“For I will restore health to you And heal you of your wounds,’ says the Lord, “For you who are called an outcast for who no one cares.”   Jer 30 v 17     

(The name Elsa means "Pledged to God")

In 2019 Elsa was living in Texas with her family, where she was married and the mother of three  children. She was starting to have some communication and memory problems and was brought to Mexico by her husband and later abandoned by a family member who apparently just put her on a bus with her belongings and left her. On April 30th 2024, I found her in a Wal Mart parking lot, alone, exhausted, and asking for food. I've personally never seen anyone as vulnerable and helpless in my life, as when I first met her. With nowhere to live, she would hobble around from place to place and slump on the concrete anywhere she could. Nobody helped her, except to give her food and sometimes money. She was basically left alone to fend for herself. I saw people just walk past her, some of them grinning, as she lay on the side of the road. Most of them thought she was on drugs. One market vendor I spoke to said he thought she was trying to steal things when she came into his shop, but realized she was just looking around or wanting to spend some of the little money she'd had given to her and was actually a really sweet person.

With the help of a couple of local churches, we were able to help her get cleaned up and locate some of her family. All she really needed at this point was a place to stay and time to recover. With the right care and love, I believe she would have been able to regain some form of stability. But the church called the police, who then interrogated her, shouting at her at one point in order to get her name. She didn't really know what was going on and just looked startled. Then they took her to hospital where she was put into the emergency ward, as that was the only place they could find to house her. But her ordeal didn't end there. While in hospital, she was tied to the bed a lot of the time and not allowed to walk for five months; to the point that she now can't walk at all, because she has no muscles in her legs. She was just curled up in the fetus position a lot of the time that I visited her and had pretty much given up on life. The doctor thought there was no hope for her until I managed to convince them to give her physiotherapy. Eventually she began to respond to this and regain some life. Even the doctor recognized that there was improvement. With the physiotherapists helping and encouraging her, she was able to bend her legs and arms again and even sing with them.

Through a local government agency, we were eventually able to get her into a care home. In hindsight, it was  probably too soon for her, because she wasn't able to complete her physio and still can't walk. I arranged for her to get it at the hospital but for various reasons, the home hasn't been able to take her. So her life just consists of being put into a wheelchair every day in front of a TV and watching cartoons.  If this continues it basically means that she won't walk again. One of her feet is already swollen because of lack of exercise and in my opinion she has been mistreated by some of the volunteer girls there. I personally witnessed one of them yelling at her and pushing her forcefully while dressing her. Their basic belief is, “why should she get special treatment?” I reported this to the Madre but nothing has happened. On her birthday they did nothing for her. I was the only one who visited her and brought her cake and a gift, as well as prayers and greetings from my friends, which I played to her over the phone. It was a happy day for her but even this got turned around because they said she was vomiting later on, blaming it on the cake I had given her. It could have been anything, including their food. So her time there is not a happy one. The physiotherapist who I spoke to at the hospital said she will walk again in time, but it requires her to have regular exercise. She doesn't get this there, so the best option I believe, is to move her somewhere else and get her back into physiotherapy and walking again as soon as possible. This is an essential first step in getting her life back, but is only part of her restoration. She also needs the right kind of counselling and regular prayer. She needs to practice her communication and memory skills which actually have improved somewhat, at the home. 

Elsa has done nothing wrong. She was abandoned and forced to survive without the ability to speak for herself. She would have been able to walk and be reasonably free by now, but because of negligence and apathy, she's trapped in a care home that doesn't really care. 

We can't just let people be thrown  away like this. God doesn't do that! He can restore her. Even those who abandoned her can be restored. She's still only 46 and has the rest of her life ahead of her. Besides, Jesus considers us to be doing it to Him when we do. "Whatever you do for one of the least of these, you do it for me.'" Matt: 25v40. Please be praying for Elsa's full restoration. And that of her family.

I've found a Christian care home that she could live in, close to the church I go to and near to where I live. Here she would have much more freedom and community, as well as be able to have people visit her regularly and take her out. In order to move in, a months deposit is needed, plus the first months rent. As well as this her own bed needs to be bought and medication and monthly rent is required. i put the  goal as £15,000 because I figured that would cover her for a year.

Without going into detail, there could be attorney fees eventually in order for her to get some form of justice. The cost, including deposit and bed is about 2000 pounds UK or $2500 US, then about 1000 pounds or $1300 a month minimum. This includes care for her within the home. Any extra would be used for transportation, clothing, medication and possibly a wheelchair for the time being. Please prayerfully consider how you can help, with either a one time donation or a regular monthly gift. With God's help, she can be restored completely and her life made better than before.

(Any verification needed for her story are available on request. Also, although it has my name as the recipient, that's because Elsa doesn't have an account, but all receipts and proof of funds can be provided if needed.)