Stephanie emailed me today a verse she read in her quiet time. It is Proverbs 16:9. The verse says "In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." God used His Word to speak to me regarding our journey to Honduras. Steph and I make plans to go but I am reminded that God is the One that "determines are steps". We continue to wait on the Lord to sell His home!!! We know we are called, we are waiting on Him. I hope Proverbs 16:9 is a an encouragement to you!!!
We wanted to update everyone on the journey God has called us to. I was able to spend six days in Honduras the end of August helping move our little boys into their new home. Every time God allows us to go down, He puts a burden on our hearts to be in Honduras. It is hard to be patient as we wait on God's perfect timing. We know that as we wait on the Lord, He is preparing our family for the next chapter in our journey. The new home/shelter is a lot bigger and it will allow FCM to meet the growing needs of the boys. It is housing the school, bedrooms and mission teams under one roof with space to spare. It is a tremendous blessing to have the new place and we praise God for His goodness.
We recently received the most amazing letter in our home mailbox. It was a letter from our neighbor Taylor who is in elementary school. In the envelope was a letter stating that she was praying for us, telling others about us, and keeping us on her mind. She drew an amazing picture to go with it. Included was $2.50 from her piggy bank that was in quarters. Can I tell you how much of an impact that this will make? First of all, as missionaries, we depend on all of our family and friends to pray for us. I know that sometimes its hard to remember especially while we are still living in the states, but there is so much involved in this process and your prayers are coveted! Secondly, $2.50 may not seem like much but to a hungry street kid it is a few meals! We told Taylor that we will be taking the money to Honduras the next time we go and we will by a few kids a meal with the money that she provided. What an amazing blessing! Thank you Taylor!!!
Wow! A lot has been going on since Steph and I last updated the blog. We met recently with Bob Barks who is one of the Board of Directors for F.C.M. He came to let us know that the board unanimously voted to allow our family to go to language in Costa Rica once our home sells. Once we were given the go ahead from them, we have placed our house on the market. Obviously, everyone watches the news and knows that this is not the best time to be selling a home but we trust our God to get it done in the time He wants it done. We also submitted our applications to language school two weeks ago and we received an email today stating that our family was accepted. Praise God!!!
God has given us a clear direction on where He wants us to be!
It has been almost a year and a half since we first met with the board of Forgotten Children Ministries to interview as full time missionaries. Since that time we have been sharing our call with churches, Sunday school classes, and individuals. We are very thankful for the opportunities that God has given us to share with you and we would ask that you would continue to pray for us. Building our support base before we go is very important and Forgotten Children Ministries will not allow us to go until this is done. The last thing that they want is for us to have to come home due to lack of funds. We realize that this takes a great deal of faith from our supporters and we thank you for your continued support during this process. We also realize that we are living in tough economic times but we know that our God is bigger and greater than any economic issue.
After spending this past week in Honduras we were amazed at Richie and Lori Womack, the only current missionaries serving in Honduras with FCM, and the work load that they have. We are very much looking forward to being able to help and serve along side this amazing couple! We feel so blessed that God has called us to serve in Honduras full time and we know that we must wait on the Lord to raise up both financial partners as well as prayer partners to join us on this journey of rescuing the perishing. Would you prayerfully consider joining us?
For more information on Forgotten Children Ministries please view their web site at www.forgottenchildrenministries.org
If you are interested in making a donation there is a "Donate Now" button in the upper right hand corner of the Forgotten Children Ministries web site. If you would like to send a donation directly to FCM you can do so by mailing it to: Forgotten Children Ministries, P.O. Box 24085, Chattanooga, TN. 37422, noting Brian and Stephanie Foster in the memo portion of your check.
If you would like us to share about Forgotten Children Ministries with you or your Sunday Schhol class or church, please contact us at sfoster120@yahoo.com.
We thank you in advance for your prayers and financial support. God bless you.
In Christ,
Brian and Stephanie
Brian was able to get on the computer a couple of days to post some updates from our trip. I thought I would TRY to recap the week as well. I say this every time that I go, but Honduras is always so hard for me to leave. As we drove through the impoverished city, I sat quietly in the back seat of the truck trying to take in everything that was happening around me. Children were begging for money, the corrupt police were out in force, people were selling all kinds of who knows what just so they could survive for another day, houses with billboard signs as walls and a refrigerator door as their front door and kids walking around huffing glue so they wont feel their hunger anymore. I still have days where I wonder why all of the above is so hard for me to leave. I guess this is one of those things that I cant over think and I have to realize that God, and only God, has put a passion for this country in my heart.
We arrived in Tegucigalpa on Saturday and met our missionary friends Richie and Lori Womack at the airport. We spent the rest of the afternoon settling in, buying groceries and having dinner with our friends. On Sunday we headed out to Monte Redondo to attend church at Noah's Ark Baptist Church and then we headed to the Farm to see the boys. We spent the day hanging out with boys, meeting some new ones, having lunch and of course playing soccer! We spent most of our day just talking and catching up with the boys!
On Monday morning we headed out to Monte Redondo (Grace Farm or Finca Grace) and on the way into the village Richie dropped Lori, Christy and I off at a house across from the church. The Mother of the home had been away for several days with the youngest daughter who has been struggling with anemia and was hospitalized. The oldest daughter Ziamarah, who just turned 16 in December, was left in charge of the house and the rest of the children. A Uncle has recently been trying to marry her off to an older man so that the Mother would have one less mouth to feed. Lori thought it would be a good idea for us to head over and teach her how to make jewelry, starting with earrings so that she could go down town or into the village and sell them to make some money so that she could be somewhat self sufficient and possibly even go to school. So we sat down for part of the afternoon showing Ziamarah and a friend of hers how to make earrings. Hopefully a trade that she can develop and grow! Please keep Ziamarah in your prayers. Pray that this innocent girl will not be forced into marriage and that God will provide for her needs. We walked to the farm to meet up with Richie, Gordon and Brian who were working on a house for three ladies all who are in their 90's and the other is 106! They were recently kicked out of their home, so the ministry built a new home for them. Brian, Gordon and Richie were adding the final details of framing and installing windows, doors, trim work and grading the property for a garden. We helped some in the kitchen and then headed back to Cerro Grande.
Tuesday and Wednesday the guys had errands in town and then they finished the house for the ladies. Some of the boys helped out as well which is always a great thing to see. Lori, Christy and I taught an English class with the staff ladies. It was fun to watch them laugh at themselves as they tried to speak English and put sentences together. It was encouraging to talk in simple phrases with them during the rest of the week. We also started writing the annual sponsorship letters with the boys. It may sound simple enough. But think how difficult it is to sit down with your own kids to write thank yous...now times that by 50 and you have quite a task on your hands! Even still it was great quality time with the kids. On Wednesday Brian and Richie took a little girl named Nellie Alana to a Baptist Medical Clinic in a nearby town. This little girl had missed close to a year of school due to urinary issues. By God's providential hand, they were able to meet with a Honduran doctor and get the referral she needed to see a specialist.
Thursday was an amazing day. The house was finally complete and we were able to move the ladies into there new home. After being evicted from there previous home these beautiful ladies were overwhelmed to finally own their own house. As Richie handed them the key they wiped the tears from their eyes. Can you imagine being 106 and finally owning a house? What a blessing!! Please see the pictures in our photos of the ladies in their new house.
Friday we went to the Farm to say good bye to the boys. The above are just a few highlights from our trip. It was great to see how much the boys have grown as well as to meet some of the amazing new kids who have just entered the ministry. I know in time that they will feel at home just as the others have. Please pray for FCM, the boys and the staff. The enemy is alive and well in Honduras and does not want to see these amazing kids succeed. We know that our God is bigger than the enemy and ultimately His work will be carried out in them.
Thank you for your prayers! God bless!
Brian and Stephanie
Today Richie and I were able to take a seven year girl(Nellie Lana) and her mother to a medical clinic ran by Baptist Medical. Richie took her to them because the mother has had a hard time getting a doctor that understands what is really wrong with her daughter. God is using Richie to build a relationship with this family who is Catholic through this young girls illness. It was neat to see the body of Christ working together to help diagnosis and solve the sickness.
After we spent the morning with this small family, Gordon, Richie and I finished a house where five women that are over 100 years old will be moving in. They were evicted out of the home they were in but God used FCM and a mission team to provide the funds and to build the main structure of the home. We finished the home by putting in windows, and locks on the door. We went out and met with two of the women and Richie told them that we were moving them into their home tomorrow. They were excited and it was awesome to how God uses all of us at different times to show His love! Praise God!
Stephanie, Christy, and Lori spent the day with some of the boys at the farm teaching some English and helping them write letters to their sponsors. They also were able to spend some time with the staff and teach them some English! It was a great time of fun and fellowship for all of them.
As I end tonight, I am grateful that Steph and I are called to FCM and Honduras. We love the boys, we love Lori and Richie and are grateful that God chose us to be involved in His work.
God Bless.
Hello family and friends from Honduras. Stephanie and I are spending the week with the Diegelmans and the Womacks the missionaries with Forgotten Children Ministries. We cannot thank Lori and Richie Womack enough for their willingness to take us in for the week and allow us to see the week in the life of a missionary. We arrived Saturday and were able to see the boys at the shelter. It is always good to see them. We spent Sunday morning at the church in Monte Redondo and were able to spend Sunday morning with the young men at the farm. Our afternoon was time with our boys at the farm enjoying fellowship with them. We will be spending the week down here flying home on Saturday. Please be in prayer for the Womack's health as they are still not feeling well. Please pray for Kimi and Dylan as they are at home in Charlotte. Lastly please keep us in prayer as we minister with Womacks and Dieglemans. We ask that God will allow us to minister to those that He would have us in contact. We thank God for His grace to allow us to once again be in Honduras. We cannot wait to be down here full time.
Happy New Year to our family and friends! It has been just over a year since we have started the process to become full time missionaries in Honduras with Forgotten Children Ministries. God has blessed us in so many ways and we are humbled by His provisions. We are currently over 50% of the total support needed to leave for language school in Costa Rica. Our target date to leave is this coming fall, August 2009. We know that these are tough economic times, yet God continues to bring new partners/supporters to join us. We want to thank you all for your faithfulness to us and the calling that God has put before us. As we start this year we are asking for you to pray for us:
1. Our house is currently on the market and we pray that it will sale in God's time.
2. We are planning on going to Honduras at the end of February and we are praying that God will provide all that we need to go as well as safety and good health for Steph and I while we are gone and our kids here at home.
3. We are in need of about $2,500 more monthly before we can leave for the field full time. We are praying that God will raise up an additional 100 families.
4. Please be in prayer for FCM and the ministry in Honduras. Please pray for the boys and their safety as well as the staff and the current missionaries, Lori and Richie Womack.
We are so thankful for all of you and we pray that God will bless each and every one of you. Thank you for your love, prayers and financial support.
Blessings!
In Christ,
Brian, Stephanie, Kimi and Dylan Foster
