Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Some people commit a little, some a lot, and a very few beyond your wildest expectations!.

Check this link
http://www.thewalk412.blogspot.com/

After finding our web site on the internet Craig Mesman from CA. visited us for a week last June. He spent the week working with me and spending time with the kids, Joyce, and myself. He was a great guest, fun to be with, and we fought through a lot of trials; but didn't expect it would be much more than that. Craig went home and shared his experiences with his friends and some immediately began to support us and he continued to stay in touch with us, as often as 4 or 5 times a week. It's unusual to have someone maintain such close contact after they return to the states, but we still didn't realize the depth of his heart for these children.

Today we received an e-mail from Craig telling us of "The Walk"! Committing to walking 500 miles is not something that is done without spending a lot of time in prayer with the Lord. Craig is obviously a 'seeker' of the Lord and he has a heart that responds to what God lays upon it. That kind of sacrifice inspires us to 'stay the course' with these children, to do whatever is necessary to see that they become disciples of Jesus Christ!

Please share the link with all your friends and have them join Craig in his walk each day. Lift him in prayer for safety, health(no blisters), strength, housing, and a clear voice from the Lord. Also, pray that people around the nation will respond to Craig's effort by giving and by coming to help Joyce & I nurture these children. These kids have been plucked from obscurity and almost certain death by God and it's becoming more and more obvious that He intends for them to become difference makers! Craig has given us a tool to share their story...let's all take advantage of his sacrifice!

If you would like to support Craig's effort you may send your check to: #7 The Widow's Mite, P.O. Box 3027, Plant City, FL 33563 and put "The Walk" on the memo line.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Electricity at a premium...

All the rivers in Honduras are at or above flood stage which is causing more problems than just flooding. Because the rivers cannot hold any more water the government is unable to release water from "El Cajon" the dam for the largest hydro electric plant in the country. Without water to turn the turbines they can't produce electricity, thus the government's decision to ration electricity! Today was our 'day in the barrel' and so we had no electricity today.

Then tonight we got another storm and the lightning knocked out our electricity again! It gives candlelight a different slant.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Celebration...

Will Blackwell, a young man from our home church in Tellico Plains, TN., who has felt called of the Lord to come to Honduras and work alongside us and the children has finally gotten some positive response. Will has been 'banging on doors' of churches and pastors for months & months with very little encouraging results. Time after time he's been told, "We don't have the budget, we only support 'our' missionaries, we only give to the 'association', etc. etc." But last night a church stepped out in expectation and up in faith and rewarded Will for his perseverance in trying to walk out what the Lord has laid on his heart.

Two years ago Will met our children shortly after we did and that very day God spoke to his heart and told him he was to come here and help w/the kids. For the longest time Will never told anyone, trying to be sure it was God's will and not his that was speaking. Finally, he could deny the Word no longer and he announced his calling to the church body and began to raise funds to come to the field full time. He has been working diligently to retire his college loans and will have that accomplished by December of this year, which is his target date for the field. The enemy did everything he could to discourage Will, but Will has steadfastly pursued what he believed was God's will for his life.

Will will be a great asset to Joyce and I since the kids already know him well from his many visits and having spent a week with them here in our home. He will help me w/well drilling and team hosting and will help us daily w/the children. Please pray and ask God if he would have you support Will in any way, in any amount. If God puts it on your heart to help him you may make your checks payable to: Wellspring of Life and put "Will Blackwell" on the memo line.

Will needs to begin to receive regular monthly support beginning in October so he can pay his rent bill here in Honduras for December. Luke 6:38 "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom."

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Storm safely passes....

Matthew is gone and we're high & dry! We did get some more heavy rain bands, but nothing that caused us any problems. Fortunately the storm was fast moving and didn't hang around long enough to cause severe damage.

Water, water, water everywhere....

It's 3 in the morning and I'm up putting towels around the doors and moping the floors...the rains have begun and our "Ark" is leaking! So far it's not too bad, but the brunt of the storm isn't supposed to hit us for another 5 hours!

Friday, September 24, 2010

The 'ups' outweigh the 'downs'...

First the 'downs': I drilled all day today and was just about to celebrate when our newly designed swivel failed on me. Monday I hope to have the designer come to the drill site and see if he can make an adjustment on it.

UPS! That's not the delivery service; that's things that are UP!:
  • The Good Seed kids: Fabi, Mauricio, & Angel came home with unexpected report cards today and each of them were outstanding! Excellent, excellent grades...PTL!
  • A couple at church bought Mauricio a guitar and are paying for lessons for him. We only need to get him to the lessons and they even bring him home. He is really excited and the guitar is beautiful...it's not a toy; it's the real deal.
  • All of the children are really doing much better now that there are less of us packed in here. Attitudes are improved, fights and noise levels are reduced...they're doing quite well.
  • Joyce asked the kid's tutor to stay an extra hour and we slipped out to Power Chicken and woofed down some very good shrimp! Date night.
We are supposed to get hit with Tropical Storm Matthew at 8 in the morning. Actually the track has it passing right over top of us. Just about everything here has been cancelled or is closed tomorrow.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Got a whippin'...

This morning after Joyce read last night's post, I received a mother's whippin'! She told me I was too negative when I spoke of Gershon, Karen, & Jesus. She told me I need to be giving God the glory for taking care of them...and of course, she's right! (Hope she doesn't read this post)

I do pray and ask God for His hand upon them and I thank Him for providing and protecting them; but I still worry. I must sound like the double-minded man of James, praying while doubting. And if that is the case I pray God will eradicate my unbelief, my lack of faith, and my worry. But I'm still just a man wrapped in flesh, albeit too much, and I DO worry about them just as God worried and worries about His lost children. These are not lost in the sense of not having a relationship w/Him; but are lost physically from us. Which of you, if your children had been kidnapped would not be worrying? That's how I feel.

I do trust God, I do thank God, I do pray for His divine guidance for them; but I also fret. A whippin' deserved!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

The Peaks & Valleys...

The mission field is a constant roller coaster of peaks and valleys and I believe whether we succeed or fail is incumbent upon how we handle these acmes and nadirs. Today is a great picture of the spiritual warfare struggle we deal with out here.

Peaks:
Today we purchased a brand new Chevrolet Optra sedan as a result of great sacrifice and efforts, made and given by some of you. The car is so much better than anything we've had before and is going to improve our lives considerably. It is bigger, safer, more reliable, and more fuel efficient. Because some have labored long and hard on our behalf, and some have given way beyond what is 'reasonable' we are enjoying new found freedom.

Our children continue to grow in school. The three in Good Seed, Fabi, Mauricio, & Angel, are loving their new school and can't wait to leave in the mornings and rue the vacations days they get. They can't wait to get back to school. Meanwhile Pedro, Antonio, Cesar, & Rosa continue to improve in grades and conduct at Rodolfo Rojas.

A woman from our church is the director of a very, very large organization dedicated to helping disadvantaged children here in Honduras and she approached us via phone today and told us she and some of her friends want to help our children experience some unexpected fun. They sponsor a large carnival every year with rides, games, food, etc. There is an admission fee and a fee for all the rides, games, & refreshments since they use this a fund raiser. However, she and her friends, are offering to pay the admission for each of our children (and Joyce & I) and give them each an unbelievable amount of money to ride, play, and eat! It will be one of those treats that 1-1/2 years ago our kids could never even imagine!

Valleys:
Tonight we received another, effective immediately, resignation from one of our Board Members. It seems like the more responsibilities you take on and the lower donations drop, the fewer hands, minds, and bodies are available to help. We do understand that it is all part of spiritual warfare, but it takes a severe emotional toll. The enemy uses these moments to cause us to wonder, "Why bother?", "Why not just quit?", 'Why not just go home and live a life of peace and quiet?", but of course we can't...and with your continued prayers we won't!

Our truck continues to remain in the repair shop and like most things here is late on its' promised delivery. It makes it very difficult to try to fulfill the drilling promises we've committed to and that we need to try to pick up the shortfall in our donations. Along with that it's almost impossible to find reliable help with the drilling.

Of course, the biggest valley of all is Gershon, Karen, & Jesus. Everyday that passes seems to make it worse...it's the not knowing what's happening with them that's so difficult. Are they healthy? Are they being fed? Clothed? Schooled? Loved?, etc. Sometimes it feels as if it's worse than if they'd died; at least then we would know where they were...with the Father. But just not knowing doesn't seem acceptable.

And so, there are many things to celebrate and praise the Lord for and I'm sure many, many more are on their way! But there are also many struggles and many needs for prayer. Without your constant prayers on our behalf and on behalf of the children, we would not be able to make it. You not only support us; you empower us! Please accept our humble thanks for all that you have done, are doing, and will do for us in the future!

Sunday, September 19, 2010

No School means Play...

With the kids off from school to celebrate "El dia de los ninos"??? we have been having a lot of 'fun' activities. Friday we had games and a pinata, Saturday we took everyone to a great park at the foot of the mountain on the West side of the city. While there we entered into a family basketball game. My team was winning pretty easily until they decided we should switch to playing FULL COURT. After that we got killed...not to mention it's taken me a day and a half to recover. It seems all of my 'moves' are now in my mind only!

Please remember Gershon, Karen, & Jesus in your prayers!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Vacation Time...

Today begins a week of vacation for the kids...tomorrow is Independence Day here in Honduras and all the kids are off school until next Tuesday...poor us, ha!

We continue to make adjustments to our lives w/o Gershon, Karen, & Jesus. The size of the hole created by their absence doesn't seem to get any smaller, but there are some residual benefits,i.e. Rosa is beginning to blossom, she's suddenly talking much more and becoming more interactive with us. We were afraid she would draw into herself even more since Karen was the only she really ever confided in, but it's been just the opposite. It's nice to see her smiling much more!!!

The boys downstairs are thrilled w/their additional room in the bedroom. We took Gershon's bed down and gave it to one of our guards and Mauricio, Cesar, & Antonio gained some much need additional room.

Traveled to San Luis yesterday to set the pump in the well we drilled there a week ago and we found only sloppy mud in the hole. There was some water, but not nearly enough to develop so we will have to drag everything back into the mountains to drill again. On a positive note, our swivel failed again, but we found a local machinist who works on the big rigs in country and he told us we have a design flaw (we know that) and that he can fix it. By the end of the week we expect to be drilling w/ a much better machine.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Not so fast.......

You've seen that heading before, right? Well it's Honduras and things often don't occur as you're told or as you expect.

Joyce went to pick up the kids at Rodolfo Rojas and stopped to tell the principle that Gershon, & Karen would be staying in school. The principle said, "I don't think so." "They can't afford us. They said they had 6 kids, so they would have to ask you to continue paying for them."

That sounds like...give me back my kids, but you pay all the expenses!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

He responds to your prayers....

Our God is faithful and He tell us when two or more join together in prayer, He hears, He responds to all that is requested in His will. Today when I went to pickup the kids from Rodolfo Rojas I was met by Gershon, Karen, Jesus, the mother, & step-father. Gershon told me he left all his school books at the house and wanted to know if he could get them. Of course, I said yes and we headed off to our house. At the house all three came inside while the parents waited outside giving us a chance to ask them how they were doing. They all said, "good". They told us they are living near the orphanage where we found them which is a tough neighborhood, but after one day they are all okay.

It is actually much better than we dared to hope for....the parents are going to keep Karen & Gershon in school which means they will see the other kids daily, except for Fabi & Mauricio. When I asked Gershon if he read the Bible he said, "yes" and he told me this morning when he got up Karen was reading the Bible to her mother!!! Isn't that awesome. We told Karen God was sending her into darkness so she could become the light to lead her parents to know Christ as she knows him and she's already starting!!!

Once outside the mother asked if they could come and visit if they decided they wanted to....trying not to literally jump with glee, I said, "of course".

So, God is working His plan; it's not ours (we would keep them w/us), but He showed us enough of it today to give us ....and you, a great sigh of relief!

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Gone.......Gershon, Karen, & Jesus



They're all gone and only the hole in the heart remains!

Please never forget to lift the names of: Gershon, Karen, & Jesus!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Sudden change........

They called at 8:26 a.m. and told us the switch was postponed until tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. because of planned demonstrations in the city. The demonstrations, if they take place, are not close to IHNFA's office and are not between their office and our house, so the excuse doesn't really hold much water. It looks painfully like a Honduran excuse not to go to work today.

I pray that it is God's providential hand guiding and protecting the children. However, I confess that I almost feel dirty because it's easier for me to believe it's just Honduran ineptness. Lord forgive my unbelief!

I wish I could tell you more, but that's all I know. The children are on a 'yo-yo' at the moment and there's nothing we can do to help them.

KEEP PRAYING!!!

Heavy emotions.......

This morning has already been one of the more difficult of our lives. Watching the children saying good-bye to each other as the others go to school and Gershon, Karen, & Jesus stay behind is painful. To see the tears and the hugs, and the uncertainty on their faces is heart-rending. Watching them packing toys and clothes, and knowing we may never see them again is just awful and many, many tears are being shed!

For our Bible study this morning the Lord chose Joshua 1:8-9, and Psalm 23! We did our best to reassure the kids although this world is tearing us apart, we will always be a family in God, through God, and with God!

The really difficult time is coming fast...when we have to drop them and then leave...it's almost impossible to write it....how we'll do it we don't know.

Please never stop praying for these 3: Gershon, Karen, & Jesus!!!

Monday, September 6, 2010

Emergency Prayer Request

Irma, from IHNFA, just called and told us we had to take Gershon, Karen, & Jesus to her office tomorrow morning to give the children back to a mother who previously abandoned them. We have to be there at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow, so we have from now until then to pray!
PLEASE PRAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, Monday....remember the Mamas & Papas?I

Taking advantage of a rare day with no scheduled physical work to work on my message for Sunday. Title: How do you smell? Think it's too personal?

Honduras time line: Last Thursday we gave the mechanic the first installment for repairing our truck, because he was able to start on it right away. We checked on Sat. and it wasn't there. Checked today and it still isn't there...guess he's not quite ready to work; just ready to take our money!

Honduras time line 2: Friday we took our television to the recommended repair man and told him of our plight w/10 kids and no t.v. He said he would fix it right away...then he said he wouldn't be done until next week(this week). We went by to check today and he hasn't even bought the repair part yet!

I think I'm as bored as the kids w/o the t.v. despite the fact that I rarely see more than a half hour a day. I must be addicted to the noise or something, but the days seem to pass agonizingly slow! I feel like I must be carrying latent sin to miss my t.v. so much! Although it is now college football time, which is the one time of the year I LOVE my t.v.

The Rodolfo Rojas kids all came home w/good test scores today. They have testing all this week, so we have plenty of studying going on.


Sunday, September 5, 2010

God's provision...

Joyce and I were looking at a zero balance in our checking account and zero limperas in our pockets come Tuesday of this next week when 3 families from our church presented us with a gift this morning. We literally would not have been buying groceries if they had not stepped forward and given out of their shortages. They, too, are missionaries and yet, God prompted them to reach out to us. We had told no one how short we were, but obviously God told them!

Thank you to those families for listening to the Holy Spirit's urgings...they truly gave "The Widow's Mite" to keep us going!

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Antonio and his ripple effect...

Antonio’s Report

This morning I’ve just returned from a one hour consultation with a child psychologist who happens to be a very strong Christian woman. She has been evaluating Antonio for 3 weeks; giving him tests, talking with him, and measuring his various capabilities. This morning she gave me the following report summarized in my own words:

Antonio has a very high level of ADD, is epileptic, and has moderate retardation. These situations can never be reversed or ‘fixed’ and so, we must do the best we can to enable Antonio to live with these handicaps. That means continued visits with the psychologist, a tutor, and private sessions with a linguist and emotional therapist. She suggests that we continue Antonio in normal schooling for the time being so he can learn basic math, reading, and communication skills; but she warns us that the other kids will quickly outdistance Antonio and he will begin to rebel against a formal school setting.

Her evaluations show that Antonio, who is 11 years old, is functioning at a 6 years, 5 months level…and his linguistic skills are much lower than that.

He demonstrates the following emotional traits:

· Consumed by irrelevant details

· Is negative

· Displays anxiety toward school work

· Is hostile toward school work

· Tends to give up easily

· Suffers mental blocks

· Rebels against authority figures

· Strongly dependent

· Impossible to control impulsive behavior

His personality shows:

· Fights for no reason

· Fantasizes

· Does not feel affection in the home; doesn’t believe the home is permanent

· Doubts

· Feels inadequate

· Indecisive

· Defensive

· Feels isolated

· Dependent

· Insecure

Corporate Image:

· Feels fault

· Inadequate

· Rejects authority

· Rigid

· Tense

· Abandoned

· Loss of autonomy

· Sexual preoccupation

· Impulsive

· Doesn’t adapt well

·

Antonio’s verbal skills and vocabulary recognition levels are at 4 years, one month!

Achenbach test indicates:

· Depression

· Anxiety

· Impulsiveness

· Hyperactivity

· Low self esteem

· Immaturity

Overall conclusion:

· Moderate mental deficiency

· Heavy language retardation

· ADD & hyperactive

· Emotionally unstable

· Bed wetter

She tells us that Antonio’s problems are long term and that we cannot expect to see much change in the immediate future. Her first recommendation is to get Antonio a room of his own and to separate the other boys as well. You all know the problems with this: no room and no money!

Joyce and I have recognized for quite some time that in order to move the children further ahead in their developmental skills they need to have some separation so they can begin to get a sense of “self”. As it is now they are all crowded into rooms meant for one person and it retards their individual development and lends to their doing things they know they shouldn’t be doing. As you all know when children are always together in a confined area they will encourage each other to do silly things they know are not acceptable. Hence we have punishment instead of rewards for good behavior.

These kids all have so many deep, deep problems to overcome that are not easily discerned at first blush. Building confidence, trust, reliability are difficult tasks when we are constantly fighting with them to try to maintain control. They have come a long, long way and are all great kids; but if we are to carry out this assignment as we feel God intends we must do much more. We don’t believe we were sent here to simply ‘socialize’ these children…to get them to the point where they can ‘fit into’ society. We believe we were sent to raise disciples of Jesus who can make a difference in this country. In order to accomplish that; or to have a better chance to accomplish that we need to make some serious changes! The first is we need a much larger home!

Joyce & I recently looked at home in a great neighborhood with a huge walled yard. The house is in excellent shape, very spacious, filled with closets and storage (which is impossible to find here), 5 bathrooms, and the ‘down side’ only 3 bedrooms. However, there is ample room to build a simple wing where we could add seven single bedrooms and utilize the existing baths. The home is closer to both of the children’s school and the neighborhood has a great park/playground inside the guarded, fenced neighborhood. The asking price is $265,000, but we’ve been told we could get it for $240,000. There is enough land with the home to park the drill rig, the air compressor, the truck and still have a huge play area for the children; larger than the park they go to at our current location.

So, how do we make this happen? We don’t know, but we feel as if it’s what needs to happen. Are there people out there who would make an investment in this home and allow us to pay rent on it? Are there benefactors who will purchase the home? Are there people who will write grants for the purchase of the home? We don’t know what the answer is, but we do know we need your help, your ideas, your support.

We believe God has a special plan for these children…look at all that has happened for them and to them already. And look at all of you who have been knit into their lives already…together we are making a difference, but it is only the beginning and we need more partners to help us reach the goals God has set before us. Please share this, please appeal to your friends, your churches, your business associates to join us in this work of God!

In Him,

Bob & Joyce

Friday, September 3, 2010

Panic time...

It's the weekend and our t.v. is shot! With 10 kids that's a much bigger deal than it may seem at first blush. The power surges here blew the LCD panel and it will take mucho to replace it, which we don't have and even if we did they can't fix it before next week. It's gonna be a loooooooooong weekend! I guess if that's the worse news we get all will be well!

Was able to get the oil changed in the air compressor today, so when we get the truck back the rig & compressor are both ready to go.

The kids are all excited about next week...the 15th is Honduras' independence day, and the 17th is Kid's Day! No school on the first one and all parties on the second one. Great educational system here.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Not so fast.......

The body man called back about the quote on our truck and told us he made a huge mistake and needed to give us a new quote. Again, our friend Paul went with us and when the guy asked for 8000 more limperas Paul got him down to 4000 more...so it's still a great quote, just not as great.

I have to bring the drill rig back into the neighborhood....the well we did in the area is not producing as we had hoped and I'll have to try another hole.

We looked at a great house today, in a great neighborhood, with a great yard, with a beautiful interior complete w/cabinets and closets (unheard of here)...anyone have $240,000 they want to part with? It's actually a great price, but..............

Cesar & Antonio have 3 days in a row w/good reports!!!

Our t.v. is acting up....with 10 little ones that's not a good thing.

Brutal hot here today and the electric was off all day.

Praise the Lord, tomorrow is a new day full of mercy & grace!