.”
(Marina, one of the first girls to be graduated out of our program, she still comes to teach and help…)

 

“Thank you Lord for opening El Jordán.”
(Jairo, 10 year old son of one of our unstable moms…)

 

“El Jordán taught me about the Word of God, and I changed my ways. I learned to not lie, to be a person who does good, to not walk in bad paths, to be responsible with my family and always go to the Word of God. Here I learned how to cook, bake cakes and make cards. I want to keep reading the Bible and I ask that God would give me wisdom. I give thanks to Corina and all the volunteers. They mean a lot to me.”
(Eisar has been coming on and off over quite a few years… she has many different struggles...)

 

Those and more are the stones that mark our walls…

 

Today we look forward at a new calendar year… remembering God´s goodness and mercy in our lives… knowing that He is the same yesterday, today and forever… and fully expecting Him to continue to be at work in and through our lives…

 

What stones have you set up?  Have you taken the time to look back at the last week, month, year or decade (or fifteen years) to be reminded of what God has done?

 

In the midst of our darkest day, loneliest hour and most frightful storm may we be able to look at the stones we´ve set up, continue to praise His name and never doubt His faithfulness…

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

 

Thank you for being a part of the ministry here in Bolivia… we love and appreciate you!!!

 

BECAUSE HE IS FAITHFUL,
Corina for Marco (Keiden and Marlee)…

 

(I´ll soon write about Christmas on the Streets 2015!)