News from Ruth and Noemi
As for the ministry, it is going really
well. I am learning about God's provision. We feel held by Him. In
the beginning of this ministry we had a few big donations which made
it really easy to do help young ladies, we were even able to provide
education then. But now we are still operating, we have reduced all
our costs and expenses and even though money comes in slowly and
little by little, I can almost see God holding Ruth and Noemi in his
hands and saying: “I've got you, you are OK, just trust me” So
here we are, trusting the Lord for the next month and the next girl
that will come in our doors. Right now we have two girls, Jenny who
is coming from Talita Cumi and Carolaen with her baby Sarai. Vicky
another one of our girls just left. She just got married and the
wedding was beautiful, very simple and very sweet. She has married
into a very loving Christian family that loves her and her baby
already. Reminds me of a young me! Isn't our God great? He changes
lives in one day!
The Ruth and Noemi Transition House has
three local regular donors, four in the US, and one in Canada. That
makes $330 coming in every month. We need at least $1500 a month to
keep the doors open. Something you can do to help is tell other
Christians around you, maybe the Lord is also calling them to support
a girl and her baby and be part of a God's force that can change two
lives.
To our regular donors and prayer
partners: THANK YOU, because of your obedience the ministry stays
with open doors waiting for our next girl. We love you and we pray
for you every Tuesday morning. We hope you can come and visit us
soon! We would love to have you and we do promise adventure!
News from Agua Yaku
Agua Yaku recently made a short trip to the Guarani village of
Pirirenda, in the dry desert mountains about four hours south of
Santa Cruz, to demonstrate how using a Sawyer filter can clean a
dirty water source, making it fit for consumption. It was exciting to
have Erwin, a Baptist pastor from the nearby town of Gutierrez, join
us to give us an introduction into the community and to translate our
Spanish presentation into Guarani. Also joining Danny and Jason were
North American missionaries David Rossi and Steven Mullins who have
been working in this area for several years. Pirirenda is an ideal
place to begin our new filter project because the ground water is too
deep to effectively drill water wells. We visited one private ranch
in the area that had a water well drilled within the last year. They
had to drill over 300 feet deep, through a good bit of solid rock
before they reached water, and it cost over $12,000. Most Guarani
families live on less than $500 a year. Even if they saved for an
entire lifetime they could not pay for such an expensive well. There
are no rivers in the area, so they survive by collecting rain water
from their roofs and carrying buckets of water from stagnant ponds
back to their homes. Pastor Erwin is planning a return trip shortly
to present a Sawyer filter to the local school teachers and to
encourage community residents to begin using the filters.
Family News
We hope you have had a very restful and
fun Christmas and New Years' break. For us it was very special since
our son Nathaniel came for a long visit, we had him here for almost a
month. The boys (Danny, Isaiah and Nathaniel) went backpacking and
the girls (Vanessa and Luciana) went to visit family in Peru right
after Christmas. Luciana and I (Vanessa) had a lot of fun in Peru,
the land of delicious and cheap fish! And of course it was wonderful
to see my grandparents and brother and cousins again and to meet my
precious little niece for the first time. Sometimes, I wish the Lord
would call us to Lima- Peru so I could be close to my family but for
now He has us here in Bolivia. I am also very thankful to the Lord
for all the wonderful dinner/cooking times, outings and conversations
I got to have with my son Nathaniel. It is so different being the
parents of a grown person rather than just partents of kids! But
nevertheless it is still a lot of fun. Nathaniel is a very sweet and
gentle spirited man, besides being very smart and humble. We are
proud of him.
As you may know we are in our super hot
summer months right now, so while you all enjoy cold weather and
perhaps snow, we here have gone hiking in a river! It was very
challenging for Lucy and I since we are the only two in this family
with short legs! It makes it hard to jump into unknown deep waters.
The other two kids are also doing great. Luciana is in her senior
year. Please pray as she makes decisions about college and life in
general. And pray for protection during her senior year. Isaiah is
growing up to be just like his dad and his older brother, wild and
adventurous. He keeps on getting stuck high up in trees! He is a lot
of fun, and since he is 10 he still kisses and hugs us a lot! I see
God's image and provision in our kids! Please pray for all three of
them, that they may continue in the Lord's path, that they may see
Him and hear Him in their lives.
Blessings,
Danny and Vanessa
Danny and Vanessa
