A few months ago we shared about Maria’s illness, her treatment and that she was slowly getting better.  Sadly, Maria did not feel that she was getting better fast enough and decided that she couldn’t trust the treatment the doctor was giving her, so she stopped taking it.  She started seeing her other doctor because she felt she could trust him more.  This was very difficult because we want to see Maria healed and we tried to encourage her to stay the course but she refused.  We were surprised when she wanted to return to her other doctor, because the reason she switched in the first place was because she felt he wasn’t helping her and he was only treating her symptoms with pain medicine.

Since switching back to her other doctor Maria’s health has declined again.  She now has stomach pain regularly just as she did before she started treatment and unfortunately her doctor is again only treating the symptoms.  This has been very difficult for her because she is suffering so much.  It has also been difficult for us to see her suffering so much and to see that all the progress she made in healing has been reversed.

On top of all of her health issues, Maria had a tragic event happen the other day when her tienda was closed down by the municipality.  It all started several months ago when her neighbors began giving her a lot of trouble because they started their own tienda and have been trying to steal her customers.  Maria’s business has declined to a point where she can barely cover all of her expenses.  Then the other day people from the municipality showed up and said they received a complaint from her neighbors saying she sells beer from her tienda late into the night and there are people coming to buy the beer and making a lot of noise.

Maria told them that she does sell beer but that she always closes at 6:30 p.m. because she then eats dinner and goes to bed early.  However, she did not realize that she had to have a special permit to sell beer from her tienda (she thought she only needed the special permit to sell liquor).  Because she did not have this special permit, they closed her tienda down and fined her 1,500 quetzales which is about $205.  She must pay this fine before she can open her tienda again.

Maria is very upset by all of this as this is how she supports herself.  She has a hearing with the judge in a few days to dispute this charge and explain what happened.

We have been with her a lot these last few days and are trying to encourage her and remind her that the Lord has everything under control, He has always cared for her and will not stop caring for her now, and that whatever happens the Lord is working out His perfect plan for her life.

Please continue to pray for Maria during these difficult times of illness and uncertainty.  She is so encouraged to know that so many are praying for her and that Servants is always there to walk with her through these difficulties.

This photo was put on facebook of the municipality closing down Maria’s tienda. They also reported that they closed down a total of 38 tiendas that day for not having proper paperwork for the things they were selling.