Hey Everyone,
I hope you are having a great month of thankfulness — It is a command from the Lord “to be thankful” and I guess it is because He knows that we have to make an effort to remember thankfulness (sad that we humans are so naturally ungrateful). This week has been a good reminder for me in many ways.
Pastor Wade was here this past week for another wonderful time in the Word of God. He spoke at the one-day Bible conference about being a “CIA Christian” – (Christ Is All) Christian. It was so good to focus only on Jesus and nothing else. One of his statements really stuck with me and the 250 poor Hondurans in the conference were encouraged by it — “A person who has Christ and everything (i.e. wealth, fame, etc.) has no more than the person who has Christ and has nothing” — Jesus Christ is ALL and if we understood that completely we could say like Paul, I know how to be in need and also how to live in abundance — it really doesn’t matter. Another thing that has made me think on this is that the 5th grade class has come over to the house this week to practice their song for participation in church tomorrow night. They walked in for the first time to our house and were silent and quietly touching the soft furniture and looking around at the nice painting and elegance that God has blessed us with. They were whispering “I want to live in the children’s home.” It made me so sad and I want them to understand that these things don’t mean anything. I lived in Jocon for 2 and 1/2 years in a tiny little cement house with no bathroom or chairs or table and we ate outside by the fire and I think I was happier there than any place in my life. The reason was because we had nothing except Jesus and found Him to be completely ENOUGH. I actually drive by village homes here and desire to live like that again — in a poor dirt house with thankful people. Our house is nothing like American’s homes but it is very nice compared to where our children in the school live and it makes me sad even though we were sent everything in containers through the years — we are rich and I pray that we will recognize how greatly God has blessed us all. My kids in the home, still are grateful, and I know that is an answer to prayer because they have so much more than their classmates. As Pastor Wade said though, if we have Christ — He is everything and He is sufficient for ALL we need. It is Him who brings the joy. The more we have the more we want and that is the curse of riches — total distraction from Him who is EVERYTHING.
Pastor Wade was also able to share a few hours with our high schoolers about discipleship since they are disciplining younger kids each week. He also spent a few hours with them on the subject of having a Christian perspective on the world. Then on Wednesday night, we had a dinner for the fathers and 60 were there to hear Wade’ message on the three crosses. Afterwards, Pastor Wade said he has never had a more anointed time with the men in all his times here. Praise God for all He is doing in these people. Thank you, Pastor Wade, for being willing to come so often and teach.
We have had a great year so far and the teachers are so wonderful and loving to the children. Please keep them in your daily prayers — the needs are great and not only for education here — the children suffer in so many other ways and God is using our teachers to love them and counsel them as well as teach them.
God is beginning to send more people to us as well and we REALLY are going to need many more volunteers in the coming months. Jacob has come from Wilmington, North Carolina. His heart is in the farming aspect of Destino and working on more ideas for becoming self-sufficient with coffee and other crops as well as possibly a project with the fish. My cousin, Ryan, arrived a few weeks ago. He immediately started driving a bus route for the high school, teaching basketball in PE classes and is working on plans to start a technical school next fall. Please pray for the plans as we know that along with the university, we need a school for teaching skills for those who do not want to do the university studies. We are planning right now to have electricity, mechanics, welding and possibly carpentry and construction. Thanks for your prayers for the funds and the details to all be worked out to get this started.
We have also talked to several people who are seriously praying about coming to Destino full-time and I am so encouraged that God is sending us help. We will be able to use anyone that has an undergraduate degree to teach in the university and that should be opening in a few months. The last of the papers have been prepared for the due diligence they have to do to apply for a university here and now on Friday our lawyer comes in to work on the legal documents to be ready to submit in January for approval. Thanks for your prayers for all of these processes. We will begin with nursing and agriculture degrees and while the first-year students are taking basic requirements, we will add a degree in computer science and something else in the humanities area. It is overwhelming to me to even think of all of these things but if it is God’s will, He will provide and guide and lead all the right people here to help us. Thanks for your prayers for all of this. Part of me just wants to say, “Okay, this is big enough and God, you have stretched my faith far enough, so can we just quit with what we have?” I know that is not what He wants and I don’t want to stand in His way with my fears and doubts but want Him to grow this as big as He wants to and just use me as his hands and feet and He will prepare missionaries and Christian leaders to change the world through Destino. So pray for me too!
Please pray for one school family especially. The young mother of one of our students was walking along the highway last week and was hit and killed by a car crashing into her. She has three other little boys and they are all very poor. We have offered to the grandmother and aunt to take in the children at Destino but have not heard back from them about this. I know that it is hard to think of giving the children to us but they are soooo poor and it is really hard to have 4 more children to care for. The youngest is 15 months. Monday we put the 6 year old boy, Daniel, into first grade and he is soooo happy with the love he is receiving at Destino but he has no socks and his shoes were torn up and wet and it is very cold outside. We are trying to provide for them but it is hard to know the needs when they don’t live with us. Thanks for praying for God to work in their hearts and we will know what is best.
Thanks for those who prayed for the teachers’ pay to come in this week — we were able to pay everyone but now we still need some money for other expenses for the month. November is always a hard month for us and then in December, everyone is really generous again. So please pray for us to get through November — God is always faithful though and I can’t decide if I am to ask for prayer for funds and let people know the needs or if I am lacking in faith to just let God know our needs — and He DOES!
My kids are all growing up so fast and I thank God for the spiritual growth I have seen in them. We don’t have any babies right now — all my three littlest ones are 2 now and that makes us all sad, ha. The big girls are praying for another newborn to come to us soon. Thanks for your prayers for all of us. God is doing something here that we don’t fully understand yet but I can’t wait to see the fruit that he will produce through all of these precious chosen ones.
Thank you for your continued prayers and love for us. We count on your prayers and support and I know God blesses you for helping Him complete His plans here.
Love in His grace,
Rhonda
