There are a couple people I would like you to pray specifically for:
Yesterday BABY LEYLA was taken into the hospital again and operated on for the second time in her short weeks of life… There was a complication in the connection to the colostomy bag… Although not life threatening, this has been disappointing and scary for Ana Karen… Please pray for them…
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When someone puts their faith in Jesus Christ, believing that He paid the price for their ransom, they pass from darkness to light… from death to life… from lost to found… from Satan´s family to God´s family… from guilty to forgiven… Amazing…
One of our students, LAURA, new this year to El Jordan, came to know Christ in a church who actively reaches out to the lost in the city… One of their ministries is going into brothels, evangelizing and “bringing out” those who want to turn their back on sin and follow Christ… She spent 25 years of her life in everything from streets, drugs, alcohol and prostitution… She has a very clear testimony of what Christ did for her… and has made a firm decision to live honestly… and to actively serve God. A single mom, she barely makes enough money selling juice and pastries on a street corner to provide for her family… yet she sacrificed three days to come with us during our “Friendship on the Streets” (Christmas in July)… She wanted to go under the bridges, in the markets, down to the corners where she used to stand to share with her friends (with her words and life) what God had done in her… and what He could do in them… (The three times, she also brought along a 5 litre thermos of coffee or juice to share… another sacrifice…) Pray for Laura as she puts roots down in her faith, puts into practice what she is learning and as God continues to mold her into the person He wants her to be… God is working in her character and in her responsibility as a mother…
Laura is passionate about sharing her faith and supporting ladies who are leaving addictions and prostitution behind. Unfortunately, it’s in this second part where her church is weak… at walking beside those new born believers to encourage, help and be family… So, in the last month, she brought two of those ladies to us…
Both have given up earning enough money to “easily” provide for their family – and now earn only 30 to 50 bolivianos a day for being kitchen help… not enough to feed a family for a day let alone cover bus fares, school supplies, any health issues etc… Their own relatives begin to reject them – because they become “burdens” rather than “financial help”…
Both Lorena and Eliana have felt at home and cared for at El Jordan… They leave encouraged, strengthened to continue making steps forward in their difficult journey…
Today I want to ask you to pray for ELIANA. She is 37 years old… a widow… and single mom to 6 kids ranging from 3 or 4 to 16… On Thursday, after class, I was finishing up talking with someone when I was told, “Eliana is waiting to talk to you…” Oh dear! I wanted, needed to go home… “I´ll tell her she needs to come back tomorrow when I can give her more time…” I thought…
One look at the sadness and desperation etched on her face… and I knew I couldn´t say that… Her eyes were red and puffy from crying… “Tell me what is happening…”
…her job as a kitchen help had ended…
…her oldest daughter (pregnant) had just run away… she had been the one who helped Eliana with the younger kids…
…food had run out…
…her mom no longer was lending Eliana her stove and gas tank…
… her mom told her, “I´m not your mom… you are no longer my daughter…”
Tears streamed down Eliana´s cheeks. Shoulders fallen… no strength left to keep on fighting… tempted to go back to who she was before… yet not wanting to give up and lose everything she had gained… It seemed like there was no way out… The rope was fraying badly… close to snapping… Yet the Bible says, “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice…”
I didn´t know what to say… how to help… I prayed with her and asked her to come back the next day and we´d see what God was going to do… She could come into our cards class in the morning (to earn a bit of money) and we´d go from there… We gathered up some groceries (that didn´t need to be cooked!) to send home with her… a little money to buy her kids supper…
What did God do on Friday? Eliana could see hope again… That night, a lady from a church tied to El Jordán said they had a little brick room where Eliana could live in, free – in exchange for “looking after it”… but it needs a bathroom… Another friend is trying to get a gas tank for the family. We haven´t been able to tell Eliana yet because she pawned her phone to feed her kids…
She is supposed to come to El Jordan on Monday… PLEASE PRAY FOR ELIANA… * strength to do what is right… * that she will see God´s hand providing for her and her kids… * that she will feel God´s hand underneath her, sustaining her… not letting her go… * a job… * the room that has been offered to Eliana is on the other side of town from where she is now (2 hours on bus…but closer to El Jordan)… she´d need to transfer her kids to a closer school… Please pray for all those details…
Thank you!
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Please also pray for MATILDE… she was on the streets for most of her life… (she is close to 40)… She has three daughters that she never raised… one on the streets… one has a family… and one is in a children´s home…
She came to El Jordan two years ago… still very much connected to the streets and addictions… but she wanted to learn to read and write… Now she has been coming to Bible studies… She and her boyfriend have been moving towards getting off the streets… renting their own room… gradually buying a mattress… a blanket… a bed… a chair… She got pregnant… and was actually excited about getting little things ready for him…
The baby was born a week ago with a cleft lip… the boyfriend has been drinking and drinking… only one sister has shown support to Matilde… and we need YOU to pray… * that Matilde will bond with her baby boy… * that she will resist any temptation to abandon or give her baby away… * that this will serve to separate Matilde even more from addictions and drugs rather than pushing her back… * that this will draw Matilde towards God rather than away from Him…
Thank you for praying!!!! Have a wonderful day!!!
Because HE is faithful…
Corina for Marco, Keiden and Marlee…
…and Ana Karen, Leyla, Laura, Eliana, Matilde and the baby boy…