Yesterday seemed strange to me in a few ways. First of all, I received a contact from the brethren in Huaral, a church near Lima. They took an interest in Rafael’s mother’s case and offered to help with the costs.
I gave them Rafael’s number so they could communicate. Upon hearing that the Huaral brethren could help, Rafael and William went to the doctors with the news, but the doctors told them they were not willing to do the surgery after all.
Two reasons they gave were 1) that the surgery may not be successful and would cause greater damage and 2) that they needed more beds for Covid cases. Just when they finally had hope, the doctors told them Maritza would be discharged the next day. They all fly back to Cusco Friday.
I confess I found this discouraging. Did God not answer earlier because I was not praying faithfully? That’s a guilt I feel. With the passing of time, I had grown lax in my prayer.
The brethren at Huaral are experienced with helping in medical situations like this. They explained that the insurance does indeed cover costs, but you get put into a line. When your turn comes up, they do the surgery. But if you can pay out of pocket, you can skip the line. Finally, that part makes sense to me.
I pray the church at Huaral is blessed for their willingness to share; though, the circumstances changed to not allow it. The doctors say if Maritza keeps her blood pressure down, the bleeding may be absorbed and may not start again.
Rafael is pretty discouraged. So much time and energy and resources lost–and for what? He and his brother are at odds, mostly as a result of the strain getting to them and the arguments that happened in tense moments. Pray that God keeps speaking to their hearts.
Percy has been facing a huge problem. He had a daughter before he was a believer and before he married Lucrecia. The past two years, she has been living with Percy. Before that, she bounced around from one home to another, living with aunts and uncles and grandparents. Her mom abandoned her as a baby.
But now the girl wants her freedom. She’s only thirteen, but she wants to party and drink and to have boyfriends and all that sort of thing. Percy doesn’t allow that because he’s a believer. So, she had been running away. Finally, she sued him for abuse, which was a falsehood.
Percy has been dealing with the courts and the girl’s family for months now. At last, the mother came in from Lima to help get things sorted. She had said she would take full custody, but when she came this week, she changed her mind and said that she’s turning full custody over to Percy.
Since then, it’s been one fight after another as various family members have been stepping in and causing trouble. They don’t want the girl raised as a Christian. Some of them tried suing Percy for neglect and so on.
But God has been working on Percy’s behalf. Numerous times, they were ready to take Percy to jail for one thing or another, but the Lord keeps delivering him.
However, this morning Percy talked with me a long time after chores and said he’s not sure how much more he can take. He was crying and asking for prayer because he’s scared he’ll end up in jail over some false accusation, and his family needs him.
Tomorrow he goes to sign the last of the last paperwork; it’s been going on all week. He’s asking for prayer that all will go well and the case can finally be closed. Please pray with us for God to work for His glory and for Percy’s good.
Juan David 