God of the Valley

“It’s been an interesting year so far.”                                                                     July 28th, 2020

This is an excerpt from my last post which is dated March 6th.  Which means that it was written before the Honduran country was put on lockdown on March 13th.  If I had only known then that those first two “interesting” months would be the most normal ones of the year.  Things went from “interesting” to “pretty crazy” in a week, with very little possibilities of calming down any time soon.  We are still dealing with some lockdown, we are only allowed to go to town one day every two weeks based on the last digit of our photo ID number. So I can go every other Tuesday with my Honduran ID or every other Wednesday with my American passport.  Some stores ask for my ID, but the store I usually shop at doesn’t, which is a blessing.  The banks are very strict about the ID number.  They had changed the

Thank you to all who have prayed for Manuel with his seizures.  He is doing great.  He still has some tests pending, but he hasn’t had a seizure since the doctors changed his medicine a few months ago.  Anyone who has seen a child convulsing knows how terrifying it is, but the Lord has been good and kept Manuel safe.

We have been trying, with little success, to keep up with the kids’ homework assignments since school shut down in March.  At the moment we have one K4, one K5, one first grader, two second graders, three fourth graders, one fifth grader, and one sixth grader, not to mention one of my helpers is in eighth grade.  That does not include any of the special needs kids who are in school or need physical therapy or mental stimulation.  We aren’t doing such a great job, to say the very least.  Please pray for this situation to be resolved before I lose my mind.

The shipment of clothes and supplies for the children’s home is due to be shipped this weekend.  We have been told that there shouldn’t be a problem with getting it out of customs even though travel is rather hard lately.  Please pray that the container gets here safely.

Through these trying times the Lord is so faithful, and we ask for strength to be faithful, too.

Thank you all for for many prayers.

Keep your trust in God and not on things of man.

 

 

Manuel

A “quick” update.  It’s been an interesting year so far.

It started out with a trip to the states for refreshing.  Then shortly after my return, we voted in Pastor Uriel as the new pastor and leader of the children’s home.  Pastor Uriel is a national pastor who studied at the Bible institute here at the children’s home.  His wife, Margarita, grew up in the home and also attended the Bible institute.  Pastor Uriel has been pastoring one of the church plants for over twenty years and appears to have a heart for the Lord and the ministry here.

Brother Ronnie, who has been on the field for thirty years, has plans to make rounds of his supporting churches.  He felt that this change was necessary due to his age and health issues.

Manuel, who is 12 years old, has been having light seizures once or twice a year since he came to live with us 7 years ago.  One neurologist had him on medicine, and the next took him off it.  This last October he started to have pretty bad seizures and more frequent.  His electroencephalogram came back good but he needs a CAT-scan as well.  Please pray that we will find why he is having more trouble with seizures and be able to control them.

 

 

 

 

New Beginnings

Thank you all for another year of prayers and support for us at the Hogar de Amor Children’s Home.  It has been a year of new challenges as my role continues to shift and change as my children get older.

As a teenager, I had never in my wildest dreams considered the possibility that I would one day be living in a foreign country, much less raising foreign children, but the Lord had other plans for me that I couldn’t understand until he pushed me out of my comfort zone.

Ten years ago, I started working at the Hogar de Amor children’s home ministry in Honduras under Ronnie Doss and began working with the home’s ten youngest children, ages two to seven.  Eight boys and two girls.  Over the last decade, there have been over sixty children who have come under my direct care.  Some are still with us, but many have moved on, either to the older children’s dorms or back with their families, sometimes never to be heard of again.

Nicol(4) and Douglas(3)

Edwin and Christa

You may ask, “Is it really worth it to invest so much time, money, and energy into these kids if you don’t even get to see what becomes of them when they’re older?”  God has not called me to plan these kids’ lives from start to finish, or even to know His plan for them from start to finish.  God has called me to be there for them and instruct them for the days He has entrusted them to me.  I guess that goes for all parents, but we often forget and try to decide what will happen to them and what won’t, only to be frustrated and depressed when we fail miserably because it is a burden that is too great for us.  God knew that and he never asks us to do things that we can’t do.  That is where His power comes in.  That is His line of work.

Although this year has been a frustrating one for me as I often forget and, in my own strength, try to make my kids do right and make good choices, I am starting to learn that my responsibility is to teach them those things, not only by my words but primarily by my life and actions. And God will do the rest as they allow Him to.  Believe me, that is easier said than done.  Please pray for me as I try to be what God wants me to be in 2020.

This year has also been challenging as a couple of the kids have started having seizures.  This means more hospital and doctors visits and expensive testing.  The medication that they’re on is free through the public hospital, but it means a half-day appointment every three months.  Please pray that the Lord would provide, and that the doctors and I will have wisdom as we decide what is best for these special kids, especially for Manuel, one of my boys, who is starting to have seizures more frequently.

Manuel

I love the ministry God has called me to and greatly appreciate your prayers and support that allow and enable me to serve here in Honduras.

Have a great 2020, and God bless you all.

Christa Miller,

Missionary to Honduras

Sept 2019

 

I looked at the last time I updated and was so excited that it had only been a couple of months.  Then it dawned on me that May was a long time ago.  So sorry for the wait.

We have been busy with school, doctor visits, and therapy.

We also have a new face that didn’t make the group picture.

Skarly is five years old, and seems to be adapting well to our home.  She is very energetic and can be head strong, but she has already found a special place in my heart.  The problem is that there are now four kids in kinder and they are all leaders.  Not a single follower in the bunch.

Speaking of kindergarten, I was asked to help with the kinder class a few months ago.  I was teaching, but now am just helping another girl with preparing the lesson and she is teaching the class.  It seems to be working out.  The school year ends in November, so we are almost done.

  I just realized that Nicol is not in the picture either.  She and her sister have been with us since January.  She is super sweet.

Birthday season is upon us.  It gets to be that the kids expect cake and Pepsi all the time.  The good thing is that Gerson now understands the difference in his birthday and other peoples birthdays.

I would appreciate prayer for my teen helpers.  Some are not saved and others need to grow spiritually.  They have had some trials lately with family and friends leaving.

Hermana Denia, the lady who comes to help us, is recovering from surgery.  She is doing well, but gets very stressed to be sitting at home doing nothing.  She is such a blessing to us, and is greatly missed.  Please pray that her recovery will be quick and that God will give her grace to rest.

I was told by a social service worker that Samuel, who you have been praying for, has been adopted by a family in Canada.  Some people will think of this as good news, but we have no idea what kind of spiritual ground he has arrived on.  My prayer for him is, and always has been, that God will do for our Samuel what he did for Hannah’s Samuel in the Old Testament.  Raised among people so wicked that God cursed them, yet he became one of the greatest prophets of all time.

Thank you all for your prayers and support (and your patience in getting updates).

God bless your harvest season.

Christa Miller, Honduras

 

 

Belated Easter Update

Dear Family and Friends, January-April 2019
I pray you had a wonderful time celebrating the Lord’s resurrection. We certainly did. It was a blessing to have Brother Ricky Taylor and his wife with us for our conference this year. The preaching for this week is usually aimed at the unsaved and their need for the risen Savior, but this year seemed to be especially for me and my walk as a child of God. It was a very special time.
Since my last update (in December), we have started the new school year. We are trying to get a reading program started to help out the kids that are struggling, but it is hard to get the time and material to do it right and. I know that Peter and John were unlearned men who couldn’t read or write, but the Bible tells us to do all that we find to do with all of our might, and since the children spend so much time in school, I want to help to teach them to do their best at it.
We have celebrated several birthdays so far this year, one of them was for Reyna, who turned 13 on Resurrection Sunday. The Lord provided to be able to take her and some of her friends to eat pizza and ice cream. We had a great time. Please pray for this beautiful young lady as she does not claim to be saved.
Plans are in place to move Celia, one of my older girls, in with the teen girls on Saturday (if I don’t back out). She has been with me for about seven years and it will be hard to see her go. I would appreciate your prayers for her (and me) during this time.
For those who are praying for Samuel, we have not heard anything more about his whereabouts, but he still needs your prayers. My prayer for Samuel is that God would keep him safe spiritually as he did Samuel the prophet.
Many people in Honduras don’t have a steady income, and will plant two staple crops, beans and corn, not to sell, but to feed their own families. They can’t plant without the rain, and I can’t remember the last time we had a normal rainy season where it rains…hard every day like clockwork. This has also caused a price rise, which makes it even harder for the common people to provide for their loved ones. Please pray that the Lord will have mercy on this thirsty land and these desperate people.
Thank you all for your support, be it spiritual, emotional, or financial. I definitely have my hard days, but the Lord always reminds me that as long as I am where He wants me to be, He will provide for ALL of my needs.
God bless you all. With love from Honduras,
Maria, Christa Miller, Jacky, Edwin, Juan, Gerson, Manuel, Gledis Celia, Reyna, Ana, Yareli, Marbella, Keyla, Wendy, Sherin, Douglas, Kristhian, Arelsy, Karen, Amanda, Michel, Kimberly, and Nicol

R ‘n’ R

School is out.  All the sixth graders passed their big test and will be graduating on Saturday, Nov 17th.

Please pray for graduation and especially for four of my girls who will be moving up to the teen girls’ dorms.  Mrs. Julia Schenck will be seeing to their care.

Lilian(first on the left), Ester(second from left), Danely(fourth from left), and Dinora(bottom right pic) will be moving out one at a time over the next few weeks.  We usually send them all at once, but this time we will be doing it a little differently, to hopefully let them each get to know Mrs. Julia and get more comfortable with her rather than depending so much on each other.

We are still waiting to see what God will do in regards to Samuel, the boy that was taken by social service in August.  We pray that he is well and know that wherever he is, The Lord is taking care of Him.  This situation is yet another reminder that our time to influence and reach other people for Christ is so short.  Please pray that we will not get too mixed up with physically caring for the kids that we don’t have time or energy to care for them spiritually.  I don’t mean that we’d stop taking them to church or not even have church, but that our everyday lives would only be about us and how to keep everyone alive.  That is what the devil wants us to do.  We want to everyday in our daily lives we teach the children to love, worship, and serve the Lord Jesus Christ.

I am currently in Florida with some of my family, enjoying a time of rest and relaxation.  My younger sister is finishing up her schooling at PCC, and invited us to attend an art show were she has some pieces on exhibit.  I am so proud of her achievement and greatly enjoyed spending some time with her as she readies herself for the next chapter in life.  I hope to see great things from her in the near future.

Before I left for the states, I took Gledis, Gerson, and Edwin to a neurologist.  Gledis, who has cerebral palsy, is having migraines, and Gerson needed a check-up for his epilepsy.  Edwin, it was discovered, also has epilepsy and is now on medication for that.  Please pray for him as the medicine seems to be making him lethargic, which has slowed his rate of intellectual progress from baby steps to a crawl.

I will be heading back to Honduras on Thursday and would appreciate all you prayers for my traveling, the graduation on Saturday, Samuel’s well-being, and the home as a whole.

Thank you all for your prayers and support.  Please feel free to pass this blog onto others.

God bless and have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Christa Miller

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your concerns and prayers.

Samuel is still in social service’s care, and we have not seen him since they took him.

Since my last update, we had a large group from social service and public ministry come to further investigate if the kids were being mistreated.  We haven’t heard from them since last week, so we have no idea what to expect.

Some of the kids are wondering if they will be next.  Please pray for them during this time.

On a happier note, we were able through special donations to purchase a vehicle exclusively for me and the kids that I take care of.  Meet our Ford Escape (or you could call it “Eskimo” because of the extreme air conditioner.  We almost froze our first time out.)

 

Cesar drives us as I do not have a valid driver’s license.  Although I did pull it out onto the road.

Our fist trip to therapy the boys loved the car, and it was super nice to not have to be covered in dust.  We are still waiting for license plates.

We also celebrated September 15th (Independence Day) last week.  The school kids had a parade and a play (which I didn’t attend because it was the same day as therapy).

 

Samuel

Dear Church Friends and Family,                                                                    6-Sep-2018

Thank you all for you prayers and support during this difficult time.  Samuel was brought to the home at seven months old by his parents.  When I came to work here he was three years old, and lived with me till he was seven at which time he moved in with the older boys.  He is now eleven.

Last Friday, social service took Samuel out of school and told us that he was in the process of being adopted and that there was nothing we could do about it.  When we went to the office that same day to see what could be done, we were told by the same worker that although he was being adopted, the reason they had taken him from us was because they had received an anonymous report that he was being mistreated.  This was not mentioned when they took him and was not on the paper they gave us.

This last bit of information made it impossible to even see him, and makes it possible for them to finish the adoption process without interference on our part.  We were told that they couldn’t give us the name of the family adopting Samuel, nor could they tell us who could help us.  Upon further investigation, it turns out that not only could they tell us, but the policy is to tell us and then set a date to take the child.  Even with all of these discrepancies, there is no guarantee we will see Samuel again.  We are trusting that the Lord will work on his behalf and have his will in this situation.

Please pray for Samuel and his safe return.

Love in Christ,

Christa Miller

The Lord is faithful

These last few months have been a blessed reminder that the Lord is and always has been very faithful to us here in Honduras.

We were finally able to get Kimberly to the eye doctor this week to get her vision checked.  I really had no idea how much glasses cost here in Honduras, but I knew I was taking her and one of the teen girls to a more pricey doctor.  I had used a cheaper doctor a few years ago with another girl and wasn’t very satisfied.  I decided it was worth the extra expense to get better care, but I was still nervous about being able to pay for glasses there.  After a five hour wait, we finally were seen.  Kimberly has astigmatism in both eyes badly enough that I was definitely not leaving with out glasses for her.  As we were leaving the examination room, the doctor handed me the prescription and a note that read “50%” to take to the front desk.   We were given a fifty percent discount not only on the consultation for both of the girls, but on their frames as well.

I was also contacted from a couple in the states because they wanted to donate towards my getting a personal vehicle.  I had been praying about that for awhile, and was blessed to see the Lord answering.  I am still praying that He would bring the right vehicle to us, and whether I should drive here or not.  It can be more dangerous because the laws are not followed as they are in the states, but it would be more convenient if I could drive myself.  I don’t usually think so much about convenience, but there are so few young men right now.  They not only drive, but they do all the plumbing and maintenance and care of the milk cows.  Please pray with me for wisdom in this area and that the Lord will send us the perfect car to meet our specific needs.

These last few months have been overflowing with trials and problems.  The electricity issue, health problems, and bad attitudes just to name a few.

The electric issue is still up in the air.  We still don’t have a meter and have not been told when to expect it.  I have not heard recently what the fees are supposed to be for back bills.

The chicken pox plague is finally over!!! I think.  It was followed by a bout of pneumonia with a couple of the little ones, but praise the Lord, they have recovered.(One o’clock in the morning.) The masks only worked if they were sitting up.

The bad attitudes last month were by far the worst I have seen in the year that I have had pre-teens living with us.  It was very discouraging and frustrating to deal with, and was almost enough to make a person lose their mind, but I am so glad to see how God used that time to stir up their stagnant hearts.  Some that had professed to have Christ admitted to being lost and the Holy Spirit was finally able to work in their hearts.  I know of at least three from our house who have made professions of faith recently.  I believe the older boys also saw souls saved this month.  As Romans says:”All things work together for good to them that love God…”

We hadn’t taken a group photo in almost a year, so here we are up to date.  My helper, Yacky is taking the picture.  My other helper got reassigned to the older teen girls.

We had some girls from another dorm move in with us this year, and Maria in the top right is a new helper in training.  For updated information on my kids, please visit “The Kids” page on this blog.

Please pray for our pastor, Ronnie Doss, as he is in the states because of some health issues.

Happy belated Mother’s day to all the mothers, and happy early Father’s day to the fathers.  Don’t take your God given position lightly, and remember that you are just as human as these kids’ parents.  The only thing separating your kids from these kids is God’s grace.