The common greeting in Spanish when seeing another believer is: “Hola hermano/a, bendiciones.” Which translates to: “Hello brother/sister, blessings.” So, hello brothers and sisters, blessings!
I want to take a moment to address the current situation that our world is in right now: overwhelmed with fear. I pray that each of you are well and untouched by the fast-spreading coronavirus, and I recognize that it is seriously affecting a lot of lives, but also I want to challenge us as followers of the Sovereign King to live with peace despite the circumstances. We belong to God, and with our hope and trust placed in Him, moments like this provide us with daily opportunities to be examples of not being controlled by fear and anxiety like most of the world is. Let us show compassion to those who are sick or know someone who is, hope to those who are hopeless, joy to those who are discouraged, and peace to those who are attacked with anxiety. And, let us come together as the Church to pray for worldwide healing and redemption.
As for other news here in La Venta, this last month has been full, as always, with lots of different things. Shortly after writing my last update, we moved! Just back to the house where we were originally. This house belongs to an Italian who spends a couple of months every winter here, so that was why we had to leave in December and now have been able to move back since he left to go back to Italy. It’s a lovely little house and we’re so glad to be back here. Sadly, the owner has some rules against having large groups of people here, which affects our ministry, so this house is only temporary until we are able to find somewhere else to rent/buy that will be more permanent and give us more freedom. Please continue to be praying for that!
The biggest thing over this last month has been the preparation for this month’s team. With all the chaos over flights and borders getting closed due to the coronavirus, the team was cancelled just yesterday. However, we have already been working in the kitchen for the last three weeks to get it ready to paint, put down the flooring, and put in the appliances, so we’ll just finish all that work down here without the team. Construction here in Honduras is quite different and a lot slower, so these have been three long weeks, with still more work to be done to get it completely finished, and it’s sad to have to do it without the team, but it’ll be a huge blessing for the people in the church so it’s not worth waiting. It’s definitely been a challenge and quite exhausting for me and Mario as it’s our first time being in charge of a work project, but it’s been a really great learning experience. In my next update I’ll be able to share pictures and I’m so excited!
Thank you so much for supporting us and being a part of what God is doing here. It’s only the beginning. It’s such an honor that He would allow us--invite us!-- to be a part of spreading His Kingdom.
All for His glory,
Katie and Mario Velasquez
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