Greetings,
We have been caught up in a whirlwind
(literally) for the past several months.
Since the last newsletter we have had a very busy summer schedule, a
not-so-welcome visit from Hurricane Earl, weeks of clean up after the
hurricane, and many more weeks of catch up after the dust settled. But, as we have experienced many times
through the years, it is when we are at our most incapable that God’s glory
shines the brightest!
First of all, we would like
to brag on all of the preschool graduates.
In all, 34 students graduated from the preschools in More Tomorrow and
Valley of Peace. The teachers and
students alike made for an amazing school year and these students are well on
their way to a successful year in primary school. We also want to thank all of you who
sponsored the preschool students enabling us to continue to provide this
service completely free of charge to the families in these two villages. Your sponsorship provides the teachers,
school supplies, snacks, utilities, etc. to make this part of the ministry
possible. For the 2016-2017 school year
we still have 17 preschool students in need of sponsors. The cost to sponsor a student for one year is
$250.00 and is a tax deductible gift. |
| X-Stream Youth Group |
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| First Baptist Church Parsons |
We also had the privilege of hosting
some amazing teams this summer as you may have seen on our Facebook page. The X-stream Youth from the Evangelical Free
Church in Eaton, CO ministered to a large group of children and youth through 3
days of sports camps, and then in just one day they built and set rafters for
our new church building in Frank’s Eddy.
Man, can these young people work…and fast! No matter how hot it got or what the circumstances
may have been, there were always smiles on their faces. The
First Baptist Church of Parsons, TN spent 4 days leading VBS and Bible studies
in San Marcos and San Isidro as well as distributing food. This group went through the When Helping Hurts study by Steve
Corbett and Brian Fikkert as part of their preparation for the trip. What an amazing display of Christ’s love and
a servant’s heart these folks demonstrated.
And finally we got to spend a week with family from our home church in
Arkadelphia, AR. The Second Baptist team
rolled up their sleeves and helped with several different projects from VBS,
food distribution, and packing backpacks with school supplies to wading through
the mud to work on the roof of the Frank’s Eddy building and cleaning up around
the campus. Guess that’s part of being
family…just fall in and get to work.
Each team had unique gifts, talents, and personalities that ministered
not only to the people in various villages, but also to the Gaither family in a
very special way.
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| Second Baptist Church Arkadelphia |
Just four short days after the last
team departed, Hurricane Earl decided to pay us a visit. In the Belmopan area we took a direct hit
from the storm that lasted over 6 hours.
As Jesus slept in the bottom of the ship while the disciples watched and
worried over the storm, Micah lay on the floor of the office and slept while
Randy and Sheila sat watching the wind blow through the windows and listening
to all the trees exploding outdoors. As
we were making preparations the day the storm hit, Micah told us that we were
going to be fine because God had already told him so. How precious is the faith of a child! Just as Micah had said, when we were finally
able to emerge from our “fraidy hole” the next morning, it was as if God had
cupped his hands over our home. Debris
was everywhere as far as you could see and the river looked as if it was trying
to knock at our door, but there was a clearly defined perimeter around our
house where nothing was touched. Thank
you Lord for your amazing love and protection!
The hours following the storm
turned in to days and then weeks of clean up.
When you are without electricity, water, communication, power tools, or
a tractor, things just seem to move a little slower. But it was in these days and weeks after the
hurricane that we experienced God and His wonderful love and provision so greatly. God used many of you reading this to provide
the funds for us to buy a generator to run our entire house so that we could
have electricity and water (well pumps don’t work without power) as well as
other tools and supplies we needed to get things repaired and working
again. We can’t say thank you enough to
those of you who responded to our needs.
There is not enough space on this
paper to share all of the miracles we experienced following the storm, but
there is one we would like to mention. The winds from the hurricane brought in droves
of mosquitoes. Yes, the little critters
that carry zika virus, dengue, malaria, and chikungunya were in such great
supply that we would be covered in matter of seconds after going outside. A few days after the storm just when things
seemed to be particularly frustrating, Randy noticed something very unusual as
he returned home from town. He called
Sheila and Micah and we all stood outside for about 20 minutes or so and
watched hundreds of what appeared to be martin birds flying just above the
ground all over the property eating up the mosquitoes. Our Father always knows our needs down to the
smallest detail, and He cared enough to even get rid of the mosquitoes.
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| Micah was thrilled about the first day of 2nd grade... |
Blessings,
Randy, Sheila, and Micah
