More prayer requests for January

We have an update and prayer requests since we wrote the January blog update.

As some of you know, I, Brooke, have been tutoring two girls Daniela and Eylin in the Maestro En Casa program. They both now want to enroll in colegio this year, which is a blessing, as I have found it more challenging than I had imagined. It has become apparent that they are not ready for the discipline that teaching yourself requires. They need teachers in all their subjects who know the material front to back, which is much more than I believe I am capable...especially in Spanish!

There are some issues though with both of them attending school. Daniela has failed out of the 7th grade 3 times, and I`m not sure she has picked up on the fact that learning requires studying outside of school. Eylin´s dad won`t let her enroll for fear she will get pregnant if she goes to high school. Eylin told me that he is very ¨machista¨ and that he doesn`t believe women should have an education.

After much prayer and discussion with Eylin, we decided to ask a local pastor, Felix, to help us speak with her dad in hopes that he would relent and let her attend school. Felix and I went last Thursday evening, and Felix spoke from the book of Daniel, and how Daniel was a youth that was able to conquer the lions because of the Lord`s protection...and that Eylin is very capable of defending herself against the evils in colegio. Her father ended up saying that it wasn`t because she was a woman that he wouldn`t let her go, but because she was easily influenced by her peers. In the end, he said he`d decide by Wednesday, which is during the week when Eylin will have to enroll for the school year which begins on the 16th of Feb. Please keep Eylin and Daniela in your prayers!

Some of you know the Lord used Eylin to bring me here. My heart broke when I learned 3 years ago that she wasn´t going to go to school. At the time, her family told me it was for economic reasons. But there are government scholarships available to all in need. It seems some families don`t want to put the effort into the paperwork involved. Some also say only families with connections receive the scholarships, but we have met several students with scholarships that don`t appear as though they have any connections.

After three years of knowing Eylin and forming a relationship with her, some of the reasons for her not attending school are beginning to be more clear. Our prayer is that whatever comes of her situation is that she would be formed into the creation that God has intended for her, that she would be fortified in her faith, and that her relationship with her father and her family would be a system of support and mutual respect.

We also need your prayers for one of our friends, Eva. She has had a number of difficult experiences over the past few years and they have taken their toll on her self esteem. Please pray that the Lord would show her how special she is.