Hello from El Salvador.

I hope everyone is doing well. Everything here is just beyond imaginable. We have been given such favor!!!

But first, here is the link I promised in my last post for the other television interview I did while in the States. The website is www.wtjr.org. You then look for the "media" tab and a drop-down menu will appear. Click on "video on demand" and then look for the following: Above_and_Beyond001_Wed09232009


An update on my Immigration papers. They officially expired on 9 October because Abigail Association still needs one signature from the government and they have told us it will be coming soon. But in the meantime....I needed some help. It just so happened that I had an unexpected meeting with the wife of the Director of Immigration. She herself happens to be a judge. While we were talking with her, I was able to explain my situation with Immigration. She pulled her cell phone out of her purse, called up her husband and said, (in Spanish, of course) "Honey, grant this lady residency." He told me I needed to write him a letter, explaining my situation and he would take care of it. Bottom line, after he reviewed my case, he said he cannot "kick me out of the country because I am here doing good." So he asked only for a current police report from here, which takes 10 days and a messy fingerprinting, and then it will be done. The blessing of all this is that my papers from the States and from here will remain active (most of them are a year old now) and will be used for my residency. Those papers costs mega bucks which is why I have wanted them to remain active as long as possible!!!! So another blessing from the Lord.

As for Abigail.....wow!!! We have moved almost everything from the old house to the new house and Crisis Center. I have removed almost all the old flooring from the Crisis Center (it was in horrible condition!!!!) and thanks to Freedom Worship Center, we will be installing a new ceramic floor next week!!!! A BIG THANK YOU to FWC!!!! There is an existing office, two bathrooms, and two storage rooms. The entire space is over 1300sq ft. The next step will be to build a kitchen, an office for the doctor and for counseling, and a sleeping room for a woman and also a baby. This all will take time and money, so we are in a process. Please pray for everything that we need to come in at the right time.

We are planning a HUGE outreach event at the Crisis Center on 31 October. We are having people from the area sign up so we can plan and so far it looks like we will have over 300 kids and over 150 women. And they still have a few more days to sign up. WOW!!! Not bad for our first event at that location. We will be having food and fun for the kiddies and teaching for the ladies. Please pray for us that day!!! It will be a wonderful opportunity for us to feed over 500 people in one day both physically and spiritually. We have permission to close off the street and use that area. The Crisis Center will have its new floor and there are 8-10 metal picnic tables in front that I want to paint as well before the event. All the children will receive little gift bags with toys and candy. We are working on what to give the women. I am sure I will be able to post a wonderful report from this event!!!

The new house/shelter is in excellent condition. It only needs a fresh coat of paint. A lady agreed to purchase the paint if I would paint it. Bring it on, I said!!! So that will happen in the first part of November. I can paint it, we then can get the furniture arranged and make it ready for ladies to stay there safely.

Other things that have been happening. We found a little old lady in a town called San Miguel, which is about 2.5 hours from where I live. She wanted some chickens to raise. So a few weeks ago, we took her some chickens. Come to find out, she did not have any place for them to stay at night and she was keeping them on a string in her kitchen. Now granted, it had a dirt floor, but still.... that is just not right. So I went back and built her a chicken coop. I am very proud of this project, since it was the first time I had attempted anything like that. But both she and the chickens were pleased. It was in an extremely hot area of El Sal and so I did not have a dry thread on me. After digging holes for posts, mixing and pouring concrete for the posts, making the frame and door and then finally putting the wire around it all, I was hot, tired, and very dirty. I asked her if there was a place I could take a shower because I did think to take a change of clothes. She took me to a little room with a hole in the ground and gave me a bucket of water and a bowl. It took me a few minutes but I figured out how to take a shower. So an experience indeed. I loved it!!!!!

There are so many little things that happen here every day, but I cannot list them all. But every day is filled with blessings and opportunities to reach out to others. And most days are also filled with some sort of adventure, which I love. Even taking a shower from a bucket can be an adventure. Thank you, Everyone, for being part of the work here in El Salvador. These people truly need you and I need you! Together we are a Team reaching out our hands to help others. May God continue to bless you as you are a blessing to so many.

Janis