Well, life has a way of passing by day after day, even when I haven't finished my to-do list. I've been meaning to post on here for quite some time about our plans for a orphan-care mission trip to Honduras, but I just haven't gotten around to it. So, taking the easy way out, I'm just posting our support letter and update letter below. If you've already read those you can skip this post.
December 2013
Dear Friends & Family,
We are excited to tell you about the
ministry we've been serving in this past year and a mission trip that
we are participating in this spring! We hope that you will be a part
of the ministry too--by praying for us and/or contributing
financially if you are able.
About a year and a half ago, we
started planning an orphan ministry with some other people in our
church. It's been encouraging to see that God is moving in other
people's hearts as well as our own! Several families within our
church have told us that God was leading them to be involved in
orphan care, and we have witnessed His perfect timing as He brought
us together in this ministry.
The ministry is known as Abba's Hands
& Heart and is part of Mountain View Community Church. So far as
a ministry, we have all been excited to establish a fund for adopting
families and walk with two families through their adoption journey.
We've also gotten to share in the excitement of two other families
who hosted orphans from Latvia in their home last summer. We're
looking forward to getting involved in the foster care system
locally. And we've been so blessed to find friends and prayer
partners who share a passion for orphaned children.
Along with the rest of the AHH
leadership team, we want to provide an international mission trip
opportunity for our church, specifically for ministry to orphans.
Before taking a team though, our church leaders have asked us to go
as a small group to “test the waters” and discern if this
location would be a good fit for a larger team from our church. So
this spring, March 1st-8th, four of us will be
traveling to Honduras. The trip is being coordinated by Visiting
Orphans, a ministry who plans trips specifically for the purpose of
ministering to orphans. While in Honduras we will be helping out at
a couple different orphanages.
One is a Christian organization called
La Providencia. This ministry is unique in that, rather than a large
institution, children are placed into homes of about 8 children with
a “mom” and a “dad.” They are provided with education,
health care, and loving Christian house parents. We will also spend
some of the days helping at a state-run orphanage. These are the
institutional buildings that most people think of when they hear of
an orphanage. We are excited to go and help these children and their
caretakers however we are needed. Some of the things we might do
include playing games with the kids, cleaning rooms, helping with a
building project, rocking babies, making music with the children,
doing laundry, or whatever else is needed.
Our hope is that this will indeed be a
good fit for our church so that we can return with a team next year
and continue to serve the same community for years to come. We also
hope that you will join with us in praying for God to lead us and be
glorified in every aspect of this ministry—before, during, and
after the trip!
If you are interested in receiving
updates about the trip, or if we can count on you to pray for us,
please let us know at erin.runkles@gmail.com.
If you are interested in contributing financially toward the $2200
cost of the trip (preferably by early January) please visit
www.visitingorphans.org
and click on “donate”, or send a check to Visiting Orphans; 449
Metroplex Drive; Nashville, TN 37211. On a separate paper (not on
the check), write Mountain View Honduras Trip—Heath & Erin
Runkles.
Thank you for reading this and for
keeping us in your thoughts and prayer. We appreciate it very much.
Have a wonderful Christmas!
God bless,
Heath & Erin Runkles
Feb 1, 2014
Greetings Friends!
Thank you all so much for your prayer and/or financial support of our upcoming trip to Honduras. We are so thankful for each one of you!
We just wanted to send a brief update as we continue to get ready for the trip. One big praise we have is that all of the money needed for our expenses has been provided! Any future donations will help the rest of the team, and after that be given directly to the orphanage we'll be working with. Praise the Lord for His provision!
Another exciting thing is that my (Erin's) mom will be coming to stay with our kids while we're gone. Since my parents live in Nebraska they don't get to see the kids very often, so this will be a very special time for Grandma and the grandkids.
Over the past several weeks we've been completing a Bible study and having discussions with the rest of our team. It's been a good study on discipleship that will help us as we serve in Honduras as well as at home in our regular lives. With our team, we're also working on planning for activities to do with the kids when we're there. This is the most uncomfortable part of the planning because we don't know exactly how things will go. Our coordinator at Visiting Orphans keeps saying, "Plan well but be flexible!" We should have teaching, crafts, stories, games, etc. to do with the kids for about 3 hours each day, but be prepared if the staff wants us to do something totally different instead. We need to be ready for anything! I (Erin) love to plan, but this will definitely be good practice in the flexibility part for me.
Besides actual ministry to the kids and caretakers there, we also have the responsibility of deciding whether or not to recommend this as a larger-team trip for our church orphan ministry for next year. This feels like a huge decision, so please pray for wisdom and unity for the four of us to see how God leads.
Of course, prayer for safety is appreciated as well, especially since Honduras isn't the safest of locations, and we are both going and leaving our kids home.
Thank you so much for your prayer and support. We'll plan to send one more update before we leave (March 1st). God bless you and your families, and thank you so much for joining us in this ministry to orphans!
In Him,
Heath & Erin Runkles
