Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Lamplight Newsletter - Summer - 2005

Summer 2005

Dear Friends and Family,

It has been a while since I have written a newsletter. We have been back for three months serving in the new children’s home, the House of Hope. Believe me, it’s not because there was no news that you didn’t get a newsletter, but because it was hard to find the time to just sit and write one.
When I left Honduras in October we were renting a little hot gray cement three bedroom house. I said goodbye to the dismal kitchen, the makeshift tables instead of kitchen counters, the cement floors, the cockroaches, and the little mouse perching on the top of my shelf above my bed that I could never catch.
When I came home in March, (my family actually returned in February, but I had to stay later due to some family affairs that needed my attention), my husband had moved my family into the children’s home, the House of Hope. We opened the home with nine Miskito children, twelve total, including my own three. We now have seventeen Miskito children.
How wonderful to walk into a home with tile floors, and tile counters and real cupboards and cabinets. We have long hallways that the kids run up and down with towels tied around their necks playing superman. We have a living room and dining room large enough to play beach ball in. There is a large play ground where the kids squeal as they slide down the slides and swing on the swings which, they especially enjoy during the rain.
There are double front doors and a lot of windows so the house stays cool. No more cockroaches running around in the kitchen. As a matter of fact the only things that run in the kitchen now are the refrigerator, the freezer and the water in the kitchen sink. I moved my shelves next to my bed just like before but instead of a real mouse I found a little stuffed toy mouse and placed him up on the top shelf, (to replace the real one that always threatened to jump on my head at night), as a little reminder of what the Lord has done for us.
Like any home we have our ups and downs. We rejoice when we have the room and facilities to properly care for a malnourished baby, and then cry when they keep us up all night. I praise God for the people who send school materials such as crayons and pencils, and then have to keep myself from cursing when the children write all over the walls with them. I sometimes wonder will the day give me enough hours to take care of the needs of all the children, and can my refrigerator give me enough room to display all the cards that were given to me on mothers’ day?
I marvel that some of our children are the color of the rusty clay and others as black as the dirt. Some of our children have one leg, others have two. Some speak Miskito, others Spanish, and still others speak English, there are even a few that speak all three. We have to keep them from quarreling with one another in the house with each other, but heaven help the outsider who picks on one of our children because of his or her handicap or difference.
It’s funny how we always seem to have more dirty socks and underwear then clean. How we can never catch the child who leaves the water running. I was so excited to just not have one bathroom, but eight. Then I realized what a chore it was to just keep them flushed and cleaned. Remember, we are dealing with children and families who for some have never used a toilet before. The children bless the food before they eat it, and then bless the Lord again when it’s not their turn to do the mountain of dirty dishes. I rejoice for every pound a malnourished baby gains, and cry for every pound I gain.
God continues to show me his awareness of every big and little need like when Nancio and Ursula both needed black school shoes. A box of old sheets and clothes were sent and at the bottom two pairs of shoes, just the right size and the right color. A lot of beautiful baby boy clothes were sent on the last container. We haven’t had a baby boy living with us for almost two years. Tony came a month later; seventeen months old and only twelve pounds.
We cheered when Ricardo, Leny, and Alba Julia, came home walking with their new prosthetic legs, and Flor Angel with her new arm and we cried when we met baby Senia who has no mouth, no nose, and one eye. She also needs surgery for club feet. I hope that by caring for these people’s children, who are sick and in need, we are showing them that there is a God who loves them. By educating special needs children we are providing for them an escape from pity and begging and exploitation and equipping them to care for themselves in a way that brings glory to God, giving hope to others who are also handicapped or have handicapped loved ones. When we provide milk and cereal to malnourished babies and children we are stopping the hunger that makes a child weak and sick and at risk to disease and death.
I thank all the people that help to support us in what we do. I thank God for your prayers as we need Gods help to help others. I thank the individuals who spent time and money to come and visit, braving the heat and bugs to help change a babies diaper or clean a storage room or just to bring encouragement. I realize that you could have chosen to go to a resort or on a cruise, but God knows the difference you may have made in a child’s life while you were here.
I pray that as some of you have given to meet our needs that your needs will also be met. I also pray that even though you may not get a newsletter every month that you will not forget us.
A special thanks to the pastors and churches who allowed us to share with you our ministry and your willingness to share the burden.
For those of you who would like to have us visit your church this winter, please contact us by email at rogerkatrina@gmail.com. We will probably be coming out in the end of October for a family reunion. So for the three months that follow, we will be available. Remember, the sooner the better, so we can make plans.

Please make family support checks payable to:

New Testament Mission
604 Lemon Street
Sebring, FL 33870-6915
(Be sure to note in memo space, ‘for Roger and Katrina Engle’)

If you wish to support the House of Hope send checks to:

Send Hope
720 E Main, Suite A
Allen, TX 75002
(Be sure to note in memo space, ‘for House of Hope’)