Madonna Spratt, fellow missionary near Puerto Cortez came alongside today to host a one day medical clinic. Madonna has been a missionary most all of her 78 years and 28 of them have been here in Honduras. She brought three of her workers and together they saw fifty-five patients. What a great help this is to us and to these people here who seldom get medical care. Madonna offered to come once a month to help clinic.
The dentist Dr Rios was also here seeing dental patients. All in all, we had a full house.
Travis Rutland and team had a successful time here. They hosted soccer training sessions. Using the colors of the soccer balls, they gave the Gospel message. In eight sessions with different shifts of kids each day, they ministered to hundreds of kids. They also helped with some construction in the production plant. After dinner, we all sat around the living room and listened to testimonies. It was great fellowship and we all made closer relationships and lasting memories.
The Gran Via school let out for our soccer camp. Sitting on the rice patty slab, the children are attentive during the sermon time.
The El Chile children met the team on the local soccer field and sang for the team
Travis Rutland's Team hosted a sports camp. They taught soccer skills and then presented the Gospel.
The banner we had made for the sports camp
El Ministerio Gathering Hearts for Honduras , invita a todos los niños de las colonias Gran Villa y Seis de Mayo a un evento de football los días 17 de Julio de 1.00 a 3.30 pm y 20 de Julio de 9.00 am a 11.30 am con persona de Estados Unidos. Se realizara en la arrocera los esperamos.
Travis Rutland with translator presenting the Gospel to the Gran Via and Seis de Mayo children, July 17
Travis speaking at the Campana School this morning, July 18, 2012
Travis Rutland’s team started the sports camp this morning. Fifty five students from the private school all walked here from their school for the first session.The team ran soccer drills and then shared the Gospel. It went well.
This afternoon there were eighty children from the neighboring villages that attended. They were attentive during the Bible teaching time also. Who is to know just what seeds were planted.
The team and Kuney’s have great fellowship and testimonies after dinner.
Met with Mauricio Mayor, Puerto Cortes, and his team of designers who will help design the tote bag and make it work for the “assembly line”. How grateful we are for Mauricio and his team.
After brainstorming with them in Mauricio’s office there in Landau Co., we think we have a design that will work so that the Honduran culture is incorporated but also make use of the expensive designer fabric donated to us by a Tulsa Interior designer.
There is a “basket weave” grass mat that the Honduras use for their beds that can be the base of the tote; use the fabric for the body of the tote, and put on the ensigma. He suggested we look in the local market of Cortes. Local markets here are a myriad of tiny shops all on top of each other.
The plumber is out again to try to fix this water pump. Hope this time it is fixed. We either do not have water or it is running over!
Having banners made for the upcoming sports camp which will be hosted by the Glad Tidings Church of Toccoa, Georgia who will arrive on Monday. We have scheduled schools and villages and hope that the kids will show up but also that there would be enough space for each kid to be included.
Do pray that all will go well for this team and that souls can be brought into the Kingdom through this evangelistic effort.
Bought more supplies for the homeless housing project. After they level and fill in the site, things should go fast.
Also worked on the “bank crisis”. One of the banks reimbursed us. Waiting to hear from the second bank. Got word that another missionary had the same thing happen to him. It is a well organized racket here.
We are scheduling places for the sports camp for the upcoming team arriving on the 16th. Since kids here do not have transportation, as much as possible we have to go to them.
8 o’clock tomorrow morning we meet with a designer from the Landau Manufacturing Company. They are to help us tweak the design of the tote bag for the assembly line. This is Mauricio Mayor’s factory. They have helped us so much.
We have had torrential rains each night. The water has come into the dining room. This is earlier than usual for the rains to start.
Made twenty-eight dozen cookies and one cake so far in preparation for the team. Will work on some of the cooking each day so that I can be with the team in the field while they are here.
Gary, Nicolas and I went out to view the site where we will be building houses for the very poor. What an incredible blessing to know that this family will be brought out of the mud into a cement block house with a roof, cement floor doors and windows. Our carpenter, Alfredo, came with us as he has lived out there and knows the people and the land. His brother will head up the construction and he will hire locals that need to work and earn money.
The “house” where this family lives. Except of sleeping under a “roof” that does not shield them totally from the rains, they live most of the time out where you see them in this picture.No bathroom, or electricity and normally no water. The “stove” is four logs with a “screen over it” and they use kindling wood for their fire to make their tortillas.
When we got there this morning the baby you see in the picture was crawling in the mud. He did have a diaper on this time, when we saw him last, he had no clothes on. His knees have open sores from crawling in the mud.
Unfortunately, there are eight families that are desperate for housing and we have only enough funds to help four families. (This project is funded by the Metro Christian Academy Cross country Just a Second donations) . Also, Lourdes, with her four children, live in the back "porch" of someone's house and the roof leaks on them every time it rains. We found out that there is a lot that we could get her for about $2000 where we might could build her a "house”. This is a bargain for here as usually the lots run about $5000 - $6000 and would fit only a one car garage. Do pray that we could get this lot for Lourdes.. We have been moving her around, house to house for some time.
Lourdes’s husband abandoned the family when he went to the states illegally. Lourdes had no income and was left taking care of her children and the children he had from another woman. In desperation, Lourdes gave her children away. Gary worked hard to get them back. Her children, Carlitos, Perla, Emeraldo and Katherine have been with us over ten years now and we are very close to them. Thanks to God, they are now being educated in the private school here.
One of our biggest challenges is that our credit card accounts have been hacked and hundreds of dollars have been withdrawn. It is quite a racket here. We are not sure just how they did it.
When this has happened in the past, the banks reimbursed us right away, but this time they are questioning it because our security numbers were used in conjunction with ATM withdrawals rather than just purchases. Please pray that the banks would reimburse those funds and in enough time that we could get supplies for Travis Rutland's team coming in on the 16th of July.
We have done as much as possible for the residency. Out trip to Tegucigalpa went well. It was a surprise to find out that the other missionary that we met there who helped us expedite this process is a graduate from ORU. John Mattica and his wife help other missionaries with this process. That is about all they do; it is so complicated. If all goes well, we should receive residency in the fall. Since we have to be in Honduras the end of September, we will have to get out of the country by the end of August. After receiving residency, we will apply for the "501 C3" equivalent. We found out that our Gathering Hearts for Honduras bylaws in the sates can apply here if we can get the process down and get it translated. ( BTW We have had a lawyer in San Pedro working on this for years, collecting fees as she goes, and has not accomplished anything. This is typical and other missionaries have experienced the same). This time, please pray with us that we could get this process done before the laws change again.