Dear Friends,

I have known Mary (not her real name) for the last four years. Mary is a Filipina, a mother of three children who lives in a fairly nice cement home with property. She got married at 16 to an older Filipino and at least as far as living circumstances go, has a better life than most.

Last week I went by the house to visit her with our ministry group but learned that she had left the day before and was now staying at her cousin's in the town. We got the bare directions and after 15 minutes of walking and asking many questions, finally found the house of the cousin but she was not there.

The next day I went back and found Mary and she told me a very familiar story here in the Philippines. Her husband gambled and drank and was verbally abusive to her and the children. She has goiter and is not able to work and could not survive without her husband's minimal help. She feels trapped with no way out.

After the Bible Study, Mary went home where she no doubt faced a fearful night.

To tell you the truth, I really do not know how to change one depressing note of Mary's sad song. There are so many cultural pressures at work here, eroding the land like a torrent of water after a heavy rain. But we will keep praying, we will keep trying because we serve a great God who loves us and knows no failure.

We all know Mary's . . . they might be in the neighborhood, at work and maybe even in our own families. Never give up, never give up, never give up trying to be a channel of blessing. He CAN save from the Guttermost to the Uttermost. That's His work, that's our job, until He comes.