Youth Center Kid Drowns

Last year I wrote a blog about a boy named Elder. He was 9 years old. Sadly, we found out last Thursday that he drowned in the Laguna (a small river like place where people/kids go all the time) just down the way from us, and died. When I first heard the news, it didn't register right away because I couldn't believe it. If you read my blog about him, you will get to know a bit of who he was. It struck me deeply because he was on my heart often, and I couldn't help but see his need for Jesus. I think it hit everyone pretty hard because he was well know by all. He and his sister Ana would come together to Sunday school and to youth center. Lately it had just been Ana coming because Elder had stopped coming to church all together. Ana and Elder were very close, and they were together almost all of the time. She is having a really hard time. They did the "vela" which is the same thing as a wake or viewing, the same day he passed. People stayed outside the house and inside, all night long until the next day when they did the burial. When I saw Ana, she looked like she had been crying, but that first day she held up ok, laughing and keeping busy passing out coffee and bread to those who stayed over night. But it was as we got to the burial site the next day that she and her mom really broke down. I think that of all the people in their family, Ana is going to have the toughest time getting through this. She is 11 years old.
Please keep their family in prayer. This includes the older youth boys Elmer and Daniel, Dona Tana (Elder's grandma), Tanya (his aunt), and Ana Elder's sister. Also for his parents. I have been praying that God would use this difficult time to bring the family close to Himself. The entire family needs Jesus. 

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Elder at Youth Center