Answer to Prayers....

Here in Esperanza de Honduras we tell the kids not to ask for something unless they have prayed about it. We have a prayer board with a variety of prayer requests including Iglesia El Faro, La Verdad and Iglesia Esperanza. The kids also have listed needs that we have as well as items of leisure. For months now they have been praying for "tacos". No, not the Taco Bell kind....here the word tacos translates into cleats. Since soccer is the sport of latin America every kid dreams of having a pair of "tacos". Their prayers were answered on Wednesday night as the youth group from West Florida Baptist presented the children with their very own brand new pair of cleats. THANK YOU WEST FLORIDA BAPTIST for letting God use you all to answer our prayers. May God belss you all for your giving.

THANK YOU WEST FLORIDA BAPTIST!!!!!!!

Thankful for a New HOME....cluck..cluck....

We were given 3 hens a few weeks ago and have many other members in our church who would love to give us some chickens as well. However, we did not have the space for any or a way to keep them contained. We also wanted to start raising rabbit as a supplement to our meat here. Thankful for people who answer when God calls and God answering the prayers that are sent up his way. We now have a new chicken "mansion". Here are a few pictures of what it looks like. Thanks again to all who helped complete this project.

Our 1st Youth Group....

This past week we welcomed our very first youth group to Honduras. A group of 15 from Bible Baptist Church in Crystal River, Florida came to help us complete some projects on campus. We had a great time and they were able to help us get so much accomplished this week. From cleaning and priming thethe guard shacks to building a new chicken mansion for our 3 hens plus two rabbit cages. THANK YOU BIBLE BAPTIST for sharing your week with us.

What DO you DO in the Rainy Season.....?

Carolina

Angie.....oh that hair......yuck!

Belkis Johana

What do you do in the rainy season?.......play in the rain of course.....Today, after the boys and Mark had just finished cutting all the grass....the Lord sent along a wonderful rain shower. Instead of coming inside to watch a movie or play a game all the girls wanted to go outside and play. Needless to say, they looked like a bunch of little piggies rolling around in the mud. Here are some pictures of their fun.....

Running in the Rain

Teaching Boys how to Be Good Men.....

One of the goals of our home here is to teach the kids that the importance of working hard. We want each them to be better and more knowledgable than when they came. We have a total of four boys here in the home and with our three that makes seven. Now, Micah he is too little to work right now considering he just turned 1 but the others all have jobs to do inside and outside the house. When these boys came to us we are not sure they ever did anything for themselves other than sleep and play. Now, they make their own beds and clean their own rooms. (Yes, boys can clean and makes their own beds...if you teach them and train them to do so). We are very proud at how they work together to help each other out.

Today, Mark and the boys went outside to cut the grass, They started super early and with 10 acres of land that is alot of grass cutting. However, the boys were eager to help get it done. It was so amazing to see the boys outside working. Today, Elvin was pushing the mower when he mom walked up to bring something for him. She was overwhelmed with pride as she watched her son push a mower and work hard. He has never done physical work is in his life. That was like witnessing a miracle for her. He use to sleep until 10 or 11 each day and here it is 11 and he has been up and outside cutting grass since 6. If we want the boys to grow up and want to care for their families we must train them now to learn to work and to work hard. Here are a few pictures of the boys working hard.

David and Jareth working together to make their beds.



The side of the property Mark cutting on the riding mower



Mark and Elvin mowing



Hunter mowing in front of the church



Junior with the weed-eater



A step in the Right Direction.....

It is so awesome to see how the kids are growing and changing. Since they have all moved in the home they have started new daily routines. Each morning, the kids wake up and have their "God and I" time at 6:30 in the morning. During this time they read their Bibles and devotions and pray.  They have also started to pray at every meal and recite a Bible verse in Spanish and in English. To close out our day we have a family devotion time and pray as a family. This is the time where we read our Bible aloud as a family as well as take special prayer requests.  A few weeks ago Mark talked with the kids about their spiritual life and if they had trusted Christ as their Savior and then asked them if they had been baptized. Well, Junior and Elvin both said that they had trusted Christ but had not followed in believer's baptism. We are proud to say that they were both baptized on Sunday and another blessing that day was that Elvin's uncle trusted Christ 2 weeks ago and was also baptized the same day. Pray for these guys as they are the future here in Honduras.

Elvin and Pastor Matt

Junior and Pastor Matt

What Came 1st....The Chicken or the Egg?

Well, I can tell you.....for us it was the chicken! We have been blessed yet again. Today, we received 3 hens and 1 rooster. Earlier in the week we received a larger rooster but he has taken a liking to the area on the side of our property that is covered with thick green vegetation. (Pray that he walks back over now that we have hens). We curretly have them in a small fence but look forward to putting them in their new home this week. We have a youth group from Bible Baptist Church in Florida who have volunteered to construct and fund this project for us. This will help out greatly which future food expences. Currently, the cheapest meat to eat right now is chicken and on top of that we eat about 50 eggs a week. That is eating them very conservativly. Really we should be eating at least a dozen a day for breakfast...that is one egg per person. However, we can get away with preparing about 10.(at least at the moment). Here are a few pictures of our new chickens!