Hey Faithful Prayer Partners,
Thank you so much for your faithful prayers, especially concerning Sammy lately. Sammy was with us for a visit, as I told you in my email on Monday, b ut we were thinking all along that he was with us for two days only. God intervened on Sammy’s (and my) behalf. The circumstances changed so quickly and drastically that it can only be accounted to the hand of God. The mother of Sammy’s mom has been completely out of her life and has not cared for her since she was very young. She heard about Sammy last spring and wanted nothing to do with her new grandson. The aunt that was planning to take Sammy now while his mom moved to the US, is the sister of the mother of Sammy’s mom. All of a sudden, this mother wants to take Sammy and the newborn sister away from her sister (the aunt) by force. This scared Sammy’s mom so much because she doesn’t want the grandmother to take over her children. So she suddenly wanted Sammy and his new sister to live at Destino del Reino for protection from the grandmother. What is the best thing to me is that the social worker asked (not demanded) that we might let Sammy’s mom live with us for a couple of weeks once the baby is born (due on the 17th of Dec.) so that she can also not be found by her mother who is trying to cause her problems. I was sooooo excited for this opportunity because I had wanted to spend more time with her (Janet is her name) to help her grow in her relationship with Jesus Christ and to learn to study her bible before she moves to the States and also it is important that she know Sammy but she can get to know him now in a more secure environment for Sammy. God has done above and beyond all I could ask or think. Sammy’s mom says she plans to return in about 3 years but we all have our doubts that she will ever come back so it is best that she is having an order of the court put he and his sister with us indefinitely. Thanks for your prayers. It has been such a hard time but I have grown in trusting the Lord and knowing that he is Sovereign over EVERY situation. Sammy is back to his old self finally. It took him about 2 or 3 days to really let loose and start laughing out loud again. He had a few nights of nightmares too but thankfully he is a happy little boy once again. He is really ready to walk and gets mad if someone will not hold his hand and walk him around all day long.
The school walls are almost up and we are purchasing all the materials for the roof right now. I can’t wait to see the first part of the roof go on. It is amazing how fast this has been done and how faithfully God is providing for the materials. It is such a testimony to the whole area around us. Also, Sandra (the director) told me that Destino del Reino is getting quite a great reputation in the area of Siguatepeque. The director over all of the education system there was checking all the final exams of the private schools. She admitted that she really expected poor results from the poor children that were now attending Destino del Reino. Instead, she was shocked to see their exams were much better than many of the private schools in Siguatepeque. That is a testimony to the glory of God. Thanks for all you have done to sponsor them and pray for them. They are special kids that God has picked out of the pit and put into a place where they can achieve great things for His kingdom. Keep praying. We are still needing more sponsors for each student for the year to come.
I am so excited that Travis Bennett is coming to live at Destino in January. He is 24 years old and just graduated from college with a construction degree, but more importantly, he has a great heart for reaching Honduras for Christ and building God’s kingdom here at Destino. He will be such a huge asset here to us and especially to Carlos as he can take a big load off of Carlos with the construction in overseeing the workers, buying supplies, etc. Please be praying for Travis as he is preparing this month to come. Pray for his family and friends too, that they will understand him and encourage him in following what God has led him to do.
We are moving things around here at the house. We painted the school office below the house for a room for Martha. She loves it and when Travis comes, he will make the storeroom adjacent to it into a bathroom for her. Erick and Eduard were needing a room of their own so they can study at night and not disturb the little ones who go to bed at 6:30 p.m. We are painting Martha’s old room for them today and they can move in this weekend. They are really excited about that. Erick and Eduard are both working construction and earning salaries now. Erick didn’t start until this week but he was so lonely and bored without Eduard evvery day that Carlos decided he could be a helper. They both love working those long hours with all the other workers and are doing a great job. I miss Erick around the house though because he helped me out and went to town with me, etc.
Yesterday we had an unusual thing happen here. I passed a man on the highway about 2 miles up and we locked eyes and I saw evil there. I thought, “Oh, I hope he never finds out where we live.” It was the first time I have felt that about anyone around here. Well, about 2 hours later, I saw him walking here at Destino and talking to Carlos. It scared me but I thought he must not be so bad after all. About an hour later, after dark, Carlos called me and said that there was a strange man here that was really bad and he had told him to wait for him up at the construction and he had disappeared. Carlos was going to look for him because we did not want him at Destino. We prayed for Carlos’ safety and that he would find the man. Carlos told me today that he was very leery of the man too but after he started talking to him about the love of Jesus Christ and gave him some food, the man accepted Jesus as his Savior and said that no one had ever loved him like that before. Carlos took him to Siguatepeque and gave him a little bus money and food. I was so ashamed of my reaction because the Spirit of God in us is stronger than any evil. After Carlos left last night, I was reading in Romans in chapter 12 about not being overcome by evil but overcome evil with good. That was exactly what Carlos did last night and I want to be less worried about the evil around me and more confident that God is able to work in anyone’s life and to walk in the faith that God has given us.
Well, I am certainly glad that we are better with our children at Destino than we are with our animals. We have lost almost all of our animals in just a few weeks. Cheetah our first goat died a few months back of starvation maybe, since we were not feeding her the right things. Then Igor (our dog) died (probably from all the wounds he received from messing with the bulls and horses), then we lost both our rabbits (probably they willed to die since the all eight children were carrying them around by the neck all day every day, ha.) and yesterday our goat, Tina, died. Erick thought he was protecting her from the coyotes and tied her up wrong and she strangled herself. I think we will just stick with our chickens and other dog, Samson, for now. The kids don’t feel too badly though. I don’t think kids here get attached to pets like American kids do. Eidy walked up after Tina died and said, “when can we kill Mr. Piggy so we can eat his meat?” We will have our pig for Christmas dinner, I guess, and then not having any pets but Samson.
As you know, we are wanting to bring Carlos to the US to preach in February. Our appointment with the Ambassador of the US is the 19th of January. On the form that we have to fill out for Carlos, it asks about being deported previously from the USA, and so I think that it might take a miracle for him to get permission to visit the states in the future. He went illegal to the states about 7 years ago and was in a retaining jail for 4 months, where he accepted Christ as his Savior. He is a changed man and wants to share at that same jail, but we need your prayers for God to work out his permission. It may not be God’s plan that he go to the States but he would be such a strong testimony and witness there and could present Destino del Reino in a different way to the Americans. Thanks for your prayers for this situation.
Another prayer request is for the bus that we are trying to purchase through the Moores in North Carolina. Maria has a contact that finds good school buses for good prices for missions and we need to get one immediately, drive it from Chicago to Houston, and in Houston they will pack it with things we need, including the doors for the new school. All of this has to happen in a short amount of time, so please keep this situation in your prayers as well.
Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement. We are so amazed at the power of God in this place and we want to live worthy of the calling that he has on our lives. Thanks for your prayers for each of us, especially us in leadership, because the Enemy is trying to knock us down continually and sometimes the battles seem too great, but “greater is He that is in [us], than he that is in the world (Satan)”. Thanks for your love,
In His grace,
Rhonda
