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Heart of the King Newsletter – 2024 Q3

This newsletter is meant to share with those who love Jesus and are connected with us in some way. We hope you enjoy reading about some of our activities at Heart of the King.

So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. 10 Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.

Galatians 6:9 – 10

Amor Que Redime

We love our church! Pastor Jon, Alicia and Austin went to the states for the summer break to visit their son Drew and their supporting churches and we were in the states part of June visiting family then a trip to Colorado & New Mexico to visit friends and our daughter, so it was decided to hold off on church services until everyone was back. We all were thankful for September to arrive so we could unite and get back together! Jon taught a short series on “Taking the lid off”; Pray for Others, Share Your Testimony and Make Disciples. We are so blessed in our church and really need each other, love reaching out to others and the church is growing! We are discussing expanding and improving the church building so please keep this in your prayers that we will follow God’s will.

Prison ministry

Our ministry to the local prison here in La Esperanza is going well.  In the past two months, we have made new contacts with the prison director and sub-director.  This is basically the same as the warden and assistant warden in the states.  On September 12, we completed a project that has been long in the making.  Last October 2023 when Dr. Delron Shirley and his wife Peggy visited La Esperanza to hold a pastor’s conference, we also visited the prison with them.  While there we met with the ‘Mayor de Caballeria’.  He is the military officer who shares the prison director responsibilities for the military supervision of the prison.  He wanted to establish a time every day for the inmates to read and listen to the Bible. 

We agreed with that idea and offered to supply Bibles for the inmates to read.  That was the start of an almost yearlong project.  Through Dr. Delron, we were able to get connected with a ministry in Michigan, Mission Cry, who distributes Bibles around the world.  After talking with them, we arranged for 300 Bibles to be transported to Tennessee where we picked them up while we were in the states in June of this year.  We shipped them directly to our house in La Esperanza.  After they arrived in July, we began to coordinate with the prison director and sub-director to deliver and distribute them to the prison population. 

We were able to give each of the 295 prisoners and several of the guards a New Testament Bible.  Glory to God that the men now have their own Bible to read and study the word of God.  We have a large audio Bible and plan to deliver it to the prison next month for those who cannot read. We continue to expand our connections and relationships with the prison administration and guards as we share monthly. Join with us as we pray for the next steps the Lord has for our ministry there.

HFMM conference/retreat

September is a very busy month in Honduras.  Early in the month there is Diá de niño (day of the child) which is the largest holiday for children here.  It is bigger than Christmas and birthdays combined. The middle of the month is Honduras Independence Day, which is one of the largest celebrations nationwide with parades, parties and lots of fireworks.  After these plus regular ministry during the month, we were ready for a reset and some refreshing.  The association that we are a part of, Honduras fellowship for Missionaries and Ministries (HFMM), has a 4-day annual missionary conference/retreat in La Ceiba Honduras at the end of September.  We were blessed to be able to attend.  This was a great time to reset for the remainder of the year.  We enjoyed great worship and singing, listened to inspiring speakers, enjoyed fellowship with fellow missionaries, played on the beach and in the pool and of course ate great food.  A lot of times it is difficult to make yourself take a break when you enjoy what you are doing and feel the work is God’s work but Jesus must be our example.  He left the multitudes and went away to reset and refresh.

Vitamins

We work with and are around many children, they are precious.  As you probably know food is not as plentiful here as in the states, so we give out vitamins to help with nutrition. We are so thankful for your support in giving and this year we gave vitamins to 20 children!  They are gummy vitamins so there is no problem getting the kids to take them and the parents are thankful and have reported that their children have not been as sick and some are gaining weight – a good thing for these kids.  Thank you so much!

Diá de Niño

Day of the child (Día del Niño) is the biggest day of the year for kids in Honduras. This year the actual day was Tuesday, September 10, but we know of celebrations beginning as early as Saturday the 7th and as late as Saturday the 21st.  We joined some other missionaries in this area to celebrate with a school of around 300 children in Yamaranguila on Monday the 9th

We loaded the trucks early with everything that we could fit in the front and back, we even had a clown.  Upon arriving at the school, the kids were everywhere and very excited.  While several of the missionaries and the clown of course occupied the smaller children (kinder thru 6th), we and another missionary took the 7th 8th and 9th grades to a field to play games. 

The smaller kids played games, watched the clown as she made them laugh and then taught a Bible lesson before they received a gift.  Of course, the presents were opened immediately and there were kids everywhere having a great time.

As for us, the older kids gathered to hear John teach a Bible lesson with several raising their hands to receive Christ, praise God! Then they ran to the field to play games. It was a wonderful, fun and hot 2 hours playing Giant Jinga, Jacobs Ladder, Hot Potato and Limbo with the older kids and they loved it!  Then it was time for lunch. 

Part of the ministry this day was supplying a lunch of fried rice with juice to all of the kids and teachers and a few parents who were also there.  After lunch, we cleaned up and headed back to La Esperanza. It was a very rewarding day.

The next day, Tuesday, we packed up the trucks even earlier and headed to a mountain school a little over 2 hours’ drive.  Yes, it was a 2-hour drive but it was also only 20 miles.  The roads here are “interesting”, very difficult with many potholes and ruts, but we made it with no problems. The school was smaller with about 80 kids (kinder thru 6th).  The clown performed, the kids played games and gifts were given out and they all heard about Jesus!  The difference today was the rain.  Yes, it rained most of the time we were there, but everyone still had a great time. 

We were playing Limbo when the rain started but the kids didn’t want to go in. They laughed, jumped, fell down but had a blast.  Inside there was fried rice and juice served and piñatas filled with 12 pounds of candy for the kids.  On one hit 3 pieces of candy fell out but about 15 kids went after it. Finally, the hole was made bigger and all the candy dumped out, a real free for all!  The rain had stopped but now it was sprinkling again.  We gathered up everything and headed for the trucks. Soon it was another downpour.

Of course, the rain made for even slower travel on ‘interesting’ road conditions but God was with us.  We made it back to La Esperanza by mid to late afternoon and got a little rest before our next day’s adventure.  The next day was not for the day of the child.  We were scheduled to pick up our missionary friends at the airport 2 hours in the opposite direction.  We love them and it was a pleasure to pick them up, eat at a “real” restaurant (Burger King) and hear about their time in the states.

Totals for Day of the Nino celebrations from the missionary friends we worked with:

11 out reaches in 12 days!! Close to 600 children and another maybe 200 adults; all heard the gospel and a testimony of how much God loves them!!

Dianne Pointer Visit

We are so thankful for our friend Dianne! She came down last year for a visit and decided to come back this year. And WOW, she brought 2 suitcases full of shoes, clothes, toys, toothbrushes and more to give out.

We did visit a village and gave out some of the supplies. The people were very grateful for shoes, toothbrushes, toothpaste and blankets! Before Dianne came down, she had shipped a big box of shoes, clothing and other things.  One of our missionary friends asked if we had any shoes we could share with schools she wanted to help.  Well, now we did!  When Elizabeth walked in the door and saw all the shoes her heart leaped! She was able to take the shoes to a mountain school where each child got a new pair of shoes and some of the adults also received a pair.  What a blessing especially since some of the adults did not have any shoes.  Thank you, Dianne, and thanks to her friends who gave so generously.

Team Solheim (Club Aslan)

Saturday afternoons are filled with games, laughter and fun as we assist with Club Aslan.  These youth eagerly come each Saturday and leave with a new Word from the Lord.  Teaching these young people responsibility, respect for others and love for God is a goal being reached. Praise the Lord!

TeachMe2Love Academy

TeachMe2LoveAcademy is a school that runs on the American schedule as do many private schools here in Honduras.  So School was out during June, July & August resuming on September 2.  Several parents said they had no trouble getting the kids to bed the night before because the kids anxiously awaited getting back to school and their friends! We only help one day a week but were excited when our day arrived to see the kids. There are 17 registered students this year and a newly hired Honduran helper. Jon, Alicia, & Michele have done so much to improve the lives of these children and their families, also, the new helper is such a blessing! We are so thankful that God is using this school, the missionaries, and the Honduran workers to touch and change the lives of these precious children and their families. 

Let me share a testimony: One of the boys was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Prayers went up! Most days after praise and worship (yes, God is God of this school), the children pray and this little boy was prayed for.  On the last visit to the hospital, tests showed the tumor was gone!  Doctors explained that they must have mixed up the original tests but we know and the parents believe God healed their son!  Doing good reaps great blessings! Praise God!

Dr. Delron and Peggy Shirley

We have been honored for the past two years to have Dr. Delron and Peggy Shirley visit La Esperanza to minister to the local pastors and others around our area.  (They were teachers at Charis Bible College when we attended.)  We are very excited to have them returning this year the first week of November for two pastor conferences, two marriage conferences and many other ministry events in local churches, our local hospital and the local prison. We will be telling you all about their visit in the 4th quarter newsletter.  There will be more than 100 pastors and church leaders in attendance at these meetings.  We are looking forward to the wonderful ministry that will occur during the time.  Join us in prayer that this conference will encourage, uplift and send forth pastors and leaders to fulfill their callings.

It is a joy to work with all of these missionaries and others each week.  We can see the fruits of the harvest coming forward and the great blessings God is pouring out on the people here in our area of Honduras.  We thank you for “doing good” by praying, giving and encouraging us!  We know things are changing there in the USA and pray that you stay faithful to God, we pray that the blessings of God are poured out upon you and you live in peace.  Thank you for loving God and loving us!

We love you,
Gene & Robin
Heart of the King Ministries

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

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