Hey Everyone,
I want to start off by thanking all of you who are so faithful in your prayers for us here at Destino del Reino. Prayer is the key to all that God is doing here in the lives of so many and I thank you for your very GREAT part in this ministry through your prayers.
We had a great summer this year with sports camps and a great medical group, as well as great time with my sweet kids! One highlight for me was going to Camp Hope in Georgia to be their missionary speaker and seeing some old friends and some of my nieces and nephews there. Also, I met a very special young lady, Julianne Page, who is now planning to come and teach English at Destino in January. God is so good to bring just the right people of HIS choosing to be part of the ministry here in Honduras. He is so faithful.
I started out in August thinking we had all our teachers lined up for the year (both Honduran and American) and feeling very prepared in every way. Well, as always, in Honduras we have to be not only flexible but FLUID — completely ready for anything. We started out our 2-week teacher training with a great day. The teachers met with their prayer groups assigned for the year (groups of 4 or 5) and had a time of prayer, transparent sharing, making spiritual goals together and even washing one another’s feet. It was a really big blessing to all of them. That night, one of our new teachers resigned (have a feeling it was more “Christian” at Destino than she had anticipated) and so we had to re-arrange all our plans. That day I found out that one of our teachers for Bible and assistant in first and second had not recovered from hernia surgery and was not able to return for a few months. A few days later our new 3rd grade teacher that I had hired in June resigned — she realized that she lived too far away to make the trip each day to Destino. Then, I opened all the boxes of PE t-shirts that I had ordered from the US and about 180 of them were printed in the wrong color and there were no small ones for Kindergarten through 3rd grade. To say the least, I have been STRESSED out but constantly being reminded by the Father that he has got this in His control and to REST!!! We extended the opening of classes by two days so that we can arrange a few more things and visit every home of every student on Monday and Tuesday. Pray for wisdom and patience and faith for me. Also please be praying for the home visits next week. Our teachers go out in 6 teams and pray with each school family in their homes. There are some pretty strenuous hikes to get into the mountain houses of some of these students and it is a hard long day for our teachers. It is a huge blessing to the families though and also is a reminder to our teachers as to how these poor children live from day to day, which gives them more understanding with each of their students. Lord willing, we will start classes on Wednesday, September 4th.
We are having a huge sale on Friday in the school. We have had several warehouses full of things that have come from many years back on containers and we need to clean everything out. We have been so busy and tired deciding what is for the trash and what can be sold and what we may need in the future but it feels great to get it all cleaned out and to know what we have and where. Pray for lots of people to come and help us get rid of all of this excess furniture and clothing. We can really use the extra money from the sale for the new school books we need this year.
We still need about 4 or 5 sponsors for the upcoming year but I have not assigned anyone yet because we are waiting until this next week to see if more of our students have left for the United States. If so, we will give their sponsors a new student to be praying for. We lost several students this year in the caravans for the US (and some left with coyotes), but we did not lose nearly as many as other schools around here have lost. I pray that our families will see that they only really need Jesus and food and that God is providing them with great Christian education for their children and has a plan for them here. If you are interested in sponsoring a student, let me know by writing to rhondadestino@yahoo.com The sponsorship financially is $70 a month and we ask that you pray regularly for your student as well. Prayer is the main thing we need for these kids to make it. They have some extremely difficult living situations and God wants to redeem them and use them for His glory and kingdom work.
As many of you know, our buses are VERY VERY old and we are praying for some newer buses. Some of the men who came from Georgia on the medical team are praying and seeking out some ideas as to how to get some good buses for a good price in the USA so if anyone has any ideas, please let me know. There is also a plan to get our road fixed so pray that these things will be provided in God’s timing.
We are expecting a new baby to come to us in October. My little Marisol (age 9) has never seen her mom since she was 1 year old when she was sent to me. Someone spotted her mom in a village, very pregnant and working in a house for only her food. A friend went to speak to her and let her know that her sister in the US wanted to bring her there to find work, if she will give the baby to Destino after he is born in October. Last I heard the mom was having some difficulties in her pregnancy and no money to see the doctor, so please pray for the safety of this baby boy. This is especially important to us because Marisol seems kind of insecure sometimes and I think just knowing that she has a little brother here with her will make a huge difference in her. Also, we all are have withdrawal from not having any babies here for the last 3 years. Our three babies are now all 3 now.
In late September, my pastor, Wade Trimmer, will be coming to do a 2-day Bible conference for our people. Please be praying for the Holy Spirit to touch the people’s hearts. We have not had a pastor for over a year now and we have been reading the Bible through during our services. That has been powerful and God told me that was what he wanted for us. But, we have kind of missed having some instruction in the Word too. We have over 500 in our church each week and I am praying that they will respond to His truth through Pastor Wade’s teaching. He will be teaching a conference Thursday and Friday during the days and preaching in our Thursday night service. Saturday night we will have a men’s dinner and he will teach the men there as well. Last time we had over 80 men show up and I am praying for those men to be changed through his teaching as well. Thanks for joining me in praying for this time.
Also, some men are coming in late October to build us our first barn. My oldest son, Erick, will be in charge of our animals and we are purchasing a milk cow first to start off with. I’m so grateful for this new aspect of our ministry.
Our tech school will not be opening for a few more weeks but thankfully we have everything ready and waiting for our students to begin welding. The teacher will come from Tegucigalpa and we need to start soon before coffee harvest begins (that is a deterrent for many of our students to be able to attend classes). I am very excited to give these poor young men a chance to have a career. Also, most importantly, it is an opportunity to teach them more of God’s Word. Thanks for your prayers for this new venture as well.
Our soccer team is playing for first place in the city this Sunday — I get so nervous at their games that I come home with a horrible headache. I wish I could just watch the game and relax, but I can’t, ha ha. I really get into it so much that I stop breathing when the start moving toward the goal — crazy. Anyway, this team is the under 18 year olds and I am so proud of them. They are starting a B-league team the following week and will be competing for the next season. When we started these teams (“the Lions”) five years ago in Siguatepeque, the purpose was two-fold (besides playing soccer) — (1) to be a light in the darkness in the city; and (2) to nurture our players spiritually. Our players have to be in church and also they have devotionals with our coach each week. The very first week we ever played a game in Siguatepeque, the referees told our coach afterwards that this team was so different — so calm, no bad language, etc. At the end of that first season in the coaches meeting, all the coaches told our coach that they wanted to work on the character of their players as well. We have seen where our Lions have had a big impact on the city in that way. We are bringing in to the B league team a lot of former graduates from Destino and also some young men we do no know so please be praying for God to be moving in their lives and that they will grow spiritually through their time with our team. The B-league is for young men up to 25 years old.
Well, I think I have given you more than enough to be praying for — thanks for your faithfulness to us. God is doing mighty things here in the lives of these kids and I know there are more of you out there than I even know who are lifting us up in prayer consistently — thanks for being part of the team!
Remember that you cannot hit “reply” to this message but you can write me at rhondadestino@yahoo.com and I would love to hear from you.
Blessings and Grace to each of you,
Rhonda
