This family we would classify as our most unstable of all the families we serve. When we first were introduced to this family, They were a large family living with Jorge’s mom, Carmen. Since then, Jorge’s ex-wife has left as a result of Jorge’s alcoholism and rough character. Their 4 boys are split between the two homes and have changed where they have lived off and on. When Jorge’s drinking gets bad, the boys stay with their mom. When he is not drinking, the two middle boys stay with him. Their mom doesn’t let the youngest (age 6) stay overnight in the house because she doesn’t trust Jorge enough and the oldest (16) prefers to stay with his mom.
Brandon, Jorge, and Kevin
Carmen, Jorge’s mom, owns the land they live on as it was given to her back when she used to work on the coffee plantation near their home. The land owners paid their employees in part with land to live on close by. The family was born and grew up there. Jorge’s dad, also an alcoholic, didn’t stick around long and moved to the coast. He has since passed away. She can read and write but did not make it through the 6th grade and always worked in the fields so for a 60 something-year-old woman with no technical job skills, it is hard for her to find work. She works in a little corner store (tienda) making tortillas to sell when there are sufficient clients, or she sells rags by the pound to make a few dollars per week for food.
Carmen
Jorge is an excellent farmer! When he is not caught up in drinking, he is very skilled with his hands and knows how to work the land. To supplement his income, he also works on construction projects with his brother. In our latest VLOG, Jorge took me around to show me his crops he has been working on this year and is very proud of them. Jorge cannot read or write and has no intention of going back to school.
Since our family representatives (the people in our ministry that visit our families on a regular basis…Missy is one of them) are women, we found it to be less responsible to expect them to be the ones who visit and “care for” this family on a regular basis. Given Jorge’s rough nature, alcoholism, and proclivity to occasional violence, our team unanimously voted for me to be the one who works on developing a relationship to help this family. Since then, I’ve been trying to get him into rehab to get him some sobriety under his belt so he can be discipled. In May, just before the team came to serve with us, I was able to take him to rehab! I have been recording bits of the story via video to share with you all but every time I do, the story changes and develops quicker than I have been able to update you with. So, here they are linked together to give you more of the story of the battle it has been to try to get Jorge some help.
After I took him to rehab, we discovered through his mom that he only lasted 5 days. We were quite upset about this but as we are now in August, he has been clean for 3 months! I am doing my best to spend more time with him (hence the VLOG update of me spending a morning with him walking through his fields) to develop a closer relationship with him in order to guide him closer to Christ.
Please continue to support us in prayer about Jorge’s family as it has been one of the longer processes we have experienced in trying to help a family break the cycle of poverty they are living in.
For more on this family or how you can sponsor them, visit their mySARF profile here.
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