April 2010: Pray for Margarita's Dad

April 2010

“Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven;’ or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’?” (Mark 2:9)

Dear Family and Friends:

Many of you prayed for and asked about my girlfriend’s father, Santiago, who fell from a roof while working and broke his spine.  He had surgery, regained feeling in his legs and returned home. Yesterday, however, he was hospitalized again for an infection.   Right after the fall, he didn’t have feeling below the waist, and the doctors insisted they operate immediately.  Every morning for a week and a half he was prepped for surgery, but then waited in a moldy, crowded hospital room the rest of the day.  This is common in Paraguayan public hospitals; in fact, Santiago’s time waiting for surgery was short compared to others.  Nurses and doctors infrequently check on and track their patients.  This negligence contrasts the characteristically Paraguayan, familial devotion that compels relatives to become unofficial nurses.  Margarita and her siblings alternated round-the-clock shifts at their father’s hospital bedside.  It was during one of these shifts that Margarita asked her father—a traditional, macho construction worker from the countryside—if he wanted to ask God for forgiveness and to invite Jesus to bring peace to his life.  Santiago said yes.    

Praise God for His amazing grace.  Please pray for Santiago, his family, and the doctors during the treatment of the infection.  Also, ask the Lord to call upon skilled and compassionate Paraguayans to transform healthcare in their nation.

A few days before Santiago fell, an infamous neighborhood crack addict, and son of former church members, attempted suicide.  When we arrived to help him, the extent of his addiction was evidenced by his house’s emptiness—window frames and panes, the toilet, metal piping in the walls—everything had been stripped and sold for crack.  This young man, *Eduardo (*not his real name), miraculously passed two sober nights while we encouraged him to get help.  He finally agreed and now has been clean for more than a month in a holistic, Christian rehab center.  It’s been a heavy financial burden on his family, but the Lord has provided for them up to now.  Please pray for *Eduardo to have full victory over his addiction and for his family’s spiritual restoration.   

All teachers at the Nuevo Horizonte School agree that classes have been going very well this year.  The pre-school and kindergarten students now understand the school routine and are showing signs of learning.  The junior high students show increasing maturity in their conduct and academics.  We are attempting to bolster multilingualism by requiring Guarani (Paraguay’s native language) to be the primary language spoken in the school one day of the week, and English on another day.  If consistently held, this could have great results.

For Easter, the Puerta Abierta Church celebrates by launching a month-long outreach campaign, which I am coordinating.  The activities take place in the un-churched Barrio Cerro Corá and culminate on Saturday, April 24^th.  Please pray for the Lord’s Spirit to work through the Puerta Abierta congregation and to minister to the hearts of the Cerro Corá residents.  

My prayer for you is to celebrate this Easter with the same disposition as the Apostle Thomas who, after doubting, declared to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” and may you be encouraged by Jesus, who responded, “…Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed!”(John 20:28, 29).

Yours truly,