Beginning to see the Fruit...

Last week when I had another near trip to the emergency room (it was aborted when the pain began to subside on the way there) Fabi called the village and asked them to pray for me. Later Carlos, from the village, called and told me they had all been praying for me and how excited they were to hear that I was not in the hospital. I told him their prayers were powerful, and then he told me:

"You don't have to worry as much about us anymore. The seeds you planted in us are beginning to take root and not all of us, but some of us, are 'getting it' and we now KNOW how to move forward on our own! Now we know we can do things for ourselves and solve problems by working together, and we know for sure that God cares about us."

What a great blessing this is for all of us who have worked in El Doradito, who have supported the work in El Doradito, and who have prayed for El Doradito!

Our village has now progressed to the point that others are beginning to take notice of this 'new family'! Last week the alcalde (mayor) of San Manuel, their district, sent 17 dump truck loads of 'select' (material for roads) and a grader to level the material! We now have REAL STREETS! Hopefully I won't be pulling any more dump trucks out of the mud!

Then this week, Cepudo, our Honduran NGO partner in El Doradtio, used their contacts to secure 150 trees to be planted in the village. Yesterday I picked up fruit trees and ornamental trees which will be planted throughout the village this weekend!

A year and a half ago this was a field with a dozen or so stick/tin/mud shacks with dirt floors scattered about the field. Today we are a village of 37 homes with running water and electricity, streets, greenhouses, a herd of sheep, soon to have 150 newly planted trees, and a church/community center! I wish I could show you aerial photos of before and after, because the transformation through God is truly remarkable. I pray this blesses all of you who have been a part of this work and that it encourages you to stay with us and to bring some of your friends alongside as well!

More Beautiful on the inside...

Last week we were swamped with "likes" and comments on the picture of our beautiful 16 year old daughter, Fabiola. Allow me to now tell you how much more beautiful she is on the inside:

Before Sunday's church service in our village she was walking around the village inviting everyone to get up and get to church, as she always does. As she was doing this she remembered that last year on her birthday she discovered an old woman in the village had the same birthday as her. So, she made a special attempt to pass by her house this day. Sure enough she found the old woman sitting out front and Fabi stopped to talk with her. During the course of the conversation Fabi discovered that she was very ill and had been for some time. What happened next is what makes our chests swell up with pride:

Fabi said she felt like God was speaking to her to help this old woman, but she wasn't sure how that would happen. Then she remembered that she had received 1000 limperas for her birthday and she took out 500 limperas and gave it to the old woman! The daughter and the old woman immediately began to cry as the daughter explained that they desperately needed to purchase medicine for her mother this would exactly cover their costs!!!

Definitely more Beautiful on the Inside!!!

Overwhelmed by your generosity...

Please allow me to tell each of you how overwhelming it is to be showered with so many prayers and to receive the financial support that came from your sacrifices! In fact the donations were so great that I now have to do the one thing any missionary never thought they would do: I must ask you to STOP sending donations for "Bob's Heart".  Our expenses have been met in full!!!

Again, please receive our thanks and please don't send any more donations to "Bob's heart". If you still feel led to join us in God's work in Honduras you may contribute to our general account which is:

Wellspring of Life

P.O. Box 3027

Plant City, FL. 33563

Urgent prayer request...

I just returned from having a stress test and although the news is not life-threatening, it is not good either. The doctor told me I have a blockage and he needs to find out how severe the blockage is to determine if I need a stint installed or not. The hospital explained that I need to be prepared to pay for the diagnostic testing (inserting a catheter into my arteries through my groin area and then injecting a die to measure the degree of blockage, as well as the amount of blockages) and the ensuing procedure for the stint if deemed necessary. They seemed to be telling me that it's almost a certainty that at least one will be needed. 

The cost of the testing procedure is $2,000.00 and the cost of the stint procedure is $7,000.00 for one blockage and $2,000.00 for each additional blockage. I'm sure most of you know Joyce and I do not have insurance (we are not eligible here because of our ages) and therefore we will need your help. 

The first thing we're asking for is your prayers, prayers that the procedure shows the stress test results to be inaccurate and therefore no stint would be necessary. I absolutely believe God can heal me and know that your prayers can help to open that possibility. So, please pray! Unfortunately, the second thing I need to ask for is your financial support. It pains me to ask for myself since I know how you have sacrificed for the ministry over these many years. However, as unpaid volunteers, we just don't have the funds available to schedule these procedures. If God encourages you to help us financially please send your donations to our Plant City office with a memo that simply states "Bob's heart". Thanking you in advance for my healing...

A couple of opportunities to help support our work...

We have a couple of opportunities for any of you who want to help support our work here, but can't do it on a monthly basis. It has become our custom to provide bunk beds for the children whenever we move a family into a new home and currently we have a need for 8 more beds at $325 each.

We also need to purchase approx. 30 more plastic chairs for our church @ approx. $6 each. The church has already procured 25 chairs themselves using our weekly offerings, but now we need more to get ready for our teams this summer. As a point of information our church has also used its' offerings to purchase a tract of land for a homeless family of 6 so we can build a home for them. This body is helping themselves and not looking for constant hand-outs, but we could use some help at this time

If any of you feel led to help us you may send your donation to: Wellspring of Life, P.O. Box 3027, Plant City, FL. 33563 and mark your contribution for "El Doradito".  Thank you in advance!

Sunday Blessings...

This Sunday had some special moments for us as we ministered at our church, Los Discipulos de Jesus, in the village. During our prayer time one of the men asked for prayer for his wife who was ill and couldn't come to church. After the service I went to speak with Roberto (the husband who asked for prayer) and on the way the Lord prompted me to ask if we could go to his house to pray for his wife; and he responded, "yes". I asked Joyce to join us and then on the walk to Saida's house (the sick wife) I asked Joyce to lay hands on her and to pray for her.

When we got there Roberto called Saida to the door and when she stepped out onto the porch I explained that we wanted to pray for her and told her about the passage in James that says, "...the prayer offered in faith will make you well..." Then we all laid hands on her as Joyce prayed and Mauricio translated. It was a wonderful feeling...like you could feel the presence of God!

After the prayer Saida told Joyce she had a small present for her. She said she meant to give it to her on Mother's Day, but she couldn't make church that day and so she had it in the house. When she came out she had a handmade card for Joyce, but before giving it to her Saida told her the following: "I wanted to make something for you, because I consider you to be the mother of the entire village and I especially consider you to be my spiritual mother." 

Now that by itself is awesome, but here's the kicker! Joyce didn't even know who she was, had never spoken to her other than to say hello; but evidently Saida knew who Joyce was and had been watching her. Joyce often prays during our church services and that's one place Saida would've seen and heard her. She also knows Joyce is working diligently to help the ladies of the village to become self-supportive even though she never attends any of the meeting since she is a teacher. So here's the point....we never know who we're influencing! It was Joyce's demeanor and her character that so impressed Saida! Just when you think you're not being utilized by God He drops a Saida into your life! Remember to exude Jesus...the world is watching!

The other blessing was seeing Fabiola take charge of the teenagers in the village and begin a Bible study session with them while we're having church. She rounds up the kids and takes them to quiet spot on the football (soccer) field where they sit on the grass read the Proverb that corresponds the date of the day. Then they each select their favorite verse and share with the group why they like it. She did this on her own; not at our prompting, but rather at God's! And she has some tough characters in her group and reports that each them is participating in a good way. Five years ago Joyce and I felt God told us to rescue these children, bring them to know the Lord, and turn them into disciples. It's great to watch it happening! Below are a couple of pictures of some of the group...I'll try to get some of Fabi soon.

Just like Elijah's floating axe head...

Fabiola was blessed by her good friend, Tony, with the gift of a hand-made ring. She cherishes this ring and virtually never takes it off. Last week during a 'dual' birthday party for Mauricio & Rosa we had a swimming party at the house. After everyone left for their homes Fabi came to me and said, "I can't find my ring and I had it on when I went into the pool." I told her to pray and then to enlist the help of the boys and put on their goggles and search the bottom. 

Earlier one of the other girls had lost her earrings and the boys donned their goggles, dove to the bottom and found them almost immediately, so we were pretty confident they could find Fabi's ring. However, it was not to be. Next she searched her room and the outside bathroom where she had changed, and still nothing. She was totally disconsolate! I told her she needed to write to Tony and tell him she'd lost the ring he had made for her. Brokenhearted she did just that. But she continued to pray believing God would cause the ring to show up somewhere.

Today, four days later, Mauricio was vacuuming the pool and went to empty the skimmer basket. When he bent down to pull it there among the leaves he saw Fabi's ring! Now we all know rings don't float! But just as Elijah caused the borrowed axe head to float in 2 Kings 6:5, so God caused this precious ring to float to the top and drop into the skimmer basket. And then He allowed Mauricio to see it instead of just dumping out the leaves. 

Prayer really does work!!!