Isa 43:2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
Hello Everyone,
We have been passing through waters, rivers, and fire. It’s not fun. About two months ago we found out that Amber’s mom had a very aggressive cancer and they had to operate quickly to remove it. She’s going through chemotherapy now and it hurts that we can’t be there. During the same time, one of the girls from the home got news that her 22-year-old brother was missing. Her mom was calling and putting pressure on her to come back to live with the family but it is extremely dangerous there, especially for her. We made plans to go to the United States to visit Alison and her family. While we were there Alison had to have surgery to remove cells that were in the process of turning into cancer. Also, while we were at Alison’s house, we got news that the girl from the Children’s Home’s brother was found murdered in a ditch. Later that week, she ran away. She came back the next day, but has been really struggling emotionally and spiritually. On our way back to Mexico, our daughter, Mary, was bringing our Jeep to the border and it broke down in a pretty dangerous area. We were worshipping in two Hispanic churches that Sunday and, in between services, we got the call that she was stranded. Steve had to present the work and preach while knowing she had no help. After the service, Brother Gabriel was able to get in contact with a Pastor in the area that went and rescued her and put her and baby Jack on a bus to the border. It took us an extra day and $500 to get back, but we made it.
That brings us to this week. On Sunday, Jon, our 16 year-old, was driving the people home from church and a little 7-year-old boy ran out in front of him. The van knocked him down and the tires rolled across his legs. Jon was taken to jail, the van was impounded (as is standard procedure here), and the little boy was rushed to the hospital. The initial report from the hospital was that the little boy was in very grave condition, and they had to stabilize him to send him to the state capital hospital. By the time they released Jon from the jail and were done with him, it was 3 a.m.
During this time, at the children’s home, our youngest boy was extremely angry because we hadn’t been there and was causing all kinds of problems at school. We have spent the week running between the children’s home, the school, the District Attorney’s office, and the hospital in Zacatecas. Add to this that Steve’s dad went in for knee surgery and has had a few complications – they gave him three times his normal pain meds and other meds. Then tonight we found out that the family of the girl whose brother was murdered had come up with a plan to basically kidnap her. She told us all about it, but that means tomorrow Steve has to make another trip to the District Attorney’s Office and the Dept. of Familty Services (DIF) to make a report of the plan. We called her mother and told her that we knew what was going on, and let her know that she could be held on kidnapping charges if they went through with it.
Is there anybody who would like to trade places for a week or two?
Now there is good news that goes along with all of this. We’re finding out that Steve’s anti-stress pills are working out okay. No, just kidding. Amber’s mom is doing well and being taken care of. The girl from the home has told us that she wants to stay with us. The boy that was run over has a fractured skull, but is going to be okay. (No other broken bones, a miracle) His family is just as concerned about Jon’s emotional well-being as they are with their son’s physical well-being. Jonathon has been exonerated from any guilt in the accident. We still have to pay the medical bills and extra expenses not covered by insurance. The results from Alison’s surgery came back that they got all the bad tissue. The Jeep is running fine and, through that, we met a new pastor. Steve’s dad is doing much better today.
Now for prayer requests. Please pray for Jonathon, he is hurt emotionally and working through the healing process. Please pray for us, as hard as all of the other things put together, the hardest thing we’ve had to deal with is living through emotional pain of our youngest son. Please pray for Rojelio the little boy who was hit, and his 10-year-old sister, who watched the whole thing and has a lot of guilt to deal with too. Please remember Lidia, and the rest of the kids of the children’s home, the people from our church here, and the rest of our family as this has really exacted an emotional and a spiritual toll on all of us. Pray for Amber’s mom and Steve’s dad, as well as Alison and her family. Baby Sam (Mary and Nathan’s son) is off of his seizure meds and seems to be doing well except that he’s been running a really high fever yesterday and today, about a third of the kids in the home have this same illness too. We know that everything works together for our good( please pray that we never, ever forget that!), but it still has been very, very hard to deal with all of these things emotionally. Please pray for all of the added expenses from the accident. And more than everything else, please pray that God will be glorified through each and every one of our actions.
The Benedicts
Co-Laborers in Christ,
Mexico Division
