The month of May was consumed by a trip back to Florida. While there we organized all documents for Residency here in Costa. Our home church, San Jose Baptist, took a love offering and raised ALL of the money needed to pay for our residency application! We were truly overwhelmed by their outpouring of love, and God's constant provision. We also spent some time catching up with friends and family. It was a busy, whirlwind trip, but it was really nice to see loved ones.
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| Olivia & Ava on Father's Day 2011 |
As soon as we returned, Jeremy hit the ground running. In the past few weeks, he has worked with a couple of teams that have either built homes or made much-needed repairs to existing homes. We also had two friends come stay with us for a week. They helped out with a team that was here, along with some personal ministry opportunities. But the primary topic of this update is one particular family.
There is an earlier blog post about Franklin & Marielos, here, but for now I will continue with things that have happened the past two weeks. I (Heather) have personally been praying for an opportunity to build a relationship with a woman here, and from the first time we met, I have just loved being around Marielos. It has been a slow process to build this relationship, mostly due to the fact that my Spanish is very crude.
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| Franklin, Marielos & Allison (Wesley was at school), in front of their new home. |
The week we returned, we went to visit them and see their new home. When we arrived, they had what felt like 50 people, crammed into their home. In all reality, it was probably about 15 people, but they were all in a very small living room. And it was storming outside. After the rain let up, some of her cousins left and we were again alone with their family and her Mother and Grandmother. Marielos asked us to please pray for her Mother, because her health is very poor and she has very little income. She told us in that moment that her Mother's "social security" is only a few dollars more than her rent each month.
After we left that day, I told her that we would talk again and see if there was anything we can do for her Mother. As we drove home, I kept thinking about how in the days leading up to our visit with them, I had felt very frustrated and even angry at times, with our situation. You see, the week before that we had no internet (our connection to "home") and our power was working intermittently. Neither of these things is life-threatening, but from my perspective they were very frustrating. In that moment riding home, I felt the Holy Spirit speaking to me, reminding me that it's all a matter of perspective.
Earlier this week, I had an opportunity to take our friends from Florida to Rosa's (Marielos' Mother) house, so that we could take pictures and see what her needs are. When we got there, I asked Rosa if there was anything they needed. She said "only a mattress", as hers was very old, dirty and flat. Because of her health problems and age, she was having a lot of difficulty sleeping. This is not surprising, considering the condition of her bed. As my friends continued to talk with Rosa, Marielos took me around the rest of the house, showing me her Grandmother's room and their bathroom (with no sink) and kitchen (with no sink, no refrigerator, etc.). She began to cry as she told me that her Mother had no food. She opened the kitchen cabinets and showed me that all they had left was a half of a bag of rice. She said her Mother did not like to ask for help, but that she truly needed it.
That day, Kelli & Kristina took Marielos to the local grocery store and paid for her to buy some basic staples - rice, beans, pasta, etc. It was another awesome opportunity to show the love of Christ to this hurting family. We prayed for them and left for another place. Rosa and her Mother were so grateful for the help, and once again, I thanked God for sending someone to take care of His precious children. He knows exactly the time and the need. Thankfully, because of their obedience, Rosa had food to eat that night.
Today, I was once again reminded of God's love, as a team here from Alabama took Rosa a new mattress. She cried as she thanked them, and continued to ask for prayer for her health and her family. She told them in tears, that she does not want to die. She wants to be healthy and be around to see her grandchildren grow up. I was overwhelmed as I listened to team members pray for her to have peace as she sleeps tonight, hoping that she may finally have a good night's rest.
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| Rosa (center) with the team members from AL. |
"You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus. Our God and Father abounds in glory that just pours out into eternity. Yes." Phil. 4:19, MSG
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| Rosa & Marielos "testing" the new mattress. The verdict? "Bueno!" |
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