Hey Everyone,
I thought I better write before our next group comes on Friday. We have been SOOOO busy!!
We had a WONDERFUL week last week with the group from Trinity on the Hill Methodist church. We did 4 days of medical and eyeglasses for two villages. The first village was Junka de la Palma (where Tomball Bible will do VBS in two weeks) and two days in La Mision (where West Acres will do VBS for 300 this week coming up). We are so excited to start our new outreach in these two villages. They have not had groups come to them previously and there are many needs, especially spiritual, in these villages. There are several churches in the first village but only a very small one and very few believers in La Mision. On the first day in La Mision, we had a evangelical service for the people on the basketball court in the center square and only about 60 to 70 came (I think because of the horrible heat in the middle of the day). But out of those, at least 45 prayed to receive Jesus Christ as their Savior. One of those who prayed to receive the Lord Jesus as his savior was the village’s mayor. He was so happy the next day and said that we had the “keys” to his village and we could have the use of his town hall, etc. whenever we want it. That is so great because we had told the children there would be VBS next week and some of the adults started asking Carlos when they could have a Bible study as well. We decided to start doing evangelism from house to house in the month of August and then starting in September, we will do Bible study at the center social hall one night a week. Carlos and I already teach the men and women so we would do the same study for the people there and not have double preparation and study each week. I am SOOOO excited about this opportunity and this village is so needy. The mayor told me how very “bad” the people are in his village, but it is just because no one has introduced them to the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
My favorite part of the week with the people was praying with individuals. Two ladies had complained of severe depression and were prescribed the appropriate medication for depression, but when they came through the pharmacy, I had an opportunity to pray with them individually. One of the young ladies, Elsa, prayed to receive Jesus as her savior and decided she wasn’t depressed after all — praise God!! The other older lady already knew Jesus Christ but was depressed. As we talked a bit, I explained to her that God tells us clearly that we have to forgive others or he will not forgive us. I told her that if she was a Christian and did not sense the presence of the Holy Spirit in her life, then perhaps she needed to forgive someone. God puts a wall between us and Him when we choose to put up a wall between us and another person. She said she did need to forgive someone and she prayed and released that person right there and she, too, decided the depression had left — God is so wonderful and loves these individuals personally. It was such a joy to watch this group of people working so gently and patiently with each person that came through the medical clinic. Many others came to Christ as others talked to them individually. I was especially proud of Samir (Carlos’ nephew) who is also on the evangelical team that goes to the various villages. He had never shared the gospel with anyone individually without Carlos’ help but on the first day in Junka de la Palma, he led more than 20 people to Christ talking to them as they left the pharmacy. It is so great to see these young men growing up in their faith and learning to share with others.
Please continue to pray for these 12 or 13 young men that Carlos has under his wing in training right now.
Continue to pray for the church. We are growing every week and God is teaching us as a church to minister to one another. It is so easy to get side-tracked in so much to be done in this ministry, but ministering to the church and the children in our care is top priority. Please pray for us to focus on the right priorities at all times no matter how many groups and individuals come through here.
Also pray for us with many administrative decisions to be made right now. We are constantly hiring (and firing) people and trying to hear from the Holy Spirit about each decision. We need wisdom continually so thanks for praying for us.
The training class for AWANA leaders is finishing up this Tuesday night and they are very excited. Carlos announced to the Sunday School this week about AWANAs and told them they would all receive 2 pencils for every visitor they brought this next week — I think that we will have as many as 200 every week. I believe that all the 100 in the school will come and then with all the regular Sunday School kids and also the brothers and sisters of the students, we should have a huge AWANA club. Please pray for us as we begin this new ministry. It will be so effective and I am so excited for our children to memorize the Scriptures as is emphasized in AWANAs.
All the projects are coming along well. A few men are finishing up the bathroom below our house in the new offices and the rest of them are working hard on the cafeteria below the school. Please keep praying that we can finish it up before start up of school at the end of August. Also pray for the teachers that we need for the coming year and also that the teachers that we already have are doing their required reading and attending church regularly. We will be following up on those things this week and really are hoping we don’t have to find new teachers for August. Pray for us to get the few more sponsors that we lack for the students this year. If anyone is interested in sponsoring a student, you can go to the web site https://destinodelreino.org/ and under “school” you can sign up for sponsorship. That is such a big need for us as the school costs so much to run and everything is provided free for these very poor children.
Please pray for our kids’ health. The “gringos”brought us a virus and the children are all feeling sick and Sammy and Emily have had the “runs” for 3 days now. We all feel a little sickly so we need prayer to recuperate before the group from West Acres gets here on Friday. Thanks for praying for the groups as they come too — that we will be right on God’s timing and His plans and He will use us to reach many children for Christ in the next two weeks of VBS.
I thank you for all your prayers. I will try to update the web site this week and let you know a little more about the villages we are reaching now. I praise God for the faithful prayers of each of you. That is what is making such a difference here in Honduras.
Love in His grace,
Rhonda
