May 27, 2025

[Susan Hoover]

Dear family and friends,

"It is easier to trust the next chapter and look forward to the future with joy and expectation when you know the Author and the depth of His love."  This quote that a friend used at the beginning of her letter, impressed me with its truth! Yes, we know the Author of our lives, and so we trust the outcome will be for our good, and for His glory. He loves us deeply, and has promised never to leave us nor forsake us. And no one can pluck us out of His hand, nor separate us from His love.

It's a cloudy afternoon with a good bit of wind. The sky looks like it will be dumping its contents on us later yet today, and rain is indeed in the forecast, with thundershowers. So we'll see what happens. The wind very quickly dried the laundry today, and we were able to bring the last of it in and get it folded right after lunch.

It seems a lot has happened since the last letter. I guess I wrote about my spider bite. I said it was an infected bite, but in all reality it was not infected, it was just a poisonous spider bite! And my body reacted to it with pain and swelling and fever. Now, a week later, it is still a bit swollen but I've been able to put my sandal buckles back to their normal position. The pain is basically gone, and tonight I will take the last of the antibiotic that I was prescribed. The first few days I sat with my foot elevated a lot, with an ice pack, as was recommended by the nurse in the ER. It was too painful to do a lot of walking around on it anyway, so it was easy to obey! I hope the spiders don't find my  company desirable again right away!

Sometime during the night on Friday, Victor died.  He was one of the residents here, a very pitiful, needy person. A team from the hospital near here comes in from time to time to check all the residents, and the doctor warned us that day that Victor may die at any time, in his sleep, because his airways tend to close when he is asleep. And yes, it happened that very night. In the morning, he was gone. So Saturday was an unusual day.  When a death happens here, the police come, there is legal work and paperwork to complete, etc. Since we could not find any of Victor's relatives, two workers from here took his body to Ciudad del Este that afternoon, where they had actually managed to get in contact with a half-sister of his.

On Sunday morning Peter and I attended the morning meeting at Luz y Esperanza, a Beachy church in the area. We enjoyed the message and meeting the people, and we were invited to Ryan and Janice Eichorn's place for lunch. Ryan's parents, Steve and ?? Eichorn (I can't think of her name!) were also there for lunch. We had a delicious dinner and a nice visit! I found it wonderful to be able to sit with the ladies and just fellowship. It's a different world than here at the Home! Although this is not bad either, don't get me wrong! It's just totally different.

I borrowed some books there and have enjoyed being able to read this past week. I haven't had a whole lot to read since we are here! We did bring a few books in our suitcases.

Monday (yesterday) we had a HUGE laundry to do. Monday laundry is always double, because of Sunday, and it seems yesterday there were more sheets to wash than usual as well. We never have enough line space, fortunately it usually dries pretty fast in the sun and breeze so we take some down as soon as it's dry to make room for more. The ladies here also cleaned out and defrosted one of the freezers, to make room for fresh meat, the bananas we are processing, etc.

We also processed a big box of tomatoes yesterday. The nicest ones we put in the fridge for immediate use, but we cooked a couple kettles full and made tomato paste with them.  We also had eight crates of bananas that were brought in on Friday! We gave a lot away, and peeled and froze a lot for smoothies, banana bread, etc. The Hildebrands took a couple of crates of them home, to dry, and also to distribute a bunch to their married children. So, by evening, I was more than ready for bed! And so thankful for the good, comfortable bed we have now! We wake up in the morning and actually feel rested.

Little by little we are furnishing this room. We have a bed, two nightstands, a table, a closet/cupboard, and now this morning a desk was brought in. Peter would like to set up his computer sometime soon. Up till now though, he sure wouldn't have had a whole lot of chance to do anything on the computer!

We enjoyed having Tadeo Casteglione and Pilgram Goodwin visit us a couple of times, this week and last. Tadeo is from Argentina, and Pilgram from Chile. He's the son of David and Starla Goodwin, with whom we moved to Chile at the end of 1999! Between the two of us families, we had three babies. Pilgram and Willem Goodwin, twins, were 9 months old, and our Julian was almost a year old. Those "babies" are now 26 years old!! And Tadeo is an old friend, for years already. Friends are friends, through thick and thin.

Right now the rain is starting -- I love the sound of it on the tin roof!

Yesterday we got a new resident -- an elderly man by the name of Julio. He decided he did NOT want to sit at the table for lunch, and got out of his chair several times, only to be pushed back into it by Roberto, who was having none of this nonsense. He was served a plate of food, but immediately pitched it across the table, spilling its contents as it spiraled away.  However, by suppertime he must have been hungry -- Peter said he ate heartily. Today noon again he did not eat, but at least he didn't throw his plate away either. We get into quite some interesting situations at times with the elderly! I don't think this man is totally clear in his mind anymore. A few days ago, Candido, a blind man, decided he wanted to go exploring. Peter watched him and after awhile, he guided him. He felt a door, and wanted to explore the room behind the door, but it happened to be one of the ladies' rooms. Peter tried to convince him that he shouldn't go in there, but he insisted. We got Joel (the nurse) on the scene. Joel firmly steered the blind man out of the room and asked him where he would like to go. Candido said he wants to knock down this wall. So Joel said Okay, let's do it together! He played along with him for awhile, then decided to amuse him by taking him for a ride in an unused hospital bed that is standing in the hall. He bodily swung him up onto the bed, raised the side rails, and off they went for a ride! Some minutes later they came back. Joel is really good at entertaining them like that, and delivering little surprises that are funny and amusing.

And so our lives go on -- God gives daily grace and daily strength for whatever we face. And there are many joys along our path too! Above all, is the joy of knowing Him, and knowing that He is directing our path. And with  that, I will close.

Be blessed!

Susan, for the Hoovers