Happy New Year, Friends and Family!
I love this time of year— remembering the year past and reflecting on ways that the Lord has revealed Himself more and shown His faithfulness and goodness, and looking forward with anticipation to the year to come. This last year was a hard one in many ways, but also so full of good times and sweet reminders of how present God is in each moment and how much His grace strengthens. I mourn the loss we experienced this last year, wishing that Mario’s mom, Rosa, could still be with us. I also celebrate the arrival of our baby boy, Asher Daniel, and praise God for the opportunity to bring more life into the world! Asher is such a treasure.
Vienne and I came to Cody in November to prepare for Asher’s arrival, however, Mario is still not able to be with us. I’m hopeful that someday he will be able to join us on our trips up here, but I’m trying to trust in God’s timing and that He knows why He hasn’t opened the door up until now. There has at least been a very exciting purpose for him being in La Venta right now, and I’m so thankful for the timing— he has a project to be working on to stay busy, and I can have peace, despite how much I wish he were here. By the unbelievable, unexpected abundance of God through some incredibly generous people, the church we’ve been a part of planting since June of 2022 has begun construction on the sanctuary! Mario is getting to oversee that project, so he is busy all day every day making sure there are materials, that there’s water for mixing cement, and coordinating with the contractor and his team. Mario is great at this, and it’s been good for him to have something so big to be focusing on. The plan is to build the church in phases, with the sanctuary being phase 1 and coming along beautifully after these past two months of work! Praise God for His provision and favor!
Vienne and I are enjoying our time with family and friends here. She is especially loving so much time with her cousins! She adores her little brother, although the transition has been a bit of a challenge. I’m so thankful to be able to be with my parents and for their patience especially with Vienne’s rather challenging behavior of late! She is so much fun, but struggling to figure out how life works now that she’s not the only one. When Vienne was born, the process to get her passport was so long and difficult, so thankfully this time around with Asher we knew what all we would need and were able to get everything done correctly and quickly. For Vienne it took almost four months to get her passport, and Asher’s just arrived today, so not even two weeks from when I applied! Praise God! We plan to head back to Honduras by the end of this month (January) along with my sister and niece to help me with the challenges of international travel with a newborn and a toddler!
We have some financial growth goals for this year, and a couple of specific needs, especially with an addition to our family. Up till now, I have washed all of our laundry by hand (something I had to learn to do when I first moved down to Honduras as I had never done it before!). As you can imagine, it is time-consuming and tedious. I have been able to take advantage in early morning hours to listen to teachings or worship as I wash, but especially now with another baby, I have been dreaming of having a washing machine. Sadly, there’s not really the option of getting on the local Facebook classifieds page to see if anyone is getting rid of an old washing machine for free or at least cheap, so to get a washing machine would be at least around $500. I also would love to be able to get an air conditioning window unit at least for our living room, which would also cost at least around $500. As of right now, we only have some fans and they only do so much when it’s so hot out and we have a metal roof that turns our house into an oven, haha! So between these two things, I’m hoping to raise at least $1,000 for these “special gifts”. On top of that, we are hoping to increase our monthly support by $200-$300, which would help with more baby expenses as well as the times when unexpected things come up, such as necessary car repairs or a family member or friend in need of help medically. Ideally this would look like smaller gifts from various different people, such as $20, $50, or even $100 a month. We ask that you would pray about whether this is something that God would have you do.
As for some of our prayer requests:
-For our upcoming travels back to Honduras (smooth and good flights).
-For the transition back to life in Honduras (for myself now with a newborn as well as a toddler, for Vienne as transitions in general can be hard, and for me and Mario as we learn again how to do life together after a few months apart).
-For the church construction project (to stay within budget as unexpected things can so often come up with any construction project, and for it to be more than just a building where some people gather, but that it would be full of the presence of the Lord and where people may encounter Him!).
Thank you for your prayers!
I love writing these newsletters and being reminded every time of just how good God is to us, and how generous and kind so many of you have been to us in supporting us and encouraging us and keeping us in your prayers. We are so grateful. There are so many moments that I am left speechless and fighting back tears as I experience again and again God’s provision through your gifts. Thank you.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
Romans 15:13
Katie
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