The second team in front of Fatima's house
We have already
had 2 work teams come to help with some much needed construction projects, and
a third team is currently working to try to finish what wasn’t completed. Three
families in our neighborhood have received new bathrooms and other home
improvements. Fatima’s family, a family with children and elderly grandparents,
received a new kitchen, bathroom, and her house now has all four walls, which
will greatly improve the security in their home. Suyapa, a mother of 5 whose
husband abandoned her and the children, received a new bathroom, and the old dirt
floors were replaced with concrete floors, which will be much easier to keep
clean. Antonio, the young man who helped the teams with the construction projects,
received a new bathroom and had electricity put into his home. Most
importantly, the love of Christ was shown in practical ways to the people in
our community.
Although the teams
have worked really hard to complete all of the work, there is still work to be
done, so we are hoping to have a few more people come down here this summer to
complete the work that has already been done. If you have some time this
summer, please prayerfully consider spending a week or two here helping! Send
an email to us for details and an application!
School is going
well, and we are seeing a lot of improvement in attitudes as well as academics,
and we are so proud of all of our students! We are thankful for a generous
sponsor who stepped forward to pay for our school lunches, and a big burden was
lifted off of us.
Natalie teaching the colegio kids
Here are updates
on our current programs:
*Feeding program for indigent elderly people
– We do this one day a week, and our students LOVE it! It has been good for
them to share, and our elderly neighbors look forward to the weekly visits. We
have added new people to the list, and are now bringing food to 11-15 people
each week.
*Tutoring – Gordon is still working with
the colegio kids who attend the other colegios in the area. He has been a good
father figure to the kids, and they enjoy spending time with him.
*English classes – Chantalle is teaching
English in our school, and has two classes – one for colegio students and the
other for younger kids. She also has a couple of students who are not in school
who she is teaching. It has been exciting hearing the students speaking
English, and a few students can understand A LOT of English.
*Bible studies – We are still doing our
Ladies Bible study and the children and youth studies, and have added to our
numbers in all studies. We are still praying for someone to lead the men’s
study.
*Lunch program – Our lunch program is
going well, and we were blessed by a donor who has provided funding for the
entire school year. For many of our students, this is the only meal they
receive.
*Schooling – In addition to our school,
we have 8 students in other schools who have sponsors in the USA who pay for
their schooling. We ensure that each of them is working to their full potential
and are doing their homework and school projects. Each student also receives a
nutritional lunch every school day.
Prayer needs and Praises:
·
Residency!
We are going to have to apply for residency within the next 6 months, which
will cost $2500, and will provide residency for 5 years. If we are not able to
get our residency, we will not be able to continue our ministry here. When we
went for a visa extension, we were denied the extension and told that we would
need to either apply for residency or return to the United States.
·
$500 to finish the projects that the teams
started. There is an
elderly man who is living in a makeshift shack that is not safe, and we can
make his housing safe and stable for about $500. We have a few people willing
to lead a work team in getting this project done, but need to raise money for
the supplies.
·
Please Continue to pray for our school! This is a huge undertaking, and we need a
lot of prayer both for our teachers and our students.
·
For
more mission/work teams to come!
There is A LOT of work to be done in this poverty stricken community, and teams
can really change the lives of people here. Even if you don’t speak Spanish or
have construction skills, if you are willing and able, we would love to have
you! Contact us for more information. WE
ESPECIALLY NEED PEOPLE TO COME THIS SUMMER TO FINISH THE PROJECTS THAT HAVE
BEEN STARTED!!!!!
·
More teachers – if you are inclined at all to teach, and
would like to spend some time in a beautiful environment, please contact us for
an application! Because of the unique nature of our school, we need to maintain
a very low teacher to student ratio so that each student can learn to the best
of their ability.
·
We STILL need an electrician!!! We were able to get the electrical
system fixed so that things are a little bit safer, but there is more work to
be done. Our school assistant has a cousin who was able to help us out at a
fraction of the normal cost, and things seem to be working well.
·
Extra sponsorship! There is a law in Honduras that requires
paying all employees double their normal wages in the months of June and
December, which makes these months a little bit more tight financially for us.
If you can help out with these extra costs, please either send a payment
through paypal or through our mission organization, Shepherd’s staff.
PRAISES:
·
The
teams were able to accomplish a lot of work while they were here, and our
community was really blessed by their presence.
·
We
received funding for our full year of lunches, which is a huge blessing to our
school!
·
We are
finally starting to feel healthy after a long bout with influenza and colds.
Yeah!
Thank you to
everyone who supports us in our ministry! We could not do any of this without
your help!
Love, The Eytzen
family J
Blogsite:
www.eytzenfamily.blogspot.com
Gordon on the zipline over the waterfall
It is really a nice initiative. Nice to see such co-operative efforts to fulfill requirements of each other.
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