In our Bible studies at El Jordán so far this year we have been looking at Old Testament stories… looking for Jesus´ name whispered in each one… Several weeks ago in our class, we were with the Israelites… being freed from their slavery in yet again… the manna, the fresh water… God´s protection and guidance. We started thinking about how many times we´re the same as the Israelites – so quickly forgetting what God has done… reverting to our wandering independence and complaints…

We now have a routine of sharing where we saw God´s Hand in our lives that week – a practice to help us NOT FORGET… The first week we did it, three of the girls could barely wait to share their God sightings…

ANA GABRIELA… it had been rainy all week… their yard had filled with water… She and Juan Pablo started working with their three oldest kids to “pave” their yard with broken bricks so it wouldn´t be so mucky… Little Daniel (a year and a half) was sitting in a stroller so he wouldn´t get in the way… 7 year old Asael went to check on the baby when he realized that Daniel was being really quiet… and found him motionless and blue… He screamed for help… Ana Gabriela started screaming too… because she didn´t know what to do… 10 year old Jose Armando quickly cleaned his muddy hands on his shirt and picked up his little brother just like his mom one day had taught him “if one of your siblings ever chokes on something…” He turned Daniel over, slanted him downwards and hit his back… a marble popped out… and Daniel started crying… Everyone cried, thanking God for saving little Daniel´s life…

Almost two years ago, Ana Gabriela learned First Aid at El Jordán, and had gone home and taught her kids… (THANK YOU PAUL ROBINSON!!!! God used you to save a life in Bolivia!) The God of the Israelites is at work in lives today!

MONICA took up where Ana Gabriela left off, telling us about her week… Accusations had pounded in her head… reminding her of what she had done… who she was… and who she wasn´t… She wasn´t worth it… she had no desire to get up and keep trying, no desire to get up, cook, clean and look after her family… After being off the streets for years she was struggling with temptations to give up everything and go back to what she used to be like… At night, she´d wake up countless times…the thoughts disquieting and tormenting her… Finally she couldn´t stand it any longer… She cried out to God… confessing her sins and asking Him to forgive her… she fell asleep crying… and didn´t wake up until 6 a.m. It was still rainy and dreary out… but she jumped out of bed, ready to cook and scrub her laundry… the weight of her sin no longer pulling her down. “It was like I had been carrying a big burden on my back… and all of a sudden it just fell off… That is what God did for me this week…”

YESSENIA is 22 or 23 with 5 small children and has been coming to El Jordán for a couple months… The father drinks almost daily, not providing for the kids… Yessenia´s mom gave them a shack made out of wood and tin behind her house but she can see her grandkids sick or hungry and not seem to care… Yessenia was the third one to share about “God´s hand” that week… The rain and the wind came through the slits and holes in her little shack… everything was damp and miserable… the despair magnified by her frustrations with her boyfriend and mom… She felt like she couldn´t make it through another night… “Please give me another place to live, God!” But that was impossible… Yessenia didn´t have enough to give her kids tea and bread for supper or buy her little girl shoes for school… let alone pay for a month´s rent… But God´s arm isn´t too short! An uncle dropped by their house that day, “Yessenia, there´s an empty room at my house… why don´t you bring your kids to stay!” The father was too drunk to care… he stayed in the little shack… but Yessenia took her kids to stay in a brick room that night… drier… and brighter… hope flickering… because she had seen God´s hand in HER life!

My desire for “our girls” at El Jordán is that they get to know CHRIST… not just in a clean, clearly defined box… That they might sing, with all of their INMOST BEING, with David in Psalm 103… “Praise the Lord! …and forget not ALL of His benefits!!!” That they might KNOW that in the same way God made Himself known to Moses… He wants to make Himself known to us today!

Psalm 103

1 Praise the LORD, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the LORD, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The LORD works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:
8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
15 The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting
the LORD’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children—
18 with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.
19 The LORD has established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Praise the LORD, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.
21 Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.
22 Praise the LORD, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.

So... how have YOU seen God´s hand in your life today… this week? Did you praise Him for it? Let´s not forget!!!

Tomorrow I will keep on writing on how God´s hand has been on our lives… on the ministry here…. Have a great Sunday!!! Happy Father´s Day!!!

Lots of love, Corina (for Marco, Keiden and Marlee)