September - October 2012 Update

The kids were fascinated by their first snowfall!  Yep, November 4th there were already snow flurries.  Fall didn’t stay very long.  We barely experienced the change of the leaves to different shades of red, yellow, and orange when the winds blew them all off.  Now the trees are bare and the cold has set in.  We keep telling the kids, “You haven’t seen anything yet!  Wait until winter actually gets here!”  We are all grateful that we have had the mild summer (in our opinion!) and the fall to gradually get accustomed to the cold.

Still no jobs on the horizon.  So we continue to covet your prayers, that God would lead us to the jobs and city where we should settle.  Meanwhile, we keep busy in the ministry.  We are involved in a small, local Hispanic congregation.  Robert has preached, led Bible studies and worship, and translated for the group of mainly migrant workers.  Roxanne participates in the women’s craft group as well, getting to know the ladies and ministering to them.  Roxanne has also taken on the challenge of “directing” the children actors for the Christmas play in our English church and Julianna is participating as the main character.

David has had quite his share of challenges in high school with adjusting to the system and feeling like he has no real friends.  Please keep him in your prayers, that he might be encouraged.  On the other hand, God has done a miracle for Julianna, who was placed in grade 7, despite the fact that she is dyslexic and didn’t do grade 6.  We were told that it would take months for her to be officially diagnosed in the government school system and we don’t have the $1,500 it would cost to have her diagnosed privately.  The Lord has granted us favor and miraculously, Juli has been placed at the top of the long list of students to be evaluated!  Hopefully, before this year is out, she will be getting the extra help she needs in school so that she can succeed.

We are forever grateful for all of you who pray and support us.  May the Lord bless you all a hundredfold!

Grace and peace,

Robert, Roxanne, David, and Julianna

July - August 2012

Tales from the Culture-Shock Crypt

Yep, we’re experiencing reverse culture shock. Roxanne’s been out of her country for 24 years, visiting only for a few weeks every three or four years. Now that she’s back, she realizes it’s the small things that surprise you. Like, getting charged $1.50 for every withdrawal at the bank. That didn’t exist when she was growing up here! Or, like going to the store for a few photocopies and being charged $3.65! “What?! Why so expensive?” The girl said, “Well, you could have done your copies in the self-serve section. It would have been cheaper.” Self-serve? Are you kidding? In Honduras they’d walk off with the paper, maybe even the copier itself! No one has self-serve! And it would have cost a few cents to make these copies. And what about $6 for a liter of milk? Whaat? It’s not yak’s milk, just plain cow’s! Ouch! Milk is subsidized down south. Also in USA. Wow. It’s another world!

Speaking of living in this other world, we are staying in a friends’ home until we can find jobs. We’d appreciate your prayers for jobs and finally settling down in a place of our own. We have sent in many resumés and we’ve had a few interviews. Still nothing yet. It was so easy to get a job in Honduras whenever we wanted one because of our degrees and bilingualism. Very different here!

It’s been a crazy transition from the Latin world to the first world. Robert spent seven weeks away getting his Costa Rican driver’s license and selling our cars in Honduras. Roxanne went back for a week in July to help him empty out our rental house there and to say final good-byes. Then we spent a few days in Pittsburgh picking up some of our luggage sent on ahead with short term teams and touching base with some supporters. Visiting with family along the way has been a blessing. We’ve been doing a lot of traveling over these last few weeks, which has included our usual car problems along the way. God has been faithful in protecting us and providing the help we need at the right time.

Both Julianna and Robert celebrated their birthdays early September. Juli had 3 friends come over and spend the night. They had a blast!

Pray with us for grace and favor in the eyes of government officials as we send off all the paperwork and documents we have worked so hard to gather over the past year. We are hoping the kids’ citizenship will be granted within the year and that Robert will quickly have a work permit in his hands.

Pray, too, for David as he enters high school and Juli as she has been thrust into the seventh grade, though she never did 6th, simply because of the year she was born. This will be a huge transition for them.

We are so grateful for your faithful prayers and continued support during this time of adjustment to our new life in Canada. May the Lord bless and watch over you.  

Robert, Roxanne, David, and Julianna

June 2012 Update

Paperwork Roundup

For the past year we have been sending updates regarding our future move North as a family.  We have prayerfully considered our need for an extended leave for rest, recovery, recharging our batteries, and refunding. We have sought the counsel of seasoned, mature pastors and missionaries who have lived through similar situations. So, as our initial paperwork package finally came together, the Lord would have it coincide with Roxanne’s youngest brother’s wedding, and the simultaneous expiration of our Honduran resident visas, driver’s license, and credit card. Time to make the move? We feel this is the Lord’s timing for us. We are taking a much needed extended furlough, or sabbatical year, for the first time in over two decades of ministry overseas, bringing closure to our time in Honduras and seeking the Lord’s direction for the future.

Preparing for our New Life 

Besides the time we have already spent in May visiting family and enjoying Roxanne’s brother’s beautiful wedding day in Canada, our summer will include debriefing sessions, camp for the kids, a big family reunion, and visiting supporting churches. Robert will travel to Costa Rica in June to get a new driver’s license and then to Honduras to finish selling our cars and belongings, before rejoining Roxanne and the kids in Canada. We hope to make a trip to Pittsburgh in July as well, to touch base with supporters there. Please pray for our safety this summer with all the traveling around we need to do, and for the wrap up in Honduras.

Camping Kids

We are very grateful for the opportunity the kids have to go to camp because of the missionary scholarships they have received. Beginning July 22, David will be spending two weeks at Camp Mini-Yo-We on a canoe trip, and Juli will have a one-week adventure at Circle Square Ranch, enjoying horseback riding. Please pray for their safety and for a great camp experience.

Thank you so much for standing in the gap with us, before the Throne of Grace, during this time of transition.

Your partners in the King’s service,

Robert, Roxanne, David, and Julianna 

April 2012 Update

The nine new believers made a semicircle around Robert and Manuel in the river. One by one, they were baptized on that beautiful sunny day in March. Praise the Lord with us for the growth of the church plant, Iglesia de Amor, in the needy community of Rivera Hernandez. This Sunday we will be celebrating our fourth anniversary and Robert will be preaching.

The children’s library is now tending to over 200 children on a weekly basis. When we left it in the able hands of Oscar and Mary, we were serving 70 kids a week. We are very thankful to God for providing Hondurans who love the children and share the vision God gave us for the library. Continue to pray for Oscar Noe and Mary as they take this ministry to new heights.

The new church plant in Siguatepeque, CCI, (Centro Cristiano Internacional) now consists of about thirty people in total. We are now starting a fourth group at a local swimming complex. Robert began sharing with the manager, Minor, who enthusiastically agreed to host a group. Robert has invited different business owners and our mechanic, and their wives, to join us. Pray that God will draw them to Himself.

The Latin America Mission Canada celebrated 50 years of service, by holding a retreat for their missionaries at the end of March in Costa Rica. Robert attended and served as interpreter, as they all praised God for His faithfulness, while hearing the exciting testimonies from old friends and co-laborers in other countries. Our dear friend and fellow missionary in Mexico, Tracey Pieters, stopped in for a couple of days to visit us in Honduras before continuing on to the conference. Roxanne and the kids were unable to go because our kids’ passports were stuck in the Canadian embassy awaiting visas.

What do the kids need visas for, you may ask? We are planning a trip north to Canada next month for Roxanne’s brother’s wedding. We’ll be visiting Robert’s relatives in the States on the way up. Please pray for us in our preparations and for safety in our travels. We look forward to seeing some of you then!

We’ve added some colorful pictures of the incredible sawdust carpets that are made annually for Easter Week in Comayagua, which is only a half hour drive away. We went early to see them before the Catholic procession walked through them. This is a special cultural treat to see.

We greatly appreciate your prayers for us. May the Lord’s blessings be poured out upon you and yours!

In His service,

Robert, Roxanne, David, and Julianna

March 2012 Update

IN THE LINE OF FIRE!

Imagine their shock when policemen burst into the church building, in the middle of the Sunday morning service, and hauled pastor Manuel and Loli’s two teenaged sons, Kevin and Isaac, plus another youth from the platform, where they were doing a skit. “What are you doing, officers? Where are you taking them?” Manuel followed them out of the sanctuary, with the baffled crowd in tow. The policemen insisted that these boys had just committed a robbery and jumped over the wall into the church yard. The boys were treated very roughly by the police, to the point that Manuel feared for their lives. He told them, “No, sirs, you’re mistaken. These are my sons and all three of these boys have been here at the service all morning.” The officers didn’t believe him and began dragging them by their hair, arms twisted behind them, towards the police car. “Please, take me, instead. Do anything you want to me. Just don’t hurt my boys!” It was not until he was willing to put himself in harm’s way, that they were at last convinced that Manuel was telling the truth. They finally released them and left.

WANNA BE IN MY GANG?

Another Sunday, a young man came into the church in the middle of the service and insisted that Manuel give him 500 lempiras (about $25). “I don’t have 500 lempiras, but I can take up an offering for you at the end of the service.” The young man insisted that he needed the money right away, and began getting agitated. At that point, another young man, who had recently begun to attend the church, upon witnessing the scene, left and returned a few minutes later, with some well known, local gang members. Through the gate, the gang members insisted to pastor Manuel that he hand over the young man who had been harrassing him. They would “take care of him.” They told him they had been observing Manuel over the last few weeks and were pleased with his work in the community, so they were there to protect him. Manuel, knowing that they would kill the intruder without a second thought, pleaded with the gang, and managed to convince them that they were misinformed and that they need not “take care” of him. After they left, the terrified young intruder sat quietly at the back of the sanctuary, still shaking from the near death incident. He quickly exited at the end of the service and never returned.

HIS MIGHTY HAND OF PROTECTION!

These are just two of the common hair-raising episodes that have occurred recently at the church plant in Rivera Hernandez. We are all witnessing the mighty hand of the Omnipotent defending his children, and can testify that His mercies are truly new every morning. Please continue to pray for protection for pastor Manuel, Loli, and their children, that they might continue to have a great impact on this needy community. Danger lurks at every turn in this massive shanty town, but this pastoral family has learned to walk by faith daily, face the death threats head on, and bask in our Lord’s extravagant love for them. May His name be exalted forever! Nothing is too difficult for the Lord of Hosts!

IN AND OUT OF JAIL

Robert was supposedly only accompanying the four pastors to the prison in Santa Barbara, to see first hand what prison ministry was like, and because they had no means of transportation. After a two hour drive, it was he who preached to the enthusiastic crowd of Christian inmates and sang them a song. He encouraged them in their walk with God and challenged them to commit to intercessory prayer for missionaries around the world. They were amazed to hear stories of the martyrs and the persecuted church in other parts of the world, and were thrilled with Robert’s idea of putting up a world map in their cell, so they could pray for their brethren while laying hands on the map. It was an incredible experience for both him and the inmates whom he hopes to revisit soon. Meanwhile, one of the other pastors led eight other convicts to the Lord in another cell.

This month we may have two children’s ministry seminars. One in Tegucigalpa, the capital, and one in San Pedro Sula. Please pray for God to use us that His people may be well trained to reach children for Christ.

We praise God for Roxanne’s birthday in February, our 21st anniversary on March 9th, and David’s 14th birthday on March 28. The Lord is gracious and merciful, abounding in love.

May you be strengthened and blessed, as you seek His face daily!

We want to encourage you with Isa. 35:3-4.

Serving Him with gratefulness,

Robert, Roxanne, David, and Julianna

Robert translates at pastors' retreat

Library kids year-end party