Happenings in Honduras

God is good! He is working miraculously here in Santa Elena and continues to strengthen our faith daily. We are truly blessed to be called out by Him to to be serving Him here in Honduras.

Updates since December:

• Farming Project-Pedro and Pedro are producing yucca, frijoles, corn and pataste (a vine vegetable with a pear-like shape and texture, but more akin to a potato in soup). Coffee is in the ground but will take about 2 years to mature into a significant harvest. Plantains have also been planted.
• Houses will begin being build in April for the poorest in our community.  We will be working with those families who will help build their own houses as well as with David Forehand and the Fuller Center.
• Marcos and Javier graduated in November 2012. Javier is attending a private college in Peña Blanca to study computer engineering. Marcos will be studying to be a doctor (pediatrician) who goes in the remote areas to serve the people and share the gospel.
• The areas is becoming safe again. Since November, Santa Elena has had 7 murders and had become very dangerous. The police have set a curfew for the community now and the fear  and oppression is beginning to subside.
• We began to make necklaces from paper in October. This ministry is going strong and many are making tons of necklaces to sell for livelihood. One lady has built a kitchen so she does not have to cook outside. She also plans to sell more necklaces so that she can have running water in her home. Another lady plans to build a bathroom onto her house with the income she receives from her necklaces.
• We have opened a school for Kindergarten through 6th grade children to learn. The curriculum we use is a Christian curriculum (ACE) where we stress the Bible, discipline based on the Bible, reason based on the Bible, and teach everyday things based on the Bible. It is a bilingual school where most classes are taught in English and 3 classes are in Spanish. Eleven students attend so far and their progress is great! This curriculum is teaching the children that they are responsible for their learning where they set their own goals each week. It requires that in order to move on, they must pass a test with an 80 or above to be considered "mastering" the work. This is a huge blessing, yet an unexpected endeavor God has allowed us to lead. We are so thankful to God for leading us to this!
• We currently have 23 living with us during the week. Seven children from Los Piños go home for the weekend and return Sunday afternoon. During the past violent times, we had a total of 32 in our home.  The bathroom that was built in October is a true blessing to us, especially during those tough times.

Needs and Prayer Request:

• In order for Marcos to go to medical school to become a pediatrician, he will have to save the funds to go to school. The school is accepting new students Feb 2014 so he has some time to raise the money. It will cost him $650/month or $7800/year to do what God has called him to do. If you wish to sponsor Marcos on the path God has called him into, please contact us or indicate on your check for Marcos Reyes. Pray for His faith in this endeavor. No one has the money here to help him go to school so it takes great faith to even think about becoming a doctor here.
• Safety is a continued prayer request.
• We are in need of places to sell the beads that the people make. We have about 2000 necklaces to sell so we are praying for open doors in that area. God is truly getting the glory for what is being done through these people.
• Please pray for the school we have opened. Pray that we continue to be the witnesses that God has called us to be to these children and that we are teaching them lessons that will stay with them and more importantly that they are learning God's Word to pass down to the generations.
• If you wish to give to Jeremiah 29:11 Mission, you may sent a donation to any of the three churches listed on our supporters tab. As always, we covet your prayers more than anything!
  
  
  
  
  
  

Recent Updates

Hello everyone I hope this note finds you all doing well. Remember that God knows you and has a plan for your life. A plan to prosper you, not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future. Take a minute to think about that plan and your future with God. This could be the most exciting thing you will ever do.

This is our message to the people we work with here in Honduras.

Praises:
1. Gillionville Baptist gave us all new beds that will hold 24 people. No more cushions on the floor.

Praise be to God, we sleep on clouds now. We have a new restroom and shower. Imagine 15 to 20

people with one restroom and one shower. I thought Joyce was going to kiss Curtis and Bobby. GBC

did a great job showing Christ to the people here; we are still getting comments about you all.

2. Joyce had to make a trip home to be with her mother and father. She enjoyed it and her mother is doing

better each day. Praise God and keep Nancy in your prayers. Her parents have been a great example for
us over the years.

3. We have a new baby. Blanca gave birth to a 6 lb baby boy Edicson Mauricio Garcia. He has been a
blessing to us.

October the 15 2012 was a special day. A new sound never before heard on the earth was released. It could only be heard by those close to the earth and seeking to hear it. People that love life and cherish it’s newness and nourish it’s aging. It was small but new and sweeter than the smell of new roses on dewy morning. It was truly a miraculous gift from God who heard it before the dawn of time. It came at 12:25 in the afternoon softer than and ocean breeze touching the cheeks of a million faces and if you heard it you stopped for a moment breathed it in smiled and life was better for you. Edicson Mauricio Garcia took his first breath and the exhale moved the air over the earth with a gentle cry that brought tears to eyes of those who heard him and made the angels in heaven stop their singing to listen. Thank you God for his life.

Prayer request:

1. As you all know the world economy is not as good as it has been in the past. When the economy falls, crime rises and the people that work and have positions become preyed upon. Our area has been safe for us in the past but it is becoming more dangerous. Pray for our continued safety.

2. Blanca has had the baby but has some very hard decisions to make in upcoming weeks about her future. She will start English Classes next Monday and return to school in January and finish High school in 9 months and then start college to work on her degree in education and business. Her grades have been excellent over the past two years. Her future and more importantly the future of her children without an education is bleak.

3. Pray for Javier, Michael and Marcos as they move past high school and struggle with the temptation to go to work instead of college. It is our prayer that they will attend seminary.

4. As always, pray for our Children.

Needs:
1. A concrete block machine for the youth to raise money for Evangelical trips.

2. A really good weed eater or push mower.

3. Clothes dryer

4. A diesel van. We get letters thanking us for the van we have from OPEC. Haha!

5. For you to come see us.

IN GRATITUDE AND SERVICE

Lord I have never been with out food

I do not know the pain of the hungry

I have always been blessed with water

I have not felt the want of the thirsty in this world

I have always been cared for

I do not know the loneliness of the uncared for

I have never been with out love

I do not know the emptiness of the unloved of this world

Lord in Gratitude

I surrender myself to be your servant to the needy of this world

Grant me the honor and privilege of being you witness, your hands and your feet

Holy Spirit in your presence I will find peace

Father in your word I will find comfort

From your martyrs, I will gain strength and courage

And in the doing of your work, I will find wholeness

In your Son, my savior, I will find renewal

And finally in your arms, I will find the freedom found only in your love

Lesson from Luis

Luis Alberto Sabillon Rivera

Psalms: Where can I go that you are not there.

II Corinthians 1: We suffered much and thought that we should parish and would have if it were not for the Lord.

Luis is a quiet, to the side, kind of child. One of those children living in the peripheral of this world; not hiding but silent and unnoticed. If approached he is quick to give you a smile and a hug but slow to give you his guarded heart. Once he gives you his heart you will learn the unfairness of the fallen world and at the same time the greatness of a God that loves his people.

Luis suffers from epilepsy. In the past he had as many as ten seizures a day. The people in his remote village think that a local witch placed a curse on him. He became a social outcast and was not allowed to attend school. Today, through medicine his seizures are better controlled and he is being tutored to ready him for continuing education.

Luis has witnessed much violence and abuse in his short twelve years of life. He was present for his fathers’ murder and watched him die. Then two years later he witnessed his step fathers’ murder. His mothers’ third husband was a violet man and they were often beaten by him. Because of her life, his mother suffered mentally and abandon him. He was taken in by neighbors and lived in a community where he was sexually abused for two years. From there he came to live with us.

Through all of this, he has maintained a heart that is soft, sweet, and gentle; a heart that wants to protect the weaker children around him. One day I ask him how can you be so happy, kind and gentle? He thought for a minute and answered because God lives in my heart.

The life of Luis has many messages for us. The most important is the message of recognition. Luis recognizes who holds his life and cares for him. Luis recognizes that no matter where he is or what happens, that God is with him. Luis recognizes that God restores and heals the most broken of lives. Luis recognizes that there is no place he can go that God is not there with him. Yes at age twelve he recognizes the fullness God. This recognition gives him a settled and peaceful heart.

Luis told me that one day he wanted to be a preacher so he could tell people about God and what He has done for him. For Luis I ask you this. Do you know God in His fullness? Do you know that he holds you in his hand. God knows you in great detail and longs to be in a relationship with you. Open yourself to Him and enjoy His presence in your life today.

God,

We thank you for caring for us. It is you that we feel in us when we find the courage to forgive and overcome the brutality of this world. Father thank you that there is no place we can go that you are not there with us. Lord put your arms around us today.

Thank you Centenary United Methodist Church and Pete Heath for your heart of love you so willingly and freely gave to Luis regardless of the risk of heart break. 

Brenda

Romans12:9-13

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10Bedevoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11Never be lacking in Zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13Share with the Lord’s people who are in need.

Brenda Santa Elena Honduras　

　Brenda was the first child to find that special place my heart. The place where I know that we will always be connected regardless of time or distance. She has a contagious spirit for life that can be seen instantly. She is easy to love and quick to return that love. She can be trusted with your heart. She encourages, inspires, and calls you to a better self. She is an adventurer and a discoverer. A strong and gentle leader with a desire for wisdom, she has a heart for the weak and under privileged, an under dog herself. When she does wrong, she makes it right. She is a seeker of the Lord and His ways. She is fertile land willing to be cultivated for the Lord.

Brenda ask me to give the people of the US a message from her and the children of Honduras. God loves you and you are important to Him.

Coming from Brenda that’s a profound message. If it were not for Mission on the Move, the people that send us, and the people that come to Honduras for the children, I do not believe she would have that message in her heart. You can be assured, that message lives in her heart and she shares often. 

Brenda lives in extreme poverty. Her fourteen year old brother and fifteen year old sister work to support the family. Her brother works in the pineapple fields for five dollars a day. Her sister lives with a family in a large city two hours away caring for children, for about the same pay. Even in Honduras, Brenda is poor. Brenda wanted to quit school to help support the family.

　 Brenda is often encouraged to quit school and work for low wages. To be come another tired and nameless face living in poverty and spiritual depravity. Her life has been difficult, something more endured than lived.

God has changed that for her. She no longer sees herself in that light or lives in that oppression. Brenda has allowed the Lord to create a new heart in her. She knows that the Lord knows her, loves her and that she is important to Him. Brenda will tell you that God has a plan for her life. She is going to continue her education and become a dental missionary first in Honduras and then in Africa. All of this from a little twelve year old girl living in a house that leaks rain through to a dirt floor. Yes, she lives in extreme poverty, but her rich soul rises above it everyday. Brenda wants you to know that God loves you and you are important to Him.

Father,

We thank you for loving us. We thank you for children like Brenda. Children that seek and find you with all of their being, and then live to share it with us. God, may we live a life worthy of them. God, bless Brenda and keep her close to your heart. 

Amen

Thank you Colquitt United Methodist Church and Jennifer Thompson for your words of loving encouragement and direction to Brenda, she heard you.

As we walked the streets of Santa Elena the first time and saw the children of poverty I wrote the first part of this. After living there the children and answered prayers from God gave me the second part. I thank both of them.

Lord, we your forgotten children
Reach out to you
From our birth pace of poverty and hunger
In out silent suffering we reach out to you
With empty stomachs and tears that tell our story
From an unheard story we reach out to you
We are small children in a big world
With small voices we reach out to you
From here it is hard for us to dream of tomorrow
With hopeful hearts we are reaching out to you
Lost and lonely we were born and live in this world
With hearts longing for love we reach out to you
Hear our call o lord, reach out to us
Send us an angel to fill our empty hearts
And answer us Lord for we need to know
Is this the world you have created for us

We have heard your response Lord
You send us more than an angel
You send us a savior
Teach us Lord  how to live in peace and contentment
For surly this is the world you have created for us
As you teach us to live
We will teach others
Lord we your beloved children
Reach out to you with hearts filled with hope and praise
We say worthy is the Lord and great is His love for us
Mighty is hand of mercy and many will he save
The work of the cross is for us
And we will share it with a broken world
Pray for the poor
children of Honduras