Saturday, September 11, 2010

Rancho Oasis Update


Prayer Requests:

1. We celebrated the girl’s birthdays this week. Naomi completed four years on the fourth of September and Tabi two years of life on the first. Feliz cumpleaños!




2. September 11-14, two Christian brothers (a pastor and pharmacist) from West Virginia will be arriving at the Ranch to do a reconnaissance mission. They are considering helping with some of the projects and doing a potential medical clinic at the Ranch. Pray for safe travel and wisdom as we seek God’s direction.

3. First week in October, the Ranch will be hosting a group of 8 to 10 adults from engineering Ministries international. They will be helping us know how to best use the land, as well as constructing buildings on the property. The cost of hosting these 8-10 people includes room and board and one of their plane tickets. Their services come at no charge! Estimating a value of $1,200. Would you prayerfully consider supporting the eMi team and their stay at the Ranch?



4. September is the rainiest season of the year and the water is doing a lot of damage to our gravel road from Ojojona to the property (roughly 3 miles). I’ve had to cancel classes several times because of the weather and not being confident I can get through some muddy sections of the road. Please pray for a reprieve from the rain, wisdom on how to repair sections and safety as I drive the bus and members of the body involved with RO4Y activities.



5. This Sunday begins the transition from having help from the believers in Tegus to being on our own. The adult Bible study is going to be combined with the teens and taught by Jon. Their lesson will be taught the following week to the two younger children’s classes, by volunteers from the adults and teens. This way the church will all being studying the same theme, the life of Jesus, and the adults and teens teaching the younger classes will have been prepped the week before in their own study. Pray for me as I prepare the lessons, pray also for the new teachers and for the right attitude among the people involved with RO4Y. The community in Ojojona has been receiving help from Tegucigalpa for over three years and I know that change will be challenging, but equally exciting! UPDATE: The adults and teens took to the study well! Now pray for this weekend as the adults and teens will help the two younger classes.

6. Two-thirds done on the remodel of the little house on the property. Continue to pray for wisdom for Wayne as he directs the project and for the staff to come and live in it!





7. Continue to pray for our one year visa extension. The application is being reviewed by the immigration department and could take up to 6 months before it is accepted or denied. Prayerfully it will be accepted. Once the baby is born in December, we are planning to then apply for permanent residency.

8. The process of importing the bus is still… in process. However, I did meet with the president’s assistant in the Casa Presidencial, the hacienda style office complex of the executive branch. The meeting was short and sweet, but Cecilia thanked me for our desire to serve her people and assured me that she would do what she could to help. Isn’t that cool!

9. Pray for the installation of the internet service we signed up for two months ago. UPDATE: They tried last week, but turned around saying the roads were too bad.

10. Continue to pray for strength for Marillyn during her pregnancy. With Brooke gone, life is even more demanding for her and she doesn’t get a lot of time to rest. Thankfully, with my parents here for the next few weeks, she gets some relief from the girls.

11. Jon’s parents arrived safely August 30th. They will be at Ranch Oasis through September 16. Pray for their health and safety and that they would catch the vision for the ministry (actually being here in Honduras is so different then hearing our stories and seeing pictures). Both Dave and Marsha are currently involved with different aspects of the ministry State-side.

12. Brooke is doing well in the States. She is working on many different things for the Ranch. Like contacting missions organizations that invest in ministries with finances and short term mission teams as well as apply for RO4Y non-profit status. Pray for wisdom for her as she works on Rancho stuff and strength as she is away from her family.

13. Literacy class has been terminated for the time being. Lack of interest and lack of direction from the classes instructor, a youth attending Rancho’s services. We’d like to start it up again, but pray for God’s direction and timing.

14. We’ve got some interest from some short term missions team groups to come help finish various projects at the Ranch, like the multi-purpose building and our home. Pray that God would orchestrate the teams and finances.

15. Continue to pray for our worker Jose Luciano. It appears that God is opening the door for another Christian to take his place, Oscar the man helping with the little house project. Pray for a smooth transition and wisdom to know how to minister to both of these men. UPDATE: I let Jose go last week and hired on Oscar. It has been a huge blessing to have a very excited, vocal, Honduran Christian to work with. Praise God! Pray for Jose, he didn’t take the news very well.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hola Jon... soy Dora, estamos muy tristes tener que dejar el ministerio en Ojojona,, bubububu(llanto) vamos a extrañar mucho a los niños, pero damos gracias a Dios que ustedes esten ahora con ellos, estaremos orando por cada una de sus peticiones esperando que Dios haga cosas grandes alla con ustedes y que el guie sus pasos y les de sabiduria en su ministerio,,,

Dios les Bendiga mucho y cumpla con los deseos de sus corazones

Anonymous said...

Hey Jon...this is your neighbor Ashley from Pura Vida Missions. I will be praying for you! It is so GREAT to hear all of the things that God is doing in your life! Congratulations on the new baby in DECEMBER! I will be in prayer for you all and to know how much God is moving there through you all is AMAZING and you just got there from HIS perspective! Please pass on a BIG hug from Marjorie and I! You always have a home and family back in San Ramón. Love you guys!

Ashley