This past month has been a difficult one for the Hernandez family. We are experiencing difficulty as a ministry team, as well, in regards to the best way to handle the situation they are in.
At the beginning of the year, we had a hard talk with Roselia and the boys. Kevin had moved to live with Roselia in the middle of the last school year and because of this, he was not able to finish his grade. Andre hadn’t been turning in his school work and didn’t pass, although it seems the school pushed him through anyway. Anthony was getting ready to start his first year and was really excited to go to school with his big brothers. The problem is that we don’t see a great emphasis being put on education by Roselia. She says she wants the boys to go to school and advance. Then things seem to come up where she moves to another town, for weeks or even months on end, with little to no good reason. In April, this happened again.
The director of the school called us at the end of March saying that the boys hadn’t been attending regularly. We went and talked to Roselia and the boys, reminding them what we had discussed at the beginning of the year: if they don’t do their part, then we will not be able to keep paying monthly tuition. A few weeks after this meeting we went to the school to pay for April. At that time, the director of the school gave us an official letter saying the boys were not only skipping days, but they also weren’t turning in their homework. Even so, we paid for April in faith that the boys would return. A few days later the director called us again saying he wasn’t able to get in touch with Roselia and the boys still were absent.
We were finally able to get in touch with Roselia and she told us that Rosa, her baby girl, was sick so she went to stay with her mom until she got better. Apparently, there is a “holistic practitioner” (“a woman that heals” is how Roselia explained it to us). It’s been a few weeks and Rosa hasn’t fully recovered from her cold and fever and they’ve started giving her medicine in addition to the “treatments” she has been receiving. Roselia has gotten sick as well and has been going to see the same woman.
It pains us that she didn’t come to us for help with prayer or medicine and additionally is affecting her boys’ education as a result. However, one thing we have learned in ministry is that no matter how much you try to help guide someone, their journey is their own and they need to sometimes learn the hard way. We had to inform Roselia that April is paid for in regard to the boys’ schooling but that in May, she would be responsible for paying their tuition. We told her we would consider continuing to help if the boys return to school. These are consequences she agreed to at the beginning of the year when we did our best to make sure that they were all in agreement to follow the rules, do their part, and stay in communication with us about it.
We continue to stay in contact with her and are praying for God’s deeper revelation in her heart of the consequences of her actions. Please join us in praying for Roselia and her kids as we continue to try to love her in a way that teaches responsibility and accountability for herself and her children.
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