Our team spent a lot of time a house of a lady named Cesilia. She has been one of our friends for years and we have seen her family through lots of difficult times. About 5 years ago her daughter (Lupita) got married to a 14 year old boy. That was when Lupita was 12 years old. We prayed them through that and the marriage was terminated and she returned home. Last year when our team was here we spent time with them and Rachael (one of the team members who is Lupita's age) formed a real friendship with Lupita. Last week when we returned Lupita and Rachael picked up their friendship where they left off a year ago. They exchanged many gifts, one of which was a backpack for Lupita because she was getting ready to leave to live in the city to go to high school. Lupita was so excited about going to school and studying so that one day she could get a good job and have a good life.
Rachael giving the backpack to Lupita
Lupita dressing Rachael in her clothes.
Rachael with the gifts that she received from Lupita.
HOWEVER.... one week has passed and we returned to see them today. There was one thing missing.....Lupita. One day after we left, she got married. Yep.... good-bye school, good-bye better life and job opportunities. She met a guy 2 weeks ago and she left with him on Saturday to his home. In this culture, that means they are married. She has only known him for 15 days. Her mother was extremely shocked and had no clue why she would choose to do this. She said that on Saturday they had purchased all of the necessary materials for her to start school. Uniform, toiletries, everything so that she could live in the city (it is a little like boarding school) and go to school. Cesilia said she was so excited about starting school and then that night this "guy" came by and they ran off together. So sad. Now there is a little bit of hope and Cesilia has asked me to ask all of you to pray. Please pray that Lupita will come to her senses soon. VERY SOON. She has a small window where she could still leave this situation. It is very small, however she can still leave him and return home if she can decide to do that soon. Please pray she will realize what a big mistake she has made and return home and go back to studying.
So, that was the first stop we made tonight. The next news we were given was that another woman in our church got "married" this week as well. She got married when she was younger and her husband left her with a little boy. So she has been a single mom for about 3 years now. This one man showed interest in her recently and she jumped at the chance to have a spouse again. However, she is legally still married and he has 2 other wives and more than 4 children. One of his wives lives here in Mexico and has some children by him and doesn't want anything to do with him. The other wife is in the US and has the 4 kids. Now our dear friend who is about 23 years old is now living with this man. So the week did not prove to be very good for the women in our church. Please pray God will work in both of their lives.
This sweet lady in the middle is Juanie and her son is Ricardo, she is pictured here with her mother.
She is the other lady who got "married" this week. Her mama is very sad too!
Please pray for us as we try to figure out how to reach them with His Word when they will no longer be able to hear it.
Love you all! Missy
