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Words from Gretchen~April 1997

It seems time passes so quickly-in a blink of a eye the days fly by and it’s time to start another week-always with a full schedule. I haven’t picked up a pen to write anyone for about two weeks so I’m in trouble and will have to send a generic letter to you. There are some of you that we love so much and are so much a part of what we are doing that I hate to let a lot of time go between letters. We thank you for being so good about writing us and sharing the news of what is going on in your lives. It makes us feel closer somehow, and like we are a part of your lives.

Our work continues and God is always opening new avenues of ministry. Just recently we discovered a small village of ministry. There are 8 to 10 houses near the ocean close to the springs where people come to bathe in sulfur water (stinky). We’ve had a relationship with a family there for over a year-one of the children is club footed. He had one surgery and is scheduled for another one this month. (His name is Roosevelt, please pray for him) Anyway God has done some wonderful things with the families of some of these club footed kids. Last week there was a strike where all the businesses and transportation was closed, so it was hard to find public transportation. He and his mother came to the clinic and I asked them to wait a bit and we would give them a ride home. Licia and I traveled to their home. They lived right near a trash dump. The ground where the homes are located was swept clean, but just a few feet away on every side was all sorts of trash and truck loads of broken glass. Most of the homes were simply made of cardboard and other items that had gleaned from the trash just pieced together to form walls for their homes. Roosevelt and his family lived in a house made of sticks and mud. There were two rooms with dirt floors-swept clean as could be. One room was small with a table, a curtain hung in the doorway separating where they slept. There was nothing in the room where they slept but a few pieces of clothing. It was hard to imagine that 5 children and two adult could find room to stretch out and sleep. There were no windows and the roof was thatched grass.

Everyone came out to meet us. It would be hard to find a happier group of people with such big smiles. We felt so welcomed. Two men came and brought 2 homemade chairs for us to sit in. They placed them under a large cactus tree and we sat and visited with them for awhile. We look forward to going back there this Wednesday for a visit. We have been gathering up some items of clothing and other things to give a few small gifts for everyone.

Roosevelt is in the bottom row on the right side.

We continue to visit this area for many months and made good friends with many of the people. Many accept Christ into their lives. When we moved to a new area we lost contact with them.

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