Hey Everyone,
Thanks for your prayers, and as always, I need MORE!!
The biggest thing on my heart right now concerns Sammy, our 11-month old baby. On Wednesday afternoon the social worker came with an order to return him immediately to his mom (an 18-year old who is due with another new baby in two weeks). The judge had told us that he would never return Sammy to his parents becaus they had thrown him away. BUT for whatever reason, it happened anyway. We went to the office with them and talked to them b ut could do nothing to change the situation that evening. Martha and I cried our eyes out all night and just kept trying to trust the Lord and His control over every situation. Two days later, we took the social worker to the house to see how Sammy was doing and to do a surprise visit to make sure they were taking care of him. He wasn’t crying but he was sad and it was hard to get him to smile even though he was clinging to me. It broke my heart. It ended up though that the young mom wants me to come and see him anytime and she is being influenced by family in the US to get him in her custody again. We went yesterday (Sammy’s fourth day away from us), and they told me that Sammy’s mom plans to still live in the US and leave Sammy and his new baby sister with an aunt that they don’t know. The social worker thought she was taking Sammy out to let him live with his mom because that is a child’s right, as she put it. She really wanted an excuse to bring Sammy and the new baby back to us but said she has to abide by that standard. I am waitingto talk to the social worker today and tell her what is really going on and we are very hopeful that she will send Sammy right back to us. In the meantime, the good news is that when I was visiting yesterday, they suggested that Sammy come with me for awhile again. After 4 days I think they were tired of the care he requires of them. So he was with us yesterday and maybe until tomorrow. I gave her my cell number and told her to call me when she wanted him back. She will have the baby in two weeks and plans for an aunt of hers to raise the two of them but is telling the aunt that I can have Sammy anytime to visit. I don’t believe that the social worker will allow that. She thought that the mom was going to live with the aunt and her two children. We have an appointment to take the social workerfor a surprise visit today to see where they are planning to live and I heard that it is a very little ugly place and so maybe the social worker will see that is not good for him either. Anyway, we need ALOT of prayer over this situation. The social worker asked me if I would be willing to take the new baby girl too and I assured her that we had already thought we were going to get her from the mom before. The little mom just accepted Christ a few months back and has not even had a bible until I took her one yesterday and God has given me a heart to help her more personally as well , so pray for wisdom in this whole situation for all of us and for us to trust what God knows is best for Sammy. Thanks. Sammy is so happy to be back home and finally started laughing like his old self again last night. I will have a hard time returning him to the depressing environment but know God will protect him.
You wouldn’t believe how great the school is looking. The whole left side (classes kindergarten through 2nd) is ready to be roofted already and they are quickly laying the bricks on all of the other parts as well. We have a team helping us this week from Tomball, Texas. We got another miracle by the Houston power company. They gave us another transformer and sent their own linemen here again to connect the electricity for the new school. It is so great to have them here again and they are so generous to us. Also a few men came to help build the front gate. I have not been exactly a help to them because the first day they were here and had laid out the frame of the gates across the ground, I pulled in from going to the grocery store and crashed into it with the car. ha. They have repaired the damage I have done but have decided to work on the gates in another location, ha.
We have WONDERFUL news today. We have finally received our official papers for Destino del Reino in Honduras. The biggest benefits are that we no longer pay 12% taxes at all the supply stores, we can receive all containers and shipments without taxes and in the name of Carlos directly and I can get my residency more easily. We are so excited about how God has done this for us. The lawyer said he knew that God was in this because he had never seen any papers move through the government as fast as ours did. Praise God who is always so faithful and perfect in his timing!
I have been so busy and am sorry that I have not written longer personal emails to many of you. I have to go to the bank everyday now and get money out and that is a long process so I don’t want to stay in town long to write and send messages. I am still working on getting our satelite and if we do that, we can send messages from home at night when the kids are in bed and I won’t feel so negligent for beinng away from the house so much. Please pray for us to figure out the best way to handle that too.
I appreciate so much the prayers that all of you are praying for us daily. What a difference it is making. We are all doing better here and God is encouraging us so much. Thanks for your prayers.
Continue to pray for the funds to come in to finish up the school in the right timing. I am amazed at how God has provided for us and will continue to do so because He is faithful to finish what he starts.
Love to all of you and thanks again for your patience with my lack of communication. I will do much better soon,
Love in His grace,
Rhonda
