Gary
In our last blog Cheryl was explaining some of the problems we were having bringing in the container (with 1000 Christmas boxes for the children). Even as she wrote, Nicolas and I had been summoned to the dock to break the seal on the container and participate in the examination of its contents. This usually takes at least one whole day. That problem was made even greater by the fact that this was our last day before returning to the US. Finally, our sewing school graduation was scheduled for that same day as well as our employee banquet. It was almost certain that Nicolas and I would miss both of those. But Cheryl didn’t give up. She wrote a prayer request to our church that day, “We pray that somehow [they] could be back from the port to be a part of this.” I don’t know how it happened, but we were dismissed from the inspection; and we arrived back at the mission center for both events. Furthermore the container arrived at the Center at 3:30 that afternoon. We arrived in Tulsa last Thursday and will be here until January 3. A team from Oklahoma State University will arrive at the mission center January 4th.
Gary In spite of the heavy rains this last week-end, we had a full house for church. (This is not all of our congregation.) Our church, Iglesia Evangelica Emanual, in Campana, HN, waving to the church in the states.
We are trying to bring in the container and as usual there are a lot of obstacles, but this year seems to be more difficult. To begin with, our usual shipper, Dole, that ships pro bono for us required documents this time that could have taken years to obtain. Praise God that someone stepped forward and funded another shipper for us. It was to have arrived in Honduras December 1st.
We are still trying to get it in. There has been a strike on the docks and so they are behind in unloading the ships. We got word that our container is now sitting on the dock. They try to keep it there so that we have to pay more fees. We paid $1500 to the lawyer for the fees, etc and she now has disappeared. We got the bill ourselves and will have to pay again to bring it in. Gary and Nicolas just left to do what they call the “inspection” of the container on the dock. If they find any discrepancies between the inventory and what is on the container, they will charge us more fees. Gary and I and our pastors are scheduled to fly out tomorrow, so it is down to the wire. Normally we fly stand-by and could change our departure date, but this time of the year we had to purchase a ticket. Today, is graduation day for the sewing class, where Gary is the one to hand out the diplomas and also today is our employee (our family here ) Christmas banquet and service. We pray that somehow he could be back from the port to be part of this. Our desire, of course, was to get these Christmas gifts to the children for their Christmas, which for many is their only Christmas. We had hoped that our new pastors could be part of the distribution, which takes several days to get into those villages…without roads to these impoverished areas. We know God has a plan, we know we are to thank Him in this, but we would appreciate that you would pray for this situation. Pray that this lawyer would be convicted and return our money; pray that we could get this container in and get some of the gifts to the children; and pray that there will be no more unnecessary fees due to corruption or dishonesty. Last night seemed like a dream come true. We held the graduation party for the computer class. Nineteen students recited scripture and gave their testimonies in ENGLISH ! There were a lot of tears and sad good-byes as this class has really bonded together and with Nelson their teacher the Pastor Batista and Gary and I. They spend a lot of time together out of class and linger around here eating and playing soccer . Their families came to see them receive their diplomas. The dream that we have had is that the students receive Christ and then attend the church. This is the first year that we have had a church and pastor for them to go to and now many of them have become Christians and attend our church. (one couple joined another church closer to their village), but we rejoice they are Christians.
Their testimonies were so precious in their broken English, but it was evident that their hearts were truly given to the Lord. Gary and I told them that they were the future of Honduras and that their future was in the Lord. To use what was given to them to further God’s kingdom, develop the church and to be productive for their families and country. Pastor Batista gave a message along the same lines: total surrender to the Lord and using their education for God’s work Yesterday morning several of us did visitation in one of the remote villages. We talked and prayed with lots of people and offered them a ride to church today. Few of them actually showed up. We were invited to a wedding last night. It was the daughter of our domestic, Victorina, and son of our children's teacher, Mirna. We had to be at Victorina’s house at six o’clock sharp in order to give the bride a ride to the wedding. As it turns out, it was a precious experience: beautiful wedding gown, semi-traditional service, nice dinner, afterward.
This morning we went into San Pedro to our church, International Christian Fellowship. We hadn't been for a while and it was great to see everybody. The word "international" really captures the essence of our church. I talked to people this morning from Australia, Finland, Canada, Honduras, USA, Russia, and the Philippines, as well as a number of Latin American countries. Later this afternoon we had our own church service here in the village; there were at least 10 of our students in attendance. We had communion, and then a PowerPoint showing all the things that have happened in the church this year. It was very moving; a lot has been accomplished. Little over a week ago we went up the mountain to see a lady who had been involved in a motorcycle accident. She couldn't even move her legs. As I was sitting in church today I looked up and there she was, walking down the aisle. Pastor Batista will be leaving for Venezuela this week; this was a very emotional time for him even though he will be back the end of February. Wednesday we spent much of the day without lights so the English students decided to meet under the trees beside the soccer field. Before long the sun got to them there too, so they moved the class under the mango tree. Those of you who were here before the mission center was completed remember the mango tree. That's where we had meetings, ate lunch, etc. Yesterday we met with a lawyer in Puerto Cortes to discuss pastor Batista’s visa situation. This lawyer feels confident he can get papers that will allow Nelson to stay here for five years. Please pray. Starting this morning at eight o'clock we had a soccer tournament for children and adolescents. There was a sermon before the games started; many parents were in attendance. Nelson and Juliza were excited with the success of it. This morning Nicholas and I and Flor and three of her children went into a couple of very remote areas out beyond El Sauce to hand out tickets for the children's Christmas gifts. It was a very rewarding experience. The container arrived yesterday but they have not begun to process it because there is a strike of all the shipyard workers. We’re getting a little nervous; we are running out of time. Little Lesbie, one of the scholarship children, showed us her grades today -- 97%. She wants to be a lawyer. Little more than a year ago her life seemed hopeless. We had Pastor Bill Hoff, Margie, Mark, Joy, and baby Katrina for lunch today. It was a lot of fun. Cheryl got here on Tuesday and already is up to speed; seems like she was never gone. There is a flurry of activity around here today. Students are making decorations for their upcoming graduations and parties. Both the sewing class and the computer class will have their end of the year celebrations. Also, today we got the final bill for the bill of lading for the container. That means the container is imminent. Gary and Nicolas will pass out the last of the tickets In El Sauce to the children to receive their gifts. Today Nelson Batista, Nelson Osorto, Gary and I met with a lawyer in Puerto Cortes in regards to obtaining a five year visa for the Batista’s to stay in Honduras. It will be a complicated process, but we were encouraged that this man will help us. This will take a lot of prayer. I requested a meeting of the church leaders on Saturday to try to clarify our position on our pastor. Because of not having the right visa he has to return to Venezuela every two or three months and spend a couple months there before he returns. Not only is that disruptive to the church, but it's very expensive. I thought it was important that we had the support of the whole church to do what is needed to keep Pastor Batista in our church.. At the end of the meeting I was pleasantly surprised. There was unanimous support, and even the willingness to help financially. We really believe he is called here by God, and that God's going to use this church. Cheryl came in yesterday. It was great to see her.
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