Another month has passed and we feel blessed to continue serving God! It is wonderful to see how God sustains our lives and to dimension how blessed we really are.
Pic: Hiking with some of the disciple group. God has entrusted me (Job) with supporting different people in their spiritual walk. At the beginning of this month, 3 youth and I hiked to the highest point in Honduras, reaching over 9,000 feet above sea level. It was an adventurous experience and God gave me the opportunity to strengthen my relationship with these youth. We had conversations about our spiritual lives, about their future marital lives, and the challenges that we as men face, and about interpersonal relationships. It brings me great joy to see how God uses these moments to grow my discipleship group.Pic: Fred Jackson’s Leap of Faith Mission Work Fred Jackson came this month to continue the community development project in El Arrayan. This month he worked towards strengthening his relationship with the people. There are 70 families that form El Arrayan and it was a blessing to be able to share the Gospel, give hygienic talks, as well as share a small bag of food with each of the 70 families that are struggling economically. We also met with the leaders of the community to begin working together in future projects that will focus on employment, food security, and overall a better quality of life.Pic: Sale of pupusas to support Missionaries to Spain from our local church. In order to motivate the congregation to give to missions, the missions committee made an activity to raise funds to support the mission of the Great Commission. We sold pupusas (which are thick corn tortillas stuffed with either cheese, refried beans, or pork) and raised the church’s awareness of supporting the Lord’s work.Pic: Supporting other ministries to increase productivity of their properties and become more self-sustainable. God has given us the joy of using our gifts in agriculture and forestry to do missions work. Month after month we offer our time to various ministries that need technical advice or training for their workers. It fills us with satisfaction to be able to share our time with the workers and to teach them how to build nurseries, prune trees, take care of a farm and livestock. We feel useful to God to be able to do this work.Pic: Caravan of Honduran Migrants. You probably already know about the caravan of Honduran migrants headed for the US. This caravan has been walking for over 2 weeks now. According to many, they are fleeing poverty, violence, and organized crime. It fills us with pain to see children and even babies in this migratory process. From our perspective, we can testify that in Honduras lives extreme violence and poverty. For these people that migrate, they don’t have anything to lose by making this trek. In the same way, it pains us to know that there are about 7,000 Hondurans that abandoned their homeland and there would have been more but our borders are closed by the government and prevent the passage for other caravans that were recently formed. Also, we know that the opinions are divided respecting this caravan. On our part, we pray to God for the protection and sustenance of those that don’t have food, clothing, or shelter, whether they are migrants or not. Now more than ever we see the impact that God allows us to have on people. We give thanks to God that none of the families that we support with gardening or coffee farming decided to unite with the caravan. Therefore, our commitment is to pray for our neighbor, whether or not they are a part of this caravan. Also, to continue to generate a socioeconomic impact on the lives of those in which God allows us to serve.
Praise God for:
The provision of funds for Job’s residency process! This past month supporters helped us cover those expenses, a HUGE burden lifted off our shoulders!
Providing for us a roof over our heads, food to sustain us, health to keep working, and a purpose to live!
Our friends and ministry supporters that help us spiritually and economically! We desire that God blesses your studies, careers, businesses, and lives!
The opportunities that God gives us to disciple and evangelize!
Pray to God for:
Another monthly supporter. We just signed a contract for another year to rent the house where we are living and our rent has increased $25/month. If you would like to cover this expense please email us and we will send you the donation instructions.
A WAC team that will be serving here from Nov. 3-10. May God watch over them and help them as they bring access to potable water to several communities.
The AWANA kids and leaders as we wrap up this year. May the kids make commitments to continue living for Christ.
The caravan of migrants. That God be the one guarding these families and that He be the judge of the intentions to migrate of each person.
Thank you for praying with and for us. Your part is GREATLY appreciated!
Here we are ending another month that feels like it just began! I’m sure you all are feeling the same way as kids go back to school and another season begins. Writing our updates always reminds us where the time went!
Pic: AWANA Camp Conéctate. Job continues to use the opportunity that God has given to serve in the AWANA ministry in our local church. The theme of the camp this year was Conéctate (connect yourself). The focus of the camp was for the kids who recently accepted Christ to truly understand what it means to follow Christ. Over 120 kids made a commitment to dedicate themselves to Jesus and to be Christians that honor the name of their Savior. Job served in various roles, leading devotions and game time. It was very rewarding to see God’s provision for this year’s AWANA program and the camp.Pic: WAC Well Repair. Job continues serving with Water Ambassadors Canada. He has been visiting communities that are needy, both spiritually and physically. With WAC we want to have an integral impact in the communities without water access. For the future short-term mission trips, we are hoping that 2 kindergartens can receive water as well as 3 other communities. We need your prayers to help us locate the wells that need to be repaired.Pic: Volunteering for Hope Coffee. Hope Coffee is experiencing some big changes as the coffee shop here in Siguatepeque changes to Serve Hope! Mark Fittz, the founder and a good friend of ours, recently visited to share how those changes will affect the ministry here in Honduras. Also, I (Job) was invited to give a talk on water to the high school program that is supported through Hope Coffee. I emphasized the importance water has in our lives and how to take care of this essential resource. Then I finished each meeting planting the seed of the gospel. At the end of one of the talks, a teenager approached me to talk. He started the conversation by stating he’s an atheist and that I should not use the lectures in the schools to present the gospel. This began a long conversation about God. Finally, we had to bring the conversation to a close as the next group’s class was to begin. I am very grateful for the opportunity I had to talk with this young man. I feel that God has trained me and continues to train me to share the gospel with atheists. I can’t explain it but every year I meet more atheists and I thank God that they take the initiative to come to me to talk. With regard to the young atheist of this school, my desire is to continue talking with him and to sow the seed of the word of God in his heart.Pic: Serve Hope training. Job was also invited to a training led by Serve Hope on how to bear fruit in the ministries that God has entrusted us with. 50 pastors and ministry leaders were encouraged to unite together and share the gospel in a tangible way. We are asking God for guidance to minister together with these men and women with a passion for lost souls.Pic: Puran Memories. We thank God for the call to serve that He has given us. We are also thankful for the community of Puran that opened their doors to develop a ministry of home gardens. Around 50 families have been taught how to cultivate vegetables to improve their health as well as generate income. Likewise, God permitted us to plant His word in the hearts of the people. The entire community was reached through the testimony of showing love to our neighbors.Pic: Puran Memories. Considering that we have served in Puran nearly 2 years and after much prayer and conversation with some of our spiritual leaders, we believe that it is time to reach out to other groups where we have not yet shared the gospel. We give thanks to God for the home gardens ministry, where we saw testimonies of how God provided for dozens of people to improve both their health and their incomes. We know that God will give the growth to the dozens of seeds that were planted in each of the hearts of our friends in Puran.Pic: Elizabeth is growing up fast! As you all well know, I (Adria) have had quite a hard time adjusting as a new mom. Taking care of a baby in a foreign country is difficult, but my struggle with anxiety really complicated life! Thankfully I reached out for help and the anxiety is now under control. But I’ve been trying to figure out how I could do normal life and still help with the ministry. Now I’m beginning to believe that being a stay-at-home mom is just the best way to keep things running smoothly. Elizabeth takes 2 naps a day and she’s old enough now that she won’t nap just anywhere. So my days pretty much revolve around her eating and sleeping schedule. I’m curious to hear from other moms how much importance you placed on your baby’s naps. Can you think back to when you had a 7 (almost 8) month old? Did you stay home so that your baby could get their naps in?
Praise the Lord:
For the home gardens ministry that has been very rewarding for both the lives of our gardening friends at Puran and for us too!
For the AWANA Camp Conéctate where the kids were challenged to live for Christ!
For the health God has given us that allows us to serve him constantly!
Pray to the Lord:
To locate which communities are still without access to potable water where we can reach out to both their physical and spiritual needs.
For the financial provision we need as we begin to apply for Job’s U.S. residency. This is the first step in the process to U.S. citizenship, which will allow for future travel when his tourist visa expires.
For wisdom as we seek out new groups where we can share the gospel to the lost and hurting world.
THANK YOU for your faithful prayers, encouragement, and financial support. This past month has flown by in the blink of an eye!
Pic: Joining forces with Water Ambassadors Canada (WAC) to provide drinking water and the gospel to communities. For more than a year we have been waiting on God for the opportunity to collaborate with WAC. Finally, in the end, God granted us the privilege of serving with WAC to share the gospel, providing access to safe water for 11 communities, and giving hygiene lectures to the children and mothers of the community.Pic: God allowed us to reach each one of the communities even though some communities did not have good access.Pic: In the hygiene talks the group taught at schools on how to avoid illnesses and how to wash before eating and sleeping. They also donated soaps, toothpaste and toothbrushes.Pic: With one of the WAC groups we repaired the game court for AWANA in our local church. The floor of the court was very slippery and some kids had already slipped and gotten hurt playing. The group removed the plain concrete layer and painted the court. Thanks to God, now the court surface is not slippery and looks like new, ready for 150 kids that come every Saturday afternoon!Pic: The Gospel was shared during prayer walks… during the dedications of the wells…during soccer matches…and also in the maternity center to mothers with their newborns.Pic: Preparation for the coffee season. Job continues to contribute technical and administrative assistance to the small farmers’ cooperative. The leadership had a spiritual retreat to pray for the future coffee season and to plan events to share the gospel with small coffee producers. The following month they will be visiting more than 75 producers to help them with their farms and to share the gospel.We are so grateful for the visit of grammy Delma. While Job was busy with the first WAC group, Delma visited us and spent a great time with Adria and Elizabeth May. It was a tremendous joy to be able to have our dear grammy Delma here with us for two weeks! We also want to continue proclaiming the wonders of God and give thanks for another year of Adria’s life as we celebrated her birthday on the 27th. Also, we want to thank God for having finished the U.S. citizenship paperwork for Elizabeth. Next month we will receive her passport so that in the future we will be able to travel as a family.
Praise the Lord:
For the accompaniment of God in the communities with the Canadians. No one was hurt and God’s support was felt in every moment.
For Delma’s visit and the health improvement of Adria. For a healthy, happy baby and for the strength she gives us as a family.
For our faithful supporters who are the instruments that God uses to finance the ministries where we serve.
Pray to the Lord:
For Camp “Connect” that AWANA will host next weekend. We expect more than 180 children and parents. May God use this camp so that new believers, both children and parents, can connect more with God.
For the visit of our friend Fred Jackson. Fred felt the call to adopt the community “El Arrayan.” There are more than 300 people in this squatters community and some live in chronic poverty. Fred will be coming to plan and implement sustainable development projects there.
Spiritual growth in our new believing brothers. That the professions of faith during the repair of wells and other ministries are strengthened by God.
THANK YOU for your continual prayers, encouragement, and financial support. God is using your help to strengthen us each and every day!
VBS in Palmichal. The month of July began with helping a group from Houston hold a VBS in a rural community called Palmichal. Job helped with transportation and translating and Adria also helped some with translating. More than 50 kids accepted Christ! In this particular community they had never had a VBS before, so this was a new experience for them. The group also evangelized house to house, built a roofed eating area at the school, and also offered medical consultations to at least a few hundred people. We were glad to be a help for this group, but even more so the group blessed us as Adria received a medicine to treat her insomnia from the doctor on the team. This has proved to be a tremendous help in helping Adria regain her energy! Also, several of the ladies on the team were able to encourage Adria and remind her what God has told us about trials. Oftentimes we feel that God has deserted us, when the truth is, as Psalms 34 tells us: “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” Overall, the week was nothing short of a revival, both physically and spiritually!Training on Disease Resistant Coffee for Central America. Job has been helping the Hope Coffee ministry the past few months in an effort to plan strategies for their coffee farm. This month he was able to receive some training geared towards preparing for the challenges that climate change brings, specifically for coffee growers in Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. The training was given by Texas A&M and was a great guide in learning how to better help the coffee growers here.Playground in Puran by Kids Around the World and TerraMica. This playground is a dream come true for the kids at Puran! It was originally destined for Nicaragua, but due to the political crisis and unsafe conditions there the organizations decided to send their teams to Honduras. Through connections we have with a friend working with TerraMica, Puran was chosen to receive the playground! We are marveled at how God has used different people to bless the community at Puran.School Garden in Puran. These two organizations, Kids Around the World and TerraMica, also know the importance of teaching the kids and wanted to help establish a school garden so that the kids can learn about sustainable agriculture. The school kids joined with members from both of the organizations to put in the tires, haul soil to fill them, and build a fence to keep out wandering dogs and chickens.We are overjoyed as Delma is here visiting us for 2 weeks! Elizabeth might not let grammy go back home! 😉
Praise the Lord:
For these opportunities to join with other believers to advance God’s kingdom!
For Delma’s safe arrival here to visit us!
For the huge improvement in Adria’s health! Thank you SO much for praying!!!
Pray to the Lord:
Peace for the people of Nicaragua. That God be the protector and judge of each one.
For the well repair Job will be helping with in August. They are planning to repair 15 wells in 15 different communities in the southern region. Pray for the group from Water Ambassadors Canada, for God’s protection over them as well as for these communities, that they would hear the gospel.
For us as a family, especially that we would continue learning how to be the parents God is calling us to be.
We are so grateful for your thoughts and prayers this past month! Please continue to lift us and the ministry up in prayer.
Pic: Completion of the Samaritan’s Purse discipleship program. We thank God for the opportunity we had to complete the 12 week program teaching over 200 kids about Jesus. The seed was planted in their lives and 12 kids accepted Jesus into their hearts as well as a father of one of the families there. We praise God for the opportunity that we continue to have of freely sharing the gospel with our neighbors. The AWANA program will continue to follow up on the discipleship of these kids for the rest of the year.Pic: Trip to the southern region to prepare for the arrival of Water Ambassadors Canada (WAC), a North American brigade that will be repairing wells and installing new pumps in the driest area of Honduras. Over 2,000 people will benefit from this project! The communities that were selected to receive these well pumps are communities where a local church there, called Getsemaní, is planting new churches. This project of changing well pumps will be of benefit for this church as it will give them a new opening to strengthen their relations within these communities and to continue sharing the gospel with them.
Pic: Using a GPS to measure ministry land and begin the planning stage of their coffee farm. We are now supporting 4 different ministries in the establishment of their farms to help them reach greater sustainability in the management of their ministry. We provide technical help for these ministries according to the needs of their farms. We also train their workers and share the gospel with those that still do not profess faith in Christ.
Praise the Lord:
For the 12 kids and 1 father that committed their lives to Christ during the Samaritan’s Purse discipleship program!
For a successful planning trip to the southern region before WAC arrives!
For His peace, which passes all understanding!
Pray to the Lord:
For Adria’s health to improve. Her nausea, insomnia, and weakness have been very debilitating this past month. Unfortunately, after several tests were done the cause wasn’t found, other than it could possibly be caused by anxiety and/or adrenal fatigue. She is trying some medication but so far has not found relief. Please keep praying for wisdom if some other tests need to be done or if more time is needed to adjust to the medicine.
For the WAC brigade that will be here July 28 – Aug 7 for well repair work.
For the spiritual growth of the 12 kids and 1 father that accepted Christ.
Thank you for praying with us and helping us serve with all your support!
Thank you all for your continual prayers! We need them. Let us know too how we can pray for you!
Pic: Pouring concrete floor for Martin. One of our neighbors had a problem with his house. The floor of his house was made of dirt and a plague of rats had invaded the subsoil of his house. It was such a problem that occasionally the rats would climb onto his bed. For this, we united with a local church to help donate a concrete floor for him. An entire day of work was necessary to level the floor and remove the rat nests. Martin, the owner of the house, has been a widower now for 1 year and has a daughter. They both feel blessed to have experienced the love of God in this way. Already now they have joined a discipleship group to grow spiritually.
Pic: Repairing wells in the valley of Comayagua with Water Ambassadors Canada. Our Canadian friends came at the beginning of May to identify areas of action in the southern part of Honduras and to repair wells for drinking water for several communities in the valley of Comayagua. This was a time of training and learning for Job to install new water well pumps. It also served to gain access to other communities to proclaim the gospel through tangible actions that demonstrate what God does in the hearts of His children. Over 200 families were benefitted from the repair of these wells!
Pic: Helping Fred Jackson as he begins a new ministry: A Leap of Faith. Job met Fred during his training with Living Water International last November. Since then Fred has experienced a deep growing desire to adopt a Honduran community and to organize community development projects over the long term. Consequently, he came down for a week this past month and Job showed him several possible communities to work with where we have repaired wells in the valley of Comayagua. Fred plans to continue coming to the community he has chosen (Arrayan) the rest of this year to get to know their needs better and define a development strategy for the long term.
Pic: Puran families cultivating. Summer here has finally ended. God has blessed us with abundant rain as the rainy season begins. The families are taking advantage of these rains in their gardens and their production has greatly improved since summer has ended. All the families know that it is the providence of God that makes the soil produce. In Honduras, we have a proverb that says: “Nor do the leaves of the trees move if it is not by the power of God.”
Praise the Lord:
For the privilege that God gives us to be able to help others, through our supporters, organizations, and ministries.
For God’s protection during an outbreak of the H1N1 swine flu that has recently killed 12 people in Honduras.
For our family and supporters that provide us their support and help.
Pray to the Lord:
For Adria’s health to improve. She is currently in the States for a Dr. visit. Please pray for some answers to come of this as she continues to experience extreme exhaustion, fatigue, insomnia, weakness, and nausea.
For spiritual growth of the kids, youth, women, and men that we work with.
For wisdom in making decisions that honor God in our ministry and family.
Sorry this update is a bit late! I (Adria) have been battling some health issues, but I am beginning to feel on the mend now. Please read on to see what has filled our past month!
Pic: Water for Puran. March and April are the driest and hottest months of the year in Honduras. The people that live in Puran receive just 200 liters of non-potable water per week. So to help those in the gardening project, we brought them 1,000 liters of water. At each opportunity such as this, we share the gospel while demonstrating real actions that show them God’s love for them.
Pic: Colbath’s sheep flock. At the Colbath’s farm we have been taking action to prevent the plantation trees from dying, as well as the sheep and cows. Fortunately we have begun to receive the beginning rains of spring and we are so grateful that the pasture grass is being revived!Pic: Helping Mission on the Move. Another children’s home ministry, Mission on the Move, has a large piece of property and they have asked for our technical help in order to take better advantage of the land, as well as to become an example for their community in different ways of cultivating. The plan is to restore the orange orchard as well as establish in the future an orchard of lychee fruit to sell in the local market.Pic: Elizabeth’s dedication. This month we presented Elizabeth May before the church and dedicated her upbringing to God’s path for her life. We are so glad that Job’s dad, Francisco, was able to lead the prayer for the dedication. Elizabeth is already over 2 months old and we glorify God for her good health!
Praise the Lord:
For the health of Elizabeth May. We are thankful to have a baby so healthy and full of life!
For our prayer and financial supporters that encourage us!
For the growth of the ministry that God is allowing us to experience in Awana, the discipleships, agricultural support to different ministries, the worship ministry at church, and the support to coffee growers.
Pray to the Lord:
For Adria’s health to improve, as she has been dealing with some extreme exhaustion, fatigue, and weakness.
For the spiritual growth of those that God is allowing us to disciple.
For wisdom in all our ministry decisions.
Thank you all for your continual support and prayers that keep us going and growing here in Honduras!
