Hey Everyone,
I wanted to share from my heart a battle that I have been going through lately. I know you will pray for me and so I wanted to share with you.
During the time since we had to close school (March 14, 2020) until now, I have just waited around for things to get “back to normal” and I have become kind of lazy and unmotivated in my mission. Even though things are not as they were before, my mission from the Father has never changed — to lead people to Christ and to disciple them to follow Christ. Although I don’t have as many people in my life regularly right now because of Covid, I do have 21 kids and many workers in my house every day. I have been just kind of waiting for things to get active again with the school and really lost energy to do much of anything. Living in the Future!
On top of that, my oldest three kids left for college in the United States in January and I have had a very hard time emotionally with losing them. They have been with me since they were toddlers and the loss and emptiness is so real in our home. Instead of just diving in and working hard to minister and nurture the other 21 kids left with me, I have sulked and gotten more distant and remembering the old times with my kids. Also, three more will be leaving in August to join them in college and I will then have 6 kids who have grown up and moved off to college. God has convicted me of how I have not invested as much in the smaller kids who are living with me now and I just want to hold on to my older kids and remember our times and wait until they return for summer vacation. I am Living in the Past!!
So my prayer is that I will LIVE IN THE PRESENT. I am confessing this struggle so that you will pray for me and maybe recognize the same struggle in your life as well. The verse has become more meaningful to me: “THIS is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.” I need to greet each new day as a gift from the Lord and not look back at how it used to be, or forward to how it will be once we get all our kids back at school and I have teachers and 300 students to minister to, as well as their parents in church, etc. THIS IS THE DAY!! Thanks for your prayers for more energy, motivation and more ministry and nurturing to my other remaining 21 kids and our workers.
In spite of my wrong attitudes, God has continued to do great things at Destino del Reino. We got to start back with education of our 300 students this week. It is not as I would like it to be but for now our teachers are working three days a week preparing folders of school work for the students. On Mondays the parents are at the various bus stops where we normally would pick up their children and they are given a weeks’ worth of school work for their children. The following Monday, the completed work is picked up and they are given a new folder of work for their children to complete. It is not ideal of course, but we have strongly encouraged the parents that they must help their children complete the work or they will not be on track with their studies once we are able to attend classes in person, hopefully in a few months. Please be praying for the parents to be diligent with their children. We have not needed their help in this way in the past and many of them do not even read themselves but they can encourage their kids and discipline them in the home to do the work.
A group of men were here this past week to begin the work on the lodge that is being constructed by our big pond. They actually got the work on the foundation done in 3 days and were able to start a pen for our goats another day while here. The plan is to bring another group over in a few weeks to put up the walls and get ready to have a roof put on. Please pray that all the money will come in. As always is the case, the building is costing more than was planned for and right now we have enough to finish the electricity to the building and the roof. The electricity is more than we had planned because we were not able to just attach the building to our present transformer at the children’s home so we have to put in a whole new transformer and three poles and get the work done by the energy company.
Thanks for prayers for my college kids. They are doing very well because of your prayers. I can’t imagine all they have been through in their first two months — new country, difficult college classes, professors teaching in English, freezing weather that they have never experienced before, new culture, without all their friends and family, etc. but God has shown himself so faithful to them and they are doing well in their grades and bringing much support from professors and new friends. I will be going to see Cesar’s first ever soccer game on the Bryan College field next weekend and I am sooo excited to be there for that big event. I will be going to Atlanta on the 11th and my sister and I are going to Bryan on the 12th through 14th to spend time with my three children there. Thanks for prayers for our journey, time and covid tests, ha ha
Please pray for the 75 new sponsors that I need for our incoming students. Normally we would need about 15 new sponsors each year. That was because we would receive 30 new kindergarteners each year but about 15 seniors would have graduated and most of their sponsors would pick up new with a kindergartner’s support. However, this past year, we had decided to double up our classes for the future because there are so many very poor children who are not able to get a good education, and more importantly, who do not know Jesus Christ. We had registered 60 kids for the incoming kindergarten class in March 2020. Because of Covid, the government made us put all the pre-registered kids for kindergarten into the first grade this year if they have turned 6. They also say it is the law that we have kindergarten so we have 60 more kids on the list for kindergarten this year, although they will be required to do all the study in their homes (this is crazy???!!!!). So in total we have 90 new kids this year who do not have sponsors. To be a sponsor, you just have to go on our website www.destinodelreino.org and under “How Can I Help”, there is a place to sign up. Or you can send me an email to rhondadestino@yahoo.com We ask our sponsors to donate $60 a month for materials, food, uniforms, snacks, shoes and teachers’ salaries but the most important thing we ask that you pray regularly by name for your sponsored student. If you are interested in praying regularly for a student but cannot help financially, we will still be very happy to include you as a sponsor. The prayer is what they need the most and God will provide all we need for the other things. Please be praying with me for these sponsors we need.
My kids are doing well here in the home. They have memorized a lot of scripture during the covid “vacation” and thankfully, we have a lot of land for them to play on and be entertained even though we cannot go out much. I am so blessed to be the mama for these wonderful children. We have been able to start swimming in the pool since about February 20 and that has helped to keep everyone entertained as well. We are blessed and thank the Lord for all his provision for us.
My boys have all joined a soccer league in town and I am amazed at God’s timing for this. In the past, because I didn’t want my older boys under leadership of ungodly coaches, we started our own league and I paid Christian coaches and for uniforms and transportation, etc. They have been receiving soccer scholarships at college so it has paid off definitely. The problem this year was that we didn’t have enough other Destino students interested in being in the league so were thinking that we may not be able to continue our boys in our own teams. At God’s perfect timing, I was contacted by a young man who played professional soccer for 11 years in Honduras and is now starting a new league which practices at the Bible Seminary. They have teams of all ages and they have prayer and devotions for the boys to encourage them in their faith. Caleb, 7, through Jonathan 18, are all on the various teams and they really like it. Because we are taking the van to get them to practices, we can also transport some of our other Destino students who are interested. I love how God made this opportunity just at the right time. He is always planning and providing for Destino needs even when I do not know it. He is forever faithful!!!
Thanks for your prayers for our teachers, our students studying at home, our work projects going on at Destino, more sponsors for the incoming students, my college kids and my kids studying at home, as well as the little ones in my home, for the finances we need to start now paying our teachers once again and also for me personally to be focused on what God has called me to do.
Remember you cannot hit “Reply” to this message but I would love to hear from any of you at rhondadestino@yahoo.com
I am so very thankful for each of you who pray for us regularly and know that God is answering your prayers and providing for us and encouraging us continually because of your faithfulness.
In His grace,
Rhonda
