Good News!!

I just wanted to update everyone about the little girl Elipsia. After getting treated with chemotherapy, the tumor in her eye reduced 70% and they won't have to remove her eye! Everyone here has been crying with happiness. They have been praying very hard for her all of this time and visiting various saints, so we just finished with a prayer of thanks. First we held hands and sang 2 Evangelical songs and did an Evangelical prayer where everyone individually prayed their thanks to God and cried. Then Maria gave a prayer, thanking God, who is both mother and father, recalling the strong love of mothers that must be present in God as well. She said that we will continue praying for all children and people who are sick, that the same miracle will happen to them as to Elipsia. A few other people followed their prayers, including Nager, Elipsia's father, who thanked everyone who had prayed for her and been present for her through this whole time. Jorge added that everyone had been supportive like a family, and the unity that we felt was powerful.

I found it beautiful that both Evangelicals and Catholics were unified praying together for the health and well-being not only of Elipsia, but for everyone present and all people who are sick. It reminded me of the Kaddish when everyone stands and says the name of a loved one who is sick, and everyone prays for the health of all. No one present was thinking only of Elipsia, but how the happiness we were feeling at her recovery could be brought to all who suffer similar pain or illness. When I pray with people here, I feel even more connected to the values of Judaism even though we're of different faiths.