I slept well for the second time since getting my cast. It's so nice to wake up feeling rested.
My friend came by with some groceries. She is leaving my house to go pick up a girl who is deaf and needs to get out of her current placement.
My friend used to serve at the same ministry where the girl lives. They had adjacent bedrooms for two years. Back then the girl was a typical young adult. At times she could be grumpy or lazy. Otherwise she liked to laugh and joke. At the end of 2014 my friend left that ministry. We heard stories of mistreatment during 2015 and 2016. Now the girl is being described as violent, homicidal and suicidal.
We are hoping that her behavior, if it truly is as violent and aggressive as the leaders of the ministry say (which is questionable), will change with time once she is in a place where she will be treated with kindness and respect.
It is a risk for my friend to take the girl into her home, but she cannot leave her where she is. The people who run the ministry say the girl has been calm since my friend's last visit. They believe it's because of an exorcism they performed on her. My friend and I choose to believe it's because the girl knew she only had to live in that place for three more days. We don't think there were ever any spiritual issues, but rather behavioral problems as a result of abuse and neglect.
Please pray for this girl as she spends a couple of weeks with my friend to stabilize her behavior, then moves on to a ministry that has agreed to take her and is fairly equipped to meet her needs. After spending 20+ years with nobody investing in her, she will now be taught life skills, how to communicate, and shown unconditional love. We know it's late in coming, but we are hoping she can learn to accept the love and the help she deserves.
I can't imagine not being able to communicate with anyone, not being able to understand what is going on in the world around me, not having access to education, not having a purpose in life, not being loved, and on top of that being treated poorly. I pray today will be the beginning of a better life for this young girl.
Fany came over with some bad news this morning. Our friend Cynthia was kidnapped last night on her way home from work. "Colectivos" or shared taxis are the cheapest way to get around, but they are so dangerous because anyone in the world can get into the cab with you.
Cynthia is okay. A woman who was in the front seat stole all of her stuff and held her hostage. That's all I know right now. It's a common occurrence. Everyone I know who rides in colectivos has been robbed multiple times. Buses are the same.
Yesterday the lady who cleans my house was late getting here. I was really nervous because I know she has to take two different colectivos to get here. I didn't want to call her because it's not safe for her to answer her phone while she is in the street or the cab. Finally I broke down and called. Her phone was shut off. I imagined it had been stolen and the battery pulled out so it couldn't be tracked. Just then, I heard her outside my gate.
I told her I was worried and vacillating, trying to decide if I should call her phone. She said her husband goes through the same dilemma when she is late, not wanting to put her in danger by having her phone ring in public. Turned out I was calling the wrong number. Her phone was right in her purse. When I told her I was worried she told me several stories about being robbed at knifepoint and gunpoint in cabs and colectivos.
All of my coworkers made it home safe last night after our little dinner. Thank God for that.
My friend who serves in Los Pinos is having to make some tough decisions. For the first time, I am very worried for her. School starts in February so she has to make sure the kids are enrolled and have all they need to start school. But the gangs were very irritable yesterday. Instead of their usual catcalls and telling her they want to marry her, they were stone faced and made her pay them money.
Any cars or people who do business have to pay an extortion fee to get in and out of communities like this. The gangs call them "impuestos" or taxes. Cabs and buses pay, the people who deliver water, soda, even Avon, all pay these fees in order to enter. My friend has always said she will never pay an extortion fee because she refuses to buy the bullets that will kill the people she loves. But now that it's actually happening, she's realizing it's not so cut and dry.
First they asked her for money for a Coke. She gave it to them. Yesterday they asked the boy who accompanies her for money. She had given him money to keep in his pocket for exactly that situation. He paid off the gang.
She thinks it is necessary for her to continue going into Los Pinos to make sure all of the kids are in school. I am encouraging her to ask the families to meet her at a church in a different sector. I hate the thought of her getting out of her car with bags of school supplies and uniforms. It makes her a prime target for more extortion, or worse.
It's tough for her to see things clearly since she is in the middle of the situation. She is thinking about the future of her ministry, the safety of the young man who always accompanies her, and the families she serves. To me, it feels like she is putting her personal safety last. Until now the gangs have let her go about her business. They have never been this aggressive with her in all of the years she has served in Los Pinos. She knew this was a possibility, but she never had to deal with it before.
I suggested that she take a break and give the gangs time to settle down. They are stressed out and on edge from the police operativos and turf fights with another gang. Maybe in a few weeks this will blow over and she can enter more safely.
She did say she will pray about if she really
needs to go in, or if she just
wants to. I pray God speaks clearly to her about that. There are other ways she can serve the people there while keeping herself and those she loves more safe.
After hearing all of this before noon, bed rest doesn't seem so bad today.
