The Team is Almost Here! - An Update from Honduras

The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

           Isaiah 58:11

- Have faith in The Lord, wait on Him and He will bring you through your trouble.He is guiding you even though you may not see it,for we walk by faith and not by sight.

(Blue Letter Bible)

Praying for all of the parents this morning who will be having one of their own leaving for a short time to come be in and minister in Peña Blanca, Honduras. Read this most encouraging devotional for all of you today: 

	And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee.
	Exodus 30:6
Upon the golden altar of heaven seen in Revelation 8, the incense speaks not only of the prayers of the Savior on our behalf, but also of our intercessory ministry on behalf of others. Incense was burned on an altar because prayer requires sacrifice. There is nothing harder to do in spiritual life than pray. Why? I believe it's because Satan opposes it so vehemently. Why? He knows that's where the power is. Just as the altar of incense was the piece of furniture closest to the mercy seat, we are never closer to the Father than when we're in prayer.  "Son of David, have mercy on me," cried the Syro-Phoenician woman. Yet Luke tells us Jesus walked by as though He heard her not. "Son of David, have mercy," she cried again. But Jesus kept going. The phrase "Son of David" was a Jewish term used by Jewish people to address the Jewish Messiah. This woman, however, was a Gentile. She had heard stories about what had taken place in Israel, about Jewish people who were blind or leprous crying out to the Son of David to heal them. So she used their formula. But it didn't apply to her. It was religion. It wasn't real. It wasn't until she said, "Lord, help me," that Jesus stopped in His tracks and healed her daughter (Matthew 15:25). Keep your prayer simple. Don't think you have to copy how someone else prays or use the phrases someone else uses. The altar of incense was small. It's not the length of your prayers, but their strength and their sincerity that matters (Ecclesiastes 5:2).

This past week has been one full of meetings! Meetings about VBS and meetings about our team which is to arrive in 2 days. I know it has been very busy for the team who is coming as well. Soon, we will all get to engage in ministry mode together. It will be delightful! We are excited for this last weekend of bible school here for the kids. This Saturday will be the closing and final teaching. It will be based on the creation story. We will discuss the fall and then give a GREAT illustration on the redemption .. a wonderful way of showing the kids what happened and why we need Jesus to tie us back in to that needed perfect relationship with God that leads to everlasting life ... with Him in heaven! Eulogio has decided to allow us, Kyle, Naomi, and I, to put this weekends lesson together so we can get a taste of the "long term missionaries" work. It's exciting!!! The kids will also be playing a game where they'll be facing the bible and then "Satan" (who will be played by none other than our very own Kyle) will be trying to get them to turn around "away from God." We're doing this because our focus through this bible school is not only to teach stories but to teach how to apply the stories to our lives!! We are SUPER excited! We're also excited because we'll be getting help from some of the team who's coming to prepare for Saturday!! This should be an exciting weekend and one we'll never forget thanks to the Lord and all His plans for our lives.

This past Saturday was AMAZING! I have recently posted some pictures of the event. We posted a picture of a "random" homeless person on these pictures. He was outside of the building ... just laying there. As the kids walked back and forth from their activity outside, they glimpsed and stared ... very confused and most likely bothered (based on the looks of their faces). See, this past weekend we spoke about creation with the emphasis placed on humans and them being made in God's image, needing to be kind to one another, loving, and taking care of each other. Our story came out of Luke 10 ... the story of the Good Samaritan. The Samaritan, who would not get along with a Hebrew, was the only one who would help the beat up Hebrew. No Levite or Priest would help! ... Our "homeless" person, you may know him better as Kyle (pCarlos) ... drove this point home by later in the lesson, walking into the room. ALL eyes were on him and they were wondering who this person was. I have it ALL on video and can't wait to finish it for you guys and post it! We taught the kids to have compassion and love .. but also to be cautious with random "homeless" people. ;)  It was a wonderful day!! It was very pleasant also to hear the kids singing along more to the worship songs! It was music to the Lord's ears I know!!!! We do know that not all of the kids are "unchurched" that attend, but most of the kids don't have a Sunday school where they teach specifically geared towards them with their mindset considered. It has been such a blessing to watch them learn.

Sunday school has also been going well and the kids are enjoying their weekly lessons about Jacob and Esau (verse by verse of course). They're starting to memorize music in Sunday school too! It's great because a lot of the songs are bible verses. One little girl was singing the famous, "Come to us" in Spanish! It has been awesome to hear ... pray please that they remain focused and that Leah's lessons and the worship songs stay in their hearts. Please continue to pray for the Honduran families that attend the church. That the enemy keep things away that would hinder them from attending and that they would grow and learn and be disciples themselves. We know that whether it be adult service, children's service, or worship, wherever the Word is being sewn and heard ... faith comes that way and through prayer, as you read above, we have power because Jesus can be at work there.

Our soccer game went SUPER well on the following day after I posted the need for prayer. So, THANK YOU guys for that! Unfortunately this week though, we've had a lot more boys come to play. They have been getting somewhat rougher and unruly. I've needed to send one of them home for foul language. Please pray for discernment. We have not changed any game rules, including the reading of the Word. It just so happens that for the past week, there has been a lot of rain and the kids have had to run home before the reading came out. Well, our next story in the gospel of John is pivotal and speaks of needing to be "born again" (speaking of our spiritual birth). There are only 2 days left in our game play. Pray against anything hindering that! Pretty please!! ... While the team is here, we may be able to play a couple of times but it has to be in a different location because our driveway is not big enough and can't have too many people on it. This is part of the reason the last few times have been rough. We want the kids to know they're loved but we also want to remain wise. It has been fun and we are sad that it's almost at an end. It's the most difficult when they ask us if we're ever coming back to Honduras once we leave. That is "gut wrenching" and "heart wrenching" all in one. We're especially attached to the kids in the above picture. We love them and want to take them home with us! God is so sweet how He lets us meet certain people! I'm sure many of you can relate.

Naomi has been going to the orphanage and tutoring the bilingual students as you know. It has been great! She got to bring some girls home with her to play with Elise since they don't have homework this week. They have some sort of a special week where they celebrate the Indian and the girls have invited Naomi, Kyle, the kids and I over for a celebration today! There will be traditional dances to watch and traditional foods to eat! The little boy Kyle tutors is going to be dressing up like an Indian and will be walking us there in a little while. It should be an exciting day!

Please pray for the people Kyle ministers to. He has met some very interesting individuals and some of them are ripe and love talking and discussing with him, and others are not so much. There is one gentlemen in particular. His name is Raymond ... please consider him in your prayers. I hope it's okay to ask for just general prayer for his health and his lifestyle. Continue also praying for the guys in youth group here. That they continue pursuing the things of God and that they stay focused and live for Him. And finally, please pray for Leah & Eulogio. Keep lifting them up for encouragement in continuing to do all this that the Lord has called them to for this time in their lives. They handle a variety of things and in a different society where people think in different ways. I know we all have things we handle, but it's almost as if they have to translate culture too! 

Well guys, we'll be seeing you at home soon. I don't know what to think right now. I am going to miss this life here tremendously but am also going to be glad to be home. I know if we keep our eyes on Jesus, none of this "world" stuff will stray us from the perfection of eternity we're going to live with when we're with Him forever!

Keeping the hope,

Catalina

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