October 2016 Update

Dear Friends and Family,

Since arriving back to Honduras nearly 2 months ago Job and I have been constantly amazed at how God has been answering our prayers! Prayers for the tools to do the work He’s called us to do. Prayers for direction and guidance in where and how to begin the work. Prayers for coworkers to labor with us.

As we have been praying about the opportunity to manage the Colbath’s farm we have also been looking at a few different properties for sale that would be ideal locations for the demonstration farm. At this point we’ve saved enough funds for a down payment for land, but for now we feel this is not yet the right time to buy. It became evident to us that God is calling us to be patient and start growing on a small scale, as He’s provided us the opportunity to serve at the Colbath’s farm. So this month we began our work there to help the Colbath’s in their ministry by taking on the responsibility of the farm. Here’s a few pics of our new life on the farm!

Mark and Paula have decided the cows have become more of a nuisance than a help, as they’re a bit wild and keep breaking through fences to wander over to the neighbor’s corn field. In fact, they’re planning to sell the cows and be done with that chapter. They’ve just bought 10 ewes this month. All pregnant! We’ve got 6 lambs so far.

Making vermicompost to fertilize the garden.

The hard workers: red wigglers.

I think he’s got his hiding spot pretty well figured out.

Every October the youth group hikes up San Juanillo, a mountain just south of Siguatepeque. At just 1,600 meters it’s far from being the highest peak in Honduras, but when it rains, it gets cold!! Despite the cold and the rain, the group had a great time together and it was a successful effort to get more youth involved in the group. God is answering our prayers! Just last Saturday 4 teens accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior at youth group! The Holy Spirit is working and moving in hearts as the Word is shared during our Saturday nights together. To Him be the glory!

What I want to know is… Who washed laundry the next day?! 🙂

The peak of San Juanillo.

Awana (which follows the school year schedule) is quickly coming to a close this year as schools finish up their last 2 weeks of session. The Honduran school year runs from mid-February to mid-November. During the break time Job and I will be attending trainings to serve as Awana leaders for this coming year.

At Awana, some clowns brought us a message about caring for the lost.

Bible memory verse contests are always a hit!

Job has been meeting weekly with the 30 or so men and women that work at the city dump east of town. They make their living sorting out recyclable materials to sell in bulk; plastic, iron, cardboard, etc. Our purpose in working with this group of people is to help improve their physical living conditions and thus open up opportunities to share our eternal hope in Christ, amidst our lives here and now. Our first initiative was to offer them resources and technical help in starting their own home gardens, to alleviate their need to buy their vegetables at market. However, after many meetings, Job has learned they would prefer to use their earnings to buy vegetables rather than produce their own, but are interested in improving their efficiency of work at the dump. Job continues to meet with this group each week and is researching different options, such as a mechanism they could use to crush plastic bottles and add value to their product, to receive more pay for their labor.

Discussing the options and possibilities at the city dump.

While developing relationships with the workers at the dump, one of Job’s contacts there indirectly led him to meet another group of people in a neighborhood on the west edge of town, called Puran. Many there are living in situations of extreme poverty. During Job’s first introduction to that community he met Cori, the woman who is pastoring the local evangelical church in Puran. Cori is a very energetic woman with several outreach initiatives in her community, including a feeding program that provides a meal each day to about 100 hungry kids, 6 days a week!

Since then, Job has been meeting with Cori and several other members of that church who are interested in growing home gardens to supply not only their own households with fresh vegetables, but also to help supply the feeding program with more nutrition for the children. Several ladies of the church are excited to start home gardening and have eagerly begun preparing plots or places in their small yards to locate tires to begin planting.  As we are coming alongside them providing tools such as the tires, initial seeds and fertilizer, they are busy working, hauling soil to fill their tires, and spreading the word to their friends to join them in starting their own home garden. In fact, each week that Job visits them he finds more people (usually non-believers that one of the ladies in the church has talked to) that want to start growing. In the long term, we hope that between this community’s production, as well as the surplus from our large garden, we could start a small cooperative to sell produce in Siguatepeque. The lasting work? Amidst the planting and watering of the radish, pepper and onion seeds, we are planting and watering God’s seeds, His Words of Life that will last for eternity!

Discussing tire planting with Deyli, another important leader in the church at Puran.

The kids loved playing… umm… I mean, helping their parents roll the tires home!

 

Pray:

• Pray for the 4 teens (1 girl – Ethan, and 3 boys – Niryan, Yariel, and Orlando) who recently accepted Christ as their Savior during a youth group meeting. Pray for perseverance and wise guidance as they face difficult family situations and relationships that would lead them towards a different direction, away from their new life in Christ.
• Pray that as we help our brothers and sisters in Christ at Puran plant vegetable seeds, that we could be an encouragement to them as they work to plant spiritual seeds among their friends and neighbors in their community.
• Pray that God would guide us in our efforts to help the men and women working at the city dump. Pray for opportunities to share His plan for life. Pray for open ears, hearts and minds as we share about His purposes for life in Him.
• I (Adria) was set back with sicknesses at various times this month and have missed several ministry opportunities (including the youth group hike, which I was so looking forward to spending that day with the youth). Please pray for protection and strength for my immunity and overall health.

Praise:

• For the opportunity to begin the agricultural work at the Colbath’s farm!
• God chooses to work through His people to bring more to know Him!
• The shared vision and eagerness to join in the work of our coworkers at the church in Puran!
• God’s Word is never-changing, yet new and fresh food for us every day!

And… this month’s update includes a couple bonus pics! Woohoo!!!

Wow, they deliver in Honduras? Either someone is lost or drawing a LOT of overtime!! (just kidding)

Nebraska Furniture Mart… are you missing a truck?

I just couldn’t help myself… had to include these pics. We saw this truck while driving to Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. I remember when I was a kid I always heard their commercials on the radio! It’s always interesting to see what trucks get brought down from the States.

Alright, I better wrap this one up. THANK YOU for encouraging and blessing us and this ministry! We are praying for you, that God pour His blessings on YOU!

A generous person will prosper;

whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.

Proverbs 11:25

Love,

Adria and Job