In June Abogar began a Help For Brenda campaign. We were struck by the genuine need and urgency of her situation! Brenda lost her husband in the eruption of Volcano Fuego on June 3rd, 2018, as he heroically was trying to rescue two children from the eruption. Brenda’s three children also now find themselves fatherless.
Brenda’s husband was found, burnt alive and covered from ash, near two children that he had been trying to rescue, from the Volcano Fuego eruption on June 3rd, 2018.
Brenda’s husband was the sole bread winner for the family, and, in a country amidst struggles of poverty, corruption, and machismo/machista mentality (Men are usually BUT not always dominant and considered more highly than females.), Brenda truly has no access to resources or the needed funds to provide in her family! On top of that, the very small property on which Brenda and her children live is controlled by a loan debt to a rich woman, whom we will call Cat.
Upon meeting Brenda in June, the loan debt that she owed was Q70,000 (~$10,000). We set out to raise $12,000; to help Brenda and her kids to be able to keep their home and property and to help provide for basic needs. Over the past couple of weeks, Cat has been very upset with Brenda not being able to pay any on the loans, and decided to increase the debt from Q70,000 (~$10,000) to Q100,000 (~$14,000). Things are not handled the same in Guatemala as they are in the US, and with the help of a lawyer, Cat has the right to increase the loans.
Through negotiations with Abogar, and because we paid Q8,000 toward Brenda’s loan debt, Cat this past week agreed to some new terms for the loans! Praise God! She agreed to reduce the loan debt from Q100,000 to Q87,000 (~$12,000); based on the following terms…
*** The first Q70,000 (now Q62,000 – ~$8,800) must be paid off by December 31st, 2018.
*** The outstanding Q17,000 (~$2,400) must be paid off by April 30, 2019.
So, after our first payment to Cat, Brenda still has over $11,000 to pay to fulfill the loan debt on her property.
Dear friends… I believe we now have a special circumstance that truly aligns with our mission to help fatherless children and widows! James 1:27 calls us to be about such work, and I would invite people to sincerely pray about and give a generous donation for the Help For Brenda campaign! This newly widowed woman is overwhelmed, grieving, and in a horrible situation; of no fault of her own! Please give and give generously! Visit www.abogarim.org/support and be sure to note that your tax-deductible gift is specifically for Help For Brenda campaign! Let’s help Brenda and her children to be able to have a home, as we also seek to help comfort them in this time of tragedy and loss! Your donation, of any amount, will be greatly appreciated! Thank you!!
