Hello again to all! God has, is and continues to bless us beyond what we can think or imagine. We are so blessed it’s hard to know where to start… Oh, wait, we’re PREGNANT!!! That’s probably the best place to start. Rebecca is about a month in a half pregnant now and we are expecting a beautiful Christmas gift from God this year. Because of these events, we don’t plan to visit the states this Christmas (but hope to see many of you down here with us instead).

Also, Rebecca’s sister, Katie, is now engaged and has a wedding date set for this October. Her fiance, Chuck, is a wonderful man of God who hopes to work full time in Honduras along side of my father-in-law, Frank. Katie and Chuck have received blessings from both their families and are excited to step out in what God has planned for them.

I’ve started forcing myself to speak out and use my Spanish. I try to preach a small message once or twice a week. God has given me a vision to unite the youth leaders of our church here. I’ve written out my plan of action and am, through God’s grace, beginning to see it through. I also am teaching the youth that faith without works is dead and Christianity without love is a waste of time. To practice these truths, we’ve made up a list of outreaches and love assignments for the youth to start breaking free from religion.

For the first time in a long time we are learning to keep up the mission grounds while maintaining the school and advancing the kingdom of God through evangelism and outreaches. The boys and I go walking many times a week to visit, encourage, and challenge those in the community. People are becoming familiar with our faces and accept us, avoid us, or curse us. It is so much fun to be radical for God!  So often, our lives get stagnate and it’s easy for our friends and neighbors to live their comfortable half-Christian lives around us. It’s awesome to see God moving in us so much that others greet us, run, or yell when we walk by.

The other day God encouraged me with the story of the widow and the judge. The widow asks for help and doesn’t stop until finally, out of annoyance, the judge helps her. As I read this story I thought, “you know, I’m going to ask, beg and pry people to get right with God until finally, out of annoyance and a desire for me to leave them alone, they come to God.” This isn’t actually the meaning of the story but that’s something new I got from it. In the words of Mr. Rob Russo, “The most unloving thing to do is to not warn someone of the hell to come.” I’ve been unloving and selfish for far too long and I want to live every moment snatching souls from hell. So my challenge is this, let’s make it uncomfortable for people around us who are on their way to hell.

                                 I love you guys, Nathan.

P.S. The goat project: Rebecca and I have been searching out ways to use the property of the mission here more effectively. We are sectioning off parts for growing fruit trees and other things. We would also like to try out some goats. To start we want to buy a few and see how they work. We would like to build a small pen and running lines for them in the day time. The idea is for them to help keep the grass short, give milk and meat and, if that works out, maybe bless others with the increase from them. We would like to raise a little extra for this project and just wanted to throw it out there for anyone who might be interested. For 2 goats, it will cost about $50 and for a pen and running lines, $250.

Thank you for your continued prayer support of this ministry

There’s a song that says “Every blessing you pour out I’ll turn back to praise, When the darkness closes in, still I will say, ‘Blessed be the name of the Lord’.” But a lot of the times, when the darkness closes in, I struggle with praising Him. My prayers sound more like: “God? I don’t understand? I prayed for safety in this area, so why aren’t you answering? I work so hard to do Your will, and then, my computer breaks down, my generator stops working, my students’ parents are mad at me” etc. Then, after struggling for a while, I finally pray “Lord, You’re in charge. I’ll trust You.”

I know God doesn’t mind my whining; the Psalms prove that, but so often when attacks come, for a period of time, I let frustration and anger sneak in. I’m short with my family and the people I minister to. If I give in, even just for short time, it shows me that Satan still has some strongholds in my life. What if Job, for just a moment, gave in?  Or what if every time my wife, Rebecca, challenged me to grow, I questioned her on her love for me and why she makes it so hard to love her and why she’s always testing me and pushing me to do better?  I don’t do this because I know her character.  I know the love she has for me and the great wisdom she has to see the whole picture. 

So, how am I in any way justified in questioning God’s wisdom and love for me? He is my Creator, all-powerful, all-loving, all-merciful, all-knowing. I know and have seen His character.  So why do I so quickly let my guard down to Satan’s darts of stress and worry?  I prayed this prayer the other day (I know I will be tested on it, but that’s okay): “Lord, I’m sorry that I let myself so quickly be overwhelmed.  Help me to mature in my walk with you and respond to pressure with true joy.  Help James 1:2-4 to be a quick reality to me.”  How awesome would it be if my response to “you just received $1,000 to help your ministry” was the same as my response to “your generator is unfixable, it will be $1,000 for a new one.”  I believe this is very possible and very Biblical (2 Cor. 1:9; 4:8,11,12,17; 7:4; 12:7-10) (for your sakes, I only did one book). Since this prayer last week, I’ve been blessed with many opportunities to rejoice. 

You know, you’d think the demons that attack us would try to be a little sneakier but they’re so blatantly obvious about the problems they create and when they create them.  Yesterday, I was reminded, while in school- my most brain stressed time- that our printer was broken. I laughed at Satan and said, “Oh, come on! Six printers in less than a year? I know it’s you, and you aren’t stopping the ministry, so you might as well give up because I’m not going to.” Then, after lunch, same day, my generator wouldn’t start. I told my wife, “Don’t worry, I’ll have it fixed in 15 or 20 minutes,” 2 hours later, we had power. Later that evening, my two interns pulled out with the 4-wheeler to show a movie and preach the gospel.  {A little background to this story:  2 weeks earlier the boys went to show a movie. On the way, the 4-wheeler broke down.  They still showed the movie and took 4 quarter-mile trips with chairs, speakers, and equipment, there and back to finish their mission. (Note: my 4-wheeler has never broken down.) The next day we got it running again, which could only have been by the grace of God because I know didly-squat about mechanics. }  Now, two weeks later, the boys pull out again, and after rounding the corner, the 4-wheeler breaks down. I called across the clinic yard to my brother, Paul, “Man, Satan really doesn’t want you guys ministering; that’s awesome!” I ran across the yard and God showed me what the problem was as I was running. 20 minutes later they were on the path again!  You know, my confidence was boosted 100% that God was going to move because Satan proved it by trying so hard to stop it.

God is so awesome, who, in His great mercies, comforts us in all our tribulations so that we can comfort others who are going through hardships, with the comfort we ourselves have received from Him. Now, if we are in trials, it is for your comfort and growth. And when you are comforted, it will give you the strength to withstand your own trials. Yes, we are pushed beyond our breaking points so our trust will not be in the flesh but completely in God who gives supernatural energy.

Please don’t forget that you are helping us through your prayers, so much that on the day Jesus returns, many people will thank you for giving us the power to do what we did. Thank you.

2 Corinthians 1: 3-4, 6, 9, 11

Nathan Lloyd-Jones