Introduction

Jean and I arrived in Atlanta on October 3^rd and are here for our annual year end visit. The main purposes for this visit are to share with as many as possible the great things that the Lord has done through the ministry He has entrusted to us, to visit with our family and friends on a personal level and to raise funds for La Casa De Rubén (LCDR).

Through the wonders of technology, we are staying in touch with everyone in Honduras to encourage, assist and support as needed. While we are away from La Campa and La Casa De Rubén ministry continues so please pray for La Casa De Rubén, the staff as they continue to make things go there on a daily basis, our construction crew as they continue to advance the expansion construction at LCDR, for our patient guests, both current and some new ones who are being received into the house for treatment, for the scholarship students, and for the local pastors and churches we have the pleasure of serving with in ministry.

As always Jean and I are most grateful for your prayers for us and the ministry. Below are a few specific prayer requests and praises that we would like to share with you this month.

• Please pray for the Lord’s favor as we continue to plan our meetings, visits and travels while stateside.

• Please pray for our van as we are planning to do all of our U.S. travel on the road this year which we are estimating to be some 10,000-15,000 miles. The van has been very reliable and well maintained but it is going on 27 years old and anything can happen.

• We are praising God for the increasing ministry opportunities that He continues to bring to us. With these new opportunities come increased needs and responsibilities. We praise God that He is the owner of the cattle on a thousand hills and for how faithful He has been to provide for us and the ministry to this point. We are also told to bring our requests before Him so we are asking you to join us in prayer for the fundraising needs that we have for La Casa De Rubén for 2023. We serve a mighty God for whom nothing is impossible.

• Please pray for Jean and me to also have enjoyable time with our families and to find a little time for some much-needed rest as this has been a very good but very stressful year for us.

• We are praising God for the continued health and improvements of Rubén, Rosalina, Bayron and Yovin-they continue to get stronger, gain more mobility and independence and achieve results greater than expected by us and the doctors. It is a reminder of how great a God we serve when we see the kind of things He has done in these people’s lives.

• We are praising God for opportunities to assist more people with physical disabilities at La Casa De Rubén. Please pray for Nohemy, Seidi, Melvin and Carlos who are in various stages of the evaluation process and/or waiting for surgery and then physical therapy. Please continue to pray for Abdiel who just began his physical therapy and for Karen, a young woman who, by the mobility transportation part of LCDR is receiving the therapy that she needs to cope with her paralysis.

• There are some with disabilities who do not need to come and stay at La Casa De Rubén but the quality of their lives can be greatly improved with transportation or specialized equipment. Please pray for us to receive donations sufficient for us to purchase a larger mobility bus and for us to find the equipment that some of them need and for the ability to get it back to Honduras when we return.

• Please pray for the continued spiritual growth and development of everyone at La Casa De Rubén. Please pray for Pastor Arturo who has committed to visiting LCDR weekly on Wednesday mornings to share the Word of God with everyone there while we are gone.
• Please continue to pray for all of the students we have in our scholarship program.

• Please pray for two godly men who are coming for an exploratory trip towards the end of August. Please pray for their safe travels, for our time together to be refreshing and productive and for us to discern the will of God for future ministry together. During their trip we visited a children’s home, spent a day at La Casa De Rubén and held services in 8 different churches. Update: We are praising God for the spiritual encouragement that took place in all of these locations and for Jean and me personally. Please join us in prayer as it seems that the Lord is opening a door for us, with some new people and churches, to serve together in 2023.

• We are praising God for the new church plant that we have been working on in a small community called Los Positos. Please pray for Pastor Jorge (the head of the denomination), Pastor Arnaldo (the pastor of the church in Coalaca), and for Julio (the soon to be pastor of the new church in Los Positos) as the construction of the church building begins in the coming weeks.

• Please pray for us as we have discussions about short term mission teams coming in 2023. Please pray for God to move in some new opportunities and for Him to encourage others to return as short-term mission teams have been an important part of our community outreach.