If you've followed my blog at all, you know about Jorge. He's a husband and father of two littles. He has a grand heart for God and people. And he loves to preach. It makes me smile inside when I watch him. He can not sit or stand still. He reminds me of Britt in that he is rather ADD.
About a month or so after we moved to Joco, Jorge and his family had to move out of their rented home and move in with his in-laws. It was a hard move, but had to be done due to the owner raising their rent to a rate they couldn't afford.
This is not about me, but to be honest, it sure did stress me out when they moved. His wife's family lives in Parramos, a fifteen minute drive (at night with no traffic) up in the mountains. Jorge has no car. So he and his family rely on public transportation (chicken busses) for travel. However, the busses don't run past 6pm to places rural like Parramos. Thus began our traveling twice a week to drop Jorge and sometimes his family off to this one room shared by the four of them in the home of his in-laws. The old folks are nice people. They really are. I met them. And I'm going to touch on a sensitive subject here, but it's part of this story. In this culture it is ever so common for families to live together. Usually it's due to economics. I personally believe we are meant to live on our own as a family. It's the way God designed it. I'm convinced that trying to live in a home with the in-laws inevitably would fail eventually. I'm actually very proud of them for lasting as long as they did.
Issues came up from time to time over the course of the past eight months. This is natural. There are preferences. There are people set in their ways, which becomes more set in stone as we age. There are even different traditions when you add people into a family. All these things have a grand effect on life when sharing a home. So really, it was no surprise when we found out last week that they had decided to move out. The split was peaceful, both sides understanding the dynamics of the situation.
There's a curious element to this equation. Some may call it controversial. It goes like this: About a year ago, Jorge felt like God was telling him to enter full-time into ministering to the people around him. That is, without a job. You know...a regular income. He felt like God was telling him He would provide for his needs, and it was his job to minister full-time. So when they moved to Parramos, it put a bit of a hitch into Jorge's new journey. He still returned to Joco daily, because this is where the people are he is ministering to. It also left his wife (and partner on this journey) behind everyday.
When considering all these matters, we all were greatly pleased to hear of this family returning to Joco. So on Monday, Britt left with Nelson (visiting here for two weeks from Indiana) to go help move them into this new place Jorge had found back here in Joco. However, when Nelson laid eyes in the new digs, he said NO WAY. Understandably. It was a small one-room lamina shack built on the third floor of back to back houses with no bathroom and no kitchen. These are the situations when God's providence in having Nelson visiting during this very time become apparent.
It came together in the end, that money was promised sufficient for Jorge to find more adequate living conditions for this little family. In the meantime, they moved in to a spare room at the home of our friend, Jacobo. Yesterday, it all came together. A new place was found, which Britt checked out and approved as worthy for them to carry on in their journey. The location could not be better. It's just down the street from our new Saturday night Bible study location. It's close to the rehab we minister at. It's just close to everything and everyone.
I asked Britt how Julia, Jorge's wife, reacted on seeing this potential house. He said she seemed overwhelmed. Like she's never in her married life lived in a house of equal value. Which is really cool, because we specifically prayed that they would find a place bigger and better in every way than what they could otherwise get with the money provided. Our prayer was answered.
The other night at the rehab when Jorge showed up, he asked Britt how he was doing. And Britt's classic response was one of the things that I love so much about him. He said, "I'm actually rather sad." "Why are you sad? What happened?" Jorge inquired. "Well," Britt responded, "I'm really going to miss the beautiful drive up to Parramos tonight." And thus ensued hearty laughter from all of us in the room, knowing we won't have to make that drive again, thanks to an all-knowing, always-providing great big God.
About a month or so after we moved to Joco, Jorge and his family had to move out of their rented home and move in with his in-laws. It was a hard move, but had to be done due to the owner raising their rent to a rate they couldn't afford.
This is not about me, but to be honest, it sure did stress me out when they moved. His wife's family lives in Parramos, a fifteen minute drive (at night with no traffic) up in the mountains. Jorge has no car. So he and his family rely on public transportation (chicken busses) for travel. However, the busses don't run past 6pm to places rural like Parramos. Thus began our traveling twice a week to drop Jorge and sometimes his family off to this one room shared by the four of them in the home of his in-laws. The old folks are nice people. They really are. I met them. And I'm going to touch on a sensitive subject here, but it's part of this story. In this culture it is ever so common for families to live together. Usually it's due to economics. I personally believe we are meant to live on our own as a family. It's the way God designed it. I'm convinced that trying to live in a home with the in-laws inevitably would fail eventually. I'm actually very proud of them for lasting as long as they did.
Issues came up from time to time over the course of the past eight months. This is natural. There are preferences. There are people set in their ways, which becomes more set in stone as we age. There are even different traditions when you add people into a family. All these things have a grand effect on life when sharing a home. So really, it was no surprise when we found out last week that they had decided to move out. The split was peaceful, both sides understanding the dynamics of the situation.
There's a curious element to this equation. Some may call it controversial. It goes like this: About a year ago, Jorge felt like God was telling him to enter full-time into ministering to the people around him. That is, without a job. You know...a regular income. He felt like God was telling him He would provide for his needs, and it was his job to minister full-time. So when they moved to Parramos, it put a bit of a hitch into Jorge's new journey. He still returned to Joco daily, because this is where the people are he is ministering to. It also left his wife (and partner on this journey) behind everyday.
When considering all these matters, we all were greatly pleased to hear of this family returning to Joco. So on Monday, Britt left with Nelson (visiting here for two weeks from Indiana) to go help move them into this new place Jorge had found back here in Joco. However, when Nelson laid eyes in the new digs, he said NO WAY. Understandably. It was a small one-room lamina shack built on the third floor of back to back houses with no bathroom and no kitchen. These are the situations when God's providence in having Nelson visiting during this very time become apparent.
It came together in the end, that money was promised sufficient for Jorge to find more adequate living conditions for this little family. In the meantime, they moved in to a spare room at the home of our friend, Jacobo. Yesterday, it all came together. A new place was found, which Britt checked out and approved as worthy for them to carry on in their journey. The location could not be better. It's just down the street from our new Saturday night Bible study location. It's close to the rehab we minister at. It's just close to everything and everyone.
I asked Britt how Julia, Jorge's wife, reacted on seeing this potential house. He said she seemed overwhelmed. Like she's never in her married life lived in a house of equal value. Which is really cool, because we specifically prayed that they would find a place bigger and better in every way than what they could otherwise get with the money provided. Our prayer was answered.
The other night at the rehab when Jorge showed up, he asked Britt how he was doing. And Britt's classic response was one of the things that I love so much about him. He said, "I'm actually rather sad." "Why are you sad? What happened?" Jorge inquired. "Well," Britt responded, "I'm really going to miss the beautiful drive up to Parramos tonight." And thus ensued hearty laughter from all of us in the room, knowing we won't have to make that drive again, thanks to an all-knowing, always-providing great big God.
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