Hey Everyone,
I always want to say thank you when I start out my updates to each of you. I am very VERY aware that prayer is our biggest need at Destino del Reino. I thank each of you who remembers us in prayer regularly and please know that God is working through your prayers to accomplish much at Destino.
We are nearing the end of another school year. I can’t believe how fast these years pass by. We are still in the process of working on our university papers and we have been told that even after we submit those papers, it will be another year and a half before we would be approved. That is so hard for me to accept but I know that God’s timing is always right and seeing how fast each year passes by, I know it will be right around the corner when we can start helping many more students with their careers. Most of our high school graduates have just taken simple jobs and are not making enough to support a family but had no money to continue their studies. That is really hard for my heart but I just look forward to the day when we can take them right into university after high school graduation from Destino. My oldest four graduates (Blanca, Franklin, Cesar and Carlos) are going to start in the university classes in Comayagua and once our university is open, we have been assured that all their courses will transfer to Destino. I really wanted to be able to start them at Destino in university but have realized how good it will be for them to test out their faith in a secular university for awhile. They have been trained and protected at Destino in the children’s home and Christian school and I know God will use this time in a secular university to stretch their faith and use them for His glory.
The technical school is still not open either. The government agency which provides the education and materials and books, etc. was told that the government wanted them to go private and not continue funding them so we have been waiting for a decision on that. They say they will start classes next week and we are still waiting to hear back. Thanks for your prayers about that as well. Again — God’s timing is always right.
Things in Honduras are really getting bad. I had told the kids that when Trump cut the funds to Honduras that it would actually not help keep people from fleeing to the US, but would cause more to flee. The reason is that the government (President) gets all those funds and as I thought, he has increased the prices of everything to get money for the government. The electricity has more than doubled and that goes straight into the government. People in villages are selling their refrigerators and other electrical items because they can no longer afford to have electricity. Also, the President with his hand-picked Congress made some new laws recently (1) to make all schools private and (2) to shut down the free clinics and hospitals. Because of the protests (in which his military killed several protestors), he has backed off those plans but it won’t be long before he looks for another way to get money out of the already VERY poor people. They are feeling desperate and we need prayer here. Running to the United States is not a good solultion or legal but I do know why they are feeling the desperation to get out.
It makes our job even more important here in Honduras: (1) to teach the students to follow and trust God completely through every situation; and (2) to educate them to have good careers to support their families in such dire circumstances. Thanks for your prayers.
We had a really sweet youth conference on Wednesday. Some friends I met in an airport here several years ago brought a small group and they put on an excellent program for our teens. They had great music, skits, dramas, and Bible teaching to encourage our students to walk in the Spirit and follow Christ. So very thankful for Jon and Rachel Howard and their group.
All my kids are doing well. Pray for the entrance exams that the university students have to take in a few weeks. They are nervous and need peace. Cesar will take some classes possibly but he is pursuing more of his soccer opportunities right now. When Cesar was just 12 years old he was scouted by the Selection for Honduras teams. I discouraged that then and explained to Cesar that if he got one of those coaches working with him, he would not be able to hear from God what HIS plan was for him. God gave him the talent and was always getting better so I wanted him to just trust me and wait til it was the right time and if God opened the doors later on, I would not block his way. Well, in God’s perfect timing — Cesar graduated from high school this past summer and immediately for the first time ever, our city has a team playing on the national level. They are the Santos (“Saints”) and they are currently number one in this region. Cesar knows one of the players and I met the owner and president of their board, and Cesar was invited to start working out with them on a regular basis. His coach still hasn’t seen him play so he is in for a great surprise but they do drills and exercise together regularly but Cesar cannot be on the team officially until August. We clearly see God’s hand in this whole situation and I am anxious to see what His plans are for Cesar’s incredible talent. Last season, he played on a men’s team of mostly men in their early 20’s (he is only 17) and he got the award for the most goals for the entire league. Thanks for praying for God’s plans to be revealed to Cesar. He loves the Lord and wants to follow him and is hoping it is with his soccer ability that God can be glorified in his life.
We are continuing to read the Bible in our church service each week. For the most part, we have really loved this and I believe God is using it powerfully in the lives of the parents, especially. But, sometimes I wish we could have a teacher of the Word at least once a month. Please pray for us to find the right person (if that is what God wants for us). We are also looking for a teacher for music and band, and so possibly can find a person who also can teach the Word of God well. Thanks for your prayers for this need.
I ask you to pray for much wisdom for me in the next few weeks. As you know, God clearly has told me to weed out those who are not interested in growing spiritually after being in our school for 10 years, so the teachers will be asked to give names of students who have been here from kindergarten through 9th grade who are still disinterested spiritually, and we will not put them into the high school. In high school each student teaches/disciples another younger student so it is important that the high school students have a heart for God and teaching others the Truth. If it is unanimous that a student is voted out by the teachers, then I trust that that is God’s decision. I love the kids — all of them — so it is a hard time for me but it is necessary. Also, I need wisdom to know which of our teachers should continue on with us at Destino. I need to have a staff that is growing spiritually and loving Jesus and also loving one another and creating unity in our school. Thanks for your prayers for God’s clear direction in these decisions.
We will be needing about 20 new sponsors for our students this year so please be praying about that. If you have any friends or family who might be interested, it costs $60 a month to sponsor a child and that provides them with their uniforms, shoes, food, snacks, transportation, books, materials and teachers’ salaries. Mostly we want prayer warriors for each of our students so if someone cannot support financially but would like to be a prayer sponsor, that would be great too. The students also pray for their sponsors by name and write twice a year as well. Thanks for praying for us to have all the sponsors we need in August.
We have sports camp coming up in late June and a medical team from Trinity on the Hill in July, so please be praying for both of these teams to be greatly used of God with our students as well as the villages where we do our clinics. I need to know where He wants us to go so pray for direction and wisdom for me in that.
We are feeling a little desperation about our buses. We have five buses — four are currently working but almost every week something goes wrong with them. So far we have only spent a couple of thousand dollars on fixing the 4 buses, but they are very old and not very dependable. Pray for us to have the funds to buy two newer buses and also that we can find them here in Honduras. Thanks.
We are planning to send out a container (half of a container maybe) from Augusta in early July so we will need a lot of used clothing and school supplies, tools, furniture, etc. if you can help in the Augusta area. We really need desk top computers to be donated as well — or if you know where they can be bought used ata good price. We need about 25 of those. We don’t want laptops as they are harder to maintain here. Also, if you would like to send school supplies through Amazon, I can give you the address where to send them to be put on the container. Thanks for praying for God to provide all we need. Thanks.
Again, thank you so much for your faithful prayers. The needs are great. We have been okay for several months with the finances because of a huge donation but the funds are running low and usually the harder months financially are August through November so please pray for God to put our needs on the hearts of His people and they will be generous to help us. Thanks so much for all your prayers and love for us.
In His grace,
Rhonda
