Dear Family and Friends:                                                     

Thank you for your support over the past few years. So many lives have been touched all over the world. I could tell you countless stories about families that have been changed due to the ministry; however, that could get lengthy so here is a short story. I hope you enjoy it.  

The community where we lived was next to the city dump and a very poor community called Las Granjas. Las Granjas began as a squatter's village with no electricity or running water. It has progressed from that point to where they can now own the land.  Although there are a few public water faucets; the residents still use candles for light and outhouses instead of indoor plumbing. 

I am sure you can imagine some of the things that go on in a Mexican community like that -- rape, child abuse, drunken brawls, domestic violence, stealing...  You name it, it happens there on a daily basis. It is an area that most Mexicans and Americans avoid and look down upon because it seems so broken.

However, the AIM team and I found Las Granjas to be a place where we were received like old friends. Many of the people there are warm, friendly, and simply want someone to love them. That was something we could do for them, so we spent a lot of time in that community -- just loving the people. This community is where the following story took place.

This story is about a very sweet boy named Juan.  He is around the age of eleven. Juan lives with his mom, adult sister, niece and whatever boyfriends his mom and sister might have at the time in a tiny, 10 x 20, pink house with one door and two windows. 

Every time I saw Juan he would run over, greet me with a smile, and a high five. I would always ask Juan about school and his friends.  Then, he would smile again and be on his way.

One particular day I went down Juan's street but did not see him. I then stopped by house and found him lying in bed.  His mother told me that he had been sick for several days. He looked very tired like he had the flu or something. I think before we left we said a prayer for him.  

Sunday came, and Juan's mom showed up at church with him. He looked even more sick than he had just a few days before -- his tongue was swollen, his eyes were blood shot, and it took all the energy he had to walk from the church van to the chair where he sat through the whole service, not moving. Afterwards, Juan's mom asked for us to pray for her son. Several Mexicans and a few Americans gathered around and began to pray for him. We prayed for ten minutes or so but did not see an immediate change. If anything, Juan looked even worse than when he had arrived.

A few days later I went out to Las Granjas and went down his street. As I turned the corner, I saw a kid waving to me from the end of the road.  I looked closer and realized it was Juan. He ran over with his usual smile and high five. He looked great and was full of energy.

I asked his mom what had happened. She said after we prayed for him he went home and went to bed. When he woke up in the morning he was hungry, so she fed him. (He had not been eating anything.) By the afternoon he was up and running around again. He was just fine and not at all sick. She was so happy that she cried and kept telling us how good God is to save her son.

This story was made possible because of your support to the work God is doing in Mexico. It is so neat that we are able to have a part in something as great as a little boy being healed. My heart is touched that God allowed me to see and experience events like this one while I was in Mexico. I have so many great memories of the time I spent there.

However, due to safety concerns my mission organization (AIM) has chosen not to have a FYM base in Mexico any longer. They did tell me that I was welcome to go anywhere else in the world where they have bases. Therefore, early this summer I began to pray about the direction God had for my life now that Mexico was out of the picture. I thought I would be going to Peru or Nicaragua, but the more I prayed about it, the more I felt it was not quite right.

I continued praying and having conversations with AIM throughout the summer, but nothing seemed to click with me. I started to realize that maybe God was calling me to something else, somewhere else.  After many months of struggling with the direction God wants me to go, I have decided that continuing as a missionary with AIM is not the direction God has for me at this time. That does not mean that I am done with missions forever. It is just for this time I feel like I need a season of rest.

During the next season of my life I will be focusing my time and energy on some goals that have been in my heart for a long time. I plan to return to college as well as learn more about ministry (hands-on) in the United States of America. I have been a missionary to Mexico for almost three years and am now excited to see what kinds of opportunities God has prepared for me here.

Thank you for all your support over the last few years. If you have any questions or want to get in touch with me, my email is applegirl8@hotmail.com.

Be Blessed,

Naomi Skeltis