Safe House
We have been continually challenged by a number of cases of teenage girls that we have encountered in our time here in Honduras, that have to live with "step fathers" or "uncles" that pressure them for sex while living with their mothers.
Finally over the last few months, we here at MUR, reached a consensus that we could no longer stand by without responding to the cases that we had personal knowledge of.
We are pleased to tell you that God has blessed us with a small amount of funds whereby we could open a "safe house" for these girls to live in while studying and working in order to build a better life for themselves.
Please be praying about this ministry. It has the potential to effect a great deal of good among this group of at-risk teenage girls.
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Kindergarten
 Our DESEO program, that holds devotionals and value lessons in public schools, continues to grow by leaps and bounds.After having been in the community of Las Sandias for a number of days with our medical brigade and then beginning the DESEO program in their primary school we were made aware that due to government corruption or malfeasance the Kindergarten had been closed. At the same time that we received this news we had one of our girls in the safe house, who had graduated from high-school and was entering the university to study education, and was in need of a job. MUR stepped out on faith and made the commitment to the community to run their kindergarten using this young lady, Yeni, as the teacher so that she can work and pay her way through college. If you think you would like to help with defraying the cost of this ministry please send your donations to MUR's Athens, GA address listed below and earmark it "Kindergarten".
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Basketball Outreach
Ray Hamm, a retired high school basketball coach from Llano, TX, came for two weeks and helped us kick off our Youth Basketball outreach program to public schools.
This is more than just teaching the game of basketball; our coaches hold devotionals and help kids memorize Bible verses.
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Medical Brigade in Las Sandias
This past month the Pine Tree church of Christ, Longview, TX was here to realize a 4-day medical, dental and eyeglasses clinic. We attended to more than 900 people in the four days of the clinic.
Probably the most moving moment was a visit on the last day to the home of Doņa Margarita. She is a widow whose oldest son, and the only working member of the family, was murdered three months ago.
She lives in abject poverty and struggles to support nine children who live with her. One child is Carlos, a 20+ year old son who is retarded, and another child is Karen Eulisa, who has CP and is confined to a wheel chair.
Carlos loves to sing. On this last day of the clinic, pictured here, the Pine Tree Team went to his house and sang hymns. He was delighted and there wasn't a dry eye in the crowd. When you experience something like this it has a way of putting your priorities in order.
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Boot Camp
This month we were successful in recruiting a second generation of students for our church leadership "Boot Camp 101".
Most of these men were from remote villages in the Department of Santa Barbara. They received 70+ hours of training while here and will return for two more weeks later in the year. In total we will host six weeks of Boot Camp with two different groups of men in each of the three week sessions.
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Note From Donna
The recent opening of our safe house has caused me to move some of my priorities around. You can imagine the counseling and guidance necessary for such a ministry, especially as we combat the emotional and sexual abuse most of these girls have endured. While each girl is required to work and study to be in the program, we are in need of funds to offset the expenses they cannot meet on their own. While we are not willing to publish each girl's story in an effort to protect their privacy, if you are interested in sponsoring a specific girl, we would be happy to give you some details privately so that you can be more emotionally and prayerfully involved in her life. As we ponder how to combat the oppression of women in this society, we are overwhelmed. However, we believe God has called us to help one girl at a time and make a difference where we can. Phil and I continually say we do not have the time or energy to add any new ministries, but God obviously has a different plan! Please pray for our growing team and for our stamina to be faithful to the challenges He sends our way. We thank God for each of you as our supporters and friends!
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Santa Rosa Church
Just three years ago, when the Waldron family moved here, our little church in Santa Rosa only had 35 people, including adults and children, in attendance. Now, thanks to God, we have more that 65 children in just our Sunday School and more that 100 adults for a total average attendance of 165+ on a Sunday. This month we had a promotion of grades with each child in the Sunday School receiving a certificate of completion for the past year.
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Preacher's Seminar
Jason Bybee and Matt Moore, from the Mayfair Church of Christ, were here this past month to give a three day seminar on more effective preaching from the pulpit and resolution of conflict. It was a small but select group of preachers that were able to receive this training.
We are hoping that this is the first of a number of intensives that Jason and Matt will be able to offer the preachers in our region. One of the greatest obstacles to our churches being effective agents of Christlike transformation is poor preaching focus and an inability to resolve conflict in a productive and Biblical manner.
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