The Perez family has had a difficult year but praise the Lord there have been times of joy in that year too!

As most of you may remember, the family lost everything to a house fire last year.  Despite this incredibly difficult experience they were blessed and loved well by their church family who came together to help them get all the things they needed to replace.  They also helped them build a new house on the land of the pastor.  In addition, a few weeks after that, they had the joy of bringing home their new daughter-in-law to live with them.

As they have settled into their new home, Juanita started a tortilla business behind the pastor’s house and is able to help provide more for the family through this.  Pedro continues to work at his job and their son Jacinto has had a steady job for almost 2 years now.  This is a big blessing for Jacinto and his wife, Eva, as 7 months ago they found out they were going to have a baby!!  They are all so thankful for this ray of sunshine in the midst of the last year of difficulties.

Currently, Eva helps Juanita with the tortilla business but Juanita is looking to find someone to replace her for a few months after the baby comes.  Eva has been a big help to Juanita because Juanita has had some stomach issues for several months and has struggled to work as quickly as she normally does.  Pedro also had stomach issues and their daughters, Maty and Katy, were having health issues as well.  They went to see a doctor who was offering free consults but then wanted to prescribe over $100 worth of medicine for each of them, which was not something they could afford.  Thankfully, through the faithful support of partners like you, we were able to take Juanita, Pedro, Maty and Katy to be seen by the doctor that we trust.  They are all currently taking medicine to help with the health issues they were having.

The girls struggled again in school this year and are currently taking classes and trying to finish up homework so that they can pass the year.  Juanita shared with us that she’s very frustrated with them because they do not put in their part for their studying.  She said she tries to make them understand this is not a game and that being able to study is a blessing that a lot of kids don’t have but she doesn’t know what else to do for them.

The family also experienced a sad event this month as Pedro’s grandmother passed away.  It was very hard for them because they live so far from their family and were not able to travel to be with them because of their work commitments and because they did not have the money.

Please pray for healing for the entire family and that the Lord would comfort them during this difficult time.  Please also pray that the girls would start taking their studies seriously and that God would give our missionaries wisdom in how to move forward with this.  We also ask that you pray for protection over Eva and her baby!  Please also pray she and Jacinto would grow together in their relationship with the Lord and that they would raise their child to have a strong relationship with Jesus.