Hello everyone! Thanks to each one of you who partner with us in one way or another! We appreciate you and thank God for you!
A few weeks ago, we had an “EXPOSITION” in El Jordan, where our ladies made food, crafts, baking and juice to sell and we invited neighbors, friends and churches to come and support our ladies in this very practical way. Workers, volunteers (30!) and our ladies worked together to sell over 250 plates of food, 100 bowls of soup, 100 liters of juice and hundreds of cakes, typical treats, jams, granola, and so much more.... What a blessed time! A living out of Ephesians 4:28 “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.”
After the lunch rush, we had a surprise birthday cake for El Jordan´s 22nd birthday.... made by one of our ex-students turned volunteer. Eulogio, Wilma and Ely blew out the candle.... they were also there that October 1st , 2000 when we dedicated El Jordan to the Lord.
Never, ever, ever in my wildest dreams would I have imagined everything that God has done in these last 27 years (5 years working on the streets, 22 years in El Jordan). Time and time again, we see HIS hand on El Jordan – providing, leading and in His mercy and love, CHANGING LIVES.
October 2019 marked "CHANGE" in El Jordan with a 3 week “indefinite strike” in all the major cities of Bolivia (where everything shuts down to put pressure on the government). El Jordan had to be closed...yet God provided funds and ways for us to physically and spiritually support our families.... The high majority of our people live day to day.... when it rains, they are sick or whatever happens so they can´t make money one day (they can´t sell, wash someone else´s clothes or whatever) it is a day there might not be food on the table... So, imagine 21 days with everything shut down, without the possibility of making money to buy food!!! God proved His love, mercy and faithfulness to our people in those 21 days. Little did we know that those 21 days would prepare us for the pandemic.
March 2020 started over 5 months of lockdown... Again, our physical buildings had to close down, yet God provided MIRACULOUS ways for us to get to our people with food and the Word of God. Once the lockdown was lifted, there were still many restrictions for meeting together and we had to make major CHANGES in the way we did things at El Jordan. During Covid, two missionaries left El Jordan, leaving holes, and a heavier weight on me, but also allowing our national team to be built up, prepared and strengthened. We reduced the group of ladies we work with to about 15... and we trained our staff in El Jordan´s mission statement, how that mission statement is lived out in the day to day, and how to visit and come alongside our families. We reduced our “classes” and increased our investment into one on one relationships with our ladies.
Finally, just in the past year, we´ve been able to "plan" a bit more, get back into a more "normal" schedule - with Bible studies, kids´ programs and practical training happening WITHIN El Jordan. At the beginning of this year, another missionary family had to leave us and return to the States for medical reasons.... Again, we had to face the challenge of filling the “holes” they left...
When everything seemed to be falling more into a rhythm, civil unrest began again. Another indefinite strike started last night at midnight... life has shut down again, there are more CHANGES to our calendar, the kids will be back to online school and our El Jordan families are facing another indefinite time of uncertainty and need... Yesterday, before the strike, we were able to distribute a donation of grains (quinoa, lentils, beans and chick peas), potatoes and onions to our families and some other families who have quite desperate situations.
Two of those situations where we were able to share what we have....but we need to pray for them:
Also, Leidy, another of the ladies who used to come to El Jordan is raising her own two little girls, plus 4 nieces and nephews left orphaned when their mom (Alison) died on the streets a few months ago....)
So, that is where we are at right now! We are reminded once again, our plans must be held in open hands before the Lord.... There are CHANGES for us – but it is a plan known beforehand by our Heavenly Father, and CHOSEN for us, for a reason – for good and not for bad. We have no idea how long this strike will last. During the last indefinite strike (2019), Marco was given a "driving pass" which enabled him to buy and distribute food... We saw God show up in so many ways.... and now, so we are expectantly waiting to see what happens and what God would have us do during this time.
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"I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh." Ezekiel 11:19
GOD specializes in CHANGING LIVES.
For years at El Jordan, we never bothered to fill in “registration papers” for TERESA. She ´d show up one Monday afternoon for Bible Study, and then not show up again for another 1 or 2 months... When she didn´t show up, we´d know she had gone back to the “monte” - those wooded areas that looked like an abandoned lot or field, but if you looked a bit closer, you could see little pathways heading into the bush, the home to dozens, and sometimes more, cocaine paste addicts. Cocaine paste is a drug, filled with a wide variety of chemicals and acids used to break down the “coca leaf” (prior to refining the cocaine out of it). Cocaine addicts will binge for days and weeks at a time. They are the addicts most removed from society, soemtimes called “moles”, living in these bushes or under bridges. Teresa was one of them and she had been for over 40 years.
She lived in a very abusive relationship with “Chichi” - where he broke bones in her hands, arms, legs, head, ribs– everywhere. She has also set him on fire and more... Teresa would come to El Jordan, and cry and pray that God would change her.... During the pandemic there were times when she left drugs for over a month... but she´d always end up going back.
On September 19, 2021, Chichi and Teresa were in the “monte”, drugs and alcohol in their pockets. In the middle of the “monte”, God did a miracle. They looked at each other and said, “Lets throw everything away, leave and NEVER COME BACK AGAIN!”
And that, with God´s grace and strength, is what they have done. September 19, 2022 was a special day – celebrating with Teresa her one year anniversary of “freedom”. In that year, I don´t think she missed a Bible Study. Teresa and Chichi now rent a little room and have been gradually buying a bed, mattress, gas tank, stove and bed... They have two pet cats. They work “watching cars” (helping people park and then watching to make sure it is “safe”).
In the past month, Teresa´s health has gone downhill... The years of living in the “monte” and substance abuse has all caught up with her.... Her broken bones have always been really painful, but lately, she has had problems with her liver, lungs, legs and more.... They have found lumps in her breasts and say she needs chemotherapy. She has a problem with a tendon near her knee and she can´t walk. On Monday, who hobbled into El Jordan, but Teresa... I don´t know how she made it, getting on and on the bus... She had missed 3 classes and didn´t want to miss any more... she wanted to study the Bible, be with the other girls who are in her class, and feel at home.
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” 2 Corinthians 4:16
Could you take a minute to pray for Teresa and Chichi right now? That God would continue to renew and CHANGE them inwardly, day by day.... and helping them not to lose heart in spite of the outward health struggles....
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A few things we have in our plans for the rest of the year:
- We have two "family chapel meetings" planned - the last Friday of October and November... where we will be talking to all to different ages about ANGER, how it damages ourselves and others when not controlled, and the root of the problem - our sinful hearts.... I don´t know whether we will still be in this indefinite strike.... our October one might not happen.
- In November we have two days of training for our team.... A local ministry will be giving us a workshop on MENTORING. Pray that this will encourage our workers and strengthen our outreach to our families.
- In December, a special thing planned for our moms and kids is a day outing to our property in the country. Our moms carry such a daily burden, just trying to provide for their kids and SURVIVE. They get weary. "A fun day" where they don´t have to work or worry is a luxury they don´t get.... The plan is to rent two buses to take them out to our property for the day where we will have activities to facilitate QUALITY time between moms and
their kids... and lots of fresh air and good food and fun. - As part of our Christmas plan for this year, we want to give every mom and teen (from the workshops or our teenage girls-at-risk program) a Bible. The plan is to also give all of the kids and young people in our program a pair of shoes and a backpack....
- For our outreach to the streets this Christmas we will be repeating our "Christmas at Home". We have several events where we bring in ladies from the streets to El Jordan for a "Christmas celebration" different than they have every had. It is a chance for new street ladies to get to know El Jordan... for them to experience PEACE, LOVE and JESUS in a way they never have before.... Our prayerful desire is that when we invite them back to El Jordan for some class or "tea" in the new year, that barriers would have been broken down, and a few out of all the ladies who came for Christmas, will desire CHANGE in their lives and trust that we want to help them in that process (where we will have more chances to point them towards Jesus!)
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Prayer requests - Anything that we can be praying for you about:
1. PRAY FOR STAFF: Linda, who runs our children´s program is pregnant and will only be working until the end of the year. We need to find a replacement. We also need to hire someone else to work directly with our moms. Since we have moved towards more one-on-one work rather than "classes" we need more longer term workers than volunteers. We have someone in mind, but we don´t know whether we can handle it financially.
2. PRAY FOR UNITY IN THE TEAM: We are in a spiritual battle as we work with lives that the enemy once thought were "his". Individuals on our team struggle with health issues, challenges at home and other difficulties. At times, little differences between people on our team get blown out of proportion. Please pray that we would be HUMBLE, KIND and FORGIVING in our relationships one to another.
3. PRAY FOR OUR FAMILY as we juggle our different responsibilities. Pray for Keiden (13) and Marlee (10) to find good friends at school... and that they would grow in their faith. Pray for Marco and I to have wisdom and strength as we raise our family.
We thank the Lord for you!!!
May God bless and keep you, and shine His face upon you, and give you peace!!
Because HE is Faithful,
Corina (for Marco, Keiden and Marlee)
Marco & Corina Clements Soria
WhatsApp: 591-776-90452
El Jordan: www.KidsInBolivia.org