THEY CAN STAY!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for all your prayers!!!!! The meeting with the Ministerio Publico went very well. Dad did not go to jail!! The MP is all for what we are doing so they assured us that there won’t be any more people that will press charges against us. At least not in this case. The lawyers were all appalled by the pictures that both dad and DIF had brought. Those were the pics of where they used to live and the condition the kids were in when they first came. We now get to keep the kids!!!! Hopefully for a long time! It all depends on DIF. They still need prayer though. Especially Luis, the 5 year old. He is the one who is taking all of this very hard. He was finally almost adjusted, then his mom showed up and he is very confused right now. He says he does not want to go back though. The other kids are o.k. though. The baby saw her mom and didn’t react at all. The 2 year old was first excited, and then he was scared. The older 2 were just very scared. Thanks again for all your prayers!! This was again obviously all God because we were pretty sure that the chances of them having to go to an orphanage were like 9 out of 10.

Important Prayer Request

Today the Ministerio Publico (the people that people go to to take other people to court.) showed up at our house with the mom of the children. The mom is not allowed in our house or even near it by the order of DIF. And today she showed up with these people… all the way to the front door. They came because she had put a demanda (pressed charges) against Chuy. She did it with the help of Chuy’s own brother. His blood related brother. Chuy is in much need of prayer right now because this has been very difficult having his own family turn their backs on him in this already difficult situation. Please pray that the mom can calm down because at this point she is just preparing her way right into jail. This means that all her kids will be put into state orphanages and probably be separated for the rest of their lives. The lawyer for DIF (our side) says we have nothing to worry about but PLEASE pray.

Birthdays

Today we got all the kids birthdays! Next week is Javiers birthday. He is turning 3. He is also talking a lot lately, well trying to talk, but he is definetly not shy around us anymore. So cute!

We all fit!!!!!

God has sent us a 15 passenger van!!! Now we can go everywhere altogether, without being crammed like sardines. This whole thing was all God. As some of you know we were looking for a 15 passenger van in the summer. We looked and looked and the only thing we found was a remodeled cargo van that looked like a submarine. We gave up searching for a while. Then a couple weeks ago we started looking for one again and found one. The description of the van was exactly what we were looking for. We prayed about it. God sent all the money needed to buy the van all within a week. It is perfect because we all fit. There is also extra space for more children.

Quick Update

We appreciate all your prayers! God has and is definitely doing a huge work in these kids! They are so different. It is so amazing to see these kids changing both physically, spiritually and mentally. They have all changed colors because of bathing. We have discovered an unknown birthmark on the baby’s face. When they came they didn’t want to pray before eating now they won’t eat without praying. All the baby (Pati) used to do was cry. Now she barely cries at all, most of the time she is laughing. She has the cutest laugh. Javier (the 2 year old) used to be so scared of sleeping, now he skips off to bed. The only thing he said when he got here was no. Now he says many words in English and Spanish. He has definitely warmed up very well. Luis (the 5 year old) walked around very angry. He would bite people and said he was going to eat whatever animals were in sight. He would also say he would eat you, too. (Right Elizabeth?) He was very angry and tried to get attention in bad ways. He doesn’t have that angry look in his eyes anymore. He doesn’t pretend to eat things anymore. He is a very sweet child. Laura has learned to read!!!! What a great achievement! She is very excited and so are we. After months of trying and teaching she has finally learned.

We need lots of prayers. The children are so afraid of seeing their mom. They have nightmares that she is coming to beat them. She still lives nearby. Also, the town has gone a bit crazy. We are not disclosing the details about the children as it is our job to protect them. So, the people are saying ‘poor mom’. They are angry with us and it is a bit tense. Please, please pray for the ministry. We have lost one family but gained another in adult study and we shall see Wednesday if we have any Youth left and Friday how Kids Club goes.

The children have to undergo some VERY invasive testing this next week. Please pray that they are not even more traumatized by the process. It is necessary.

Thank you for all your prayers!

Happy New Year,

We really need your prayers. Laura's 3 siblings have come to live at the Acosta house. This is a huge change for us as now we have eight childdren, Arlene, 14, TJ 13, Rebeca,11, Grace 10, Laura, 7, Luis 5, Javier 2, and Pati 1. The children came on December 31. Seems our hand-me-downs do not fit the new ones :). One of the biggest needs right now is lots of prayer. (We are also going to need basic items like diapers and formula, food, water....)

The children are here through DIF (child and family services on Mexico) and we do not know how long they will stay. The mom was given the choice of leaving them here or going to jail and having them put into a formal state orphanage. After much stress, they ended up here. Please pray for their health and safety and please pray for my children as this is a huge change for them and it came very suddenly. Please pray for strength and wisdom for Chuy and I. The kids were very dirty when they got here but are now clean and sleeping. It will be a tough change for them. The baby was still breast feeding at 1 and 1/2.

Thank you for your prayers.

Love in Christ, Chuy, Amy, and all