Hey Precious Friends and Family,
I am thinking of you today as it is Easter and what a GREAT DAY for celebration. I think I’ve been more thankful for the victory of Jesus over death this year than ever before. As I see more and more every day that my heart is so prone to be selfish and I am so prone to sin constantly in my attitudes, it makes me so increasingly grateful that Christ has provided victory over the death of sin in me!! I am praying that today all of us will more fully understand what the resurrection of Christ means not only for our future in eternity but for victory today!! What a beautiful Savior we have in Jesus!!
We had a pretty hectic week. Rosy’s sister Yoro came with her 3 grandsons who she raises alone. They were going to stay one day and then missed the bus on Thursday morning and there were no buses again until Saturday. Those children were pretty wild and we already have such a small home. The are typical of the little children around here who have no fathers and their mothers have to work out of the area to send some grocery money to whoever will keep the kids. It was pretty busy. The house worker, Tila, who comes every day to cook and clean, had taken off for a few days to visit her grown daughters in San Pedro Sula so we had it all to ourselves. I can’t believe how much Tila does for $20 a month. She must think that is a lot of money because she is constantly making sure that she is doing a good job (I guess so she won’t lose this wonderful pay!!) She comes at 6:00 every morning and stays until 4:00 and she comes every day of the week. I just can’t imagine. She is a really sweet older Christian lady and I enjoy her. She watches Marinita here at the house every day so Marinita doesn’t have to stay at Prima’s anymore. She was getting lice and there were too many children being kept the so this is a better situation for everyone. My only problem with Tila is that she speaks some kid of different Spanish. Rosy says she has a hard time understanding her too.
We have a new member of our family now — we got a male turkey this week. He struts around all over the place. I am learning more about animals every day. Did y’all know that turkeys (at least the males) change colors. Their beard (or whatever the term is) changed from red, to white and sometimes purplish. I asked Rosy about it and she told me that it changes to red when the turkey is proud and when the turkey walks around holding his head down , looking at its claws, it turns white because he is ashamed. I tried to tell her that the turkey didn’t really FEEL proud, but she said it does and that each animal has a different characteristic. The Owl really is wise, the donkey is stupid, the dog is faithful, etc. Some things are just not worth pursuing. Maybe I am the wrong one. ha. The other day when i was gathering up the eggs from the hens outside, she also told me to leave one of the eggs so the hens would lay more. That if they didn’t see the egg, they wouldn’t lay another one. Is that true? I know so little about animals that I don’t know what is another Hondurans wives’ tale or truth.
But, I’m getting more accustomed to all the animals every day. We found some little baby mice outside and she said that if we have a chicken living in the house full-time, the mice wouldn’t be a problem — that is the first time the idea of the chickens living with us sounded good to me! ha.
Fernando has planted all kinds of vegetables outside. We are looking forward to the radishes coming up soon — they grow the fastest. He is so excited. He grows coffee, plantains, papayas, bananas, pineapples, avocados, and now he can grow the other vegetables for the home in Siguatepeque in the future. He wants to come to our land and plant some tropical fruit trees for us there.
Fernando accepted Christ when I first came to Jocon and he is growing very spiritually. He had 4 dats off in a row this week for Easter (Holy Week) and he read his Bible for hours every day — it was so great to see him learning so much I told him that he’ll probably be a pastor one day. He is a very wise man anyway and with a great sense of humor, people love to talk with him — and now he is really learning the Word of God. Please pray for him too.
I went to see Maria’s new house this week. She is one I’ve written about in the past. She accepted Christ the second day I lived here and she has also been growing in Christ. She has 3 children by Emer, and he has FINALLY decided to actually live with his family. Actually, I wish he’d be so committed that he’d actually marry her but that is not very common here. Anyway, he has built a house for then and they were so excited to show it to me. I was reminded again of how thankful i need to be — we walked across the village to their new house. It is made of adobe blocks that are still drying in the sun and a tin roof. But the house is sooo tiny. My bedroom in out house is bigger than their two bedrooms put together, and then they only have a little half of a room they call the “sala” or living room. The kitchen will be a fire outside and the floors will be dirt. You’d never know there was anything else they could even want because they are so pleased with it. They are precious people and so grateful. I did give her some wallpaper border for the living room and that will really make her feel rich.
Well, I leave on Wednesday to meet Pam Kitchens in Siguatepeque to look at materials and talk about plans. Please pray for much wisdom for her and for safety. I’m looking forward to having an American Christian friend here for a few days. I am so excited to see all that God is planning for Destino del Reino. Rosy assured me the other day that we will have many many children when the time comes to open. There are so many children here who are malnourished, if eating at all, because they have no fathers and their mothers can’t make any money. It will be so wonderful the day we come out of these mountains with a bus load of beautiful little children to nurture and love. I had wondered at one point if I was hearing correctly when the Lord showed me that this was not to be an orphanage but a home for children whoes parents couldn’t provide for them. God has confirmed that to me over and over again. I know that an orphanage sometimes gains more sympathy and people are more inclined to give financially. But God will provide all we need and He has shown me through these kids we can reach families and in that way have more impact on changing the culture in the mountain villages. These children will be able to go back to their homes and help all those other children in their families who had not had opportunities either. There are many orphanages in Honduras and I believe that God has seen the needs for this area of Honduras as being met more effectively by providing home/school to give a future to the children who would otherwise would face hunger and hopelessness in the future generations.
Thanks to all of you who have ALREADY been sending money to my church to support Destino del Reino. I know God will bless you many times over for your gifts. You are so precious and I appreciate all that God is doing through you for this ministry. I know too, that where you send your money, is where you send your prayers — and that especially is very important to me. So thank you so very much. I know God will provide everything we need and even some things we just want for the children. George Mueller, the great man known for his incredible faith in God’s provision and who started the great orphanages in Bristol, England, said his main verse that he claimed was Psalm 81:10 “Open your mouth wide and I will fill it with good things, says the Lord” — that is a good one for us to claim also for Destino Del Reino. I want to “open my mouth wide” with great faith in the sovereign ability and loving desire of our Heavenly Father to provide beautifully for every child He sends us.
I love you all and thank you again for all your prayers and support in every way. Some of you have passed on my emails to your friends/family and I have received some wonderful encouragement from people I’ve not even met face-to-face, but I am thankful for these new friends. It will be wonderful through the years to see all the people from all parts of the States and even the world who God with send to encourage the ministry in every way. Thank you.
Love in Him,
Rhonda
