January Trip

Greg started 2015 by leaving on January 2 to spend almost the entire first month of the new year in Honduras. Jean’s last day of work (as she knew it because she has been working very hard in her new capacity) was Jan. 7, she flew down to Honduras on the 11th to spend the rest of the month there, and on the 20th three very dear friends of ours hopped on a plane and came down to visit and work with us.

While Ron, Verna, and Eddie were there they helped us install door hardware, hang ceiling fans & light fixtures, and apply primer to the walls of our future home. In addition to that Jean and Verna, with the help of Digna Lara, a new translator who quickly became a new friend, did some excellent ministry with women in three churches in and around La Campa. At the close of the 2nd day of women’s ministry in Chimis Mataras we had a powerful time of release when we asked the women to write down the struggles they were having, particularly with temptation and forgiveness, then we prayed and ripped up and threw away the papers signifying that the burdens were released to the Lord. It was a great Holy Spirit filled time that we were honored to experience with them.

Friday night the whole group did ministry with the children at Pastor Emilio’s church in La Campa that was a lot of fun. We must have done something right because several of the women leaders in the church asked us if we were coming back on Saturday to do more.

Other Updates

Residency Papers

We’ve reached a critical point with our attorney and may wind up having to go in another direction. Please pray for this situation. We want to be sensitive to the relational aspect of this transaction and the fact that things often take longer than we are used to in Honduras, but we really need to bring this part of our transition to a close. It is not necessary for us to have our residency papers in advance but it will be much less complicated for us if we do.

Our Home

Similar to our residency papers, the construction of our home has taken longer than we expected. However, the horror stories we’ve heard and read about so many other people’s experiences with overseas construction projects, managed from a distance, have convinced us that we have been blessed beyond measure since the worst thing we can say about our project is that it took longer than it should have (according to our standards).

Right now the bathrooms are being tiled and the toilets are getting set; the septic tank should be complete and the driveway construction should be in progress. Water and electricity will be connected in March, then the cabinets, counter tops and sinks will be installed by the end of April. Once all of this is done the house will be ready for us to move into. As with all new construction there will still be plenty for us to do, (like caulking, painting, etc.) but the house will be liveable. We still haven’t purchased the one-way ticket to Honduras but stay tuned because the time is almost here and we will be setting the official move date very soon!

Ministry Support

God has been faithful to bring us some tremendous breakthroughs in our ministry support in the last couple of weeks. Doors are opening with churches who are interested in partnering with us by sending short term mission teams later in 2015 and in 2016. There are some other “outside the box” ideas coming together that could lead to one organization headed up by close friends of ours sending multiple teams in the years ahead that we are very excited about.

As of now we have raised 72% of the projected minimum monthly budget, and 58% of the projected average monthly budget. Thank God and thank you to all of you who have already committed to supporting us financially. We’ve said it before and we’ll keep saying it-it is a blessing to serve as missionaries and we can’t do it without the faithful prayer and financial support of others. We will never take it for granted. If you would like to be a part of our ministry in Honduras by committing to supporting us on either a monthly or one-time basis, please check out the bottom of the newsletter for all of the contact information that will help you determine the best way for you to partner with us.

Close up of the front entrance to the house

Eddie and Ron installing door hardware

The great room, we can’t wait to fill it full of people for Bible study!

The January Team, Ron & Verna, Digna, & Eddie