Getting Settled In

First of all I want to thank everyone for all of your prayers and support, without which it would not be possible for us to be here now. Today is our 53rd day in Honduras. It has now been 44 days longer than we had planned on staying. Before we came here, I was worried about leaving my job for two weeks. After paying airfare, expenses, being off from work, it was going to take me quite awhile to get caught up once we got back home. I was worried about two weeks. But now, after almost eight weeks, I live every day in faith that God brought us here, he kept us here, and he will provide for us to stay here. We are here through faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. How humbling it has been to submit to God’s plan for my life, not my plan. And to now trust in him completely, day by day, to provide for us to be here in his service.
Philippians 4:6 (KJV)
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be known unto God. (7) And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ.
(8 in the NLT) And now, dear brothers and sisters, let me say one more thing as I close this letter. Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. (9) Keep putting into practice all you learned from me and heard from me and saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you.

Having an experience like living/serving here in Honduras, is something that I wish all of you could experience at some time in your lives. Every single day we see people living in conditions that we would have thought were unbearable. They struggle to have the bare necessities like enough food and water. Compared to typical standards they appear to be so poor. But as we go into their homes, and see how they live day to day, we begin to see how truly rich they are. They are so incredibly rich in their faith in God, in their love for one another, in their generosity and willingness to help their fellow man. In the ways that are important to God, I believe they are so much richer than the average person. When we go into a church to put on one of our medical brigades, the pastor has been asked to find two of the homes in his area that are in the most need of a concrete floor. We look at them and decide which one most closely meets our criteria. Sometimes, when finances make it possible, we do both homes. After doing this week in and week out, you can imagine that we have been into so many homes where they appear to have almost nothing. But as we begin our work, and the day progresses, and we interact with the family, it is obvious that it is us who are receiving far greater blessings, than the concrete floor will ever be to them. The concrete floor is only a physical thing that in time will be gone just like all the things of this world. But the spiritual blessings that we receive form our interaction with the family and serving God, will be with us for eternity.

From Jesus:
Boy, time has flown by fast since the last time I wrote on the blog. My last weeks of brigades were exciting and fun. The teams that came down were a bunch of great people. I had fun with all my friends who work with the brigade.
The last floor I helped put in was to go to a family of five. The husband was really devoted to his family; he participated with them and was a real father to the children. Most of the time in Honduras the father figure is missing in the family, so it was really nice to see him and how devoted he was. The wife and the three children were really helpful. The wife carried buckets of gravel on top of her head going up a long flight of stairs! The children helped haul material to the house too. It was one of the hardest floors I’ve ever done but it was worth it. So I was glad I could do the floor before I had to start school next week.
School starts on August 4 for Jennifer and I. We’re both excited and anxious to see what school in Honduras will be like. We will be going to school that’s on the Rancho Ebenezer, That’s going to be about an hour bus trip to school every day, but we’ll get use to it eventually. I already met some people who are going to be in my classes, and they all seem nice. I have to take up my role as a student and I’m looking forward to it.
My summer went by without me even knowing it. Now I must hang up my scrubs and WGO name tag, for a school uniform and books. The brigades were fun and great, but now it’s time for a new adventure.

From Jennifer
We’ve been here 53 days, which is 44 days longer than we came for. We just got the keys to our apartment two days ago. So far we only have a stove, a refrigerator, and microwave in it. The apartment is on the 5th floor of a building, and there’s no elevator! We all get our own bedroom, but the only bad thing is my room is the smallest and has a bad view. I can’t wait until the apartment is furnished, but I guess I have too.
Tomorrow I start school at the ranch. I’m going to go into 5th grade. My teacher will be Mr. Jason, and my class will be combined with 6th grade. What’s really cool is that the biggest class will be 7 people, so we get individual attention. The uniform we have to wear is a polo shirt with “Rancho Ebenezer Academy” written on it with jeans. So it’s not so bad, because it’s casual. The trip up there will be about an hour long in a 15-seater van with about 13-15 people in it, and the road is way to rough to do your homework on.
Last week was our last week to work the brigades, so we worked Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. On Thursday we had to go to a meeting at the ranch. I normally just wash or comb hair, but that week I blew bubbles and painted the girls’ fingernails. It was pretty funny when I pulled out the nail polish, the girls swarmed me. Almost all of them wanted their nails painted. We had enough different colors so they could all choose the color they liked best. You can see some photos of me painting their nails if you click on the "Our Photos" link, or just click here http://photobucket.com/MortonMissions .
I’m excited about starting school, but I will kind of miss going out on brigades.

PLEASE DON'T FORGET to be at Holly Springs Baptist Church at 304 Raleigh Street, Holly Springs, N.C. to hear Rick Habegger speak about the ministry we are serving with, "World Gospel Outreach" http://www.wgoreach.org/ on Sunday, August 17th.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. Without them it would not be possible for us to serve here. Please continue to keep us in your prayers, and also please consider helping us financially. We especially ask that you consider making a monthly pledge so that we can better budget our expenses. Any amount will help and would be greatly appreciated.
Again, Thank You so much for all that you have done and continue to do.
God Bless You,
Dios te Bendiga!
Roy, Jesus, and Jennifer