House Church Talk - more prayers needed, and a doubt

[Vanessa DiDomenico]

hello dear list,

In the past month, gluesniffers, kids who live on the street and sniff
shoe glue as a drug, have been breaking into our house (or jumping over
the fence: all houses are fenced or walled in here), and taking clothes
from the laundry, with a rake, and this morning I woke up at 4:30, heard
the noise, and made sure to scare them away. We had changed the lock in
the pressing room (this is my mom's house, BTW), so no more clean clothes
were stolen, dad went and bought the kids new jeans and so, and this
morning more clothes were taken. Seems my waking up and turning on the
lights in the kitchen next to the garage saved things that were in my
mother's car. They even pooped on the floor in the garden. Now, I am told
that some were arrested taking things from another house, but i can't find
them: the policemen took what was stolen, probably beat them up some, and
then let them go. Since I work with street children, my hope was to meet
them. Last week, we had even removed the clothes and left some food, but
they hadn't come back until this morning.

What does one do? I am against arms, but I feel i need at least a shotgun,
of the kind that shoot those little metal balls. I went out with a toy
collection gun, and they ran off dropping the things they'd taken from the
car. And at 5:30am, a security guard on a bycicle from a nearby park told
me he had seen them next to the cars. they were kids, for the shoe marks
on the dirt are small. 

At our warehouse, they don't mess with us, for we feed them and husband
has given a few a couple of beatings, with a sermon on coming to get food
but no cocaine or crack smoking in the little hole next to the warehouse.
but here at mother's house, I am now almost afraid to go back to my home,
for nobody else here would know how to deal with this! I'd like to bring a
Wayuu friend to sleep in the maid's room outside (he was my student and
needs a place to live) and here even the police fear the Wayuus, and he'd
be a great guard, but my mother says she would not let a Wayuu in here for
anything (that's because they charge money for any of their blood that is
spilled, even if a Wayuu maid is cooking and cuts herself in your house,
but this one has no family to charge, and I have contacts with their
judges in high places: I would never have to pay).

I ask that you pray that nothing worse ever happens, for i am very
nervous, awake since 4:30 (thankfully, I went to bed early last night),
but the other day mother arrived from her store at 11pm and they were
inside the maid's room, right in front of where she parks her cars! She
was blessed: they hid instead of confronting her, but she was very scared
when she went around and suddenly noticed the open door and lights on in
there. I was sleeping, and could not have done anything. I ask the Lord i
have no seizures due to this, and I am planning on leaving some food out
for them tonight, or every night from now on, since i doubt they'll come
back tonight. Something that doesn't rot and that I can leave where they
have been taking the clothes.

Things have been so bad here because of the political turmoil created by
those who want to remove our first decent president ever, that people have
died trying to steal high-voltage wires, our light bulbs from outside have
been stolen, and other truly unbelievable things happen. And of course,
the little girls do whatever the oil company executives want in exchange
for some food and drugs and money. This is what my husband and I are
fighting against.

I just don't know how to defend mother and father and the childen. Husband
and I have no fear of anything like this, but I do worry about my family!
And it's not just we needing prayers, its all, the whole country. 

Love to all,
Vanessa from Venezuela

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