The Children of the King
...from the street to the Kingdom.
Jenifer, 6 years old, child of faith.
Guardian Angel
Donna Blair
Background: Jenifer and Keneth’s mother abandoned them for a life of prostitution and drugs. They are originally from Jinotepe. Their grandfather rescued them but when he was unable to care for them, he brought them to us. Over the past two years they have grown in the love of the Lord and in our hearts. On Oct 29th, Jenifer was diagnosed with a glioma, a rare and usually fatal tumor deep inside the brain. Sometimes radiation therapy can prolong life but surgery is very risky. She is 40th on the list for radiation treatments in Nicaragua and won’t survive that long. We are in the process of bringing her to Oklahoma to see if anything can be done to help her. We need your prayers badly. Please put her on your church’s prayer list BUT especially remember her in your prayers. And remember to pray for Erick, Eveling and all the children. This terrible news has been devastating to everyone at Los Ninos Del Rey. See the update and story of Jenifer’s faith below.
...sister of Keneth. Arrived 2005
Dear Friends: (First News of tumor)
As some of you may already know, our precious little Jenifer has been diagnosed with a brain tumor. Jenifer has lived with us at The Children of the King Children's Home in Nicaragua for about two years. Her brother, Kenneth, is living there also. Jenifer's started having weakness in her legs and some facial paralysis and was taken by Erick and Eveling to Managua for a CT scan of her brain. A brain tumor was found and subsequent MRI's showed that it was wrapped around the basilar artery and is right in the middle of her brainstem. The doctors in Nicaragua said that there was nothing that they could do. The digital MRI files were expressed mailed to Dr. Michael Hahn who operated on Jeyson, the boy with hydrocephalus from Nicaragua. Dr. Hahn's opinion was that this tumor is probably inoperable and that there was nothing that could be done for her in the states, either. He is, however, going to show the films to some of his colleagues and try to get a second opinion with some other neurosurgeons at Mercy. The tumor is located in the middle of the brain which makes it too risky for surgery. He said, "I don't think I am going to get to be hero on this one.". Kent is to call him on Thursday of this week to talk with him again about what his colleagues thought about the tumor.
Of course, we are all very saddened about this report. We wanted to pass on this information to you all so that you could be praying for little Jenifer and everyone involved in her care.
Gail and Dale Goad just returned from a 2 month stay in Nicaragua and were with Jenifer in the hospital. The following paragraph is what Gail shared with me after their return to the U.S.
Dale and I took turns staying with Jenifer in her hospital room last Thursday while Eric and Eveling were making arrangements. We brought her a children's meal from a nearby chicken restaurant. The hospital room was very noisy with 7 beds full of very sick children and their mothers. Before she ate, she stopped and whispered in my ear. "Oramos?" I said "si". As you know at LNDR, one child leads the prayer and the others repeat it, so she prayed and I repeated. As she prayed softly, it became very quiet and everyone watched in amazement. One of the things she said was "ayuda los enfermedades". She was praying for them.
Everyone was listening to this little child pray. I thought what an example she is to all of them.
We know that God is going to work for good in this situation. Please remember Jenifer in your personal prayers and place her on your prayer lists at church. We will keep you informed as further details progress.
In Christ,
Kent and Abby King
(Upper left) Jenifer soon after her arrival in 2005.
(Left) later that year.
(Right) recent photo of Jenifer in 2007, shortly before her diagnosis of a brain tumor, Sept 2007.
Jenifer Ester Martinez Vasquez
Jenny goes home!
…..On Feb 20, 08 Jenny returned to the children’s home in Jinotepe. She is back in school and doing well. Taking chemo 5 days out of 28 days hasn’t been to hard so far. She has very very side effects and is doing well. Her future treatments will depend on her last MRI and future tests. In early Nov 2007, one of our precious children, Jenifer Vasquez was diagnosed with a rare and incurable brain tumor called a glioma. The tumor has caused facial pain and trouble with her right side. She had surgery on Dec 4th at Children’s Hospital in Oklahoma City. Read here for the updates. Updates or Jenifer’s Page