Fall 08

Thank you so much for your prayers these last few months. They have truly been needed and been a great blessing to me.

Ometepe

Jim & Ginny Street, Trish Lewis and I went to Ometepe, Nicaragua. Jim & Ginny Street are learning Spanish in Costa Rica to be field coordinators in Honduras next year. Trish Lewis came from Florida to to join us.

We really enjoyed spending time with Dr. Sandra. She saw patients the first day we were with her, I was able to sit in on the visits and pray for the patients. The children at the feeding center are doing well, we had fun playing with them while the food was being made.

The governmental situation in Nicaragua is taking on a sharp change. Please pray for Nicaragua and all the projects MV has there and the Natural Medicines project that Dr. Sandra has started. The pictures show that she has already packaged and is ready to distribute herbal remedies, but the government has brought the project to a complete stop. They are demanding a large sum of money for her to continue.

ICAP – International Christian Alliance for Prostitution

I attended the ICAP conference in Wisconsin in September. It was amazing to see all the people who are involved around the world in helping people come out of prostitution. Every day we heard testimonies of ladies and men who had been rescued, and how they are currently active in helping others. I was impacted at the extent of sacrifice some of these courageous people have gone to in an effort to help others.

I am currently proposing to Missionary Ventures that we form a committee to help small organizations to form businesses thru BAM – Business as a Ministry. BAM is a relatively new organization focused on helping establish businesses in locations that are in high need of employment and linking it with Christian counseling, recovery, and discipleship. I believe this would be a strategic way for us to help people and organizations that are rescuing people from prostitution. The website to find out more about BAM is at www.businessasmissionnetwork.com.

In the proposal, I’m suggesting that we send a representative from MV to the next iBAM training in Thailand. The training starts in Mid-January, and there won’t be another training for a few years. The training is 6 weeks and expensive. I am offering to go, but I need prayer support and financial support to do this.

Sondra’s News

After the trip to Wisconsin, and seeing the needs and understanding better the issues involved in ministry to victims of prostitution and human trafficking, I set some time aside to pray before I submitted the proposal (above) to MV. I thought God would give me a bit of direction on how to move forward, I did not expect what was coming. My time in prayer was filled with insight and wisdom, as much as it was filled with denial, resistance and then finally acceptance on my part. I do feel a great peace with the changes I’m making, but I do not see the logic behind a great deal of it. I am standing on the verse: Isaiah 55:8,9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways, “declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

I am wrapping up the ministry here in Costa Rica and going back to the USA for a year. I feel heavily impressed that I need to do some fundraising for the projects I’m taking on. I was under the impression that God wanted me to go to Central Florida for my time home, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that I will be going to New Mexico where my family is. There’s a lot of explanation that goes behind this, but a newsletter or an email just doesn’t do it justice.

I will be leaving Costa Rica on December 9th. Please pray for me. I’ve rented a storage unit in San Jose, and all my ‘stuff’ is going into it. I’m currently making weekly trips, to get it there piece by piece. The pets are also a major concern and need prayer coverage.

Prayer

Randall & Rachel are taking a team from Costa Rica into Honduras the last of this month. Dr. Juan Pablo is also leading a team from Guatemala into Honduras at the same time, to meet up and do ministry together. Please pray, as this is a first on many fronts for Missionary Ventures Latin America. The team will be doing both medical and evangelism.

Pray for Dr. Sandra on Ometepe, her Natural Medicine project, and all of the ministries MV is involved with in Nicaragua.

Please pray for My transition into the USA for an extended period of time and all the logistics involved.

Fund raising for:

Missionary Ventures Latin America

Ministry to help rescuing those prostitution

MV’s women’s ministries

My continued education and involvement in Natural Medicine