"Remember, if God wants you to suffer, it is better to suffer for doing good than for doing wrong! Christ also suffered. He died once for the sins of all us guilty sinners, although he himself was innocent of any sin at any time, that he might bring us safely home to God." 1 Peter 3:17-18a (Living Bible)
God may want us to suffer so that he might bring others safely home to him.
As part of my children's school curriculum we have been reading the stories of many different missionaries. God certainly used their suffering to bring many to him. Although my "suffering" is nothing compared to many others', let alone Christ's, may I be willing to be used by God in all circumstances of my life in order to bring others to him.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
trees of life
"And he pointed out to me a river of pure Water of Life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb, coursing down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew Trees of Life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month; the leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations." Revelation 22:1-2 (Living Bible)
This "Water of Life", the love of Jesus, the power of the Holy Spirit, the living water of God, is even now flowing through us. I believe we are to be "trees of life". We are to produce a "fresh crop each month" and our "leaves", our hands, are to be used to heal people, "heal the nations".
Help us, oh God, to be your hands and feet. Help us to be instruments of your power and love. Help us always to remain close to you, our source of Living Water.
This "Water of Life", the love of Jesus, the power of the Holy Spirit, the living water of God, is even now flowing through us. I believe we are to be "trees of life". We are to produce a "fresh crop each month" and our "leaves", our hands, are to be used to heal people, "heal the nations".
Help us, oh God, to be your hands and feet. Help us to be instruments of your power and love. Help us always to remain close to you, our source of Living Water.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
bendiciones
We were honored to be invited to the wedding of Lilian and Jose Li. Lilian is Mirna's oldest sister. They just got married in their local church this past Saturday, May 14th. Lilian and her husband wanted to honor the Lord, do the right thing and move beyond their common law status. They have been together for some time, have several children, but haven't had the necessary money for the official wedding until now. Their church was able to help them out. Here in Honduras many people have two ceremonies. By law, they are required to have a civil ceremony in which they need to have a lawyer attend and it is usually very expensive. Later after the paperwork is finished (I think usually at least a week or two later), they then have the church ceremony if they so choose. Many people do not do either of these ceremonies unless they have enough money for both. Actually, many people, especially the poor, do not even consider the official marriage procedure as an option.
We were not able to attend the actual wedding ceremony. A decision was made the day before the wedding to change the time from 4pm to 10am and we were not able to make it in time. Jose Li, Lilian and family live about 4 1/2 hours away from Valle de Angeles. We were able to spend the afternoon with the family and attend church with them in the evening.
Mirna with her mom, Luz (who is cooking the wedding reception lunch of chop suey) and her sisters, Lilian and Gladys
With Mirna in their backyard
Mirna, Lilian and Mirna's niece, Emily, during a visit about two weeks ago
We believe Lilian and Jose Li will be good examples for Mirna as they seem to be sincere followers of Christ and willing to work hard to provide for their family. We pray God's blessing on their marriage and their family.
We were not able to attend the actual wedding ceremony. A decision was made the day before the wedding to change the time from 4pm to 10am and we were not able to make it in time. Jose Li, Lilian and family live about 4 1/2 hours away from Valle de Angeles. We were able to spend the afternoon with the family and attend church with them in the evening.
Mirna with her mom, Luz (who is cooking the wedding reception lunch of chop suey) and her sisters, Lilian and Gladys
With Mirna in their backyard
Mirna, Lilian and Mirna's niece, Emily, during a visit about two weeks ago
We believe Lilian and Jose Li will be good examples for Mirna as they seem to be sincere followers of Christ and willing to work hard to provide for their family. We pray God's blessing on their marriage and their family.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
bonfire
We decided to have a bonfire with the Macdonalds and the ECAs and other former Finca youth/young adults, Kelly, Mirian, Danilo, Yohana, Jaquelin, Concho, Diana and Lilian. The next couple of photos are what they chose to do vs. spend time at the beautiful bonfire that Harlan had made. Some even asked if they could cook their hotdogs in the microwave and chose to eat their marshmallows cold! Harlan was very disappointed. :)
a day in La Tigra during Semana Santa
Along with the Macdonalds we decided to take a group of the "ex-Finca" kids up the cloud forest in the national park, La Tigra, for a 3 hour round trip walk to a waterfall. Here's a picture of the whole group except Hamish and Rachel, who were taking the pictures. And all 15 of us fit in the truck. :)
visitors
First, some friends from Oklahoma, Jim and Betty Geib, Nathan Geib, and Reyes and Heidi Chupp, came to visit. We first met them two years ago when they came to visit Dwain and Audrey Livengood at the Finca de los Ninos. They came again this year to visit and help out at the Finca. We were glad to see them again. When they came to visit we made them work and gave them something to eat. :)
Then, some friends from England arrived, right about the same time. Hamish, Rachel, Seth, Darcy and Flora Macdonald were able to stay about seven weeks. We had only met them when they visited Valle and the Finca last year, but they, too, became fast friends! Unfortunately, we didn't take any family photos.
We also made them work when they came over... :) Awesome eggs and chips, Hamish and delicious carmelized onions, Rachel!
Seth, Darcy and and Flora were able to spend the night a couple of times and the girls had fun pretending to be Indian princesses while the boys enjoyed bothering the girls (and playing with Lincoln Logs)!
Then, some friends from England arrived, right about the same time. Hamish, Rachel, Seth, Darcy and Flora Macdonald were able to stay about seven weeks. We had only met them when they visited Valle and the Finca last year, but they, too, became fast friends! Unfortunately, we didn't take any family photos.
We also made them work when they came over... :) Awesome eggs and chips, Hamish and delicious carmelized onions, Rachel!
Seth, Darcy and and Flora were able to spend the night a couple of times and the girls had fun pretending to be Indian princesses while the boys enjoyed bothering the girls (and playing with Lincoln Logs)!
visa renewal trip to Belize
Once again we needed to leave Honduras in order to be able to come back to Honduras and stay for a while longer... :)
We drove to San Pedro Sula in northern Honduras for a meeting on Saturday and then on to Choloma (just north of San Pedro Sula). We spent two nights in Choloma visiting friends, Francisco, Blanca and family, as well as the church plant where they are pastoring. They were a great blessing to us as they gave us a room for the night, provided a place for us to leave our truck and arranged a ride for us to Puerto Cortes on Monday morning and a ride back on Friday.
Below is a picture at an traffic light in Choloma where we needed to wait as police and military cleared the intersection of a student protest. You can see the police removing rocks from the road and the students in the distance marching down the road.
We took a "ferry", pictured below, from Puerto Cortes, Honduras, to Placencia, Belize, where we stayed for four days until the ferry returned to Honduras on Friday morning. We drove the rest of the way home and arrived around 9:30 on Friday evening. We thank God for a great, uneventful, relaxing, restful trip and quality family time!
...arriving at Placencia
We drove to San Pedro Sula in northern Honduras for a meeting on Saturday and then on to Choloma (just north of San Pedro Sula). We spent two nights in Choloma visiting friends, Francisco, Blanca and family, as well as the church plant where they are pastoring. They were a great blessing to us as they gave us a room for the night, provided a place for us to leave our truck and arranged a ride for us to Puerto Cortes on Monday morning and a ride back on Friday.
Below is a picture at an traffic light in Choloma where we needed to wait as police and military cleared the intersection of a student protest. You can see the police removing rocks from the road and the students in the distance marching down the road.
We took a "ferry", pictured below, from Puerto Cortes, Honduras, to Placencia, Belize, where we stayed for four days until the ferry returned to Honduras on Friday morning. We drove the rest of the way home and arrived around 9:30 on Friday evening. We thank God for a great, uneventful, relaxing, restful trip and quality family time!
...arriving at Placencia
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