Ashaninka volume 20

I write tonight with a heavy and happy heart.  I know, what in the world does that mean?!

Good news first......Edison, the 28 year old son-in-law of Lydia, is now my brother in Christ.  He has fought it for so long, but we found him a broken man tonight.

He and his wife, Kati, and their two little boys have no food in the house.  They have no money.  Edison has been very ill for a week so there is no paycheck for this missed week.  He has some very strange symptoms and has been told that witchcraft has been used against him and that he needs to go to a witch doctor to reverse it.  He doesn't believe that, but has no money to see a doctor or to buy a simple pain pill.  He has considered smoking marijuana to help with the pain and he's even thought about suicide.  His baby son, Jesus, turns one on Saturday and there will be no celebration.  This seemed to bother him the most.

Receiving Christ will not immediately change any of these things and Edison knows that.  What it will do is give him the assurance that he has the ear of the Almighty day and night.  It will allow him to see the value of his life in a different light.  It will give him hope.  It will give him peace in the midst of the turbulent circumstances.  It will change him.  We do pray for healing and provision and will watch how God chooses to work in his life.

Driu is a one year old baby who is the nephew of Lydia.  He has had diarreah and has been vomiting on and off for a month.  He is probably severely dehydrated and has lost a lot of weight.  His parents have indeed taken him to a witch doctor and have been told they are wishing harm on him and wish to see him dead.  Their house has been empty and dark for several weeks now.  They are trusting in the curandero to make their son well and it's not working.  I fear this baby will die soon and it breaks my heart.  We have shared Jesus with Janet, Driu's mother, but she has yet to accept it as truth.

So......overjoyed for Edison, although concerned about his health, and devastated for baby Driu and his family.  I realize not one person who will read this knows these people, but they are people just like us who love their families, who work hard for a living, who want to be happy.......please join us in praying for them and in doing so, loving them the best way possible, even from afar.