Meet Marianela...

Let me introduce the third member of the threesome I have mentioned previously. Marianela is 17 years old, is in seventh grade, and attends the nearby public school with Irlanda and Melvi. Her favourite colour is sky blue. She is from the the town of Montenegro, known for its sugar cane, which is located a couple of hours away in the department of Santa Cruz. She usually makes the trip home every weekend. I think she is the only girl here at the centre who comes from a Christian family. She has also been here at the centre longer than most of the girls and knows all the ropes around here.

I will always remember Marianela as the one who helped me out and made me feel at home when I first arrived at the centre. I arrived late in the evening on a Tuesday. The girls were all chopping up vegetables when I first arrived. I thought I should join them and help. Marianela told me not to worry about helping them and to go ahead and get settled in and go to sleep, as I was sure to be tired. The next day she was also extremely helpful in explaining how things were done, as I was completely lost.

Marianela likes to take care of me. She's always telling the other girls to respect and obey me. Whenever she notices I'm really tired, she tells me to go and get some rest. She also has a "take-charge" personality. For dinner we always eat leftovers from lunch (which is the main meal here in Bolivia). Marianela likes to be the one to serve up the food, and she is very good at dividing up the food evenly between the nine girls.

The girls here at the centre are typical girls and love to get dressed up and look pretty. Marianela is the exception. She doesn't seem to care much for skirts or dresses and seems happiest in sweat pants and a soccer shirt. Also, unlike the rest of the girls, she dislikes knitting and crocheting.

Marianela is a gifted communicater and often helps me out when I am having trouble understanding one of the girls. When I encounter a sign I am not familiar with, she is very good at giving me examples to help me understand the meaning of the sign.

RANDOM INFO. (about my life here): As many of you probably know, I tend to be quiet and reserved. One of the things I love about my nine girls is that they bring out my goofy and silly side. One of our private jokes is the "crab" joke. When the girls taught me the sign for "crab," I adapted it and acted it out really silly. I cracked the girls up, and since then they will often ask me to please sign "crab" and give them another good laugh.

PRAISE (Blessings):

-Marianela's life!

-A safe trip to and from Potosi.

-A special weekend spent in my hometown seeing old friends!

-God has provided the money so one of the founding missionaries who continues to work here at the centre can have her hip replaced.

-God speaking truth and comfort to my heart as I went through a very painful experience/situation here at the centre.

-Seeing God use the horrible situation here at the centre for good.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

-Please pray that God would continue to bring healing and restoration after the horrible situation that took place here at the centre.

-I have been struggling with feeling very bored with my life here at the centre. Please pray that God would take away the feelings of boredom and replace them with joy and fulfillment in serving Him here.