Wandering and Redemption

(Caspar) Elimelek and Naomi, with their two sons, left Bethlehem (the house of bread) due to a famine. They became immigrants and went to Moab where they hoped to have a better life for their family. As it turned out, life in Moab was difficult and Naomi lost all the men in her family and gained two daughters-in-law. On hearing that “the Lord had come to the aid of his people,” Naomi returned to Bethlehem, which once again had bread, and Boaz fulfilled his obligation as kinsman-redeemer.

Many years later in Los Charcos, Honduras, Lázaro and Amanda Padilla dreamed of educating their children and building a house suitable for the whole family. To achieve this dream, Lázaro became a wanderer, went to the United States and spent ten years as an undocumented laborer. Working hard in construction, he was able to save enough money to rebuild his house and send his daughter Sara to university. A few years ago, he returned to Honduras to stay. The family belongs to the CRC in Los Charcos, and I got to know them because Amanda serves as a Sunday school leader and participates in the Christian education training supported by CRWM.

Last year, faced with high rates of unemployment in Honduras, Sara and her husband Olvin decided to immigrate to the US to work and save money for their own dreams of building a home and educating their son. They walked for days through the desert and rode on the roof of a train through Mexico only to be arrested by immigration officials in San Antonio and sent back to Honduras. Recently they built a small home behind Lázaro and Amanda’s house.

Leanne and I are (grand) children of immigrants, and we’ve wandered from our countries of birth. We have been nurtured by God’s family in the land to which God sent us. Through Christian Reformed World Missions (CRWM) and World Renew, we work on behalf of God’s family to encourage the process of redemption. Lázaro, Amanda, and Sara are one of the families that benefits from the work done by local-church community organizations to provide for the needs of this century’s version of immigrants. By strengthening the local church, we come to the aid of God’s people. By strengthening local community organizations, there is now bread in the house.

Personal Update.
Our son, Reuben, continues working as an apprentice carpenter in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He looks forward to new challenges next summer when he’ll be promoted to supervising a crew. Leanne and I were pleased to have him spend Christmas with us in Tegucigalpa.

Please join us in prayer.

Praise!

After World Renew successfully relocated 140 families from a tent camp in Haiti, funds were received for a similar process with two other camps in Port-au-Prince. Pray that these projects will also progress smoothly.
During January, four people with a love for agriculture from Avery Street CRC in Connecticut visited the work of two World Renew partners: MCM in Nueva Suyapa and Diaconia Nacional in Olancho, and the CRC-H. We appreciate these new connections and opportunity to see the work through new eyes.
Some of the pastors of the CRC-Honduras have a vision of unity for the church and are planning meetings for that purpose. Pray that God will bless their efforts.

Concern:

At the end of June, Moises Colop will be retiring after 35 years of work with World Renew in Guatemala. Please pray for God’s leading in selecting someone to replace such a wise and experienced colleague.
Pastor Adrian Mendez died in January. His church in Lajitas is struggling to continue after this loss. Pray for the church leadership training program supported by CRWM so new leaders are always ready to serve.

Thank you for your continued support!
Shalom from the Geisterfers,