Daily Archives: May 2, 2019

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Heart of the King Ministries – Newsletter

Sharing the heart of Jesus in Honduras

Greetings and blessings to our friends and partners.  We pray you and your family are enjoying this time of the year.  Thank you for all your prayers and support.

March and April News:

Road Construction

Our road was torn up for 6 weeks!!  We live in an area that is newly developed and did not have sewer lines. As we mentioned in our last news letter, when we arrived back home from an out of town trip, we discovered a 12-foot-deep trench in the road turning off to our house. We did get in to park for the night but the next day, we got completely locked in and could not get the truck out. The workers worked steadily everyday digging trenches, building man holes and putting in pipe to put in a sewer line in our neighborhood. We had another out of town trip planned and began praying that the trenches would be filled and the roads passable by the time we needed to leave otherwise we would have to take a bus. Bus rides are fine but it is so much nicer to drive our own truck, drive directly there stopping only when we need to. We were to leave on Saturday and on Thursday they began filling in the trenches!! We were so happy and just praised God for hearing our prayers to finish the roads! Well they did not finish the roads in time for us to drive to our destination so we took the bus.  Praise God when we returned back home the trenches had been filled in and the roads were usable although work on the manhole covers continued.

God was able to use this to teach us many things; patience, self-control, appreciation for big and little things, joy and praise.  We had been stranded at home, most of this time, 5 weeks, although our wonderful friends did carry us places: the local grocery store, Siguatepeque, the largest city near us for serious/real grocery shopping; they even took us back home with them for fellowship, a meal, craft time and Bible study!! I love how God plans things and makes a way for us to enjoy life. While at home we were able to settle in a little more; we hung up our curtains, cleaned windows and floors (this is a new house and windows and floors were not cleaned after being built), rake pine straw, build a PVC clothes hamper, sorted out our “junk” area and of course we took time to study, pray and be alone with God – how refreshing. God will make the Bible come alive. We walked to church one Sunday, a 30-minute walk and when we returned and looked down at our dusty shoes, even though most of the way was on sidewalks and paved roads, we learned the Biblical importance of greeting visitors and washing their feet!  We are thankful for shoes and a truck – Ha ha!

Dad Camp

It seems that for this season of our missionary life, we are to be helpers. Recently we helped our friends with a week-end “Dad’s Camp” teaching fathers to take time with their children. The Dads and boys met on Saturday and Dads and their daughters met on Sunday.  It was a wonderful experience watching the men “come alive” playing with their children, hugging them, sitting and talking one-on-one and sharing a meal together. This was a Christian sponsored activity and there were several Dads that came who had never attended church with their families but did see the importance of being a Dad.  As the day began and people began to arrive, games were available to them to play. Many of the Dads stood back and watch as the children played and laughed. But when one of the Dads was asked if he wanted to jump on the trampoline, the ice broke! Several Dads took their children by the hand and headed for the trampoline to take their turn. There were smiles and laughter, new friendships were made as the men laughed and talked about jumping in the air.  We spent the day setting up, helping to prepare food, directing children to the right places, smiling and talking with the children and praying for the truth of God’s word to penetrate every heart there.  What a great time!

La Cieba

The last week of March we rode the bus to La Cieba where our friend’s ministry, White Fields, is located and spent the week helping them. They have teams come down and minister to neighborhood children, a village, a senior home, a children’s home and a local village. This visiting team was from the Charis Bible College in Canada.  We always enjoy helping out White Fields and getting to participate in the many activities they do.  The Charis teams are so great to be with.  They bring that special Charis ‘atmosphere’ with them.

 

 

Pastor/School visit

Gene received a WhatsApp message from a local pastor one afternoon.  If you are not familiar with WhatsApp, it is a messaging app on smart phones that works similar to other apps like Facebook messenger.  The phone app, WhatsApp, is used extensively in Central America.  This message brought us a new opportunity.  There is a local private bi-lingual school here in La Esperanza name Oasis.  This pastor works at the school part time (almost all pastors here work secular jobs to support their families).   Gene scheduled a meeting with him to discuss volunteering to help teach English at the school.  After a one-hour meeting at a local coffee shop, a visit to the school to meet with the director and much prayer, we came to the conclusion that teaching English is not what the Lord sent us to Honduras to do.  So, we politely explained to them, we would not be able to help.  Although, we did not accept the opportunity, it was a great cultural learning experience.  In the Hispanic culture, ‘no’ is a bad word.  Not really, but almost.  In the Hispanic culture, the people are very non-confrontational.  North Americans are considered very abrupt and actually rude most of the time.  The culture here is relational, the culture in the states is event driven and time sensitive.  Here the relationship is more important than the event or activity.  It is just a different way of life.  It is hard to explain.  You have to live it to understand it.

Truck rides

During the week before Easter (Holy week or Semana Santa), most businesses close.  This is considered the ‘Vacation’ week for most of the country when families gather for time at the beach or lake or for family reunions.  On Thursday of that week, we had the opportunity to take a local Pastor and his family to a farm (finca) on the road to Marcala to enjoy a day with his extended family.  This was necessary because few buses were running.  Buses are very important in Honduras, their main mode of transportation and there are lots of buses on the roads! It was a blessing to be able to help the family get to the farm together.  We also were able to spend a little time with the family and look over the farm then enjoy a cup of coffee and use our Spanish.  On our way back home, because the buses were not running, we saw many people walking or standing on the side of the road.  Within just a few minutes, we had picked up about ten people.  The bed of the truck was packed.  As we traveled toward town, people would tap on the truck when they needed us to stop for them to get out.  By the time we reached town, there were only two people remaining so we dropped them off at the bus station then returned home.  It was a blessing to be able to help and we thanked God for the truck he has provide to us.

Missionary couple

We discovered that we live only a mile or less from another missionary couple here in La Esperanza.  We talked with them at the missionary retreat we attended and made plans to get together.  Gene went down a couple of times to help set up a work shop and help with some basic plumbing and electrical work. Later we both walked down for a visit and spent the day talking, doing crafts and just enjoying being together.  We found that we have a lot in common with them and have been presented with multiple opportunities through their ministry.

Alcalde/Mayor

One opportunity that has been opened to us is a Mother’s Day ministry event.  A local church and our missionary friends are organizing this and we participated in a meeting at the mayor’s office to discuss and get approval for the event in the central park for Mother’s Day.  There will be a Christian mariachi band from Nicaragua performing and the opportunity to show the heart of Jesus to those attending as we celebrate Mothers. Please be in prayer for this event on the evening of May 11.

Church under a tree

Also, as part of connecting with the missionary couple, during the past month, we attended a ‘church under the tree’ service.  This is a church that our friends have established in the mountains near La Esperanza.  After driving up the rocky dirt road for an hour and a half, we reached San Lorenzo, not much more than a couple of buildings along the side of the long dusty rough mountain road.  Before service began, we walked around, met and invited families to the central tree, beside the road, for service.  When service started, there were a group of women and children sitting on the benches we had brought, a group of men sitting on a hill side and random people walking by and stopping on the road to watch and listen.  We started with some Spanish songs which were sung without music or a sound system.  Then, our friend delivered the message.  The people (including the children) were still and quiet; listening to every word.  In total, we counted around forty people in attendance. This was an excellent day to see the Lord show up under a tree in the middle of remote, rural Honduras.  As a more personal note, Gene was looking for the ‘lost’ man.  For those of you who did not hear Gene’s story last year about the vision and plan he received… In this vision, he saw a man standing in an open field.  The man looked lost or like he was looking for something.  The Lord told Gene; “there are many missionaries in Honduras and most of them are working with the youth and/or children.  That is great.  That is what I have told them to do.  But for you, there is a lost generation that will not be reached by ministering to the youth and children.  They will never hear or understand my message.  I want you to talk to them, teach them of Me and My ways.  The lost generation should not continue to live lost.  I have given my Son for them.”  So, needless to say, Gene has been looking for that lost man everywhere.  He really believes the lord is telling him, “you are getting closer to finding the lost man.  He is in a remote area like this.  He is looking for Me and I am sending you to show him the way.”

Rocket Stove/oven Aquaponics & greenhouse

We have also worked with our new missionary friends on a prototype rocket stove/oven that could be built and used in the remote mountain areas.  It will heat up quickly, burn much more efficiently, use much less wood and is easy and inexpensive to build.  We are also helping them to reconstruct an aquaponics system that they had built in their previous location in the mountains.  This too will show a better way of using the resources that are available here in Honduras.  We are learning and storing up information to help families as we continue our work.

Pastor dinner

This past week, we attended a dinner for local pastors at our friend’s house.  This was a great time to meet local pastors, enjoy fellowship and use our Spanish.  We are looking forward to getting out and being involved more with the community as we find our place here in Honduras.

 

During this time of “waiting” as we help others, we are learning so much about the culture, about ministry, about missions and about ourselves. We are so thankful for the friends God has brought our way and their willingness to share and help teach us about ministry in Honduras. God is great and life is good!

We are very grateful for you, our long-distant friends! Your prayers and support encourage us and help direct our focus. Together we are working on building the Kingdom and glorifying the name of Jesus.

Gene & Robin

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6-7

If the Lord leads you to support our ministry financially, all gifts are tax deductible and should be mailed to:

Heart of the King Ministries
115 Creden Pl
Alabaster, AL. 35007

Checks should be made payable to Heart of the King Ministries.

If you would like to use a credit or debit card or your PayPal account,
PayPal is available on our website at this LINK.

Click this LINK to view our Honduras photo galleries (newer photos appear toward the bottom of the individual gallery).