Serving the Lord by meeting the physical and spiritual needs of the people in central Honduras

The Lord has really blessed us at Ministerio Saly y Luz this year by using the teams He sends to us to share with the people here in Honduras.  God always provided exactly what is needed at the time it is needed.  I have a lot of weaknesses but I think the one that bothers me most is waiting on God and thinking I can do anything without Him.  I can do nothing without Him, all I do is spin my wheels and all my energy is wasted.  God wants to use my hands and feet but He does not need my help.
We have been blessed with many small teams and groups this year.  All of them were sent here with a purpose that God had ordained and knew before we were born.  They have blessed each one of us and we are very grateful for all the blessings that are heaped on our heads.
We have many prayer concerns that would like to share with each of you.
1.  There is a young 14 year old boy, named Manuel, that has leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant.  A nurse from the Memphis area that visited us is trying to get him an appointment at St. Jude but we are having problems connecting the doctors here and in Memphis.

2.  Ministerio Sal y Luz will start a pilot tutoring program for the students that we have sponsors for in the US.  The education system here is not good and the children have a difficult time when they go to a larger school in 7th grade.  A lot of them drop out and go to work.  Most parents don't see a need for school and need the money the children can make to help feed them.  We want to make a difference in their education and pray that they stay in school.  We are trying to change the mentality of the people but that takes time and patience.  Pray for guidance and direction that we will make a difference in the life of these children.

3.  Pray for Henry and the staff as they work with the evangelism and other programs for God's glory.

4.  Pray for me to learn and retain Spanish so I can communicate with the people.  I now have two math classes and soon will have two knitting classes for the ladies ministry.  One of my knitting classes is in a small village called 3rd of October.  The people are very poor but I have six ladies that are learning to knit so they can help support their families.  The math classes are remedial for some of the high school students and I also have some pastors that are going to the university and they need help with their math.  One of them asked me last week how many more students I could take.  I told him I didn't know but we would try and see how many is too many.  I have a translator to help me but I have to pay him for his help which I am very grateful for. 

5.  My last request is about Rubenia's family.  Rubenia's had two sisters and a two year old baby brother still in the mountains living with her parents.  The father died in September and I hate to say it but it was a blessing. The mother let me find a home for Johanna the 14 year old.  Nancy the five year old is with a cousin but I don't know where, I just pray that she is alright.  The baby is taking care of himself ( hard for us to imagine) every day while the mother picks coffee to get food.  I want to get the baby but so far the mother will not let him go.  I also need a family to take him.  Johanna is having problems adjusting to the routine at her new home.  None of the children in the family have ever had any rules or discipline, just beatings.   Johanna has a big scar in her scalp where the father hit her with the hoe.  The family that Johanna is living with wants her to stay but they called me and asked me to pray for all of them.  Pray for all the children here, most of them have a very difficult time. 

God bless all of you.   

February 5, 2012

This week things have slowed down.  We had a team from Bowie, Maryland that installed a water purification system in a village several miles away.  They left every morning and returned late in the afternoon so we did not take them different places like we do some teams.
Next Thursday, we are picking up a medical team and going to Tela which is on the coast of Honduras.  There are villages of Africans, called Girafundo, that live around the area.  They were shipwrecked there in the 1600 when being transported as slaves to the colonies.  There villages are just like the ones in Africa and they still speak African languages.  The huts are round, made with mud and a thatched roof.
On Sunday, we will take some of the medical team back to the airport and pick up another team that will be here for a week.  They will be working on water education and installing sand filters for two water systems.  There will also be training for the operators of the water systems. 
This morning, some of the parents of our Feeding Center children came to the clinic to have a time of worship and education.  This is done once a month on a rotating basis.  Today we have parents from Buena Vista and Miraflores.  Next week the Feeding Centers will be open again to feed the children once a day.  School will also start so we have school supplies and uniforms to give to the children.
Our staff does such a good job with all the things that go on here during the week.  They never seem to mind working extra hours to help do what is needed.  They are such a blessing.
I know the news media in the US is talking about how dangerous it is to be in Honduras and I know that there are things that happen here but most of the danger is in the big cities just like in the US.  Sometimes we have people that do things that are not very smart, like riding around areas that are not safe and driving at night.  In the mountains around Honduras, the conditions are not like they are in the big cities.  We go to the airport to pick up teams every week and we never have any problems but we use good judgement when we do things.  We don't go to some of the areas that are not safe.  I know that I feel safer here than I do when I am in the US.  There are some places in the US, that are not safe at night.  Honduras depends on the mission teams that come here and we need to listen to the right sources for our information.  We also need to do what God wants us to do and He will protect us.
The first year I came, they had the presidential problems and the news media showed all the riots and talked about how dangererous it was to be in Honduras.  There were no problems in the rural areas, the people there are just trying to find their next meal.  We go to San Pedro Sula every week or two and I have never seen a riot.  It really hurts the country economically when the teams don't come.
I am going to get a haircut and take a book to someone.  Please continue to pray for our ministry and the people of the country.

January 31, 2012

It doesn't seem like a month has gone by since I came back to Honduras after Christmas.  The time flies because we are so busy getting ready for teams and then taking care of the teams while they are here with us.  We are so grateful that people want to come and ministry to the people here.  God blesses with just the right people at the right time.  His timing is always perfect.  I was suppose to return on December 29th but because of fog in Houston, we spent all day flying over Texas.  They took us to Autin to refuel, we spent several hours in Austin until they could get us a plane to take us back to Houston.  Some of the people were rerouted but since there is only one flight out of Houston to Honduras every day, I went back to Houston and only the Lord knew where my luggage was.  No one at the airport knew.  I spent the night in Houston with a free toothbrush, toothpaste and a small black comb.  When I got to San Pedro Sula the next day, my luggage was waiting fo rme.  I was very excited to see it.  The trip to the lake where the ministry is located is over an hours drive so I really wanted to see my luggage when I got to Honduras.  God took care of everything.  It is amazing how much we think we are in control and we have absolutely no control unless God allows it. We have had several small teams here since I returned.  One team was from Tennessee that included a doctor and some nurses.  They also had a part of their team go to another village to install a water purification system.  When we have small teams here, the staff makes pupusas for them and they play games and share experiences from the week.  Pupusas are tortillas filles with ground pork rind and cilantro and cheese and other spices.  They are served with different topping.  We all love the time together. The doctor is an cardiologist and we call him Dr. David.  He and the nurses are so sweet and caring to the patients.  We or I should say I discovered a young man here in town that has lukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant.  One to the nurses, Katherine, is trying to get him an appointment at St. Judes in Memphis.  You can pray for this. Last week, a team of four men came from Galloway in Jackson to build a house for a family in a village called Las Quebradas.  They finished the entire house in 5 days, the roof was on and all the windows were in.  The families are always so grateful for a new home but this family really was touched by the hard work that the men did for them. We had several board members here this month taking care of business, we always enjoy their visits too.  Vicky worked on our education program so it will work better.  This program will allow us to do a better job of keeping up with our students that are sponsored by people in the United States.  This year we have over 300 children in the program.  Our chairman of the Salt and Light Board and his wife were also here.  He had meetings with our director, Henry Alvarenga, while he was here and his wife did some things with the Ladies Ministry. This week we have a new team from Maryland.  It is the first time they have worked with Salt and Light but we know them well since they have been involved with installing water purifications system in our area of Honduras.  This year, they will put a floor in a church for us.  They go to a village named El Aguije every day for the installation and education program.  On Friday, they will spend the day working on the floor.  Two days this week, their pastor will share with the pastors here at a conference. For the ones of you that know about Rubenia, I will share some information about that family.  Rubenia was here last Sunday for the day.  Allison, the lady she lives with in Puerto Cortes and the 13 other girls came to church and then we went to the waterfall to swim.  Rubenia is growing and will need a new leg this summer so she will have to go back to Chattanooga in June or July.  Her father died in September and I hoped things would be better for the family but Denis, Rubenia's brother, moved in and is abusing the two younger children.  I am trying to find a place for them to live but have not been able to get them to leave the home.  I have custody of Denis also but I can do any thing to help him only God can change his heart.  I still love him and pray for him.  The older brother, Isias, is doing well.  He came yesterday to the clinic to have some dental work done and to enroll in the scholarship program.  Later, he ate lunch with Henry and his family.  It was so good for him to see what a real, Godly family is like because he was never part of a family.  He has supported himself and gone to school since he was 6 years old.  He lived in an abandoned building and now he has moved in with his grandmother.  He will be in the 9th grade next year and his grades are really great.  Henry talked to him about going to the university after he finishes high school.  Isias picks coffee to make money for food.  He rides 3 hours on his bicycle to get to the clinic and that ride is downhill, I don't know how long it takes going up on the way back.  He also rides 30 minutes each day to school in the mountains.  Please pray for each one of these in the family. Another pray request...Katherine in the 9 year old daughter of Pastor Jesus.  Katherine cannot talk, she has Apraxia, which the inability to form words.  She can hear and make noises but she cannot speak.  Her mother and father have done such a wonderful job of working with her over the years, in spite of their lack of funds.  I found a device when I was at home over Christmas called a Vantage Lite.  The vantage lite has pictures and will talk for Katherine.  Hopefully, Katherine will be able to learn to talk some day with the device and a speech therapist if there is one in Honduras.  The cost of a new Vantage Lite is $7500 but we have found one for $4000 that is used.  Please pray about that also. Many things are happening at the clinic.  On Saturday, the teenagers sponsored in the Education Program were here to listen to different professionals.  There were talks mostly of sex education, encouraging the students to wait for marriage.  We  have many young girls here that are pregnant very early and over 80% of the households are single mothers with no education and very little resources. The staff does a great job of working with the different groups that  come here for meetings.  We are very fortunate to have a staff that is so caring of the people here. I am trying to make my blog look better so be patient of the changes.  Continue to pray for our ministry.  God bless each one of you.

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