Miguel and I were ecstatic to hear that his permanent residency interview is scheduled for August 17th. It's been two years since we sent the initial petition and a full year since we were approved in documentation. The interview is the final step in the process and the finish line is in sight! It seems rather surreal. We would appreciate your prayers as we travel to Cuidad Juarez (8 hours east in the state of Chihuahua, MX) for the interview. Please pray for a safe, anxiety-free trip and that we would have all the required documents in the correct formats, etc. With the interview taking place this month, the expectation is that Miguel will be able to travel to the US by October.
The final leg of our journey took about six months longer than normal due to COVID. Interestingly, last Thursday I emailed our lawyer (after six months of no communication) and asked if he had heard anything. He responded that he had heard that in June 2021 they were finally interviewing those who were approved in March 2020, so I gave a sigh and prepared to wait several more months. The very next afternoon we got the date!
We will be traveling to Cuidad Juarez on August 12th. A medical exam is required at least two days before the interview, so Miguel will go to that on Friday. We will stay the weekend and have the interview on Tuesday. Of course there are a lot of nerves and stress. We were expecting to have a few months between scheduling and the actual date, so with only a couple weeks to prepare, we have been busy printing, checking documents, planning other appointments that need to be done ahead of time, etc.
Thank you for your prayers for our peace of mind!
Along with the flurry of prep for our interview, we are also preparing for Expo Esperanza this weekend (August 6th-7th). Miguel is planning to sell some food items at a food stand, so we are making plans for that.
So far we have made a number of burritos and cooked up some meat for tacos. Salsas, lemonade, Jamaica, and cinnamon rolls are on the to-do list for Thursday.
Last week I had my final sewing class. This sweet girl made a patchwork pillow.
I'm also excited to hear a couple of my piano students play and of course, see all of the other projects and watch the horse and dog events.
We also squeezed in a fire drill last week.
In other news... I will be taking a position as kitchen supervisor beginning this month and we are hiring a new assistant for the kitchen (as our previous kitchen assistant retired). Although we have done a lot. of planning in preparation for this transition, it still brings another layer of excitement, stress, and uncertainty. But I am hopeful for a good transition, communication, and the opportunity to grow in my leadership skills. I would appreciate your prayers for wisdom and grace. And also that I can learn to face conflict with appropriate confrontation when needed (one of my weak areas).
Some of you may have heard about the violence in this area.
A couple weeks ago on Wednesday morning, shooting broke out within hearing distance of the CVE property. It has continued off and on for the past two weeks in various locations around Magdalena. We don't know all the specifics, but different gangs are fighting with each other. Usually this takes place on the outskirts of town and is more common in the evening or early morning. We also had a week of violence a year or so ago when COVID first started, so this isn't new. However, this was the first time that the shooting was so close to CVE property on various occasions. More soldiers and national guard have been called in to the area. About a year ago, CVE established a communication system with protocol, so that whenever shooting is reported, everyone stays put, reports their location, gates are closed and locked, etc. Thankfully, in the last week there has been only one incident, so hopefully things will be improving.
The violence can be very discouraging. As we are slowly dropping COVID precautions, we find free travel still restricted because of safety issues. Church was canceled a couple times, events were canceled and rescheduled. Over the past year, we have missed visiting the ranches and climbing the beautiful mountains in the area. Please join us in praying for safety, for peace in this community, for the families, men, and women involved in the gangs, and those closely affected by the violence. Many of them may have grown up into these gangs and know no other life. Please pray that they would see beyond their current situation, desire something different, and find a way out. Many young men and women face the temptation to become involved. Pray that they can find community, relationships, and hope through the Christian church and not the gangs. Please pray that corruption will be brought to light and that the people in this community would look to Jesus for satisfaction and hope. Please pray that we can know how to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and be a light during this time. And praise God that he has kept us safe!
Below are the words to a song I've been writing over the past year as I've processed the brokenness I see all around me. I pray that it can bless you and help you to feel God's presence beside you as you face the brokenness in your life.
Never Look Away
by Laura Aviña
Children wailing in the sand
Wars ravaging the lands
Addictions destroying a man
How could this, How could this be the plan?
Death knocking at our doors
Hatred scattered on our shores
Sin simmering in our hearts
I just don’t, I just don’t want a part.
Let me place the blame.
Show me who to hate.
Oh God, let me break,
Be the one to take.
I can look away,
Just ignore the pain,
But I see you, I see you, and hear you say.
"I never look away.
I am here to stay.
I took the blame.
They chose Me to hate.
I let myself break
And I bore the shame.
Now I stay, now I stay. I never look away."
Suffering is everywhere I turn.
I wonder when we will ever learn.
Pain is more known than happiness.
I cannot bear, cannot bear this brokenness.
You hold each tear from every eye.
You count the injustices and lies.
You know the trauma in each heart.
And yet you, and yet You want a part.
Some of us learn to blame.
Some embrace the hate.
Some let themselves break
A victim’s life to take.
Some just look away,
Choose to ignore the pain,
But I see you, I see you and I hear you Say
"I am here to heal.
I know what you feel.
Let me be the One
To whom You always run.
Justice will be mine.
I will draw the line.
Stand up straight, lift your face and just look to me."
Our God, He is the Healer.
Our God, He is the Judge.
Our God, He is the Savior of this world, our God.
He holds a bottle in his hand
Filled with the tears of all the land.
Someday he’ll crush it in his fist.
It will rain, it will rain true justice.
Lift up your hands and broken hearts
Even when hope is torn apart.
We can watch beside our Lord
Through the pain, til the day he wields the sword.
We choose not to blame.
We choose not to hate.
We choose not break.
We choose not to take.
We won’t look away.
We can’t ignore pain.
We will pray, we will stay, and listen to Him say.
"I never look away.
I am here to stay.
I see and I hear
All you feel and fear.
Stand strong in the fight.
Face it with my might.
I will be, I will be everything you need."
