Hey Everyone,
I am going to try to attach a few pictures of the school and hopefully they will go through for you. We had a great day for the dedication on Thursday and the place was crowded with friends and families of the teachers and of the students. It was a great celebration, all for the glory of God — everyone KNEW that it was truly a miracle that God had provided such a beautiful place for the very poor of Honduras. It was a privilege too to dedicate the school to honor the life of Cassie Bernall, who died in Columbine High School. I recently learned that the ACLU singled out Cassie by name to ridicule her faith. That just made me more excited that God had led us to make a tribute to her brave faith in Jesus Christ even to the point of her death. All the Hondurans loved hearing the story of Cassie and her testimony from Maria Moore, who knows her parents. We are so thankful that the children of Destino through the years will continue to know of Cassie’s faith and that she will be an example to them to live and die, if necessary, for the glory of Jesus Christ.
After it was over, there was such a big relief, I cannot even explain it. Not only was the dedication service over but all the rush to get the building finished. We had my parents working with us until the very last night, very late, cleaning the hallway floors, hanging wallpaper in the bathrooms, etc. It almost felt like there was nothing to do afterwards. ha. We honored the workers especially at the dedication (although we only had 6 of them left out of the 38 that worked from the beginning). The six of them are with Carlos for a free day at the lake to reward them for such selfless work — working many late nights to help us accomplish our deadline.
Please be praying especially tomorrow and the next day (Wednesday and Thursday). We got Carlos’ letter from my friend the Senator Ed Tarver, vouching for Carlos’ ministry here, and now we just need the one record from the Embassy of Carlos’ first illegal trip to the US over 8 years ago. He is supposed to get approved for his visa to the states if his deportment was more than 5 years ago. He called yesterday to the Embassy and the person he talked to was surprised that someone had promised that — but she said, go ahead and try it then, because maybe it was possible for him to receive it. We have made a lot of plans and know that God wants him to visit but need your prayers especially for the next two days that God will, once again, show favor and get him his final approval. Thanks for remembering that request with us.
The babies are all growing so quickly. Ana is especially amazing as she was just thrown out to die and now is growing and obviously so smart and alert. God has clearly chosen her for a purpose and we are so thankful to be her famly. I wanted to share some verses that I found in the Bible that fit Ana perfectly. Although it is a picture of God’s love for Israel, I think it applies and I know that Ana will glorify God with her life one day:
Ezekiel 16:4-14
“As for your birth, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing; you were not rubbed with salt or even wrapped in cloths. No eye looked with pity on you to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you. Rather you were thrown out into the open field, for you were abhorred on the day you were born. When I (God) passed by you and saw you squirming in your blood, I said to you while you were in your blood, “Live!” Yes, I said to you while you were in your blood, “Live!” I made you numerous like plants of the field, . . . Then I passed by you and saw you and behold you were at the time for love; so I spread my skirt over you and covered your nakedness. I also swore to you and entered into a covenant with you so that you became MINE, declares the Lord God. Then I bathed you with water, washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil. I also clothed you with embroidered cloth and put sandals on your feet and I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk. . . . Thus you were adorned with gold and silver and your dress was of fine linen, . . so you were exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. Then your fame wentforth among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of MY SPLENDOR WHICH I BESTOWED ON YOU, ” declares the Lord God.”
For any who don’t know, Ana was thrown out in a field to die the day she was born, unwashed and lying in her own blood. How appropriate these promises are from the Word of God for Ana Elizabeth.
We are continuing to rejoice in the growth of the church, not only in numbers, but more importantly, in truth. When Carlos has an invitation at the end of any service for more commitment to walk with the Lord, or to rededicate or surrender more of their lives to him, there are more people in the front than there are still sitting in their chairs. Their hearts are so open and they are so ready to follow Christ at any cost. I told Carlos that I am so excited about the new ministry into the villages with the young men in our church because they want (and need) to be used. Please be covering all of them in prayer though, because they will certainly be walking into the Enemy’s camp when they carry the gospel into some of these villages. We received a new projector and a lot of evangelical movies in Spanish so they are well prepared and will start the ministry immediately. Thanks for your prayers continually for these young men.
Please continue to pray for us as we seek some American teachers for classes in the fall. I know that God will send HIS choices to us and we are waiting on him.
We are still finishing up a few touch-ups of paint, etc. at the new school and will begin work on the cafeteria and classrooms below as soon as God provides the funds. In the meantime, please pray for us to be able to pay the last few thousand dollars of debt for the last materials used at the school. We have learned a hard lesson and will not be charging anything again. Thanks for your love and prayers for us to be able to get back to NO DEBT!! I praise God for His incredible patience with us. This is a very strenuous ministry at times and it is hard to keep the right balance and rest and WAIT on God for every cent.
This week I will be taking the individual pictures of the students to send to the various sponsors. I am waiting for a list to be compiled by the treasurer of the Board, listing those who have sent at least their first payment in so that I will know those who are sponsors for this year. If you still would like to sponsor a child, please let me know. It is $40 a month, year-round and you just send the checks to Destino del Reino, P.O. Box 814, Evans, GA 30809 and mark them “education” in the subject line. You will receive a name and picture of one of the students to sponsor for the year. We have taken a few more in lately so we have more than we planned but I know God will faithfully provide enough support for each of them. We are now up to 91 students for the year.
Thank you for all your prayers for us in this ministry. There are so many more blessings and miracles going on here daily that I cannot share them all. It is all because of the Lord’s perfect faithfulness and His willingness to use us who are weak and unworthy. Because of His grace, He has made us worthy in His calling and for that we are very grateful.
Love in His grace,
Rhonda
