Bad news/Good news...

Last week I wrote about our ladies' class and the ladies who stepped up and helped take food to a lady in the community who was very sick and in a bad condition financially. I wrote that her name was Cecilia but we later found out it is Ercilia. Last week on Tuesday I went with Jose and some of the sisters here to go visit her and found her in very bad shape. We prayed with her and her family. She
had cancer in her stomach/abdomen and had fallen and injured her back about 6 months ago and consequently had terrible swelling in one leg and couldn't walk. Due to the cancer she was having problems taking in any food and when she did she had problems keeping it down. She was staying with her daughter-in-law who said they could use a wheelchair and a portable toilet. The next day my family (including Monte's parents who are visiting us) went with Jose and took her both items. (We also took a wheelchair to a man recuperating after a back injury who was in need of one and lived very close--just to explain why you see two in the pic.)

I spent last night not far outside of San Salvador after our family had to travel to San Sal to renew our visas yesterday. Jose called me this morning to let me know that Ercilia died early this morning. That is the bad news I mentioned in the title. The good news is that he told me that yesterday they got word that Ercilia was in very bad condition and he went with about four of the sisters from here and they visited the family and prayed with them.
Today he took some of them to return to see how they could minister to and help the family through this difficult time. The sisters here have not really reached out cooperatively to the community in the past and are getting a sense of how they can serve in times like this and are stepping up to the challenge. I was really proud of them when Jose called me to let me know about yesterday's and today's events. My pride and happiness for the sisters in doing what they did was of course tempered by the sadness for Ercilia's family. Here is a picture we took of some of her family when we delivered the wheelchair last week. She had several children and although several are grown, three of them are still at home. The two boys on the left are her two youngest babies, who are now left as orphans and will be somehow cared for by their older siblings. (The lady in the white shirt is Ercilia's sister and the other lady in the dark shirt is her daughter-in-law and those are her children on the right) Please be in prayer for Ercilia's family, particularly her small children, as they face the days ahead. Also please be in prayer for the ladies' group here as we work to minister to them.