A miraculous trip home

I told two people that I wanted to see the kids this summer.  I told Bob.  He gave me that look that says, "Impossible Debi"  I also told Jesus and He gave me that look that says "No problem"  I kept praying.  I didn't tell anyone else but in my heart of hearts I believed that I would get home... somehow.

I heard from a friend in Canada saying that her daughter was getting married and she needed a photographer.  Ha!  I could do that.   When?  In the summer!  Where?  In the same city where our kids live.   Miraculous!!  Amazing!!!  Can you believe it? They paid my flight.  I took photos of a wedding.  What a great exchange!!

It worked out beautifully ... well .. except for the fact that Bob had to stay home since we both couldn't afford to go.  But the impossible was made possible:  I got to spend time with my kids!!!

Don't lose heart.  Ever.  Keep praying!

Orange Texas Mission Team

Last year we met Pastor Dan and his wife Mary Beth and they expressed interest in coming to serve on the island.  They wanted to help various ministries.  We communicated back and forth via email and decided that we would love their help in two areas. We need help in the shop and we were grateful to have Kellie and her team help to redesign the shop for us!  We spent one day in the shop  putting all the merchandise in specific areas (as opposed to having it scattered through the shop), we worked on signage making sure that our vision statement was clear, and that there is adequate signs so if I am not in there to communicate that people will still understand.  She brought down cute chalk board and the coolest chalk markers!!

The other thing I asked them to help with was a special Women's Tea for our ladies in Made in Roatan.   And what a special afternoon it was!!!   :-)

We had a great time with games, door prizes, great food, devotional and prayer!  They were all so happy and blessed.   My heart goes out to the women here because many of them are raising kids on their own and the stress of providing is often on their shoulders.   The deserved this special afternoon and much more!   

It was a JOY to serve them and I thank the team for their willingness to serve: to bring pretty plates and napkins, to pick beautiful flowers, to share His word and to pray from the bottom of their hearts.  You encouraged them and I know the ladies will be talking about this for a good long time.

Blessings!

Coconuts and Iguana

So every morning I wake up around 6:00.  First thing:  Coffee!  As I fill the kettle, that is the signal for  Angie,our dog  to come  running to the door wagging her tail happily!  She is always so overjoyed to see me! Every morning, same thing!  Except this morning was a little different....

This morning, she came with a coconut in her mouth!!! When I went outside to give her morning scratches she ran off and she started to play soccer with the coconut!! I am not kidding!   What a hoot!   We played coconut soccer for quite a while!  She has soccer skills.  Seriously!  It is the funniest thing.  I will try to get a video of it someday.

Then suddenly, our neighbour, Marlin, came to the gate with an iguana in her hand.  I said, "Did one of your dogs get that?" And she told me that Angie had got it, and her son, who was coming to help on the property, saw her holding it down so he jumped the fence and grabbed it.   I don't know if you know this, but Islanders LOVE iguana!  I am not a fan of it.  No, I haven't ever tasted it but I can only imagine what it would be like to eat a green reptile.  Ewww!  Marlin told me that Bob is welcome to come over later for iguana.

 I love this island.  You never know what a morning will hold, or the day for that matter!!  Everyday I thank God for the chance to live here and serve here!





Angie, coconut soccer player and iguana hunter!

All in a day, up on the hill.  Blessed!

Rubeen's Baptism

Yesterday was a very special day! At 2:45pm we met at the church and a caravan of 8 vehicles made our way out to Parrot Tree Plantation for the baptism of 7 people.  Rubeen was one of them!  The sky was clear, the view was breathtaking, the sea was turquoise and pristine, but the most beautiful part of the day was to see our young Rubeen publically declare that she wants to follow Jesus.  No shame.  True joy!!

 I gave Rubeen a double heart necklace as a gift to remind her that always: it is Jesus and her.  Jesus and her.  His love is so sweet and He will never leave her or forsake her.

 It was a windy yet a gorgeous day to declare commitment to the Lord

 Surrogate parents

 It was a good turn out! But you can see that we are all huddled in the shade!

This was the other side ... it would have been too rough for a baptism!

 True JOY!  We were so happy that Bob was able to baptise her!

 Afterwards... lots of hugs and blessings from family and friends

The sisters!

Please pray for Rubeen that she will continue to grow in her relationship with the Lord.   I know she often feels alone in her faith at home and struggles to live a 'new life' there.  But nothing is impossible with God and He has promised that the good work He has begun He will complete!  Hallelujah and amen!  

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great JOY, to the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen

Jude 1:24

On the hilltop

As many of you are aware, we have enjoyed renting our place in Sandy Bay.  We paid rent for a couple of years and then the owners needed a property manager and we agreed to maintain the place in lieu of rent.   The owners have decided that they want to come down more often and put their place into the short term rental pool.   We felt good about that, and we began praying that God would lead us to a new place.

We looked at alot of places!!!    Some were small, some had no oven, some were filthy, no fence for the dog,  two places had no driveway!!  Then one day while at the shop we received a phone call from another Canadian named Dennis.  He told us his place was available for rent in May and wanted to let us know first before publizing it.  I stood there with my jaw open, shocked because about 7 years ago we had visited them and I had told Bob that I would LOVE to live up there one day...

This was the photo I took back in 2008

That was the sunset... I was smitten!!!

My first inclination to his offer though was no.   I thought the  rent was way too high but after talking to him more we realized he had dropped the price to about half since we had first seen it.   It is a beautiful 2 bedroom  home, high up on the hill with cool breezes, lovely decks,  amazing views, awesome gardens and so peaceful that it just takes your breath away.

I will be honest.  I felt that it was too extravagant for us.     Too fancy for a missionary.  I thought it was still out of our price range.  Missionaries can be a  strange group because we adopt this kind of 'we can get by on nothing mentality' and believe me I have that running through my veins.  We kept looking for another 3 weeks.   Our son, David felt we should take a step of faith, agree to rent the house on the hill and just see what the Lord would do.

Now here is where the story gets interesting.   When we joined the EFCC Mission last summer we were advised to write various churches in B.C. since we were their district missionaries.  So Bob wrote to about 30 churches letting them know about our ministry and mission.   A lady from  100 Mile House, B.C. had decided to take a 2 week trip to Roatan and she was very surprised when she later got an email from Bob in Roatan telling about our ministry!! She didn't know there were missionaries in Roatan!!   They started to correspond back and forth and the church decided to support us monthly.  How incredible is that?! How good is our heavenly Father!!

they came to church with us

we also took them to punta gorda for the festival

God provides!!!  Just when we need it!! Once we made the decision to move here then the provision started to come in.  It was a step of faith for us and we are grateful for His faithfulness in return.   I want to say thanks to those of you who are supporting us financially.  I know it is a sacrifice to give to us and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.  We are here serving because of you.  Thank you.

  One evening I was coming home from Bible study and an island friend asked whether we had moved yet. At the time we were still looking and trusting in the Lord to make it clear. She looked at me and said, "Miss Debi I can help you!  I got money!  You have been so faithful to us over the years!  You have left everything for us and given everything to us so  let me give to you."  I had tears in my eyes.  I was so surprised and grateful.  Last week she gave me our first monthly amount and said, "You can count on me!  God has blessed our family on this island and I am happy to help you!"  So humbling!  So blessed!

We are trusting He will use us in this little neighbourhood.  There are about 8 families living up on the hill and we look forward to getting to know them!

Every window has an amazing view!

Bob on the deck capturing the sunset!

the livingroom, diningroom and kitchen

There is a beautiful master bedroom in our new home and we have decided to use it for a rental retreat by donation for missionaries on the Mainland who need to get away and be spiritually refreshed. And it can also be used for you if you come to visit!!!   Hint hint hint!

 We are excited about what God is doing in Roatan and ask for your continued prayers that we will not miss anything He calls us to say or do here.  There is also a possibility of helping with a new English speaking church in Coxen Hole and they want us to be a part of that.   That would be awesome!

We will keep you posted!  

Every morning I look out over the jungle hills and say:

I lift my eyes to the hills.

Where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord,

Who made heaven and earth.

Today Christena and Rubeen are coming over for a visit!  I am looking forward to that.  Of course, we will continue to minister to our Made in Roatan families!!! (that goes without saying!)   It is just a little further down the road in Sandy Bay and much higher up!!!   :-)

Aslan is on the move!

Who is Aslan?  If you have read C.S. Lewis book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe you will remember.  But if you haven't, then  read this quote:

"And now a very curious thing happened.  None of the children knew who Aslan was any more the you do; but the moment the Beaver had spoken these words everyone felt quite different. Perhaps it has sometimes happened to you in a dream that somone says something which you don't understand but in the dream it feels as it it has some enormous meaning -- either a terrifying one which turns the whole dream into a nightmare or else a lovely dream,  too lovely to put into words, which makes the dream so beautiful that you remember it all your life and are always wishing you could get into that
dream again.  It was like that now.  At the name of Aslan each one of the children felt something jump in his inside.  Edmund felt a sensation of mysterious horror.  Peter felt suddenly brave and adventurous.  Susan felt as if some delicious smell or some delightful strain of music had just floated by her.  And Lucy got the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and realize that it is the beginning of the holidays or the beginning of summer. They say Aslan is on the move -- perhaps already landed."

I say Christ is in the move and He has indeed already landed!  We have been here for 7 years now, sowing seeds of of His love and His word, sacrifically giving, and listening and tending to hearts of the Island people.  Well, after Christmas we felt a shift.  I can't explain it but something changed for us. It wasn't anything we had done.  We hadn't fasted, or read a new book or went a retreat or seminar.  It wasn't us.  It was Him.

He is on the move.
I am excited to be a part of His team.
So how is He moving?  What is He doing?

Many of you are aware of Pedro's motorcycle accident which left him with a head injury, broken ribs and a broken wrist.   We were honoured to be close to him that he would feel comfortable staying in our home from Friday to Monday many times.  During those times I fed him pureed foods (since he bit his tongue in half), he laid on our couch resting, we prayed for him, and he watched countless hours of the movie "The Son of God."  On the morning of Jan 19th (our Emily's birthday) I was sitting in a livingroom with Pedro.   I looked at him and said, Pedro you have a big decision don't you?
He agreed.  We both knew what the decision was.  It wasn't about what school to attend, or what to wear it was the biggest decision of his life.  I simply asked, Quiere El? (do you want Him?)

He sat on the couch for a long time with his head in his hands.  Quiet.  Thinking.
I sat on the couch beside him.  Quiet. Praying

Then he looked up at me and softly said, Queiro El.
I want Him.

We read various verses in Spanish about His life, forgiveness and offer for salvation.
At one point I took a beaded iguana from Africa that I had bought.  I held it out to him and asked, Do you want this?  He smiled and said "Yes Miss Debi. I do."
I simply said, "Well take it"
He smiled broadly and said thank you.

I explained that God has given us a gift.  A gift of love, forgiveness and LIFE but our job is to take it.  To accept this beautiful free gift. God's part is to offer us salvation and our part is to accept.

Pedro smiled and said, Yes I want this gift!!

I called Bob over and told him.  We had Teresa visiting us from Texas and we all gathered around and heard Pedro's heartfelt prayer asking Him to forgive him and come be with him forever.
It was beautiful.

Later he looked at me and in broken english said, I am Peter and He is make me a fisher of men.

On March 8, 2015 Rubeen went forward to accept Jesus as her personal Lord and Saviour at church.   How exciting to be there to pray with her!!  I was overcome with joy!

Later in the afternoon we went out to Punta Gorda to visit the 4 families that had lost their homes to a fire.  As we walked the beach Rubeen found this shell and left it on the beach.   He does love us.  So.very.much.  Please pray for both Pedro and Rubeen...