Danira is a girl that joined our youth group and Bible study
this year. She is a dedicated Christian and on fire for Christ. During prayer
and time of sharing what God is doing in our lives, Danira always has something
to say, whether it’s sharing what she is struggling with or simply praising God
for one more day of life. Danira just turned 17 on August 26, 2015. When Danira
was 14 years old she got a cell phone, and this opened her up to the world wide
web. While spending time on the internet, she met a guy from a different state
in Mexico. She then chose to run away with him, so they planned a night where
he could pick her up and they could ride off together. Her parents and
grandparents were horrified yet couldn’t find her. While with this guy, she entered
into a relationship with him but then things got ugly. The man beat her, hit
her in the head, and left her for dead. She was in the hospital for a long time
and the doctors said it would be a miracle if she ever made it through her
injuries. Her parents finally did get her back, and now she lives with her
grandma in Boca del Rio. She did heal from her injuries, except that her left
arm and hand doesn’t work, and her left leg is very stiff. She cannot walk
normal and uses a cane. She also has a large bump (the size of an egg) on the
right side of her head by her eye that she always tries to cover with her hair.
For about two months everyone from Bible study and our youth group has been
trying to raise money so that she can have an operation done on her head to put
a plate in to make her injury location more stable. Because of this tragedy,
she has missed years of school. Just last week us youth that live in the house
and some of the youth group have been raising money for her. The goal is $8,000
and we have about $1,300. Last week was the start of shrimp season, so mostly
all the men of Boca del Rio went out for shrimp. We decided to raise money by
asking the fishermen to donate any quantity of shrimp and we would later sell
the shrimp for money for Dania’s fund. We also sold muffins. If you would like
to help donate to this fund, let me know at kealaoverweg@hotmail.com.
August 30 was a special day for us
at the Aposento Alto (Upper Room) because we had a wedding! Julio and Lepita
are got married! Julio is in his 40’s and Lepita is in her 50’s and they have
been together for about 3 years before this living in the same house. It is
extremely common for a couple to be ‘married’ simply by moving in together,
without a wedding. But upon meeting Doug and Rebecca and growing stronger on
their faith, they realized it was wrong to avoid getting married and have
decided to finally make it official. It was a beautiful wedding!
The girls ministry is going great! At a minimum we get 5 girls (usually 7) every Thursday! Some special things we have done is painting our hand prints on the wall, having a pool party and a sleep over to celebrate my last week in Mexico. We start every girls group with time of prayer. Everyone tells each other a prayer request and then everyone prays for someone else's prayer request. This usually works well since girl love talking about their lives. I'm going to miss all of them.
A lot of things have been going on
here in Las Glorias, I for sure forgot to mention everything but it has all
been a big learning experience for me and a big test of my faith. Now that it
is the end of August and my year in Mexico is coming to a close, I have decided
to move back to Michigan in the beginning of October. Please pray for me as I
will be trying to fit back into the west Michigan culture, looking for a job, and
reconnecting with friends and family. Pray that God gives me patience in
starting this new chapter in my life and that everything goes well in the
preparation of my sister Hailey’s wedding.
Thank you again for all of your support! This
past year has been an invaluable experience, where I not only worked to change
people’s hearts to turn to God, but my own heart has been changed to better
reflect the love of God too.