Author: ableministriesohio

I wanted to update you on our recent week at Warrior Getaway in Texas and on the progress with the clinic in Cojutepeque.

PJ and I just spent a week at Camp Allen outside of Houston serving warriors and their
families. It was an amazing week and we celebrated 5 baptisms at the end of camp – praise God!

Holy Smokes is the highlight for many returning veterans and a special place for all. What began years ago as a one night event has morphed into an every night “debrief”. This is “Holy Ground” where veterans share their stories and their struggles.

One of the guests, Jay, ministered to all of us, both guests and volunteers alike, each evening at the Holy Smokes circle. To watch God utilize this man and hear him encourage his fellow warriors to march on with Jesus was truly inspirational. As a triple amputee, he can still “put a boot in it”!

Rest and healing, spiritual renewal and dealing with moral injury, are all integral to this retreat. As PJ shared, “Last year, towards the end of retreat, I connected with a Marine named Fabian. He was ‘madder than a hornet’ at God. We sat and talked at length, and at the end of the evening I gave Fabian a small wooden Jerusalem pocket cross that I carry, and asked him to carry it for me. When we arrived at camp this year he was the very first veteran guest I bumped into as Fabian sought me out. He held out his hand with the cross in it and gave me a bear hug that nearly broke me in half. At the end of this retreat, as we were saying our goodbyes, Fabian’s wife came up to me and gave me a huge hug and thanked me for giving her husband that cross that saved his life…”

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Please pray for our upcoming outreach to El Salvador November 4 – 13 where we will be serving those who are marginalized along with rehabbing a house in Cojutepeque to become a therapy/medical clinic to serve those impacted by disability. We will be serving alongside our friends from the alcohol rehab program in Cojutepeque as our guys oversee the many needs of construction.

However we cannot do this outreach without prayer – and so we are asking you to pray for this time in El Salvador. We serve an awesome and powerful God, Jehovah Jireh, Who will provide and guide us through this outreach. May we glorify Him in all we do!

We are excited to share a NEW opportunity the Lord has provided!  

Prior to the pandemic, ABLE was in the process of setting up a Physical Therapy /Medical Clinic in Cojutepeque with our friend Wendy. The clinic would help provide much needed services to the many people affected by disability in that area. An area of El Salvador that also doesn’t have a hospital or other therapy services available. Due to Covid, things have been delayed and are now looking a bit different.

Instead of opening a clinic, Wendy will be providing therapy in the home. The majority of the patients, whom Wendy will be serving, are unable to pay for services due to the severe economic situation, which has unfortunately worsened significantly by Covid (many of these families are still receiving regular food bags through ABLE in order to feed their families). Eleven of her patients are between the ages of 2 and 18 years old, three are 22 year olds and two are 55 year olds (with quadriplegia). All will receive 2-3 treatments /week.
We need your help to assist Wendy with home therapy services to those most in need. We are looking for sponsors to “adopt a patient” and cover the cost of therapy services.  
For $106/month you can sponsor one of these patients!!  Will you help us to make a difference in the quality of life of an individual in need in El Salvador and show them the love of Jesus? 

Please click here to sign up to sponsor a patient to receive therapy treatments. May God richly bless you as you help others in His name!!

We wanted to share some exciting news from our friends in El Salvador. ABLE received a large donation last December to fund a new truck for Pastor Paco, who is a former gang member and pastors a church for former gang members. As all of these members struggle severely after leaving the gangs, unable to obtain employment and thus not even feed their families, even in good times. Pastor Paco has been developing a small business of selling water bags to employ those he is shepherding. However, their truck was no longer “fixable”, and he mentioned the need to find a “new” truck to be able to transport the water for sale.

A friend of the ministry, after learning of this need, generously provided that funding and after months of looking for just the right truck that was in good working condition (not easy to come by in El Salvador) and meet their needs – they were successful! Ironically, because of coronavirus, all is severely shut down there and they can’t even drive it yet. But they are grateful and thrilled for the future potential that this truck will provide!

We serve Jehovah Jireh, a generous God who meets our needs and is always with us. Please continue to pray for our friends at Pastor Paco’s church as conditions are quite challenging for them during this pandemic. If you would like to help provide food bags to Pastor Paco and others in need, please CLICK HERE.

As many of you are aware, our outreach to El Salvador scheduled in March did not occur due to coronavirus.  And now, almost one month later, as our world continues to change on a daily basis and life as we knew it is on hold, we celebrate the most precious holiday of the year for Christians.  Today we contemplate the significance of the sacrifice made by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And altho Good Friday is the darkest day in the history of the world, we also know that it is followed by the most joyful day for all mankind.

And just as times may seem dark right now with the future unknown in what will be a forever changed world after Covid-19, we rest on the blessed assurance of our Savior and His redeeming grace. The Rock upon which all of our actions rest will never change – and so we continue to minister as we can during this challenging time.

To date El Salvador has only 117 cases of coronavirus thanks to the aggressive actions of their president to protect his country.  However, this has resulted in other challenges, one of the most serious being access to food.  So ABLE is continuing to fund food bags to those in the most vulnerable areas and where we have previously ministered.  We remain in close contact with Carol Lopez and CARES and are trying to meet the needs as they arise, obviously primarily through financial support.

We continue to pray for all of our friends here, as well as our friends in El Salvador, as we navigate this time of isolation and separation. We pray that our wheelchair outreach scheduled in Cojutepeque September 30 – October 10, 2020 will move forward as planned, and look forward to the day we can again travel as the Lord calls us, to be His hands and feet to those in need.

Easter Blessings to all our friends and supporters and your families, and thank you for your continued prayers and support. May God richly bless you all!

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.”    Jeremiah 17:7