January 31, 2003

Dear Friends,

The year, 2003, started just as busy as usual for Anita and I. The first week we took the young girl from our church into Lima to see the heart specialist. (We wrote about her last month). Danitza, is sixteen and the doctors discovered a small hole (7mm) in her heart between the left and right ventricular chambers. Danitza has had this condition since birth. The older she becomes the worse her condition. She already suffers from shortness of breath and swelling in her chest cavity. The Doctors said that the hearts of most children that are born with this cure themselves by the time they are five years old. Not so in Danitza's case. She needs an operation (open heart). The doctor's in Lima have programmed it for the end of February. The doctors and nurses are donating their time and skills but we still have the cost of the operation (medicines, surgical supplies, hospital cost, etc.). The projected cost of this is around $1,800.00. I know you can not imagine that the bill for open heart surgery could be so cheap, but medical care is not as expensive here as it is in the States. Danitz's family is very poor and cannot afford even a fraction of the cost. Anita and I have committed ourselves to help Danitza have her operation. We present the need to any and all that would like to help us help her. Please mark your donation as "Danitza operation." Thanks.

The second week of the month we had our vacation Bible school here in Huanuco. We averaged around 250 children. VBS is always a hectic time but it is also a joy. At the end of the week, Anita and I traveled to another one our mission works, Challana, to perform a wedding there. It was the first church wedding they had ever had and it was a joy to be able to help them.

The third week I traveled up into the mountains to Chasqui, (yet another mission work). In Chasqui we held a combination Vacation Bible School for the kids during the day and an evangelistic meeting at nights. It was a great time with some accepting Christ as their Savior.

This last week has actually been a quiet time for us. Most of the church kids have gone off to youth camp and things have been peaceful. Anita and I have used the time to get caught up on several ongoing projects. 

Anita is still suffering from the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and we have decided that she should go back to the States for an operation. We haven't found a Doctor here in Peru that has had any experience with CTS. Anita is thinking about traveling to the States sometime in the summer. Please be in prayer for us about this.

Until next month,

Serving Jesus in Peru,

Sheridan and Anita Stanton

Anita with some of the orphans they shared Christmas gifts with.