Hey Friends,
Thank you, as always, for your constant and faithful prayers and encouragement to us in the ministry at Destino del Reino. There are so many things (physically) that are evidence that God is building this place up for a powerful ministry to change the next generation in Honduras for His glory and to be leaders of grace. But the part that is not always seen so easily but is more important than the physical blessings, is what He continues to do in hearts.
I have been seeing so many changes that He is doing in me personally in the past few months. I have been convicted about TOTAL obedience, not just to scriptures that I read in His word, but convictions that he has given me as to how He wants me to minister to people, and I have been so lax. Please continue to pray for me that I will obey in all areas no matter what my excuse, too tired, to drained emotionally, etc. etc. There are lots of things on my plate but I need to be absolutely obedient to my commitment to pray with the children individually, with the workers, etc. etc. It is so easy to get distracted by the circumstances around me and miss the real calling on my life. Also, as we live in this country, where it seems that everyone is out to take advantage of us and beg for more, it is easy to get so defensive and start holding on to our “rights”. that is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. I was reading a few weeks ago in Matthew in the sermon on the mount, and the verse hit me again where it says, “if anyone ASKS you for your coat, give him your cloak also.” I realized that as a missionary I love to be generous and share with the poor, but if they ASK me for something, I get protective and start analyzing whether or not they really need it, are they lying and trying to take advantage of the ministry, etc. God says to counter it all and just give them MORE than they ask for. Then, a few weeks later, I was reading the similar passage in Luke and this time it says, “If anyone TAKES your coat . . .” Can you imagine being stolen from and then offering more to the person that they stole from you???? We have been so doctrinated in the US (or maybe just in humanity) to protect ourselves and to make sure things are fair, etc. etc. and then Jesus just counters it all and says, “don’t even go there, just give them MORE.” I told Carlos how we would look so different in the world if we really practiced what he said — it would be shock and such a light to others that Christ truly lives in us. God is working in me to re-mold me and make me truly HIS light and it means tearing down some walls that I have put up in the past few years to protect myself, my heart, my ministry. Please continue to pray for me that God will have complete access to all of my heart and rights and thoughts and I will truly be dead to myself and alive to HIM ONLY.
God is working in our ministry in a new way. I have been so convicted that we have lacked spiritual leadership with our teachers in the school. As the teachers are growing, so grow our children, and so this is a very key responsibility that we have shirked for too long. We had our first teachers’ retreat last weekend and God started a new work in all of us. My friend, Paula, shared her testimony and the Spirit used her to challenge us to let the Lord tear down al lof our defensive walls from hurts and bitterness and rejection and let the Spirit erase those things and heal us so that we can be useful to Him. We are praying that we will be able to minister to the hurts of each teacher and there will be a unity of love in the Spirit here and that we will be part of the spiritual healing for one another at Destino del Reino. Thanks for your prayers for each of our teachers and for Carlos and I as we are seeking the Lord’s complete healing in our lives as well. Carlos and I are both so prone to react from feelings of rejection and insecurity and that always produces the wrong fruit in us and in the ministry. Pray for us to give the Holy Spirit full freedom to heal us up completely and that we will be surrendered WHOLLY for that healing to come.
Thanks for your prayers for the school. My dad has been visiting some people in churches around Augusta and has gotten some response to show our DVD for school sponsorships. He is a great PR man for Destino because of his love for people and for Destino. Pray for us to be able to get the last 14 sponsors needed and start getting sponsors for our upcoming class in June of 30 more children. We need to start our sponsorships in June since we have to buy uniforms, shoes, books ,etc. before the children actually come in August. Thank you for your faithful prayers for us in this need.
We are really down to the bottom in the bank but we paid all the workers yesterday (except Carlos and he is willing to wait) and we have enough food for two days more. God will provide and it is times like this that keep us KNOWING He is faithful and it stretches my faith to know that he will not stop being faithful in January 2011. Please pray though that God will touch the hearts of His people to help us with the needs. Thankfully, we don’t have any debts at all and we just need our “daily bread” so it is obvious that He HAS been faithful and still is.
The fathers are continuing to come and work at the junior high project every morning. We only had a few this week because of the rain but those few worked steadily (without pay) in the rain, digging trenches, etc. It was such a demonstration of their love for their own children in preparing a school for them. We are praying that people will start sending donations for the junior high school, but again, up until today we have had enough to keep working and He will probably keep us on our knees by not giving anything ahead of the necessary time limits.
Keep Delmer in your prayers continually. He is our 5-year old student that was severely burned in late December. We have forwarded pictures of his wounds and are praying that someone in the US may be able to assist in some way with more wisdom as to how to get him healed up quickly. His sponsor also sent some money to help the family with their needs while they have to be in Tegucigalpa with him continaully. In the hospitals (most of them) in Honduras, the family and even the patient is not provided food in the hospital so they have to come up with their own money to stay during the hospitalization. Sometimes the parents actually sleep on the cold tile floor below their child’s bed. Thanks for praying for the family and especially for Delmer — he will be a huge testimony to the mercy and faithfulness of God in healing him.
My little boy, Franklin, (11) that just moved in with us a few months ago accepted Christ as his personal savior on monday during our individual conference time with him. It was such a blessing to me. He has been in our school for over 5 years and has heard so much about Jesus Christ but had not been invited personally to surrender his life to Christ and he was READY!! He still goes on weekends to help his mom collect coke cans to make some money for food for the family and he is such a little willing servant. I ask that you pray that the mother, at some point, doesn’t decide that his help collecting cans is more important than his getting an education. That would be soooo horrible for his life.
Please be praying as we are planning for our junior high — not just the building — but the decisions as to how the Lord wants this junior high to operate, classes, courses, if we should invite children from another school who have not been able to continue to junior high, etc. etc. The norm in Honduras is to finish 6th grade and there is only one public junior high in this whole city so even if a family had a little money to send a child to junior high, it would be hard to find an opening. So we certainly need to know who GOD wants to attend Destino’s junior high and form into leaders for His Kingdom.
Pray for the plans to find a Butler building for the gymnasium. Letters asking for donations have been sent and with prayer, we know God can move some hearts to give that to us. We also are praying that we can get enough dental equipment collected to send on a container and open our dental clinic. The clinic building itself is ready and waiting and we only lack the equipment. Thanks for praying for dentists to be able to come up with the equipment we need.
Well, this is again very long but thanks for your interest and prayers for the needs of all of us at Destino. We are sooo blessed to have so many of you praying for us. I realize that many of you who receive my updates are receiving them from others on my email list and I actually have no idea how many many maybe thousands are reading and praying for us at Destino. Only in eternity will we know just how many many people were uplifting us in prayer to accomplish great things for His future leaders.
Love to all of you in His grace,
Rhonda
