A Note From Donna |
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As I write, Phil and I are in the capital city, Tegucigalpa following an appointment at the US Embassy to get a visa for the little girl, Cindy Mendez that we have been trying to help for over 2 years. The appointment went well and we should know within a week if she will be granted permission to travel to Tampa, FL where she will be evaluated by the Shriner's Hospital to determine if they can correct her severe clubbed feet. We would appreciate your prayers for Cindy, for the doctors, and for a family who will care for her during her five months of surgeries and treatments in Tampa. We would also appreciate your prayers for the financial support needed to fly Cindy (along with Phil and I) to and from Tampa, as well as any other expenses we incur. I know for a fact that she will need some clothes and hopefully we will be able to buy Cindy her very first pair of shoes! May God's will be done in her life!
Phil and I are also taking time to pause and celebrate our 29 years of marriage. God has been so good to us and through His grace and power we have maintained a relationship that brings honor to Him. We are hoping He grants us at least 29 more!
Additionally, we celebrate our arrival to Honduras on our anniversary date. June 5, 2009 is the date we arrived here to live and work. We are humbled and thankful that God has done so much in two short years and can hardly wait to see what else He has in mind. Thank you for being a part of making it possible for us to be here. We feel honored!
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El Porvenir Construction Update
Slowly but surely we are progressing on the construction of the church building in El Porvenir as you can see from this photo. We hope to have a roof on it by the time we report to you next month.
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World Vision's Churches - Channels of Hope
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This month, Jorge Rosa, one of the local leaders of the Santa Rosa congregation, and Phil spent eight days in an intensive, training, certification by World Vision that is designed to equip churches to mobilize in their respective communities against the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
In Honduras, death resulting from complications with AIDS is the second leading cause of death behind violent death. Both Phil and Jorge were challenged by the equipping they received and are excited about helping the local church in Santa Rosa take a lead in the community in helping to prevent the spread of the disease.
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SCOTT GALLOWAY-SPORTS OUTREACH IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
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Scott Galloway, a fine Christian man from Atlanta, GA came this month to help us investigate the possibility of expanding our DESEO program in the public schools to include a sports outreach. Scott has coached basketball at the professional, university and high-school levels. He is an author and a minister of the Gospel as well.
Based on Scott's years of experience and his week of on-site investigations here, we are planning to add a basketball league for 8 to 12 year olds as an afternoon program in our schools where we are presently working the DESEO program. We plan to do the training for coaches, referees and staff during the month of December of this year and then roll the program out in the schools in February when the new Honduran school year starts.
The program that Scott directs in Atlanta uses the UPWARD program, with some slight modifications, that emphasizes prayer, devotionals, Christian conduct on the court and towards both your team mates and your opponents. Our plan is to adapt this same program for use in our culture. Scott is communicating with the UPWARD organization on our behalf. We will keep you posted on developments.
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Greetings!
We invite you to celebrate with us our 2nd anniversary here in Honduras. It is amazing to think of all that God has done in two short years. Make sure you read below about the church in Santa Rosa breaking its own attendance record.
Next month we will start reporting on our summer mission teams!
May God bless you abundantly!
Blessings,
Phil, Donna, Harrison, and Laura
www.missionupreach.com
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Santa Rosa Sets Record
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This month the Santa Rosa church set a new attendance record of 192, counting both adults and children. What a blessing, in spite of the logistical challenges that this type of growth has brought. When the Waldron family moved here to Santa Rosa, just two short years ago, the average attendance was only 30 including adults and children. Now we have at least 50 to 70 children every Sunday in our Sunday School.
May God continue to bless the church here with not only this type of numerical growth but spiritual growth as well. If you have ever had the privilege of planting and growing a new church with people who haven't ever been in church you can relate to the types of challenges that our rapid growth has brought.
On the night that the attendance hit 192 we ran out of communion bread and grape juice. It seems that some of our first time visitors didn't understand what the communion was, in spite of there having been a brief explanation and meditation on the Lord's Supper prior to passing the trays. Some of these first timers thought that it was snack time and took huge portions of the bread to eat it and drank a couple of the communion cups with the grape juice in them.
It made us think of some of the things that the Lord himself dealt with while ministering to the poor and disenfranchised while He walked on this earth.
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MUR PRESENTS TWO WORKSHOPS AT BAXTER'S MAY SEMINAR
This month Mission UpReach was invited to present two different workshops at the annual, Baxter Institute seminar in Tegucigalpa. Both of the workshops were themes that are near and dear to the heart of the mission of Mission UpReach. One was entitled, "Characteristics of a Spiritual Walk in the Life of a Christian" and focused on practical ways to grow in our efforts as Christians to reflect the spirit and character of Jesus our Lord. The other was on the theme of "Fasting, What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Practicing it?"
The first day Phil was the featured leader of the workshop with René and Josué actually doing more of the presenting, there were 36 in attendance. The second day featured Rene with Josué assisting. There were 61 in attendance for the second workshop.
The entire seminar was based on Galatians 4:19 and was focused on, "May Christ be formed in Us".
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Harrison's Graduation
Harrison graduated from home school some months back and has been working full time with the MUR team since then. He will be leaving Santa Rosa for University in the US in early July. While it is difficult to imagine life here without him on the team we are excited that he is beginning his college career. We are also excited that he has chosen Harding University, in Searcy, AR, specifically so that he can not only prepare for a career but also prepare for his vocation as a Disciple of Jesus of Nazareth.
His graduation dinner was a blessing for him. Hearing so many of the team say how much he has meant to them and how much they are going to miss him was a blessing that had an immediate positive impact on him as he goes about preparing to leave.
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Special Prayer Requests:
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Many of you support us with your prayers. We sincerely believe in the power of prayer and we thank you for interceding for us. Our family appreciates being on your daily prayer list, for safety, health, and encouragement. We also appreciate you praying for the specific request we share like the little girl Cindy Mendez, our need for funds and support, and our existing ministries: CREO, DESEO, the local church in Santa Rosa, our new church plants in Las Crucitas, Yarushín, El Porvenir, La Jigua and Mission UpReach in general. Thank you and please continue to pray for us daily. It is quite obvious that God is doing amazing things here and it is our hope and desire that He will continue to bless and multiply our efforts . |
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