Friday, April 20

Rancho Ebenezer

Our final day of serving at the ranch for this trip, so we wrapped up a few projects.  

But first, we hiked up to the summit of the ranch property, which was quite an effort, but oh, the view!  We thanked God for this special time here, and prayed blessings for the continuing ministry of WGO.  

We sorted all the donations that we brought along, and then spent the remainder of the day finishing up the library project — every book now has a pocket and checkout card!!  We weren’t sure it could be accomplished within the week, so it was a moment of celebration!

We’ll wrap up our time with worship and sharing around a bonfire this evening ... and then heading home on Saturday. 

We are so very grateful for this week together. God is good. All the time!

Thursday, April 19, 2018
Rancho Ebenezer Team

A concrete floor - it’s a lasting gift that we’re privileged to provide in Honduras, and today the whole team was able to do that for a family in the area.

It was an extra special experience, because seven of the teen boys from the ranch joined the project for the morning, and their efforts got things off to a great start!

In case you’ve never mixed concrete by hand, a batch is five 5-lb buckets of sand, five of gravel, 100 lbs of cement, and 8-10 gallons of water. It took about 8 1/2 batches for the house, with lots of shoveling and stirring and toting that kept us all very busy!

Ken is the master concrete layer, and the end result will bring the family health benefits for years to come.

We were happy to get a little acquainted with this precious family as we worked. (Nancy was especially good at making friends with their little daughter!)

Before we left, we prayed together and gave them a new Bible to bless their home. Please keep them in your prayers as well - they’re expecting baby #3 soon!

A long day ... a tiring day ... and a very joyous day!

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Rancho Ebenezer Team

Flashback to Tuesday!  Last night the Lord treated us to an awesome display of stars as the skies cleared after several cloudy days.  Orion ... the Big Dipper ... they looked so much closer than they do at home, and a reminder that we are in the hands of an almighty God no matter where we are!

Today the fencing project continued with Ron, Terry, Jennifer, and Ken. Thankfully, they were able to get things started with the concrete mixer, but then had to haul it bucket by bucket up the steep slope to our pre-dug fence post holes. Amazingly, they were able to set 24 fence posts this morning - praise God for the strength He gave!

    

Nancy has been faithfully tutoring a student who is working very hard to catch up scholastically to her age peers, and today she was proud to complete a big math project - check it out. She dreams of becoming a veterinarian, and it’s a privilege to be helping her to move ahead in her classes.

The rest of us continued to work on the big library project.  It’s been fun to work at the school because we can also see some of the kids’ activities, like watering the garden that helps to  supply fresh food for everyone ... or enjoying the announcement of the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade science fair winners.  

It’s a blessing to know that we can help these precious kids realize their big dreams, and we thank all of you for supporting the team’s work here this week!

Weekend Recap

Saturday and Sunday, April 14-15, 2018

Rancho Ebenezer Team

We wanted to share a few photos of our travel and sunday rest before getting on to the rest of the week. We were thankful for safe travels to Honduras on saturday, with only a 90-minute delay during our layover in Miami. 

Photos below are the team in Miami ... at the arrivals area in Tegucigalpa ... and then enjoying a delicious Honduran lunch at a restaurant owned by a friend of Ken Avila, our Serve Team leader at the ranch.

We were all pretty tired after a long day of travel, so we got to bed pretty early to be ready for church in the city in the morning.

Sunday we enjoyed worshipping in Tegucigalpa at Union Christian Church with Ken’s family, and then had lunch and bought a few groceries before heading back to the ranch.

It was raining on and off, but we still did a quick tour of the ranch, and then gathered to talk through our work plan for the week.

We can't wait to share what the rest of our week holds!

Tuesday, April 17

Rancho Ebenezer

After a chilly overnight at the ranch, we were ready to get moving this morning, if only to warm ourselves up! It was a busy day of divide and conquer for the team.  

Ron and Sue went from house to house, to school, to office ... installing the smoke alarms we had brought along as part of our project supplies for the week.  It’s a good feeling to know the kids are safer with those in place!

Nancy and Jennifer continued tutoring today ... what a blessing that they can use their skills to help the kids with some extra attention and support!

Terry and Doreen helped move the fencing project along by painting a big batch of metal posts with rust-resistant paint — so important in this humid climate!

Patti has been making hay in the library all day - so many books to process :) - with the rest of us joining her at various times. (It’s such fun to come across a favorite book - Jennifer even found Dick & Jane!)

And later this afternoon, the sun finally came out after a stretch of cloudy days, and we all basked in its warmth for a a little bit.  Thank you, Lord, for sunshine today and for the eternal sunshine in store for all your children.

Monday at the Ranch

Monday, April 16, 2018

Rancho Ebenezer Team

Serving at the ranch can take many different forms, because the needs are so varied.

We began our day with chapel with the Ranch kids and staff - how great to know that we are one family in Jesus! 

This morning our ranch Serve Team leader Ken decided to see what this team was made of.  He has a long-term goal of replacing the existing ranch boundary fence with chain link, and the ranch is 90 acres.  Yes, it’s a big goal.

So four of us (Ron, Terry, Sue, and Doreen) tackled digging fence post holes on one small stretch of a steep hill. Ron says we played a full round, because we managed to dig 36 holes before lunch.  It seems like a small contribution given the big picture goal, but we know that every little bit helps.  

Nancy and Jennifer devoted the morning to one-on-one tutoring sessions at Ebenezer Academy, while Patti jumped into a big project in the school library, adding pockets and cards to loads of books, so that they can have a reliable checkout process.  There are LOTS of books here for the kids - see Patti with just one small stack of books - there are many more!  

We all worked in the library during the afternoon to keep things moving there, and we relished the time together getting better acquainted.

We’re so thankful for this opportunity to serve the Lord and his children here!