I Only Continue Serving

Sometimes miracles happen in a split second.  Other times, they are years in the making.  When God is at work, it is always surprising and always just on time.  Read this story and be encouraged that God is moving, even in seemingly 'hopeless' situations!!

God is always surprising me, confirming that things don’t happen in my timing or in my way.  

One of our young women, who had been a part of our Adolescents group, had always had a rude and rebellious attitude.  She would come to the Social Work site wanting things to be done in her way, arguing with everyone, and with no interest in hearing the Word of God. 

I would often ask myself, Why does she come to the Site?  Or, I would say to myself, She’s not going to change, it would be better if she wouldn’t even come because she is too big of a problem for me. 

But, I understood that God was teaching me the mission for which He had sent me, and that was not to be comfortable, but to help establish His Kingdom in El Callejon.  And so, I dressed myself with His patience, and continued to work with her. 

About two weeks ago, she came to the Site and said to me, Daisy, I want to be like you.  I didn’t really pay much attention, because I know her so well.  She said to my work companion, Kim, She doesn’t want to teach me. 

She went on to tell me, I want to learn everything you know.  I’m going to come every day.  I want to be your secretary.  You don’t have to pay me anything, I just want to learn. 

I told her, This is not about what you want.  You are going to have to have patience, treat people well and serve them. 

She told me, I have been learning this.  I have patience now.  She said this with a submissive attitude. 

And so, she has been helping the women with their crafts and projects. 

She told me that before she would read the Bible, but she didn’t understand anything she read.  Now, however, she reads her Bible every day, and she cannot stop reading it, and she is understanding what she reads. 

She also shared with me that God has also been teaching her through things that have happened in her life.  I was sincerely surprised. 

And, I am learning to not give up on anyone, because God will move who needs to be moved.  I only need to continue serving Him.  Amen! 

Your prayers for the guidance of the Holy Spirit continue to be a huge blessing and help for me.  Your servant in Christ, Daisy

Further Sewing Lessons

Yesterday we started Week Two of our sewing classes.  Carie demonstrated how to properly take in the waists of pants.  Many of the women out there know about that frustrating ‘gap’ in the back of pants that fit fine through the hips and thighs, but are too big in the waist.  It was a complicated alteration, with lots of ‘life’ lessons!

Lesson One:  There’s a lot underneath those seams!  It was amazing how much fabric was folded up and sewn into the seams.  As Carie stitch-ripped, more and more fabric unfolded.  How like our lives it is.  It is easy to look smooth and put together until stress or problems begin to unravel us.

When people start to seek God, we need to remember that there is a lot that needs to be changed.  One opening leads to other hidden sin.  Cultural pressures, family expectations, personality and preferences, all start to come to light.  This is an important process, and it can become overwhelming as more and more is revealed.  We need to walk alongside, helping encourage each other as the Holy Spirit shows us areas that need the healing ‘alteration’ of the Gospel.    

Lesson Two:  Alterations take patience.  At one point Carie got impatient and tugged on the fabric.  The result?  A tear she had not intended.  She had to do extra work folding and arranging the seam.  It was a good reminder that even those with lots of experience can sometimes become frustrated. 

When we see the women taking steps backward instead of forward, we can lose patience and try to force them along.  The result is not pretty, and adds even more time and pain to the process.

Lesson Three:  It’s all about finishing.  At one point, the back seams were all ripped out, the pants completely undone, stray threads and fabric everywhere.  To an untrained eye, the pants were ruined.  And, in a sense, they were.  No one could use them in this half-fixed state.  Even though a lot of work had been done, there was more to do to finish the job.

This is why long-term discipleship is so important.  We share the Gospel, and people are ‘undone’ as they confront their need for a Savior.  That is an incredible first step.  But, if we do not commit to walking with them, or connecting them with others who can, we have not helped them finish the race. 

How many times have people lost hope and turned away from the truth they enthusiastically embraced?  The Great Commission says we are to ‘teach them to obey all that I have commanded you’.  The teaching is often a lot of work, with plenty of backwards steps.  But, without it, the job is just half-done.  We take heart in the promise of Jesus that He will be with us as we go, all the way to the end.

It is a blessing and encouragement to see the women learning new skills.  We pray that as the week continues, we will be open to what God is showing us… about alterations, and ‘sew’ much more!

Getting Our "Sew" On!

After two awesome weeks of Spring Teams, the blessings continue to flow with a two-week Sewing Class!  A wonderful sister-in-Christ, and good friend of the Social Work Site, felt the Holy Spirit encouraging her to accept an invitation from Daisy to come and teach alterations to some of our women. 

Well… encouraging isn’t quite the right word.  According to Carie, He ‘bugged her’ and wouldn’t let her say No.  And, we’re so thankful! 



Learning how to properly pin before starting to sew.

Along with Carie is her sixteen year old daughter, Kaitlyn, who has been studying (and speaking!) Spanish for many years.  She’s doing an awesome job of translating for her mom!  Another friend, LaVonne, has been helping keep the little ones entertained while their moms are learning.

We have two groups, a small group (3-4) of our Young Women in the mornings, and a much larger group (12-15) of Adult Women in the afternoons.  We’ve spent the week learning the ins-and-outs of altering pants and jeans.  Next week we'll tackle tops and blouses.

A family affair!  Sister Rosy and Alice getting help
from Carie while Alice's daughter watches.

The women are learning what can, and cannot, be altered.  They are learning the correct way to alter.  That doesn’t always mean it’s the fastest way!  It takes patience to pin everything before sewing, but it saves time later ripping out bad stitches. 

Some of the women were in a class with Carie in the old Social Work Site three years ago.  Others are new, and have never used a sewing machine.  No matter their skill level, those willing to listen and learn are already 

The afternoon group taking notes.

showing improvements. 

As important as all of this is, for us, the most important thing is how all of this connects to the Gospel.  One young woman brought in a very nice pair of pants that had been sitting unused for an entire year, because she didn’t know how to take them in to fit her slim frame. 

Daisy used this as a jumping off place to talk with the women about their lives.  How many of you have things in your lives that aren’t right, aren’t fitting, that seem useless?  God can help us to fix those things, but we need to do our part. 

Nanci's smile says it all.  First time on the machine, but thanks
to Carie & Kaitlyn's tutoring, she hemmed a pant leg!

We need to fix them the right way.  That isn’t always the easiest way.  The world can tell us that it’s fine to just do it badly, but we are working as to the Lord and not for men (Colossians 3:23). 

Our prayer is that through these classes, the women can learn a skill which can help their families, and possibly even be a small home business.  More than this, we pray they can learn to see the value in doing things correctly, whether sewing a hem, caring for their children and companions, or learning more about Jesus.

The Holy Spirit's Perfect Balance

Today one of the young women of the community, who used to be one of the girls in our group of adolescents, came to the Social Work Site.  As happens with many of the visits, we weren’t expecting her because it was a time when we were working with the outreach team that is with us this week.  She was very sad, and wanted to talk. 

We only had a moment because we needed to leave with the team to walk in the community.  But, she really wanted to keep on talking. 

One of the challenges of our work is trying to attend to the needs of both the students and the people of the community at the same time, while seeking where the Holy Spirit guides us. 

We told this young woman that we would go to visit her home that afternoon.  And, the Holy Spirit definitely made the perfect balance! 

When we went to visit, this young woman told us some of the struggles she was going through.  She then told us that one of the things she would like to ask God is that He would help her change her life. 

One of the outreach participants (and team leader) shared that when she had been young, she had made bad decisions in her life, and this had brought a lot of difficulty and misery. 

She shared that only following Jesus had changed her life, and also the life of her daughter and of her grand-daughter.  She said that this could happen for this young woman, if she would follow Jesus.  She told her that Jesus would help her, but she needed to do her part, and invite Him to work in her life.

She then invited her to come to the Social Work site later this week, to listen to a lesson that she was going to share.  The young woman said yes, she would come.  We hope that she is going to do it, and we know that this visit was a part of the Holy Spirit’s plans.

Please pray that this young mother will come to hear the lesson on Thursday morning.  Please pray for the outreach participant as she shares the lesson she prepared back in the United States.  Praise God for the way He prepared this encounter before she even stepped on the plane!

The Holy Spirit truly is at work, both in the lives of those who come on outreaches and those who live in El Callejon.  What a blessing to share in His amazing plans.  What a comfort to know that He knows all of our needs, and arranges for just the perfect balance when we seek His guidance!

Please Pray!

From Daisy, Site Leader, El Callejon Social Work:

About a week ago I found out that one of the boys of the El Callejon, who is only 11 years old, was chewing tobacco.  I called him aside and talked with him, explaining how dangerous this was for his health.  I thought I would look for a way to help him.

Now, it is much more urgent.  Yesterday I found out that two more boys, also 11 years old, are frequently chewing tobacco.  I asked them to come and meet with me at noon, when they finished school.  They came, and of course, since they did, this makes me feel more responsible for helping them. 

I looked for some shocking but real photos of what happens when someone chews tobacco.  My intention was to scare them, if that could help.  My first tool was to try and give them a sharp awareness of the danger.  I asked them if they wanted this to happen to them. 

Horrified, they told me that no, they didn’t.  But, I assured them that this could happen to them, because they were chewing tobacco like the people in the photos. 

My heart broke when one of the boys said to another, “We need to pray.  Do you want to pray?”   In a way, either conscious or unconscious, they could see that only God could help them. 

With this, I led them, with all of my heart, to pray that God would enter their lives, but I told them that they also had to do so, with all of their heart.  We closed our eyes, and I listened to them repeat the invitation that Jesus enter their hearts. 

Before leaving the Social Work Site, we agreed that I would call them each week to see how things were going and that they would work day-by-day to stay away from the places and people who encouraged them to chew tobacco, and to replace the habit of chewing tobacco with chewing gum or a candy. 

You might be thinking that I cannot do everything, and I am aware of this, but when one says, “I can’t do everything” it can become a justification for doing nothing.

I ask you to pray specifically for the boys of the community of El Callejon, who will be the new generation of adolescents.

We know it can get overwhelming reading such heart-breaking stories.  It is easy to say, "What can I do?" and then do nothing.  But, we are told that the prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective (James 5:16b), and so we invite you to join us today in active prayer for El Callejon:

Please pray for the boys of El Callejon, especially these 11 year olds who have asked Jesus into their hearts. 

Please pray for the families of the community.  There is much brokenness and a lack of understanding of caring well for the developmental needs of the children.

Please pray against the spiritual darkness there which presses down, blocking out hope and perpetuating a feeling of helplessness and apathy. 

Please pray that God's grace and mercy would pour out, and that hardened hearts there would come to understand their need for Him. 

Please pray for Daisy, for the Holy Spirit's wisdom and power to move in her as she seeks ways to share His truth.

El Callejon Updates

We apologize for how long it's been since our last update.  It's not because things haven't been happening!  The Holy Spirit is working, and we know we are blessed by His call to us in El Callejon.   

The month of March was filled with wonderful teams from the U.S. who brought passion, enthusiasm and love during their time with us.  Each team was different, each team was wonderful, and each week we sensed the Holy Spirit at work.  And… each team was far too short at just one week! 

We are so thankful for those who can stay two weeks in the summer, but are equally blessed by those who make a choice to spend a week of hard-earned vacation, or a college spring break serving alongside us.  We pray many of them will find their way back to El Callejon one day!  In the meantime, we rejoiced and were refreshed by their partnership with us!

April has been a month without teams, but not without plenty to do.  The Panaderia has been slowly coming together, with a small group of women consistently working on honing their skills.  Although we would have liked to have a bit more participation, we trust that the Spirit is guiding this process, and it’s just the right size. 

Luz, who we’ve written about several times, is proving to be a good leader.  And… when she offers you some pan (bread) to buy, well, she doesn’t take ‘No’ for an answer!  She could have had a great career in Sales anywhere!

Our work with the Chiquitas (Little Girls) continues to focus on a Children’s Bible.  This week we watched a DVD of Jesus’ miracles, which we’ve been reading for the past several months.  It was wonderful to hear them recall many of the stories! 

Our two Adolescent groups have been challenged to decide it they truly desire to grow in Christ, or just want to come and hang out and do crafts.  We’ve still got work to do, of course, but it has been wonderful to watch them settling down a bit.  

Our theme verse for them is Psalm 119:9, which says, “How can a young person stay on a path of purity?  By living according to Your word.”  That is our prayer for them, that they would seek the truth of God’s word and in this way live a life of purity and peace.

The Pre-teens are growing up, and like that age group everywhere, seem to have one foot in childhood, one foot in adolescence.  It’s a joy to see them get excited about learning, and hearing them recite their Memory Verses is a highlight.  We pray these words of truth stay with them as they continue to mature.

Our Young Women have been quite inconsistent, which saddens us.  We know they have many things pulling on their time and attention, but as we continue to stress, if God is not our top priority, nothing else can function well.  We appreciate your prayers for these young women, and for us as we seek ways to connect God’s truth to their lives.

The Adult Women are going strong.  It remains our largest group, and it is a joy to watch them come each week.  We are looking forward to a possible ‘paseo’ (field trip) with them soon.  It’s fun for them to get to leave El Callejon and visit another part of their country.  We have a pulga (yard sale) this week to raise funds for transportation.  Please pray our day away will be a good, safe time.

Our Exercise class has been meeting twice a week.  We’re focused on our ‘core’ muscles, and also some stretching and yoga.  It’s a small group, but the women are doing well.  One shared that her back doesn’t hurt as much anymore!

Please pray for us as we continue to work with each of these groups.  Please pray for us as we prepare for summer teams, which begin May 20.  We have a full summer, but we know that God has hand-picked each student who will come, for His perfect purpose and glory. 

We also know He knows and love each person in El Callejon.  Please join us in lifting up this community to our loving Father!  Only in His Holy Spirit’s power can the people there (and everywhere!) meet our Savior, Jesus.

Pan Pics

Here are just a few pictures of the women's pan (bread) practice this past week.  Unfortunately, we don't have pictures of the finished product.  (We had some more 'oven issues' so the women brought the dough home to bake.) 

Some of the women told us their bread turned out delicious, others were impatient and didn't let it rise long enough, and their bread was like 'rocks'.  What a great lesson for us all!  When we try and rush ahead, instead of listening to God's directions, and waiting for His perfect timing, how often do we wind up with 'rock bread' instead of the deliciousness He desires for us?!

We'll continue meeting with them, ironing out details, and seeking the Holy Spirit's guidance at each step.  Thank you for praying with us!

Joemny measures ingredients while Carmen makes the flour 'volcano'.

Mixing the dry and wet ingredients.

Luz takes a turn at kneading the dough
while others look on, take notes and offer advice.

Rolling out the bread. 
In the DR people seem to prefer small individual sized rolls instead of
the loaf bread most Americans use for sandwiches.

Hope Rising

Flour, salt, yeast, water… in the proper hands, simple ingredients are elevated into delicious bread.  Last week, we got to see (and taste!) this firsthand. 

A professional baker from Santiago came on Monday, and was able to share a lot of technical details with the women.  It was good to learn more about the different kinds of flour, yeast and other ingredients available to be used. 

He showed them how to make Pan de Aqua (water bread) which is a simple and tasty white bread.  Our spring intern, Sarah, who is from New York state, said it well – it tastes like the inside of a NY Bagel. 

We had some ‘oven challenges’ in the form of not having all the parts we needed to hook up the gas.  We naively thought everything would come with the stove!  It didn’t.  Thankfully, we’ve learned to always have a Plan B (and maybe Plan C and D!) and so Sarah brought the raised dough back to the SI Base to be baked.

On Thursday Margarita, a woman who lives in a nearby community, came and showed us how to make her whole wheat bread.  Margarita juggles caring for her family and working outside the home.  She also cooks and cleans for her elderly father, attends church groups and English class.  She still makes time to bake and sell her bread almost every day. 

It was good for the women to hear her story, and to see that someone with responsibilities like them has made this work.

Again, we had a challenge, as the power was out, so the blender Margarita uses to soften the trigo (wheat) didn’t work.  We put it into the dough without blending, and hoped for the best. 

Just that morning we had finally got all the parts for the oven, and soon the Site was filled with the smell of delicious baking bread.  And, it tasted as good as it smelled.  One of the women said, “I don’t really like bread, but I loved this!”

The women now have lots of information and have seen two different ways of making two different types of bread.  They seem excited, and were taking notes and asking lots of good questions. 

Of course, there are still a lot of details to figure out!  Purchasing ingredients, a schedule for production, who will be responsible for what, how and when to sell and for how much…

But, our hope is rising (pardon the pun!) as we take the next steps, confident that the Holy Spirit will guide us in whatever is His will.

This week the women plan to come and practice the techniques they’ve learned.  We’ll be sure to get some pictures!  We’re just sorry we won’t be able to send along the wonderful smell (and taste!) of the bread, too!! 

We invite you to continue to lift up El Callejon, the women, and the Panaderia project. Thank you so much! 

Bread Project

The Spanish word for bread is pan, and the place where it is baked is called a Panaderia.  One of the dreams we’ve had for the Social Work site is starting a Panaderia, where women from the community can make a quality product to help earn some money to help provide for their families.  It could also help them learn how to work together, the importance of persevering, and making and keeping goals.

Last summer, a generous church in Florida donated all its Vacation Bible School offering to the Social Work Site.  We asked them if we could use it for a “Bread Project”, including ‘spiritual’ and literal bread.  They enthusiastically said Yes!

The first ‘bread’ we purchased was a way to share the Bread of Life, our Savior, Jesus Christ.  He is revealed, of course, in the Bible.  So, we bought several large print versions, as well as audio and interactive Bibles.  We also bought The Jesus Film and other dramatized Bible stories (in Spanish, of course).  It’s been wonderful to share the truth of the Bible in ways that those who have poor eyesight, or cannot read at all, can understand! 

Now, we’re moving into the second part of the Bread Project.  The kind of bread you can smear with peanut butter or make into a yummy sandwich.  Last week we bought a stove (with oven) and gas canisters.  It was delivered this week.  Along with the VBS money, another church brought measuring cups, pans, bowls, and other items this past fall.  They’ve been waiting patiently for their first use!

Si Dios quiere (the Lord willing) that will happen next week when a woman from a nearby community will come and teach our El Callejon women.  We’re excited, not only because we’ve sampled her bread (and it is delicious!) but because she lives a similar life to the women in El Callejon, and so she can connect in a way we cannot. 

Like them, she works hard, cooking, cleaning and caring for her family, and also works outside the home on weekends.  She loves Jesus, and even though life is not always easy, she has joy in Him.

We also have someone on staff who has worked for her brother who owns an actual Panaderia.  They have connections with suppliers and others who know about bread.  One of her contacts is coming to help show techniques and share a simple recipe, too! 

Our Microfinance site leader has given one lesson to the women about running a business, and we hope to have him return, as we move ahead.  We want to help the women understand that just saying they want to bake bread isn’t all it takes to make a profit. 

We feel so blessed at all of those who have contributed already.  It’s amazing how God continues to provide!  We’ve got a lot of education and training ahead of us, but vale la pena (it is worth the pain, or worthwhile).  

We know it could be something great, but we also need to go at the pace that the women can handle.  For example, they’ve learned to cook without measuring, but that doesn’t always work well with baking.  They’ve not had experience with yeast and kneading and ovens.  But, with training and desire, we know they can learn!

We invite you to pray with us as we seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance in this.  That this would truly be a blessing for El Callejon, and that we would be patient as we teach these new concepts to the women.  Please pray that we (and the women!) never lose sight of the most important Bread, the Bread of Life. 

What's In A Name?

We’ve been enjoying having the Joshua (Wilderness Institute) students with us for the past week.  This group is 65 strong, and we are privileged to have 5 Joshua participants at the Social Work Site in El Callejon.  Three are students, and two are leaders. 

Their first week was learning more about the community, the people, etc.  This week, they’re in charge!  Of course, we’re there to help out, but each one of them will have the opportunity to share some of the gifts God has given them.  We love watching how the Holy Spirit works through them and in them in their time with us!

This afternoon we had our meeting with the Adult Women.  Close to 30 women came for a time of prayer, praise and teaching.  As they entered, we gave each one a name-tag with their name written on it.  We, too, wore name-tags. 

Some of the women go by ‘nicknames’.  It was fun to learn some of their ‘birth names’.  Tiva, a lovely, quiet woman who always takes great care with her crafts, is really named Navidad, which as you may know, is the Spanish word for Christmas. 

For Americans, some of the women’s names were hard, like Quirinia, which is pronounced Irina.  Of course, they find our names difficult, too.  If Mallory is pronounced Spanish-style, it would sound more like Majori. 

After the women had their name-tags, we began with prayer and a time of worship, singing praise songs.  Sarah, one of the Joshua leaders, then shared her testimony.  She did a great job, and the women really paid attention as she talked about how God has been at work in her life. 

Sarah shared how her brother had talked with her when she was younger and expressing a desire for a boyfriend.  He showed her a quarter, and said that even though there are millions of quarters, this specific quarter is the only one that is this one.  That is what God has for you, he told the younger Sarah.  He has someone specific for you.  She talked about trusting in God, and waiting until He reveals the husband she is to have. 

Jenae and Sarah sharing.
And yes, you do see an umbrella! 
We have a transparent panel in the ceiling,
and a couple of the ladies thought it was too bright! :O)

Jenae, another of the Joshua leaders, then talked about why we had name-tags.  Part of it was to help the participants know the women’s names, and vice versa.  However, she went deeper, talking about how just as we each have a name, God knows each one of us. 

Some of the names of the women are ‘made up’, describe a physical attribute (like Negra, which means Black), a combination of their parents’ names, or a feminized version of a father’s name (Miguelina, for Miguel). 

But, like the quarters, each one of us is the only one of us there is.  God made us and knew us before the creation of the world.  We are loved by Him, and He calls us by name. 

Both Sarah and Jenae shared scripture passages like Psalm 139 and the Greatest Commandment (in Matthew 22) with the women.  The women were interested and took note of the various verses.  We pray they will read them at home, and continue to learn to see themselves as God does - His beloved daughters, each unique, one-of-a-kind and precious.

 

Feliz Año Nuevo!

Feliz Año Nuevo!  As we welcome each new group back we greet each other with Happy New Year!  After visiting friends and family over Christmas in Columbia (Daisy) and the U.S. (Kimberley), we returned to El Callejon last week. 

It’s been great to be back, reconnecting with the women, teens, girls and other little ones of the community.  To hear how they are doing, to share in hugs and laughter again.  To look forward to this new year, knowing that Jesus is already there, and we can expect Him to move in powerful ways. 

We have a terrific team of students with us from The Forge, a gap year program in Texas.  They've brought great ideas and an incredible passion for Jesus with them.  What a wonderful way to begin 2013!

our students made 'flag banners' with the Chiquitas.
"Hija de Dios" means Child of God to help remind
them of how much He loves them!

As always, we’ve got lots of plans for the year, including new classes, encouraging the women to go deeper in their faith, more one-on-one discipling, finding new and creative ways to share the joy and hope and comfort of the Gospel. 

And, as always, we want to hold those plans loosely, allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us in all that we do.

Returning also meant plunging back into the problems of the community.  As you all know, poor choices, financial difficulties, and strained relationships, rarely take a ‘Christmas holiday’!  

We know that only the power of the Gospel can transform this community and the people living there.  And so, we have recommitted ourselves to making this our first priority.  In every situation, in every conversation and encounter, to speak of Jesus and His love, to point the women to our only Source of hope. 

the students teaching our Teens how to write
(and pronounce!) Child of God in English.  We want
them to remember who they are, and help with their desire
to learn English, too!

This year is going to be a full one, with more Outreaches (students, adults and others who come down to minister with us for one week, two weeks, or even several months) than ever before. 

Our prayer is that each of them will meet Jesus in new ways during their time with us.  That they, too, will come away with the conviction that the Gospel is the most important thing we can offer. 

It is a huge responsibility and honor to be in El Callejon, serving the people there, the participants who come down, and, most important of all, our Holy, Almighty, Triune God. 

We invite you to join us in prayer for the community, for Students International, for Daisy and Kimberley, for the many (many!) people back home who give sacrificially of their finances, who spend time in intercessory prayer, who write to encourage us, who visit.

We wish we could reach out and hug each of you and wish you Feliz Año Nuevo as well!  Know that we appreciate you and your interest in the big things God is accomplishing in this small part of His world!  

Feliz Navidad!

“Oh, Father, bless this site and the people who have come in it over the past year.  Keep them safe and in Your care over this Christmas season.  Si tu quieres (if it is Your will) bring us back again in January to serve You again.  Amen.”

We were leaving the Social Work Site in El Callejon for the final time this year.  Making sure all the windows were closed, all the doors locked, and the water turned off.  We had gone around the El Callejon ‘loop’ saying goodbye, talking and praying as we went. 

We are two weeks from celebrating Christmas.  Sadly, when we should all be focused on Jesus emptying Himself to come and save us, many focus instead of being as filled up (with alcohol, food, gifts, fights, flirtations) as they can.  It’s true back in the U.S., it’s true in El Callejon, too. 

So, we pray.  We pray for the families of El Callejon and the surrounding communities.  That they would resist the temptations of overspending and over-indulging, which are so common at this time of year.  That the partying would not get out of hand and dangerous. 

That the Prince of Peace would reign in the hearts and minds and souls of those He came to save, both here, and throughout the world. 

We ask you to join us in lifting up this community.  Over the past year we have seen progress, ‘thin places’ where God’s kingdom is breaking in.  The little ones learning to say ‘please’, the teens eager to explore difficult questions of faith, couples like Luz and Fermin and Kathy and Richie becoming legally married.  We’ve welcomed students and outreach participants from the U.S. who have come and shared their lives and the love of Jesus. 

We have also watched relationships between parents and children struggle, seen teen girls ‘get married’ at 16, lost members of our fellowship to sickness and death.  There have been days and weeks when it’s felt futile to continue. 

But, we remind ourselves that Jesus came, He died for our sins, He rose again and is returning.  In Him, the hopeless find hope.  In Him, everything is able to be redeemed for our good and His Father’s glory. 

We thank each of you for your support, love, interest, and most especially, your prayers.  The work is not easy, but nothing worth doing is! 

As we go home to visit family and friends (Daisy to Columbia, Kimberley to the U.S.) we know we can trust in our all-powerful, all-loving God to care for His beloved people in El Callejon.  He was there before we arrived, and will stay even if we leave.  All praise to Him!

We pray that each of you has a wonderful Christmas celebrating God-with-us.  We look forward to sharing more stories of Meeting Jesus in El Callejon in 2013.  Until then, Dios te bendiga!!

Love Is In the Air!!

Another Wedding Week has ended, and wow, are we tired!  From rushing around to get all the needed paperwork, to visiting the Pollera (where you buy live or dead chickens – ours were dead!), to perching on plastic chairs and the railing to hang up streamers and balloons, it’s been a crazy time.      

Kathy & Richie

But, like anything worth doing, especially things involving God’s kingdom breaking into communities in darkness, vale la pena.  It is always worth the frustration, inconvenience, aggravation and pain.  And, to see the two brides and their grooms yesterday, well, we’ll just let the pictures do the talking!!

Luz wanted to have traditional touches,
including having a ring-bearer.

Jayson (with SI) shares God's Word

Symbol of love and commitment

Luz and Fermin share a toast

Luz & Fermin with Franci,
their adopted son (and Fermin's grandson)

Cutting the Wedding Cake

Kathy & Richie with their son, Richileu

the happy couples with Brian & Sissy (SI Director),
Daisy and Jayon

Smooch!

Isn't it romantic?!?

Tossing the bouquet

Awwwww!!!! Too, too sweet!

(Special thanks to our friend, Daniel, for allowing us to share all these great pics he took!)

Weddings Part Two

On Thursday another of our couples, Kathy and Richie, became legally married.  They have been together for two years and have a 13 month old son named Richileu.  Over the past year their faith has been growing, and they want to live in a way that pleases God.  Getting legally married is a part of that desire.

As we’ve written about before, Kathy’s life has not been easy.  Sadly, her troubled relationship with her parents continues.  They still held out hope that she would leave Richie and find a wealthy man to marry who could help out the entire family.  

Richie signs the Certificate of Marriage

Although Richie has proven himself to be a loving, steadfast companion, her parents refuse to accept him, and have made it clear her marriage will not change that.  It all makes us so sad, but we pray in time God will redeem even this relationship through His love and power.

While Luz and Fermin’s marriage was smooth, this one was another story!  One of the witnesses did not show up at the Courthouse, so after several frantic calls to other friends, the groom had to hop on his moto to try and find another friend. 

Sealed with a kiss

The attorney was not happy with the situation, as it was 45 minutes late, but thankfully allowed them to get married with the substitute, who had to rush off and have a photocopy made of his Sedula (like a Social Security card) as the Courthouse does not have a copier available and one is required for the paperwork.

We kept reminding each other, Kathy and Richie, and even the attorney (who is a Christian), that Satan does not like it when we are trying to live according to God’s will, and so often makes things more difficult.  But, our God is stronger! 

Legally married!

Although it wasn’t a ‘dream ceremony’ it was still a joyful time.  We ask you to join us in praying that Kathy and Richie will continue to grow in love for each other, and in their faith in Jesus.  That they will raise their son, Richileu, and any other children, knowing Jesus and His love for them.