God has a plan for you too Valerie and Victor...

We are moving from the current church we have been attending since 2004 to participate in a new church plant in our neighborhood, it's a daughter church called CCI El Hatillo (which is the name of the town we live in, by the way: CCI stands for Christian Center International not Christian Camping International!)

This week, after Alfredo preached his last sermon at CCI Fellowship, our Pastor John, brought the children and me up to the front with Alfredo.

He had the elders surround us and pray for us but first he spoke a word to each of us. He thanked me for the years of service as a Sunday School teacher and he seemed to be quite surprised that tears filled my eyes. But how could they not when we have experienced an amazing sense of community, made friends for us as a couple and also for our children, and loved serving together.

Pastor John thanked Alfredo for his leadership as an elder and preacher and perhaps what blessed me the most was his words for Victor and Valerie:

"Victor and Valerie, you also have God’s call on your lives and need to know that it’s not just your parents who are called but also you as well. So, be asking the Lord: What plans do you have for me there?

V&V have been struggling greatly with this move. It is perhaps the most difficult thing Valerie has had to face in her young life, trusting God that this is for the best even though she leaves her best friends back at the other church. So, I know that the Holy Spirit will use that question to cause her to reflect. Please pray with Alfredo and I for her to learn to trust in God's direction and seek His will in the face of uncertainty.

Prayer for a family grieving the loss of their little boy...

We ask your prayer for a family that lives just a few houses down from us in Tegucigalpa. Their son of just 3 years old died a few days ago of smoke inhalation when their home caught on fire.
A friend of mine, who knew I lived close by, called me and asked me to go see what was happening since her fire was on fire. Tragically, this woman's little boy was caught inside the home and they couldn't get him out until it was too late, so when the firemen came, they could not revive him.
As I sat in the ambulance praying for this mother and her family, I watched her embrace her little boy to her chest cry out to the Lord. It seemed her son had only fallen asleep. With several of her friends we interceded, asked God for a miracle, and agonized with her pain. I shared with her husband how we were praying since he was out of town and returning as quickly as possible.
Everyone present, friends and family, neighbors and others were in a state of shock but at the same time prayers were on all our lips. We prayed against the onslaught of guilt and fear of recrimination. We prayed that through this first wave of anguish and pain their family would be strengthened, that their other two children (2 years and 8 years--in the same grade/school as my son) would be comforted, that the spouses would support one another unconditionally and that this incomprehensible tragedy would be used by God to unite them all.
The entire neighborhood and school has been impacted by this tragedy and so we ask that you would accompany us in prayer, that they would sense God's presence and that their thoughts would be aligned with His truths:
…We are here on this earth for a short time (John 14:1-4)
… This world where sin and death rule is not our final destiny, we are en route to a New Heaven and New Earth (Rev. 21)
… That God is good and He loves children (Luke 18:16) and will care for them (Matthew 18:10)
…That God's sons and daughters will spend eternity together in His presence and that it is right and good to look forward to this gran reunion (I Thess. 2:19-20; 4:13-14, 17-18)
…That our children are on loan to us, they are gifts from God (Ps. 127:3)

Pray for this family, but let not our prayers be: Oh Lord, may this never happen to me, but rather, Lord, please manifest Yourself in the life of this family.

PS: We were fortunate enough to have a friend of mine, Eduardo Mena, from Costa Rica, who also lost his daughter, Rebeca, in a car accident, email me a Spanish copy of David Wiersbe's book: Gone but not lost: Grieving the death of a child.

Lord willing, I will be meeting with this family this Sunday morning to share this book and a little booklet called, Heaven, by Randy Alcorn.


Look Inside This Book