Dear Doves, I have made several urgent prayer requests on behalf of my friend Lucrezia Perez, who had been diagnosed with cancer. The last request I made was on January 20, begging people to contribute so we could buy the glyconutrients she so desparately needed.
 
http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/jan2006/elleng121.htm
 
   I am reluctant to even tell you, but I did not receive a single email of prayer support, not a single request for information, and I received a total of $25 by US mail from only one dear Dove who knows who she is. I am really puzzled at the lack of response by the readers here, as once before you were very generous in a situation that was not life - threatening, as can be read in the link given above. I had assured the Perez family that many friends were praying for her recovery and they were very grateful for that assurance. I also told them that I had many friends who were generous and would come to their aid, financially speaking. That did not happen, and Lucrezia died this past Saturday. I do not know how the family paid for the funeral arrangements, as they are simply tapped out due to the extreme financial drain her illness caused, and they had NO health insurance.
 
  The parents were NOT illegal immigrants, they were legal residents, and both sons are US citizens, having been born in the USA. Both sons prayed with me to receive Christ during the last several years, and Lucrezia also prayed with me during the last month of her illness, which was heartbreaking to see, as she was on both a feeding tube and an oxygen tube. I can only imagine the pain she endured, living in a cold hospital room these last weeks, not to mention the emotional turmoil the family was in due to seeing a vibrant, healthy woman reduced to a living skeleton. The family is not taking her death well, and I am griefstricken also. I wish I could say I have the assurance that she is now with the Lord, but I cannot say that. Only the Lord knows.
 
   Perhaps someone can help me to understand why our prayers were not answered. I am struggling with guilt as I now feel like a liar. I am in tears even now as I write this letter. Please pray for the Perez family, that they be comforted and given peace during this terrible time. I cannot offer them the comfort I would dearly love to do. I feel like a total failure.