January 2019 Update

Dear friends and family,

Well, 2019 has begun and we give thanks to God for continuing to bless our ministry in Honduras! Many challenges may come for all and we pray to God that He sustains us and allows us to do His will.

Pic: Search for wells. This year we are expecting 5 groups to visit for well repair work with Water Ambassadors Canada. We thank God for the 30 wells we have found in various communities through the central and southern regions of Honduras. We are working with each community so that the impact of the well repair is not just a material help, but also brings about spiritual change for the people.

Pic: Helping other missionaries with their farm projects. One of our petitions to God is to have a farm, but until now God has not yet blessed us with one. However, He has allowed us to provide support to other missionaries with farm projects. This month we worked with David Guevara, giving some technical help as he begins restoring his coffee farm and building a classroom building where his ministry can train pastors.

Pic: Helping the Colbath family. The Colbath’s farm has been where we have invested the majority of our time and efforts. We thank God for 14 new sheep, which are helping to keep the grass down, fertilize the mahogany trees, and are providing meat for the 8 foster kids in their care.

Pic: OANSA: Because children are important to God. Yet another year God has provided for AWANA! This is the ministry of our local church where we are involved in evangelizing and discipling kids and their parents. This year we are expecting around 150 kids! We ask for your prayers that God touches the hearts of the kids, along with their parents, to accept Jesus as their Savior.

Pic: Sharing the gospel with Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) Sustainable Harvest International is an NGO (non-governmental organization) with the mission of transforming the lives of agriculturists. Unfortunately, the policies of SHI prevent that the life change of the people be integral. It is prohibited to speak of religion in this organization. However, Job has become involved with the aim of evangelizing the agricultural members of SHI and all of the technical personnel within the organization. Job serves with them 1 week each month, visiting farmers and spending time with various personnel of SHI. We ask you to pray that God could use Job’s conversations for the salvation of the farmers as well as the organization’s personnel.

Praise God for:

• Your place in our network of supporters! Daily, we give thanks to God for all of you that are praying for us and sharing your blessings with us!
• The service opportunities that God has recently been opening to us for reaching out to more farmers and providing help to other missionaries!
• Adria’s health continues to improve! Ever since I started taking a vitamin supplement for the thyroid I am no longer dealing with insomnia and I’m sleeping well again! I so appreciate your prayers! Thank you!! Please pray that my metabolism would also return to normal.

Pray to God for:

• This week the founder of Water Ambassadors Canada, along with a few other staff, is visiting to help establish this year’s plan of action for repairing wells in Honduras.
• The beginning of Awana, that God provides sufficient leaders that are available to disciple kids and even the parents that come.
• The health of our friend, Mitch Cooper. Even though he is now out of danger, the recovery is slow. We pray that God will give him patience. If you would like to help with his medical expenses, please follow this link: Help Mitch Cooper

Thank you for praying with and for us. Your part is GREATLY appreciated!

Much love,

Job, Adria, & Elizabeth

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December 2018 Update

Dear friends and family,

We want to give thanks to God for 365 days full of mercy! We thank Him for giving us family, friends, supporters, and churches that share His calling these past few years that we have been serving in Honduras!

We invite you to journey through the updates of 2018, where you will find that God touched the hearts of over 50 people to accept Christ!

We not only shared purified water in dry summer months, but also the Living Water in communities from Central to Southern Honduras.

Also, in 2018 God provided for almost 20 communities to gain access to potable water through wells that had been broken down for over 15 years!

Nearly 250 kids were discipled through the ministry of AWANA, where a total of 34 kids accepted Christ as well as 1 father, who Job continues to disciple in his walk with Jesus!

In Puran, more than 40 families were taught how to grow home gardens for better health and life. Some of these families were able to reach enough production to establish a side business selling their vegetables, and increasing their monthly income by about 30%!

In a nutshell, in 2018 God blessed us with His mercy, with a beautiful daughter, health, and with you all who are reading this update. THANK YOU for encouraging us, THANK YOU for praying, and THANK YOU for giving all your support that allows us to continue the ministry that God has given us here!

Our prayer for you is that God fills you with mercies and blesses your lives, families, jobs, studies, and ministries.

Praise God for:

• Job’s improved health! The bacterial infection is nearly gone and he is feeling so much better!
• Locating 28 wells! Job has been on quite the adventure this past month hunting for broken wells. So far, WAC has planned 4 well repair trips for 2019!
• Opportunity to serve with Sustainable Harvest International (SHI). We have been praying for opportunities to serve with organizations that will help us connect with farmers to open doors for sharing the gospel. Job has met with SHI and they have invited him to serve as a volunteer! More info on this work to come!

Pray to God for:

• Mitch Cooper, a fellow missionary friend of ours. On January 3rd, Mitch was in a motorcycle accident. He suffered 7 broken ribs on his left side and still has fluid around his lung. The doctor at the Evangelical Hospital here in town saved his life and he has received at least 9 blood transfusions at this time. Please pray for his full recovery!
• Fruitful ministry work in 2019!
• Hondurans with eyes to see, ears to hear, minds to understand, and hearts softened to accept their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Thank you for praying with and for us. Your part is GREATLY appreciated!

Much love,

Job, Adria, & Elizabeth

November 2018 Update

Dear friends and family,

The month of November has passed and we feel blessed to be able to share our news with our family and friends that support us spiritually, morally, and financially!

Pic: AWANA. We’ve wrapped up this year’s AWANA program in our local church. We give thanks to God because on the last Saturday 8 kids accepted Christ as their personal Savior!

Pic: AWANA. Throughout the year, 30 leaders supported the ministry in discipling the kids and parents that came each Saturday. Around 250 kids were instructed in the Scriptures and a total of 34 kids accepted Christ!

Pic: WAC Work. Also this month, God allowed us to work with a team from Water Ambassadors Canada to bring water access to 4 communities, where about 2,000 people now have access to water!

Pic: WAC Work. The WAC team also gave classes on hygiene and shared the gospel. During that time, 14 people accepted Christ in these communities! We give thanks to God for each new profession of faith.

Pic: Colbath farm. Also, we continue to develop the farm in the Colbath family children’s home. We give thanks to God for this family that allows us to be involved in their ministry using forestry. We have started the last stage now of establishing the tree nursery to cover the property with hardwood trees. They are also learning how to take care of the pasture for the sheep and cows.

Pic: House Construction for Juana Maria with Serve Hope. Juana Maria is a single mother with 2 boys. Both of her boys were born with muscular atrophy disease, an illness that prevents them from walking. We feel honored to be able to serve God alongside Serve Hope, as it is a ministry founded by one of the missionaries whose example is one we would like to follow.

Pic: Car trouble. We also want to thank God for His protection. While Job was driving with a group to help build Juana Maria’s house, our vehicle suffered a failure in the cylinder heads. The radiator hose was too old and it failed, so our car spent some time in the shop. However, we can see the hand of God in this because the mechanic said it could have been much worse! It was a blessing to know that God is taking care of us.

Praise God for:

• The protection He provides us in the communities and with the groups we are working with.
• The opportunities that God provides us to serve him and to serve others in order to show His love through our actions.
• Our supporters (spiritual, moral, and financial) that keep updated on the ministry and pray with and for us.

Pray to God for:

• For Carlos, whom Job is discipling, as he is facing a family crisis. That his faith in Christ would allow him to come through victorious.
• For Job’s health. During his time in one of the communities, he ate something that gave him a bacterial infection. He has gone to a couple of different doctors now. Please pray that this would soon be cured.
• More financial support to cover our personal and ministry expenses.

Thank you for praying with and for us. Your part is GREATLY appreciated!

Much love,

Job & Adria

October 2018 Update

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!

Much love,

Job & Adria

September 2018 Update

Dear friends and family,

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 praying!

Love,

Job, Adria and Elizabeth

August 2018 Update

Dear friends and family,

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 praying with and for us!

Love,

Job, Adria, & Elizabeth

July 2018 Update

Dear friends and family,

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.

Thank you for praying!

Love,

Job, Adria, & Elizabeth 🙂