This morning I was thinking how grateful I am to God first for using me in Honduras but also to all my family and friends that God uses too. If it weren't for family, friends, my church, members of the teams that come to Honduras and to the members of the Salt and Light Ministry Foundation, I would not be able to let God use me. I am dependent on all of you for the resources that God puts on your hearts to share with me. I am not just talking about money but your prayers for me. I want to be open to God's will for my life every moment but I get off track. The people here can tell you I get off track and don't seek God's direction and guidance as often as I should. I don't seek His wisdom as often as I need to. I use my own wisdom and that doesn't work. I forget who is in control of everything and I get anxious when there is no need. I waste a lot of time being anxious when God knows and takes care of everything. He wants me to wait and depend on Him for everything.
This is my fourth year in Honduras and it seems like the first. Time has gone by so quickly. I never know if God will use me here again but I have to remember, if He doesn't use me in Honduras, He has a better plan for me. It makes me sad when I think that I might not be able to come back and see all the friends I have made but I know God's will is best no matter how I feel about it. I think about Jeremiah 29:11 a lot and I know it is true. God knew I would be here typing before I was born and what a great plan He had for me and has more to come. He has a plan to use all of us, we just have to be willing to be His hands and feet so He can use us.
I have added soime pictures of the Men's Ministry garden next to the clinic. Henry has tried so hard to find something for the men to do to help support their families. The men are clearing and planting seeds that will produce vegetables to sell to the soup kitchens that the ministry supports. This is the "dry" season in Honduras and they were concerned about the seed coming up. The owner of the property would not let us water the garden bu God has provided a shower every night since they planted the garden. It is growing beautifully and they even planted yellow squash, my favorite vegetable.
I will go home in less than two weeks and I am looking forward to seeing my family and friends. They have helped me so much by loving me and letting me be where God wants me.
Thank you all for everything especially the prayers.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Saturday, March 10, 2012
We need lots of pray concerning our new Tutoring Centers in the villages
Yesterday, Henry, Alex and I had a meeting with the teachers in a village called El Jaral. Henry wants to set up places in each of the villages that Sal y Luz has students sponsored in. Alex is the Education Coordinator for Sal y Luz and responsible for all areas of the education program.
We are starting with a village near the clinic called El Jaral. This will be our pilot program and we will not start any others until we are sure that our first one is working correctly. El Jaral has a feeding center to feed the children one meal a day, the children also receive medical and dental checkups. One of our churches in the Jackson area provides the funds for Feeding Center in this village. The village does not have a water purification system but we plan to install one this summer. The children in this village have the highest incident rate for parasites. One child was tested recently and they found over 40 different parasites in the child. Regular worming and floride treatments are provided also.
I will get back to education and the turtoring program. Most of the children in the public schools do not receive the basic skills, they drop out after 6th grade because they have to go to a high school in another town to be able to continue in school. Most families do not promote their children attending school so the child can help provide for the family. Another factor is lack of knowledge, most of the village schools do not supply the necessary skills to attend grades above 6th.
In El Jaral, there are two teachers, six grades and 80 children for those two teachers who I think really would like to help the children. Some schools have one teacher and 6 grades and lots of students. Salt and Light feels that they need to have more direct contact with the children, especially the ones sponsored through our education program.
This is a work in progress. Next week we will have a meeting with the families of the children in the school. The next step will be to give a thorough medican exam, including eye tests and dental exams for all the children. We will have someone talk to the families and children about using clean water and how important it is to their families and their health. This to help prepare them for the water purification system to be installed this summer. The next step will be to give an evaluation test to determine what level each child is in on Mathematicas and Spanish.
We hope to find local people in the community, including older students, that will donate their time two days a week for one hour to work with these student that we determine needs the extra help.
We hope that this effort, started in the early grades, will keep some of the students in school that would have dropped out. After we see what adjustments need to be made, what works and what doesn't, then we can start the same program in the other villages where we have children sponsored.
The children have already started a garden at their school and were planting bell peppers yesterday. This is part of them giving back to the community instead of just waiting for someone to give them something. As an American who has been here on several mission trips, we do not help anyone by just giving. We want the people here to be able to provide for themselves and not expect a handout. It makes us feel good to give and sometimes it is appropriate, but not all the time. We have to be very careful to make sure that what we are giving is beneficial and will not cause dissatisfaction in their lives.
Please be in pray for this effort, we need God's guidance and direction as we start this new program. After I left the meeting yesterday that we had with the teachers, I was completely over whelmed by the effort it will take to make a different in these children's lives. We cannot make a difference in their lives without God's help. They need Him as their savior and we need Him to guide us in everything we do. We need strength, courage, determination and lots of patience because what we want to accomplish will not happen in a day or even in a year. There are so many negative factors to compete with but God can take care of all those things if we are faithful to do His will.
Thank you for your support and prayers and love.
We are starting with a village near the clinic called El Jaral. This will be our pilot program and we will not start any others until we are sure that our first one is working correctly. El Jaral has a feeding center to feed the children one meal a day, the children also receive medical and dental checkups. One of our churches in the Jackson area provides the funds for Feeding Center in this village. The village does not have a water purification system but we plan to install one this summer. The children in this village have the highest incident rate for parasites. One child was tested recently and they found over 40 different parasites in the child. Regular worming and floride treatments are provided also.
I will get back to education and the turtoring program. Most of the children in the public schools do not receive the basic skills, they drop out after 6th grade because they have to go to a high school in another town to be able to continue in school. Most families do not promote their children attending school so the child can help provide for the family. Another factor is lack of knowledge, most of the village schools do not supply the necessary skills to attend grades above 6th.
In El Jaral, there are two teachers, six grades and 80 children for those two teachers who I think really would like to help the children. Some schools have one teacher and 6 grades and lots of students. Salt and Light feels that they need to have more direct contact with the children, especially the ones sponsored through our education program.
This is a work in progress. Next week we will have a meeting with the families of the children in the school. The next step will be to give a thorough medican exam, including eye tests and dental exams for all the children. We will have someone talk to the families and children about using clean water and how important it is to their families and their health. This to help prepare them for the water purification system to be installed this summer. The next step will be to give an evaluation test to determine what level each child is in on Mathematicas and Spanish.
We hope to find local people in the community, including older students, that will donate their time two days a week for one hour to work with these student that we determine needs the extra help.
We hope that this effort, started in the early grades, will keep some of the students in school that would have dropped out. After we see what adjustments need to be made, what works and what doesn't, then we can start the same program in the other villages where we have children sponsored.
The children have already started a garden at their school and were planting bell peppers yesterday. This is part of them giving back to the community instead of just waiting for someone to give them something. As an American who has been here on several mission trips, we do not help anyone by just giving. We want the people here to be able to provide for themselves and not expect a handout. It makes us feel good to give and sometimes it is appropriate, but not all the time. We have to be very careful to make sure that what we are giving is beneficial and will not cause dissatisfaction in their lives.
Please be in pray for this effort, we need God's guidance and direction as we start this new program. After I left the meeting yesterday that we had with the teachers, I was completely over whelmed by the effort it will take to make a different in these children's lives. We cannot make a difference in their lives without God's help. They need Him as their savior and we need Him to guide us in everything we do. We need strength, courage, determination and lots of patience because what we want to accomplish will not happen in a day or even in a year. There are so many negative factors to compete with but God can take care of all those things if we are faithful to do His will.
Thank you for your support and prayers and love.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Ministries at Ministerio Sal y Luz
God is working in Honduras through Sal y Luz and Henry Alvarenga, the director and the staff. It very fails to amaze me that the staff here will work late or on the weekends as if it is natural to spend all their time with the ministry.
Henry has started his men's ministry, ten to fifteen men meet at the clinic every other week for Bible studies and to talk about how God can give them guidance so they can provide for their families. A large garden has been planted by some of the men next door to the clinic. All the work is done by hand with shovles and hoes. A young, 14 year old boy is helping them every day, he has no parents and he is learning to work with men. I think he does more work than the men. He carried all the corn and fertilizer back to the place where they store everything when they finish. I had to help him put the sacks on his back because it was so heavy. The product will be sold to the ministry for our feeding centers and the men will receive their portion of the profit. We already have frioles up and are waiting for corn, carrots, squash, beets and many other vegetables to come up.
The men need something to do that will give them money to feed their families, they will have to wait on the product from the gardens. Henry is trying to find ways for the men that want to work to provide what their families need.
Once a month, the families from the Feeding Centers that are supported the Salt and Light Ministry, come to the clinic for Bible Studies and health education. Yesterday was the day. The staff takes the children to a place separate from the parents and teachs them a Bible story and then they color and play organized games. The parents meet together for topics that hopefully will improve their spiritual and physical lives. They are picked up at 7:30 and meet for two hours.
Last night it rained so hard, I was afraid the garden would wash away. Hopefully it is still there. Today we have a meeting in another town with some backers of a private school for the poor only. It is not a business but a ministry. From what I heard, the test scores are very high in the six grades. They are taught English and only pay what the families can afford if anything. Many of the public schools here are not very good and most children quit before they reach high school. The teachers were on strike last year and the children only attended school for 90 days of the year. I am tutoring a math class for some of the high school students that are part of our scholarship program and they don't have basic math skills. I am talking about multiplication and division, not to mention fractions or decimals.
Thank you for all your support and prayers and thank you to the ones that made it possible for me to work with Henry and the staff at Ministerio Sal y Luz in Honduras.
God bless each of you.
Henry has started his men's ministry, ten to fifteen men meet at the clinic every other week for Bible studies and to talk about how God can give them guidance so they can provide for their families. A large garden has been planted by some of the men next door to the clinic. All the work is done by hand with shovles and hoes. A young, 14 year old boy is helping them every day, he has no parents and he is learning to work with men. I think he does more work than the men. He carried all the corn and fertilizer back to the place where they store everything when they finish. I had to help him put the sacks on his back because it was so heavy. The product will be sold to the ministry for our feeding centers and the men will receive their portion of the profit. We already have frioles up and are waiting for corn, carrots, squash, beets and many other vegetables to come up.
The men need something to do that will give them money to feed their families, they will have to wait on the product from the gardens. Henry is trying to find ways for the men that want to work to provide what their families need.
Once a month, the families from the Feeding Centers that are supported the Salt and Light Ministry, come to the clinic for Bible Studies and health education. Yesterday was the day. The staff takes the children to a place separate from the parents and teachs them a Bible story and then they color and play organized games. The parents meet together for topics that hopefully will improve their spiritual and physical lives. They are picked up at 7:30 and meet for two hours.
Last night it rained so hard, I was afraid the garden would wash away. Hopefully it is still there. Today we have a meeting in another town with some backers of a private school for the poor only. It is not a business but a ministry. From what I heard, the test scores are very high in the six grades. They are taught English and only pay what the families can afford if anything. Many of the public schools here are not very good and most children quit before they reach high school. The teachers were on strike last year and the children only attended school for 90 days of the year. I am tutoring a math class for some of the high school students that are part of our scholarship program and they don't have basic math skills. I am talking about multiplication and division, not to mention fractions or decimals.
Thank you for all your support and prayers and thank you to the ones that made it possible for me to work with Henry and the staff at Ministerio Sal y Luz in Honduras.
God bless each of you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)