Hello Everyone,
I am sorry it has taken me quite a while to update you (again). Lots is always going on in my house and in the ministry and I suddenly realize after a month that I have not sent out a report. Forgive me for that.
We have taken in 5 new children lately as most of you know and overall it is working out great. They are soooo happy to live with us and have a warm bed at night and food in their tummies and they have blended amazingly well with my other children. We praise God for that smooth transition. Several of them are behind in schoo though so help us pray for them to be able to catch up with their classmates.
We have had a really sad thing at the school with one of our little 5 year old students being horribly burned. He fell into a big vat of boiling oil and is critcally injured. It is so painful for me to even think about and I ask you to all join us in praying that he will be healed by the Great Healer. It is very hard on his family who are already so poor and now are trying to get help with his medical needs. His name is Delmer. He is one of Sammys´classmates and all the children in the school are very sad about this.
Another one of our students, Dariela, needs prayer for her father. He was working on construction with all the other fathers on our junior high building and he got paid on Christmas day and went out and was drinking and someone shot him in the head. He is at home now and lived but is not able to do anything and so instead of being a help to his family, he is now one more mouth to feed and things are very hard on them.
I praise God for all the fathers out on the land everyday working on the junior high building. We are really praying for the funds to build this SOON but in the meantime with gifts from some of you, we were able to buy lots of truck loads of sand, gravel, rock and cement so that we have enough to keep us busy for a few more weeks at least. BUT we are down to no money in the bank right now so we really need a miracle. I know that God has always provided for us but it is really a tight spot right now and I am stressed. We never have gotten all our sponsors and lack probably about 20 so this puts a further hardship on us and then we have had thousands of dollars of repairs on all three buses and two of the cars. It is a real TRIAL for us right now so please pray for us.
All the kids are doing well. With so many children in the house, I was afraid that someone would get lost in the crowd so I started having personal conferences with them each week. It has been amazing. I realize that even if I had only had 4 or 5 children instead of 18, I should have been doing this because it is amazing what comes out in a conversation when you have just time with one child face to face and ask them what is going on and what you can pray about and what would they like for Jesus to change in their lives. I am so happy for the very intimate things that have come out of these conversations and the privilege of praying over each one personally. Cokie accepted Christ this week because of the conference. I shared with her that it was a very big decision and it was not just a matter of repeating a little prayer and she could have eternal life. It was a decision to give up her entire life to Jesus Christ and follow him and let Him be her savior and LORD of all.
I will mention the kids by name below and ask some prayer specifically for each one.
Erick is almost 18 years old. He is a wonderful kid and great help but is going through a stage, as most young people do, where he is starting to get independent and we need to rethink some of the plans we have for him. He is starting his electrical training in February and that will last 3 years.
Blanca is 12 now and she is doing great but feels a lot of struggle right now with her emotions about her mom not visiting as frequently as before. Her mom is with her father who just got out of prison and they don´t have jobs and he is drinking, etc. so the mom has a lot to deal with as well as a 6 month old baby.
Eidy is 10 now. She has always had some struggles emotionally because of past sexual abuse and at her developing age it is becoming more evident that she needs a lot of prayer and guidance. She has a wonderful attitude though and is going to be a great leader.
Franklin is 11 and he is one of our new kids. He is a great little guy and his mom wants him to help her collect coke cans every weekend to make money for them to eat. He very willing goes to work for them on the weekends, although his older two brothers who live at home refuse to work. He has not yet accepted Christ into his life and we are praying for him for that as well as praying that the mom doesn´t decide to take him away from his studies to collect cans every day.
Cesar is now 9 and is wonderful. He is really diligent and we are praying for him to follow Christ with all his heart and be a great leader in the Kingdom. He wants prayer for his father to come to know Jesus Christ (same father as Blanca who just got out of prison).
Carlitos is 9 now. He is doing well but has a hard time being calm in school. He is very bright but overly sensitive at times and has some emotional struggles.
Karina is 10 and is Franklin´s sister who just came from living in a very small dirt house with her family of 10 kids. She is doing well and knows Jesus and is very loving and needs prayer for her father to come to know Christ and that she can help her mom and be happy with us without worrying about her mom and the other 6 kids and father.
Cokie is doing great and I am praying for a change in her since she now has the Holy Spirit living in her that she will not have such big temper fits. She has had a real problem with deep anger. She is a great helper with the children and a great student too.
Jonathan is now 8, as is Cokie, and he is a great little kid. He says he is going to be a pastor one day and he truly loves the Word of God. He is too slow in his homework and studies and needs prayer to have a little more spunk!
Josue is now 7 and is always struggling emotionally. He seems to be arguing with the others and saying rude things to them more than the others in the house and I know he needs more loving attention. He is a great student and loves learning English.
Nicole is new and is 6 years old. She has had some obvious sexual abuse too and we are having to watch her a lot so pray for healing in that area of her life please. She is a real bundle of joy and so helpful and happy to be with us.
Sammy is 6 as of last week and is always full of joy and loves Jesus with all his heart. He has become insecure with his parents coming back from the US and they are going to live next door but he is not sure he wants to live with them. Pray for a very smooth transition for all of us and that he will be able to live with them and be with me as his grandma or aunt every day he wants without insecurity or rejection.
Emily is his sister and is 5 and they need prayer in the same area, although she doesn´t show much insecurity right now but the adjustment will still be uneasy at times for her too since she has been with us since she was born.
Alexander is almost 5 and is my biggest prayer concern because of his health problems. He has been having seizures regularly and has never been able to talk and is very stsrong and can be mean at times. We need a miracle. We found out that he did not have a stroke at birth, as his family had told us when they put him with us, but instead was left alone at about 1 year and strangled himself on a phone cord, had surgery and was never expected to walk or talk. He walks and we need prayer for talk. Thanks. and pray for our patience with him. It is harder than I can describe to you.
Sofia is Blanca´s little sister and just moved in. She has adjusted amazingly but is having a little trouble in school because of her strong will. She is a really cute little girl and most of the time a joy in the house. She just likes to tattle on everyone all the time and the kids are frustrated with her but pray for more adjustment for her to live in a house of children when she has really been the only child until she was 5 years old. That has been tough for her.
Abi is now 4 and is a real hand ful. She has to be watched at all times because of her constant rebellion and it is another test of patience. But she is so delightful at the same time.
Santitos is a doll. He is 4 years old, has all rotten teeth in the front of his huge smile. He is as short as he is wide and we just are crazy about him. He is one of the new children from the very poor home and has obviously been exposed to too much for his age so pray for us to be able to train him up to be a follower of Jesus.
David is 2 now and he is our delight. He is soooo cute with his head of curls and huge smile. He is very stubborn but is manageable, ha.
Well, this is a long email but some of you like to get reports on the kids at times and so this was for you. Thanks for praying for us. The battles are raging every single day here and if I started telling you of all the danger and trials we face all the time, you probably wouldn´t believe it anyway. Satan hates what we are doing and we are going to have to be stronger in battle and warfare so pray for us to stay in the Word and walk by faith and be persistent no matter how hard it is at times.
In HIS grace we continue,
Love,
Rhonda
