First of all, I would like to ask for your prayers for our El Jordan family.... over the last 6 weeks, we have lost two very dear volunteers... (Susana our bread/baking teacher... Maria Elena our crochet teacher) while multiple volunteers have lost their mom, dad or family members...

Please pray for comfort and hope for the family and friends left behind... These losses affect our students as well... because these volunteers were much more than teachers to our girls, they were like family.... We also buried Mirtha, a lady who came for the first time to El Jordan at our "Christmas at Home" outreach... We had been helping her and her two boys (9 and 11) through this crisis time... but she passed away suddenly a week or two ago... leaving behind her two boys... In all of the 20 some years on the streets, no one knew anything about any family members.... Pray for her boys, Jorge and Jesus.... Another lady who came as a student for a short while at El Jordan long ago, at 32 years old was just left a widow - with 5 children (Clarix 15, Randy 12, Diana 6, Esteysi and Deysi 13 month old twins). There is so much pain.... so much sadness... so much need... Please pray for us at El Jordan to have wisdom in knowing how to serve the Lord during this time.... The crisis in Bolivia is far from over... and I only pray for God´s grace and mercy on Bolivia....

Pray also for our families.... the majority of our moms at El Jordan live day to day… so when the lockdown hit with the Covid crisis, our families were among the most vulnerable. We lived through quarantine for over 3 months, and during all that time, God has faithfully provided for the “daily bread” for a total of about 100 families, a home for mentally challenged boys plus many others scattered along the way! (who are in some way related to our ministry - present and past students, contacts from the streets, volunteers who need food). The country is trying to move towards a more “flexible” quarantine, but again, our group of families will be some of the ones who suffer the most because there won´t be many opportunities for them to earn their day´s sustenance from selling things on the streets…

We feel like we are living the story of the widow from Zarephath, where we keep pouring out the oil and flour, and it never runs out!!
Our families are saying like Job, “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.” There are so many testimonies of our ladies not having anything to feed their children, and God showing up in so many ways to provide. Some husbands who were never interested in God, are now beside their families, praying… others at least are recognizing that God exists. Please pray that the Holy Spirit continues to work.

Another beautiful thing we have seen is our ladies learning to trust God with tomorrow… Rather than hoarding their food supplies, many are sharing with others in need, reminding me of one of our theme verses: Ephesians 2:28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. God doesn´t just want to rescue their lives from the pit to live a comfortable life, to get out of drugs, drinking and delinquency… He wants them to live out HIS heart, looking out for those in need.

One of our ladies, Alejandra, is a single mom of three little girls… She has only been off the streets for two years…. This is something she wrote on her WhatsApp status: There are days when I worry about what my girls are going to eat and when there is enough food to eat, I feel bad knowing that while my girls are eating until they are full, there are other children who don´t even have a crumb to put into their mouths…. But today I feel happy. If God has provided for us, why not provide for those who need more than us!?

hrough donations, we are able to help our El Jordan families with some basic supplies…. This particular week, they were able to choose what they needed most from a list of basic supplies – like rice, lentils, oats, sugar, oil, flour etc…. Alejandra chose oats among other things…. And she phoned me up the following day to ask if I would be able to deliver cookies to people in neighbourhoods that were really, really poor. I never expected her to have made SO MANY COOKIES…. I think maybe if I was her and wanted to share, I might have only made a few recipes….but she made FIFTEEN RECIPES of cookies to give away! Wow… God uses these ladies from El Jordan to keep teaching me so many lessons.

Please be praying for Alejandra who hasn´t been well since shortly after the cookie incident… She possibly has Covid and ask you to pray for her health… and for her three daughters: Katherine (9), Lili (4) and Zoe (1).

Here are some notes that our ladies have written:

I want to thank the Lord for the blessings He has been sending us in
these very difficult days we have been going through. Also, thank
YOU for supporting us, giving us the courage to keep on going. Thank you for remembering us without even knowing us!! I hope one day I can meet you and thank you personally! All of my family is thankful. Truly, we feel very happy knowing there are people who care for us… MONICA M.

I want to first thank God because He never abandoned us and thanks to you for the amazing help you have given us – vegetables and groceries. It has been such a help for my family. I am very thankful because even though you are far away, you have helped us so much. Thank you very much for so many blessings you have shared with us… JESSICA A.

Thank you very much to those people who helped me in this very difficult time. It is incredible for me to see how God takes care of my family. Thanks to God and you, I have food…. Thank you for your good hearts…. Today my children and I are going to eat well!!! Thank you VERY much! Every day God surprises me by taking care of me, and through others, He tells me He is always with me. HEIDY ALEJANDRA

Thank you for being a part in what God is doing here. We appreciate you!

May God bless you richly!!!

Corina (for Marco, Keiden and Marlee ... and all of our team and families at El Jordan!)

Marco & Corina Clements Soria
WhatsApp: 591-776-90452
El Jordan: www.KidsInBolivia.org