Hey Prayer Team,
I am so sorry that it (again) has taken me so long to get an update to you. I like to keep you updated because you are so faithful to pray for all our needs at Destino del Reino.
God has been blessing us in a great way lately. We were able to pay off a huge chunk of our debt to the teacher retirement and now can start paying monthly and we can soon get our final accreditation for the school. Please be praying that those papers will pass through the government without any hitch now.
School is going great this year. The teachers, both American and Honduran, are doing a great job and there is always such a spirit of love there for the children. I am so grateful for the team that God has sent to us this year. We are seeing more and more fruit for the kingdom of God as these children are growing in His word each week. Please pray that we will be able to get 23 more sponsors for those lacking their sponsorship right now. All 23 of these children are 4-year olds in the new class and they have such potential with starting at such a young age in the Word of God and with good nutrition and care as well.
We are making more efforts to reach the parents this year. We had a dinner for the men of the families and I expected to maybe have 20 men come but instead we had over 50!!! It was a wonderful night — we cooked rice and chicken and homemade desserts, etc. and the decorated the cafeteria for them. Carlos said that the men didn’t even want to leave they were enjoying the time so much. Carlos shared transparently with them about his own problems and what God is doing in his life and at least 10 men accepted Christ that night. We only spent about $150 and believe this is something we need to do on a monthly basis to reach these men for the Lord and teach them the Word. So pray for us as we plan for next month’s dinner and for Carlos to be prepared for this great new opportunity.
We are going through bus drivers every few months right now and need prayer for the right man. The alcoholism is so horrible in this country that we can’t seem to find an alcohol-free man to drive our buses. This is a huge need for us right now so thanks for praying. We praise God that the past two incidents with our drivers drinking did not involve a risk to any of the children — but it was a scary thing for our adult workers who have been on the buses with these men. The culture here is so difficult at times. Generally, everyone lies (even those who call themselves Christians) — it is impossible to get references on people because no one will tell the truth about former employees because of fear of being killed. We need wisdom from the Holy Spirit about who to hire and we will appreciate your prayers for that wisdom daily.
There has been a lot of danger here lately — not necessarily to us personally as we know the Lord is protecting us — but there have been a lot of kidnappings in just a few weeks’ time. Please pray for God’s judgment on these men who are terrorizing children and adults. Also, a middle-aged man from North Carolina came to teach for the other bilingual christian school in Siguatepeque and disappeared about 2 weeks ago — pray that they will find him so that his family will have some peace.
We are finishing up the little white house on our newly acquired property so that Sammy’s parents can rent it from us while they build a little house on the adjacent property — I praise God for the relationship we have with his parents and that they want to continue with Sammy and Emily here at Destino because they have observed the difference in these children than in children outside of this godly training they receive here. Sammy especially has a very clear calling on his life and he already (at almost 6 yrs old) understands deeper things of God. He amazes me in our devotions at night — he participates more than the older children even do in learning the Word of God.
Continue to pray for our financial needs. God has delivered us out of some big debts lately through generous gifts, but the needs continue daily as we are feeding over 250 children daily and have huge electricity bills, etc. I know that God will put the needs on the hearts of His people though and we just ask that you remember to pray for these needs daily with us.
There is a chance we can finally get internet in the school — we will know something in the next few weeks. We have been without internet at Destino for about a month now and it is a real hardship so pray for this to get resolved.
We have three times as many groups coming this year to Destino as the past two years and we look forward to seeing all that God wants to accomplish through these people, with several new churches coming to see the work. More than the work they accomplish, the gift to Destino is more that these people begin praying for us after they have seen first-hand what God is up to here. That is a huge blessing to Destino and the prayer continues to change so many lives here in Honduras.
Pray for us this morning as we are going to the prison in La Paz today to talk to the prisoners. I have been so convicted as I was reading “Radical” this week that I am not doing enough for the lost and desperate people a round us. Even though I am a missionary and it appers to many of you that I am doing a lot for the poor and needy, from day to day, I still walk past many hurting people and can easily get in my own little world and not be reaching out enough to those with great needs. We are praying for more opportunities to find the hungry and get our children involved in doing Jesus’ work among the hurting in Honduras. Pray for us to know where we are to be used and that we will be faithful to think of others more than ourselves.
I thank you all for your faithful prayers for us even when I am very late in my updates sometimes. We are always counting on your prayers. God is doing incredible things and we are so blessed to be used by Him in His kingdom work.
Love in His grace,
Rhonda
