It’s been a month and a half since we have been back from
our visit to the states. We were encouraged
and blessed by so many dear friends and family while we were home. We had the opportunity to share our vision
for the young women of El
Salvador with several churches. A highlight for us was our trip to El Paso , Texas Juarez , Mexico
Calvary Chapel Sun City, in 
Jonah and Maddie LOVED the time they had to
renew their friendships with the Gray kids!
They didn’t want to leave El
Paso !
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| Brooklyn & Luke looking over their new baby sister |
Of course, being in Washington
with our families was food for our souls.
What a family we have! From our
precious mothers, to our darling grandbabies…WE ARE SO BLESSED! We arrived just in time to be present at the
birth of our newest little angel, Katherine Ellen Willard. For those of you who don’t know, Katherine is
my mother’s name (you know her by Kay!) and Ellen is my middle name. Mom and I were so touched that Tyrone and
Courtney chose to name their fourth child after us. Okay, I might have cried! J
We have been getting back into the swing of things, as well
as beginning new adventures. Jonah and
Maddie began going to school for the first time in their lives the first week
we got back. They are doing well so far
and we are thankful for all your prayers for them. Please continue to pray as we have been
having issues (sigh) with the school.
Pretty big issues with the
teachers and administrators being very disorganized. It has been very
frustrating. The kids are enjoying the
new friends they are making, though, and that has been encouraging to them. Not
a week after we got back David came down with pneumonia, and was more sick than
I have ever seen him in 32 years. After
six weeks, he is still struggling with his health. We were blessed to be directed to a good
doctor in Usulutan, which is about an hour and a half away from San Salvador . Yesterday, our dear friend, Marina, took us
to Doctor Edgardo, and he told David that he currently has acute bronchitis. He
was given 2 different inhaler meds, along with another anti-biotic. It has
been a slow recovery process. This has
put the brakes on our life, and has been very difficult for him. Please pray for his health.
We began the process of working with Daniela the week we
came home. She came for a weekend visit so she could take some testing to help
us make some decisions about what school would be best for her. We are still working out all of the logistics
and need your prayers for each step we need to take. Since returning, we have had to make some
changes in our original plan to have Daniela live with us during high school,
as it was made clear to us that, legally, we could have some issues with separating
her from her mom, (while under the age of 18) and from her daughter, who is
four. Even though her mother wants
this, and her daughter would be well taken care of and visited often, we want
to operate within the laws. The laws are
becoming very strict in relation to separating families. The idea of the law is good, but the
implementation has been complicated and has resulted in grave problems for
children that live in places like La Casa de Mi Padre. The courts push to return them to their parents/families
which sounds good. But, if you are
returning a child to the same circumstances that led to him being removed from
the home, what are you accomplishing? We have known of children who have died
as a result of this, and some at La Casa that have experienced very serious,
life-threatening circumstances.
Ideally, we feel that
it would be for the best for her to live with us, as she would be able to focus
much better on her studies. Also, counseling, discipleship, teaching life
skills, and a healthy family dynamic would be easier facilitated by her living
full-time with us. As a result of this
law, called Lepina, and since we are still under the legal umbrella of La
Casa’s organization, at the present time,we have decided not to have young
women in our home under the age of 18, until we have established our own
non-profit. (Which we are working on.)
After prayer and counsel, we have decided that we will continue our plan
to fund her education through high school, while we invest in these other areas
of her life, as she continues to live at her home. Then, after her high-school graduation, Lord
willing, she would move to our home and begin university studies and work. This was a hard adjustment for us to make
emotionally, as we felt strongly about having Daniela live with us for maximum
impact. But, we have peace about this decision.
We want to follow the laws of the land as much as is possible, as we are
guests in this country and want to have a good testimony. By the 20th of December, we will have
made our final decision on which school Daniela will attend. Please pray for guidance!
Pray! Pray! Pray!
We shared our vision and passion for women in El Salvador ,
while we were in the states. If you live
outside of our area and were not able to be a part of that, we want to share
that with you, so you, too, would be up to date. If you are interested, go to the previous blog post titled "Lupita's Hope Video" and the one following called "Violence Against Girls in El Salvador."
We shared with you about Daniela’s aunt, Lupita, who is a
young woman that has been a friend of ours since before moving to El Salvador
full-time. She is a hard-working, sweet
young, single mom of a 19 month old daughter.
Since knowing her, we have wanted to do something to make a difference
in her life. God is moving on our hearts
and on her heart, and there is a strong possibility that she will be making the
move from her family’s home in San Julian, to our home in the capitol. She is passionate about not going down the
same road as her family has for generations.
She desires to study and work and make a future for herself, her
daughter, and for her future family. Not
only this, but, she desires to bless others, and make a difference in her
country. She just needs an opportunity. We have been praying and waiting on God about
Lupita for years. We feel that with the
re-focusing of our priorities with Daniela, God is directing us to move forward
with Lupita. She is an adult and there would be no legal problems with her
coming to live with us. We have been
talking to her about this for some time, and Monday we will be meeting with her
to make some decisions. Please
pray! Since she is the main breadwinner
for her family of 13 (mom, daughter, sisters, nieces and nephews) making the
decision to move away puts the financial burden squarely on her sister’s and
mother’s shoulders. She knows that her
family needs to take responsibility for themselves, but, it’s a hard
thing. They have been dependant on her
for a long time. God has been answering
our prayers for provision for Lupita. We
are so thankful to see Him moving on the hearts of those who are coming
alongside us to bless young women in El Salvador !
This Monday, we have invited the whole family, (all
thirteen) to our home for a Christmas party.
We will eat panes con pavo. Translation: Breads with turkey. This is a
typical Salvadoran Christmas meal. It is
a large sandwich on a French bread that is stuffed with turkey, cucumbers,
tomatoes, watercress, radishes, and then the main ingredient is the red sauce
that you smother it in. YUM! We plan to
bless them with a little something for each of them for Christmas, and to just
spend time with them. We are looking
forward to this day. We plan to
communicate our vision for Daniela and Lupita with more detail Monday, so
please pray for wisdom and words! They will
take a two hour bus ride to San
Salvador to come to our home, and we plan to take them
back home to San Julian in the evening.
Pray for us too that God will protect us from Satan’s
attacks. We know as we begin to help
young women in need, Satan will be looking for ways to tear it down. The spiritual battle has been intense, and we
feel it most in our marriage. We need
protection both physically and spiritually that may do His good and perfect
will for our lives here in El
Salvador .
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| Sharing at Calvary Chapel Longview |
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| Kathy with Kim Gray, wife of Pastor Terry at Calvary Chapel Sun City |
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| Eating with some of our friends in El Paso |
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| The Porter clan get together in The Dalles, Oregon. Our nephew Jeremiah is the pastor of the church. |
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| We also had the opportunity to spend time with our son, Sam |
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