May 6, 2014
Dear Friends of Morning Glory, In case you think that Morning Glory in Guatemala is just about teaching the ABCs, please add this that I took from P. R.'s Facebook to your prayer lists. Love//Herb Pinney URGENT PRAYER FOR ROSA: Read part of the letter I received from the guardian of my sponsor girl: Rosa is doing very well this year. It is amazing to watch her and her sister bloom. They are such intelligent girls. In January these two girls escaped a near tragedy. As you know their father is a drunk and they were taken in by their older sister. The first week of January we had a parent, teacher meeting and the older sister attended. That afternoon she called me, frantically worried. While she was at the meeting another sister who is married to a man involved in gangs and crime in Guatemala city came and took the two girls from her home. I contacted a friend of mine who works in the office of Children at Risk. He was able to move his influences and we found the girls. They were in the process of being sold to international sex traffic under the pretext of taking them to the US to work. A judge removed them but was going to place them under state care which means they wouldn’t be able to stay in the home they were familiar with nor attend Morning Glory. I met with the judge and agreed to take legal custody of the girls. They were allowed to live in the home of their sister but I am legally responsible for their well being and supervision. So far it has worked out well and the girls have not missed a day of school. My husband built them a simple room where they can sleep and lock the door. Your sponsorship is very important in the life of Rosa and enables her to realize the promise that God placed within her. I wanted to write you personally and thank you from the bottom of my heart and express to you the significance and importance of your contribution to Morning Glory. Thank you for being a part of the Morning Glory Story and loving one of my kids. In His Love, Lori Nij (Read on) Since I wrote this letter Rosa has disappeared once again. During Holy week apparently she disappeared late one night. Her family is saying that she ran off with a boy. I am not buying this story since Rosa has shown absolutely no interest in boys. I am suspecting that they were offered a sum of money for her to go work; this is happening with great frequency in our area now. People come in and offer large sums of money for adolescent girls to the poor families on the pretext that they will take them to the US and they will work in rich homes. The same week Rosa disappeared at least five other young girls in our area disappeared as well. I notified the judge but he says since the family is sure that she ran off, his hands are tied. I notified the children at Risk office and they agree with me; we have put out an amber alert but other than that I don´t know what we can do. I know she would not have run off on her own; she loved school and was very active in church as well. Please help me pray as I continue to pressure for answers and try to find her.
