Elizabeth a 1999 graduate of Martin Luther High School in Greendale, WI has been serving an internship for her deaconess studies at Concordia University since January of 2004. She is serving the spiritual needs of women that worked in the city dump.

            God's peace and blessings to all my brothers and sisters in Christ. August has been a month filled with lots of emotions. It started with all the volunteers being sick at almost the same time. Praise God we all got through it and kept on working.

            One of my women, Claudia, just had her baby on August 6^th at 12:30am. Every time I see a baby I think of Psalm 139 and how incredible a tiny baby is. God's workmanship is truly spectacular. One of the volunteers, Andy, and a ministry worker, Oscar, came with me to visit Claudia and her new baby boy. She and the baby are doing great and enjoying the time to get acquainted.

            Two groups came down just last week with a couple of people who we have not seen in awhile. It was great to see them again. I also had another wonderful surprise when two deaconesses in two different groups came down. I was a bit run down from all the groups in July and having the deaconesses, Brenna and Heidi, here was rejuvenation for me. They reminded me of "the power of the patch." (Deaconess and DCE joke)

            Another thing I found heartwarming this month was seeing Adrian, a Guatemalan who works with the groups, and how much he has changed. I have been working with him for about a year and a half and I see his change day by day, however, this time it really hit me. There was a woman who has diabetes and wasn't doing too well. We invited her to a clinic we have on Thursday's. She told us she couldn't go because she had a little girl, Alexandra, she couldn't carry. Adrian asked me right away if we could come back and help her walk to the clinic and carry her little girl. The next day Adrian, me, and two people from the group came to her house to pick her up. She was able to go to our clinic while the rest of us took care of Alexandra. It was an experience to see his heart so big and to do everything possible to help the people we see on house visits.

            With as much joy August brought there was still much sadness and heartbreak. Adrian and I were doing house visits with a group and we went to a house we have not yet visited. We went in and saw a nice house with a mother, daughter, and little baby boy (the father was working). The mother was very nice, the daughter had enough energy to light a city, and the baby was sleeping. It felt like a home with a lot of love and happy times. We did our normal house visit and at the end we asked if we could pray for anything. She completely shocked Adrian and me when she shared that she did have a baby between the two kids but it was stolen from her house and she hasn't seen her child for a year. As the group didn't know any Spanish they asked what happened. They assumed by our faces it wasn't anything good. I couldn't speak and Adrian had to wait a moment before he could even speak. The group did a magnificent job by sharing the Gospel, offering words of comfort, and praying with her. I could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in that room and the awesome grace, comfort, and love of God.

As Adrian and the group left I stayed with her and talked to her more. As I got outside the door I was holding in so many emotions with the house visit and talking to her after I couldn't stop crying. Being there and trying to comfort her in some way was heart wrenching. I have visited families where this has happened to them, however, every family has always gotten their child back. Sadly, stealing children is not a rarity in the squatter's areas. What do you say in a moment like that? I pointed her to Christ and prayer but only God has the true words to comfort her. God willing I will visit them again soon. We can pray if her son does not come back he will be raised in a loving Christian home and they will meet once again in heaven.

These past few months have been difficult as Satan has taken hold of the ministry people. There have been many deaths in families and hardships. I ask for the prayers of everyone that we can all get through this time with strength from God. This month I went to a funeral of a mother, Carolina, whose three children (the oldest being 12) go to our school. She had been diagnosed with cancer since March and it had grown to her whole body. She died this month and out of her 5 brothers and sisters no one wanted to take care of her children. As this was a shock to all the volunteers we struggled to see what we could do to help. When we went to the funeral our prayers were answered as the grandmother agreed to take care of all three girls. We are trying to help out with a "canasta simple" (a wash basin filled with non-perishable food items) and giving them some clothes. The girls will keep attending our school.

This month we also visited a woman, Myra, who has been associated with the Servant's Heart for quite some time. Her husband died 2 months ago in a car accident and she was 7 months pregnant. She now has her baby who is about 27 days old and three other children. She is also raising two little brothers because the parents both died and they didn't have anywhere to go. So she now has 4 children, 2 brothers (all are under 13) and is a single mother. She told me when the baby is about 40 days old she will return to work as she is the sole income in her house and they no longer have electricity because she cannot pay for it. We are trying to help out in any way possible by giving her "canasta simples" and clothes for the children. Thankfully all the children are in our school full time. After talking to Myra it was obvious she has great faith that God will provide and relying only on Him.

Thank you all for praying and caring as much for the people as I do. We ask for as many prayers as possible as Satan tries to take over once again. We are fighting every day in the full armor of God but how amazing to know that we have already won through Jesus' death of the cross. God's blessings in all you do. Much love,

                                                                                                Elizabeth Kestner     

¶        Ana and her family and the child that was taken

¶        All the people in the squatters areas

¶        Claudia and her baby

¶        Health of all the volunteers

¶        All the groups that come down to have a wonderful experience

¶        Adrian and Coca that they continue to grow into God-fearing men

¶        All who are sick that they may get better

¶        All my women at the ministry

¶        Carolina and her daughters

¶        Myra, her children, and her brothers

¶        Rosa, one of my women whose mother died on Thursday

If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to my mission please send a check to:

The Servant's Heart
P.O. Box 537
Schererville, IN 46375

In the memo portion of the check write ¨Elizabeth Kestner support¨

What is my want? I want to serve...

Deaconess Motto