April Update and a Visit from Elizabeth

A beautiful flower in front of the CASITA where we live. The view will never get old. Each day in this home is an incredible blessing!

Honestly, April was a hard month for me- emotionally, physically, spiritually. It is hard for me to even write this update because I think over half of the days in April I was in bed with a migraine or battling the nausea that comes with the incredible blessing of another BABY on the way! I have been feeling much better lately and just finished the first trimester. We are so thankful for God's plans and His generosity with our family. Despite our weaknesses and our constant need for Christ, He has been kind enough to entrust us with another life.

Seeing Little Ramos for the first time via ultrasound

Thomas doesn't really know what's coming, but he is definitely excited!

Not only have we been shown great generosity, but we have also been called to show this to others. We were on a roller coaster this month while discerning God's calling in our lives- calling to give of our time, belongings, future plans, etc. Even while trying to be generous, our own selfish desires often arose and caused strife in our home. Thankfully, we received counsel and encouragement from close family and friends and have seen the reality of this verse play out in our lives:

2 Corinthians 9:6-7
"Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."

We were especially blessed this month with a visit from a dear friend Elizabeth Burgess. About 5 years ago, Elizabeth and her husband Brian invited us to live in their home. They heard about our heart for Honduras and missions and wanted to support us in any way possible. It was the best gift ever. We lived with them for over a year, and we have no hesitations in calling them FAMILY. They have 2 beautiful sons who we have enjoyed seeing grow from babies into boys. 

Elizabeth and Thomas looking out over the canal

Josue, Karen, Elizabeth, Manuel, Marvin, and Thomas walking at Las Glorias with a great view of Lake Yojoa

During Elizabeth's visit, she did art projects and math bingo with the girls at Eternal Family Project. She also joined us at the House of Blessing for a meal, worship, and Bible study.  Elizabeth and a small group from her church in Florida were also able to bless the ministries here with donations- school shoes, games, towels, Bibles, toothpaste, etc. and she blessed us with many items that can't be found here. She is loved and appreciated not just by me, but by many here. Our boys, Manuel and Josué especially liked having her around. Late night games of UNO helped them to connect despite the language barrier, and of course Thomas loved seeing his Aunt Beth. Thank you for taking the time to come and invest in the work being done here! 

Elizabeth with the third and fourth graders at Eternal Family Project's Learning Center- Yolani, Jenci, and Estefani

Number recognition Bingo with first and second grade- Ana, Nahomy, Emily, and Asly

Manuel and Josue doing a great job helping with the Bible class at House of Blessing

Elizabeth showing love to the children in the House of Blessing yard. They need a lot of hugs here!

We miss you Elizabeth!!! You made an impact in the few days you were here!

March Update and a Visit from Mom

Proverbs 16:9 says “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” We are grateful that despite our own planning, God continues to lead us exactly where He desires.

We have continued to work with the House of Blessing and are working on learning the children’s names and getting to know them a little better. With about 75 children, this is quite a challenge, but each Saturday we get to spend with them is a gift. Marvin will often go on Thursdays and Fridays in order to help with cooking preparations or cleaning up. These are not easy jobs, but they are usually managed by 3 women who have been volunteering for more than 2 years. I have been teaching the 3 to 5 year olds with help from Manuel and Josué. We sing songs, color pictures, and even have a brief English lesson. For our Bible lessons, we have been studying the start of Jesus’s ministry including some of his first miracles, and the children have memorized the verse “Estén siempre alegres.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16 “Be joyful always.” It was an easy verse for them to memorize, but I am certain it is difficult for them to apply because many of these kids face abuse, hunger, and witness drugs, alcohol, and prostitution in their own homes.

Marvin helped redo some broken cabinet doors and repair furniture at Eternal Family Project girls home this month. There is always more work to be done there, and we are trying to schedule time for him to work there each week. We were thrilled to spend time with the girls Easter weekend. There were lots of games and a great cookout that we were blessed to be a part of. Ten of the older girls from Eternal Family Project join us each week for a youth Bible study with Manuel and Josué and  the children living with our neighbors Nicole and Oliver. We have been reading through 1 Timothy and enjoying snacks and games together. This has been a special time for me to get to connect with the teen girls and to invest in their spiritual lives.

Manuel and Josué were out of school the whole week before Easter and enjoyed spending a week in Las Flores with their families. It was hard for them to leave their village and return to their studies, but they are now doing great. Our church had a sunrise Easter service with a pancake breakfast which was a very special experience for us all. When we found out that the boys had one extra day off from school, Marvin and I took advantage of the opportunity to take Manuel and Josué kayaking through the nearby canal and out to Lake Yojoa. We had a blast!

The absolute best part of this month for me was the week that my mom spent with us. It was her first time in Honduras, but she traveled here fearlessly by herself. She helped so much with the never ending laundry, cooking, cleaning, and dishes in addition to taking care of Thomas. She never seemed to tire despite the fact that it was in the 90’s most of the week. She enjoyed a visit to Eternal Family Project’s home and her time at the House of Blessing Ministry. Our boys loved having her here and told us last night that even though they couldn’t understand each other, they miss her so much, and the house feels empty without her. THANK YOU MOM for coming with such a heart to serve and being a blessing to our family!

February Update

The United States is not the only place that celebrates Valentine’s Day. Honduras also celebrates on February 14^th. Most Hondurans refer to this day as “El día de amor y amistad” (The day of love and friendship). After just living in Honduras for a month and a half, we already have friendships worth celebrating here. More importantly, we wish to celebrate God’s unconditional love that we have experienced and shared over this last month. 

We have experienced love in our home, church, and with our family. 

HOME : We continue to enjoy living in a beautiful home on a property shared with great neighbors, Dennys and Yolanda. We were challenged this month when we went over 3 days without any running water. We always buy purified water to drink, but the water that runs out of the faucets allows us to wash dishes, cook, shower, flush toilets, wash clothes, etc. With no water, we became physically and emotionally drained. Dirty dishes and clothes piled up while Marvin and Dennys worked each day trying to find a solution to the water problem. Thankfully, a local hardware store sold a pump that was able to pull a huge knot of roots out of the pipes, and now we have more water pressure than I have ever seen in Honduras!  

CHURCH: We are excited to have found a church here to connect with. Many of the people that attend are bilingual but the worship and message are in Spanish. We all enjoy the worship and hearing the Bible based teaching each week. We look forward to getting to know more people in the church over the next few weeks and not just connecting with them on Sundays. 

FAMILY: Manuel and Josué have been challenged with the start of the school year. We have enjoyed seeing their commitment to their studies and hope that the rest of the school year goes as well as the first month. Marvin has disenrolled from mechanic school after spending a couple weeks in class and a week in the mechanic shop. He feels like God has other plans for his time here. I am thrilled because we are able to serve together instead of spending most of our time apart. Thomas has adjusted well. He is now eating rice, beans, and tortillas, loves playing outside in our giant yard, and is thrilled to see animals and copy the noises that they make. Our home is full of laughter most of the time, and we hope that doesn’t change any time soon.

We have shared love this month by spending time with Eternal Family Project and House of Blessing Ministry.

Eternal Family Project: On the day of love and friendship, Thomas and I enjoyed celebrating with many of the Eternal Family girls at their school. They played a game where cards were taped onto their backs, and everyone had a chance to write attributes onto those cards. The girls were so excited to remove the cards and get to see what their sisters thought of them. “Inteligent, Kind, Beautiful, Funny, Silly” were just some of the compliments they wrote to one another. Last week, we enjoyed having all the girls over for ice cream and brownies. If you want to learn more about Eternal Family Project or are interested in becoming a monthly sponsor for one of their girls, visit their website at eternalfamilyproject.org. We love seeing the family that God has brought together and how He uses their mommy Allison to show them love and grace each day.    

House of Blessing: Marvin and I had the privilege of teaching the Bible lessons at the House of Blessing Ministry this past Saturday. House of Blessing is a feeding program, but it is also so much more. The directors (our neighbors) Dennys and Yolanda know these children and their families well. The meals provided there on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday are a way to meet a great physical need that then allowsthe children to also receive love and spiritual nurturing. 

So February was a month full of love, but we have also faced feelings of fear, sadness, and frustration this month. Thankfully, God’s love remains in those times and TRIUMPHS over all. 

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through peace.”  Ephesians 4:1-3

Please join us in praying for the following this month:

-          * Home- that it would be safe place full or joy

-          * Church- that we will become more connected

-          * Family- Manuel and Josué’s studies, our health, for God's exciting plans to be revealed to us

-          * Eternal Family Project- monthly sponsors, donation of land

-          * House of Blessings- provisions for directors and ministry, Katy (a little girl that comes to House of Blessing whose mother no longer wants her)

-         * WISDOM, PEACE, & UNITY

Our hope for you is that wherever you are, that you too may experience and share the LOVE of CHRIST.

Blessings and Love,

Karen, Marvin, and Thomas Ramos

January Update

The month of January was a balance of obedience and trust. We arrived in Honduras mid-January not quite sure of how the next weeks would turn out. It has been so beautiful to see God’s plans unfold as he continues to demand our obedience and trust.

1 Samuel 15:22

But Samuel replied, "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams."

Proverbs 3:3-6

Let Love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and good name in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

You can read about the ups and downs of our first few days HERE. Even though we faced a lot of hard times, we felt like God was teaching us to be joyful no matter what. The most surprising thing that happened since we arrived was the provision of a place to live. We expected it to take weeks and honestly, we were pretty anxious about the whole process. Thankfully, God knows exactly what we need and when we need it. Through miraculous circumstances, we were shown the casita (little house) where we currently reside. The house is amazing- beautiful and furnished! You can read more about it and see a couple of pictures HERE. We don’t know how long we will be here but are thankful for each day.

The most amazing thing about where we live is actually our neighbors! The other family that lives on the property LOVES the Lord and serves Him in an incredible way. They have a feeding program that we are now blessed to get to be a part of. HERE is some information about the work God is doing through them. We look forward to getting to know the 75 children they serve each week and support Dennys and Yolanda as they fill the bellies and hearts of these young children.

 

We had a quick visit with our friends and family in Las Flores and in Puerto Cortes with Worldwide Heart to Heart Ministry. Thomas loved chasing the chickens, dogs, and cats around at his grandparents’ house in Las Flores. Since we had a place to come home to, we were able to bring Josué and Manuel back with us from Las Flores. They will be living with us as they work on completing high school in Peña Blanca. We are excited for the things that God is doing in their lives and amazed at the maturity and servanthood they both exhibit. Read more about them HERE. The boys won’t be the only ones studying in our home. Marvin has just begun the Dr. Stephen Youngberg Auto Mechanic School and is thrilled about the opportunities he will have to serve as a mechanic someday.

Although we miss many friends and family back home, ease of travel and communication, church, and purified water, we are all adjusting really well. We are blessed with joy each day. We love our afternoon visits to the girls home Eternal Family Project and hope to find ways to help meet more of their needs. We look forward to committing our Saturdays to Dennys and Yolanda’s ministry Home of Blessings. We have had our first visitors, Marvin’s cousin Flor and her two daughters Yulisa and Gloria, and hope that others can come and share in the blessing of serving others in Honduras.

Please keep in touch with us through our blog or email, we would love to hear how you are doing and appreciate your prayers and encouragement.

Blessings and Love,

Karen, Marvin, and Thomas Ramos

marvin.karen@gmail.com

theharvest-honduras.blogspot.com

House of Blessings

Caring for children, feeding the hungry, giving to the poor…. We are so excited to be partnering with a ministry in Honduras that is doing just that. Dennys and Yolanda started the ministry Hogar de Bendiciones (Home of Blessings) a few years ago.  Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, children from around Peña Blanca walk to a place where they know they will be fed, something they are less certain of in their own homes. Around 50 children come on Thursdays and Fridays to eat after their morning classes or before their afternoon classes. Some kids arrive shivering from the rain and some with severe abdominal pain or vomiting from not eating. Despite the sad state that many arrive in, they leave smiling, knowing that they are loved. 

Thursday meal with some kids that were eating quick before they left for school

On Saturdays, around 75 children arrive at 9:30am to start their day off in worship and Bible classes. I believe the youngest child is around 3 years and the oldest is around 14. After Bible classes, the youngest children play in the yard while the older children receive English classes. By 12:30pm lunch is served. Some of the meals we have seen consist of spaghetti, sweet plantains, chicken, vegis, rice, or coleslaw. Children also receive juice, orchata, or hot chocolate on the cooler days. 

The Bible class for the youngest children at Home of Blessings. I hope to begin teaching this class for them in a few weeks.

I asked our big boys (Josué and Manuel) if they would like to share something about their time at Home of Blessings:

Josué: I like that I can help there. I can help to cook for the kids that are in need. But more than anything I like to fill them with love and joy, and give them what they need most- a hug. 

Manuel: I like to go there to help out. It is a very special place. Everyone prays there and the children pray too. My favorite thing to do there is pass the plates out to the children and see their faces when they see the food. 

Manuel, Thomas, and Josue showing cousins Gloria and Yulisa how to clean up at the Home of Blessings

Josué and Manuel love having the opportunity to serve others. It is exciting to see them realize that they too have something to offer people in need. Serving with Dennys and Yolanda is wonderful, but we are really blessed because at this time we are also their neighbors. They have become great friends that we love and trust, and we hope we will get to share many more stories with you from the Home of Blessings. 

Dennys greeting the children on Saturday morning before worship and Bible classes begin.

Manuel and Josué

Manuel Antonio and Delmer Josué have moved in with us. Josué is one of Marvin’s younger brothers and Manuel is related to them as well. These 2 boys have grown up in Las Flores, a village in Honduras near the Guatemala border. Electricity was just brought to the village a few years ago. Both of their fathers work hard harvesting coffee, cardamom, beans, and corn. The work of their mothers never ends. They are constantly taking care of children, making tortillas, cleaning, doing laundry, feeding chickens, cooking, etc.  Manuel is one of 6 children, his oldest brother is 19 years and his youngest is 9 months. Josué is one of 11 although 2 have passed away. The oldest is 32 years and the youngest is 7 years. Now, we are a 5 member household. Our son Thomas is 20 months and the boys are both 15 years old. 

Most children that grow up in Las Flores study up until 6^th grade. Some continue on to 9^th, but that is where their studies typically end. Manuel and Josué love to learn and want to continue their studies to complete high school and possibly attend a university as well. We saw their love for studies a few years ago when we gave Josué an illustrated Children’s Bible. He immediately invited his friend Manuel to read the Bible stories with him. The next time we made it up to the village, they told us they had already finished reading it once and were starting it for a second time. We have also heard Josué tell his younger sister not to study for a grade but to study in order to learn. 

We are excited to see them continue in their studies but more importantly hope to see them grow in their love of Christ and their knowledge of truth. In Las Flores, Manuel is nicknamed Chito and Josué has always gone by Delmer. Since they are starting a new chapter in their lives, they have also asked us to call them by different names. In the Bible, name changes often come with incredible promises and significant changes.  We are so impressed with the maturity that both boys exemplify and are overjoyed to be a part of these significant changes.

“For I know the plans for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans for hope and a future.” –Jeremiah 29:11