Les and Val Klassen

Update on Angel Ramon

Angel Ramon is one year old and weighs in at a healthy 14 lbs.  Maybe that sounds small for his age, but considering his premature start, he's doing very well.  As with so many children who get showered with gifts and toys, he is just as content to play with something simple and easily replaceable - a coffee cup lid.  The hole in the lid is just the right size in which he can stick his two bottom teeth into and be able to make that cool clicking sound.  He is very observant and likes to watch anything that moves.  For the most part, he is a very content little boy.  We had the privilege to having him for a three week period over Christmas while Stan & Marilyn returned to B.C. to visit family.  He was very easy to have around, and it's sure not difficult to love him.  Truly a miracle of God's creation.

We are all still waiting for his legal papers to come through so that he can obtain a visa to go to the U.S. for much needed treatment.  We cannot understand why the process has been stalled, or who to turn to for help.  The confidence given to Stan & Marilyn by the Shriner's to assist them in this process seems to have been "smoke in the wind".  It has truly been disappointing for them as they continue to wait.  Once Angel Ramon has his legal papers and is able to get an appointment in L.A. at the hospital that specializes in his disorder, the hospital & Shriner's will care for his medical needs until he is 18 years old.  He has already had to miss two important appointments.

If anyone knows of a way to speed up this whole process and get him the care he so desperately needs, please let us know, and we can pass that information on to Stan & Marilyn.

Please pray!  Angel Ramon's clock is ticking!

Angel Ramon

Somewhere - a mother is wondering what has happened to her baby boy.

Somewhere - she is hoping he is still alive, that someone has found him.

Somewhere - she is feeling the pain of her actions.

Somewhere - she cries herself to sleep, trying to find ways of dealing with her guilt.

Somewhere - but where?

She must have known his tiny life was a miracle at birth.  She must have known, or at least hoped, another miracle could save her little boy.  Her last action, just before she disappeared was to bring him to the hospital.  And just before she disappeared, she gave him a name.  A name of honor.  A name the Creator himself would recognize.  A name all heaven would notice.  A name all heaven would embrace.

"Angel Ramon"

Born one month premature, abandoned at one month old, weighing a mere 4 lbs., Angel Ramon's life at IDT began with a call from DIF (Mexico's Child Protective Services) saying they were bringing a baby within the hour for an indefinite period of time.  Could someone look after him until other arrangements could be made for him?

The homeless start young in Mexico.  And there are no options.  DIF's only option and hope was that IDT would take care of this badly neglected child; that someone would open their heart and home to him, and give him the daily care required to keep him alive.  That someone was found in the hearts of friends, Stan & Marilyn Schulz.  Recent empty nesters themselves, life has taken an interesting turn for them.  Full time parenting was not in their immediate plan, but full time ministry was.  And that is what they are doing.

Sometimes the plans God has for us do not include the plans we have for ourselves.  But when we realize and recognize His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and His ways are higher than our ways, it is with joy and thanksgiving we can surrender our wills to Him.  Why?  Because - if He rescues a life, He wins - and if He wins, we win - every time.

Angel's life will not be an easy one.  You see, the bottom half of his body is somewhat deformed.  His hips are partially rotated, his knees are backwards, and he has two club feet.  His tiny clenched fists are beginning to relax.  He is taking in nourishment, he's gaining weight, and he is beginning to smile.  Life is good with Stan & Marilyn, because he is loved.

The marvel of modern medicine brings hope that Angel Ramon's body can be fixed.  Recent groups on missions trips have brought with them a doctor and a chiropractor.  Both feel there is hope for successful operations to correct Angel's deformities.  That will truly be an exciting and monumental event.  Stan & Marilyn were seeking permission from the U.S. government and Canadian Embassy to bring him back to Canada at the end of May to have him examined and assessed by specialists, but the Canadian Embassy and department of Immigration is the hardest agency to work with - tougher than the U.S.  Hard to believe.  The process is long & arduous, so it remains to be seen as to when they will be able to bring him back, if at all.  Whatever happens, they and we will believe that God's ultimate plan will be fulfilled.  We so often only see the part of life's picture that relates only to us as individuals, whereas God looks at a much larger picture.

Today Angel Ramon was smiling.

Today, he was turning his little head to take in the activity around him.

Today, he knows who Stan & Marilyn are, he knows who loves and cares for him.

Today, he reached out with his tiny hand to touch their faces.

And today -- we witnessed love.

Prayer Requests

• Please pray for Sonja and her family.  Her mother and her brother were killed in a car accident early last Sunday morning.  Another brother, along with his wife and two children are in the hospital, two of them in critical condition as a result of the same accident.  We work with Sonja, doing food distributions in Santa Fe.  She is a dear believer and her mother was as well, but her brother was not saved and most of the rest of the family are also not believers.  Please pray that God would work a miracle - that her family would come to know the Lord through this tragedy.
• Pray for a spiritual covering over us, including the other missionaries and our contact people in the surrounding communities.  Please ask the Lord to protect our minds, our marriages and our homes.
• Please pray for Fernando Garcia.  He is showing symptoms of diabetes, losing weight and thirsty all the time.  We are trying to help with some of his medical costs to diagnose the problem and help him to get healthy enough to go back to work to support his family.  He is very fearful of what the diagnosis will be and needs a lot of encouragement to trust in God.  When we visited Fernando initially this past Thursday, he recommitted his life to God and we ask you to pray that God would give him a hunger for His Word and that he wold seek fellowship with other believers.  Fernando and his wife, Francisca have 6 children including a 2 week old newborn.

• Pray for the recipients of 4 new homes which a group from Chilliwack built this past week.  Please pray that they will have seen the Spirit of God at work in the youth and adults who provided them with their new home.  We also need prayer for wisdom as we follow up with these people after the group goes home.
• Pray for the whole village of Playas de Guerrero as this group from Chilliwack goes to many  homes in the community to deliver a bag of groceries and household items.  Pray that each family will be touched by God in a very real way as they experience His hands and feet at work in their community

Prayer Requests

Please pray:

• As we grapple with the language during the next three weeks of intensive language study
• As we discern how to handle the needs of the poor continually before us.  As work in the fields comes to an end, the mission will be inundated with the poor seeking assistance for food, clothes, propane, etc.
• As we follow up with recipients of the house builds.
• As we build relationships with the Mexican people.
• For protection for all IDT workers and property as several break-ins have occurred recently.  Theft and begging become more prevalent during the winter months; the wetter, cooler season when many are out of work.
• For continuing health and strength; neither of which we take for granted.
• For Flor and her family whom we have just met.  She is recovering from a tumor operation about a week ago.  Paying her hospital bill meant she had no money left to feed her family.  They require bedding and other domestic items for their little home.