Saturday, August 1, 2015

Celebrate and Celebrations

I am in Texas right now.  I was born in Texas and am enjoying seeing this State and meeting up with some wonderful people with a spirit of hospitality as big as the state they live in.  I saw San Antonio for the first time from the air and it is a huge city!    I am meeting with so many friends, who have come to our mission in Honduras on ministry teams for the last few years.   I am meeting new friends who have an interest in the work here in Honduras.

We had our 20th anniversary celebration this past month of July.  It was super special, but at the same time, it is hard to get your mind around the fact that we have been here for 20 years.  Numbers are pretty special.  This year my mom will turn 80, I will turn 60, my daughter 30 and our ministry 20.  Time just keeps clicking along and I have so much more that I want to do.  These are the community children, who go to school with our girls. Some of these girls have been with us since last year.  They study with us Monday through Thursday to get there high school or elementary work finished.  They eat lunch with us and then help our girls clean up the kitchen.  All the girls have devotions in the morning up at the church.  We have 5 girls that attend kindergarten with our girls also.  Every girl that is attending here came here with the mind to study.  They are doing so well and I appreciate all the hard work our teachers are putting into the education of our neighborhood children. I appreciate all of you, who are helping us get these girls get their education.

These photos are by Conor McFarlane 














Neohmi and Miriam



Our girls will grades kindergarten to 4th grade will be attending The Abundant Life School.  Abundant Life is a church that is partnering with churches in the US and they are help sponsor children in Honduras in rural areas.  We have a discount for our girls who attend so they still will require sponsorships, but we are thankful for this opportunity for our girls to attend this school.  At the moment they only have up to grade four, but the plan is to get a new grade established every year until the high school building is finished.   It is a Christian bi-lingual school.  We are very excited that our girls have this opportunity to go to this school full time.  We will still have our school open for the girls from the community and for the girls in the grades that they do not have, but I have realized that they girls have been isolated and this will help them be able to interact with their own people.  We have had some of the finest people come on teams and other groups, who are a tremendous witness to the girls, but they spend more time with people from the US than they do with Hondurans.  So this school has the same format as we do of ABEKA curriculum  as well as helping them be able to compete in sports and academics activities with other schools in the Abundant Life Family.  They will also be eligible for grants to go to school here and abroad when they finish high school. The girls start school on the 18th of August.  They have teachers coming in next week for orientation from the US and England.  WE are delighted that a long term friend of our ministry is coming to live with us and to teach at this new facility.  The girls and I both are excited that Miss Kelsey will be here for 10 months!!  Kelsey had come down on a team this year with her family to do a VBS like they have done for many years. She has been coming every year since she was in high school.   The school had a meeting with the parents and I was there to ask if they could make a 4th grade for our girls.  They said they could do it, but would need a certified teacher and Kelsey (who is a certified teacher) interviewed while she was here and got the job.  She wasn't looking for a job when she got here, but she took the position.  Totally a God moment.  WE all are looking forward to a super school year.  The girls have been attending this school since January to get acclamated to get used to their system.  I have seen a huge change in our little girls.  They are excited about school and reading!!  I have to make them put up the books to bathe and do their chores.  It is a good problem to have.  I want to thank the sponsors who are helping us out with this, but ultimately we will have more girls that will come from our school and our mission who need to go to this school.  I want our whole area to have an opportunity to study at this school.  It will make a huge difference in their lives and in the lives of the community around us.


Construction Site of the new Abundant Life Christian School 


Chase Heatherly a long time friend and supporter of this our ministry from Anderson SC
is posing here in front of the new school.  It is a beautiful facility. 



WE celebrated our 20th anniversary of Such is the Kingdom Ministries Inc.   We had a great celebration!  WE had 25 people from the States including board members, friends and family. I was blessed to have my brother and his wife, my daughter and my grand daughter to be able to come and be with me to see the good things God has done.  WE also had a lot of our neighbors and officials who have helped us along the way.  WE want to thank everyone of you who has prayed and given into this ministry.  Most of you will never know the difference you have made in the lives of these girls and their families.  Please come to our Stateside celebration on the 22nd of August at LifeSpring Church in Moultrie GA. at 6 p.m.  LifeSpring is located across from Spencefield on hwy 133 going toward Valdosta, GA.  Come and celebrate what God has done through so many people that helped us run with the vision of SIKM.


Decorations by Kelly

Our Girls an Danielle made the cake
Kelly Denton Helping Us Get it Together