Thursday, May 31, 2012

Beds & Bibles....

Sunday afternoon we delivered and helped to set up more beds in the village and then went into our Bible Study for our leaders group.

















Saturday, May 26, 2012

Fabila and team win first place in their science fair!

We didn't have a camera so the only picture we have is this small one from our phone. We'll try to get some from other (smarter) parents and post later. The story is Fabiola and 3 others presented a science project:
 Lava Lamp/Energy Saver
They put water, vegetable oil, and food coloring into a bottle and then dropped in an Alka Seltzer. The result was a bubbling effect looking like a lava flow and when you added a flashlight to the bottom it produced beautiful light without using electricity!


Sorry it's so small, but that's Fabi and her teammates holding their 1st Place certificates. And Fabi was the team captain!

Sunday, May 20, 2012

More foundation building...

Fabiola, Mauricio, and I went to the village this afternoon for another hour of foundation building. We've set aside one hour each week to meet with the village leaders and discuss various topics from the bible to help them to find their way in Jesus Christ. We keep telling them we're not here just to help them get new homes, nicer homes, but to also bring the blessings of Jesus Christ into their lives.

We're really taking it slowly and trying to build a firm base for them so the enemy finds it much more difficult to steal their seed. Right now we're working on personal worth and reconciling our relationship with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Today we spent the entire hour on 2 Cor. 5:14-21 and we had a lively discussion. Just saying that is a major breakthrough because they just were not the type to sit down and discuss anything; let alone the bible and God. Step by step they're getting more comfortable and beginning to believe that God really can, and does, care about a poor little village in the cane fields.

Pray for them as we continue this "Pilgrim's Progress" with El Doradito and pray for us that we allow the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to guide us.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Changing lifestyles...

God continues to enable us to bless the village of El Doradito (Buen Esperanza). With a generous donation from Oryphan's Heart, Wellspring of Life was able to purchase bunk beds for the children in the first two completed homes. We delivered them this morning and while Mauricio and Joyce assembled the first bunk and taught others to do the next two, our children taught them how to care for God's earth by taking trash bags and picking up the garbage around the village...and there was lots! Along with giving them homes they never dreamed of we want to change their mind sets, their thought patterns, and help them to find new priorities. One way to teach is to lecture; a better way is to demonstrate...the children chose the latter.


Cesar & Rosa teach Canchita & Rosita the art of clean-up!


Pedro, Rosa, & Angel on garbage detail...


Full bags, time to get another bag...


Here comes the pillows...


And the mattresses...


And the beds...


And the assembly team of Joyce & Mauricio...

The finished product with new occupants: Consepcion & granddaughters Dulce & Canchita!



New sheets, new mattresses, new bed: ready for some good sleeping!



Joyce says, "Outta my way!"



Our walk toward residency....

What started over almost 3 years ago and now has cost us nearly $6000 is about to come to an end...I think! On Thursday Joyce and I spent 3 hours sitting in the Immigration Office waiting for our turn to have our 'carnet' (a laminated I.D. card granting residency) made, but it didn't happen...again! After all the waiting we were processed and given a 'provisional carnet" which is good for 90 days and told to return in 2 months to receive our laminated carnet! That's right! It will take 2 months, if we're lucky, to laminate our cards. And Honduras can't figure out why they're in a rut!!!

Oh, and the culture here gave us a little joy while we were waiting: in the midst of the Immigration Office surrounded by a horde of people, Joyce had her cell phone stolen out of her pocket! Welcome to Honduras!

Monday, May 14, 2012

Mother's Day celebration...

On Friday Joyce enjoyed the morning at the Good Seed Mother's Day Program.


There's a new sheriff in town & PEDRO is his name!






White face mimes Mauricio



                         &

                                   Fabiola



Cesar's gettin' his groove on!

Sunday, May 13, 2012

They prayed and God showed up!!!

Today we all went out to El Doradito for our weekly leadership training class. This is a one hour class I've been holding with 7 individuals from the village who've been selected as core leaders. As we headed out for the village it began to rain and upon reaching the dirt road we could see they had much more rain than we since the road was very slick. When we arrived at the village it was still raining so the leaders began to gather chairs to meet inside one of the nearly finished new homes. While they were doing that I noticed one of our leaders was emotional over something. When I inquired I found out her roof leaked (on her shack) and all the kids clothes were soaked and it was still raining and still coming in.

We began the meeting talking again about what it meant to pray to God; telling them it was just conversation as if they were speaking to their spouse or their friends. After one of them opened in prayer we said we had observed a problem in the village and we wanted to address it. We talked about Jesus telling the Pharisees that loving your neighbor was as important as the "first commandment" and how we needed to help if someone in the village was in trouble.

The normal mindset is to feel badly for the person in need, but to go about your own business because you have your own set of problems. But today we talked about coming together, about caring for one another, and about how that would please God. First we asked Soila to tell us what happened. After that I suggested they each pray for her, aloud, in just two or three sentences asking God to help, to stop the rain, and show them what to do. What happened next was truly straight from God.

As each one prayed you could see Soila becoming more and more emotional, and finally tears of gratitude were washing down her face. She had never before experienced her peers praying publicly for her. As the last man finished praying he looked at me and pointed to the open doorway...there was brilliant sunshine streaming into the house. It had been raining when the prayers began and already God had chased the rain away brought the sunshine we asked for. They were astonished, as was Mauricio who was translating for me! You could see that for the first time they understood God would actually listen to them...and respond to their requests!

Next I ask them what we needed to do to help Soila and they told me we needed to dry the clothes and put a new roof on the shack. I asked if they could do that and they said, "No, we have to finish our houses." But after explaining that we didn't need a complete new roof; we just needed to patch this one they thought it was feasible. I asked what we needed and they told me tin, wood, hammer, and nails. I asked it they had them. Yes! Can we fix her roof? Yes! We immediately left the meeting and began to round up the materials to repair her roof. The women and kids got all the clothes and hung them on the fences, while the men took off the bad tin and replaced it with new. It was spectacular to watch!

I know this is a small, small deal in the states; but here where things like this never, ever occur...it is a very big deal, a very big step! You can bet that everyone in that village saw these leaders leaving their own homes and helping Soila! You can bet they earned a heretofore unheard of respect from the entire community. And maybe most importantly they have a new-found feeling of self worth.

I believe this is what Isaiah was talking about when he said we should set the captives free. He didn't mean we should unlock prison doors, he meant we should unlock minds from the prison of Satan. Today that happened in Buen Esperanza (El Doradito).


Carlos begins to take off the damaged tin sheets.


Patching the old nail holes.



Fabi carries some wood for the roof to Inez.



One repair - complete!



Saturday, May 12, 2012

A Village coming alive...

Partnering together with God!



Almost move-in ready!



Angel's new home is shaping up!


Carlos' as well!


 

Avellino's house is done except for inside!




Digging the dreaded septic tank hole!




The final touches!



What it looks like in the beginning!





Thursday, May 10, 2012

Football time in Honduras!


Fabiola 'skies' for a header!


This ball belongs to only me!


Don't bring that ball into my area!


Congratulations on a hard fought 1-0 victory!


Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Discipling...

Sunday we met with a core group of leaders from the village to continue our discipling efforts. With Mauricio becoming an excellent translator we able to start at the 'root' level  and begin to build a foundation for them. They are still a bit hesitant to openly voice their opinions, but they are making progress and beginning to see the need for change from within themselves. We're learning that it will be a long, slow process; but it has begun and as long as God allows it will continue. Pray for our new leaders...


The beginnings of a 'new beginning'!


In the shadow of their new homes, the plant the seeds of change and a new hope!

Saturday, May 5, 2012

At the end of week 1...

After one week of incredibly difficult work we have made great, great progress. Below is the state of the six houses as of Saturday.


House number 1


House number 2


House number 3


House number 4


House number 5


The foundation for house number 6

As you can see we've made tremendous progress. Please continue to pray for our strength and endurance, as all of us are beginning to wear out.