Dear praying friends,
We are so thankful for each one of you and especially covet your prayers at this time in El Salvador. Some things have been happening here that we feel are important to share with you. While we are thankful for God’s protection and we do not doubt it is His will for us to be here, there are issues that we want you to be aware of so you can pray for us and our people.
Before we tell you all that has been going on with extortion, we wanted to tell you about the teen in our church who received a threat a few months ago. We asked you to pray for him, and we are now certain that the threat has passed and he is not in danger. Thank God for answered prayer! And more good news, his father accepted Jesus as his personal Savior at our Sunday Service two weeks ago. We believe that this big scare his family just went through was what God used to bring him to salvation.
A family that is dear to us went through a similar situation, but with much different results. The family did not take the extortionists seriously enough. As a result, the father of this family is now in Heaven. Fleeing their home city for fear of their lives, the rest of the family came to us (we are on the opposite side of the country). The mother and her boys are now members of our church. Her youngest son is just three years old. Please pray for this family as they deal with grief, and for the mother who is now raising her boys alone.
We have large 5 gallon water bottles delivered to our home for drinking water. Suddenly and with no explanation, the company stopped coming. Later, we learned that because of extortion, the delivery man had to flee. Another lady we know has a small business. She received a similar phone call and notified the police. The police told her to close her store for a while. That is how the police “help” in these situations.
As you can see, we are in the midst of a difficult time for Salvadorans. This problem is not going away, but growing. We ask you to pray for the families directly affected by extortion and for us as we minister to them. Please pray for our continued protection, as we are not exempt from this problem.
To end this letter on a happier note, we will update you on our children. Rosa, 7, started first grade on January 23. While she enjoyed a 3 month long Christmas break, she was ready to see her friends and start learning again. She is amazing us with her ability to memorize verses in Spanish. Caleb has picked up more words and is attempting to speak Spanish, which often makes the children at church laugh. We suppose you could say he speaks “Spanglish”. Our doctor says that 9-month-old Joshua is the size of an 18-month-old. We must admit, he eats like he is twice his age! We have observed that quite often, he eats more than his brother. We thank God for the happiness our kids bring us in difficult moments. Please pray we will continue to give them the time and attention they need, and that we will raise them in a way that is pleasing to God.
Thank you for your prayers and support. We are so grateful for all you do and appreciate you.
The Cernas
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