July 15, 2025

[Susan Hoover]

Dear friends and family,

Greetings once more in the Name of Jesus. "O the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgements, and His ways past finding out." Truly we cannot even begin to fathom the greatness and wisdom of our God. What a privilege to be His children, and to call Him our Father! My God,  my Father, my Jehovah, is what I like to call Him when I speak to Him. It's wonderful to be in His presence.

For the time being, we have summer weather. For  at least the past week we have had beautiful, warm, and sunny days. Perfect for drying wash! And of course we always have lots of that, every day. Some days there is more than others. Lots of sheets, blankets, towels, etc. And of course, clothing. Twenty-four people can make a huge bin full of dirty laundry in a hurry! Sometimes more than one set per person a day.

We have five ladies here now, (and 19 men)  as of today, when Lucia was brought in. Hein and Joel went to pick her up, from about 70 kilometers away. She is in her upper 80's. A short, petite little lady who seems to still be pretty clear in her mind. However, she does not speak Spanish, only Guarani. So, I cannot communicate with her with words, but smiles and kind deeds are understood in any language!

Today the pastor, Agripino, was here for his weekly visit. He comes in the morning and stays till about mid-afternoon. He speaks with each one of the residents individually, giving counsel and encouragement as needed. In the afternoon before he leaves, we always come together and sing a few songs while he plays an old guitar which is here, then he has a short message (in Guarani) and prayer before he goes home. Usually it is pretty easy to understand most of the message, because Guarani has a lot of Spanish words mixed in, and the Bible references are always in Spanish, so we do understand a lot of what is being said. Besides all this is the fact that it is made very simple for the elderly people. So, that is one weekly highlight for these people.

On Friday was the big celebration evening. Thanksgiving, and remembrance of the beginnings of this place. It is only three or four years old -- I'm not even exactly sure when it was started. It was an enjoyable evening, with many visitors! I don't know if anyone counted heads that evening or not, but we would say there were at least 175-200 people there. There were several groups that went up on stage to sing -- one acapella group (Luz y Esperanza) and some others with musical accompaniment. Some in Spanish, and some in Platt Deutsch. What made it all the more special was that Julian and Emily came to join us! They sat with Peter and me. Absolutely delightful. Emily brought a very fancy, pretty cake that she had made,  as well as some empanadas and sandwiches. She went all out! There was lots and lots of food. The cooks here had also made a bunch of empanadas, and some chicken breast milanesa too. And the guests brought heaps of stuff! Sandwiches, pizza, cookies of almost every imaginable kind, cakes, pie, chipas.  After everyone finally went home, there were lots of cookies left behind to put into the freezer here at the Home.

Many donations were also brought in that night -- clothes, blankets, fresh garden things, etc. Everything is appreciated! May God bless all the cheerful givers.

It was a big night for the residents -- but they enjoyed it so much. We put all of them in a row at the front, facing the audience. And they were all wearing matching T-shirts, green, with the Hogar Esperanza logo on the shirts, which had been especially ordered for this occasion. We staff all got one too, and wore them for the evening. I just put mine on over my regular dress. The residents loved the food too!! Something different from the usual. It was a late night for them though. Usually they are ready to go to bed soon after supper, like about 6:30 or so. But that night it was more like 9:30 or even 10:00 till they all got to bed. But they loved the special evening.

I mentioned we have 19 men. Eulalio was pretty sick already when he was here, nobody expected him to live as long as he did. But still, on one of his last days here, he made another try at running away! We saw him stumbling up the road -- he was barely even able to walk anymore but his determination to get some strong drink drove him on! Joel and Hein quickly drove out and loaded him up and brought him back here. A few days later, some family members of Eulalio came and picked him up, and he lived with them yet for less than a week, till he died.

And Julio is another one who is no longer here -- he did not die though. His brother I think it was, came and took him back home. That is nice, if they have a home to go to. Many of them don't.

Tomorrow is Carmen's birthday! She has such a gentle, sweet spirit. I look forward to celebrating with her! She will be 80, I believe. She is in a wheelchair and so appreciative of everything that is done for her.

Well, the day has pretty well slipped away from us again. It was pretty normal. Lots of laundry, and the power was off for a couple of hours. Lots of opportunities to serve! Peter just went over to see if they need help with serving supper or getting the residents to the table, or something like that. We usually get a pretty nice long evening to ourselves, since the residents are all tucked in early!

And so, with that I will close. "Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, wait, I say, on the Lord!" Psalms.

Because of Jesus,

Susan for the Hoovers