We're Really Going To Go!

 May 7, 2015

Dear Friends,

As you've probably heard by now, we are preparing for a year of ministry in Honduras! Since returning from our second week-long trip to La Providencia this March, we have felt called to go for a longer time, and we plan to move down there during the last week of July and return home next summer.

If you're not already familiar with La Providencia, it is a Christian ministry and a “best-practice, family-based community of care for orphans and at-risk children in Honduras.” Their vision is more than just meeting the immediate needs of orphans. They provide a family setting for these children, excellent education and medical care, and a long-term plan for their future. Right now they have two homes on the campus and are getting ready to build a third home and welcome a new couple and new children into the La Providencia family. In addition to providing homes for orphans, La Providencia extends its reach into the community, providing opportunities for urgent help as well as long-term change. The high-quality, bilingual Christian school provides education for almost 100 children and employs many local people as well. The medical clinic provides important surgeries for children from surrounding areas. La Providencia has long-term plans that not only benefit the La Providencia family, but the Honduran community as a whole. You can learn more about this amazing ministry at their website: providenceworld.com/la-providencia.

We are honored and excited to be temporarily joining the work at La Providencia. Heath will be working with the building and maintenance staff, most likely helping to build the next family home on the campus, as well as smaller projects as they come up. Erin will be teaching music classes and piano lessons, and working in the library at the school.

God has already worked out so many of the details, and we are excited to see how He continues to lead us. If you would join us in prayer we would appreciate it!

Some of the blessings we're thankful for are:

• God giving both of us the desire to do this!
• our children being excited about (or at least OK with) the idea
• the amazing encouragement we've had from friends, family, and church leadership as we've shared about this
• a furnished rental house in a safe community, where we'll “just happen” to live next door to the leading GI doctor of the area (and this was set up without us ever mentioning Tabitha's medical needs to anyone!)
• that homeschooling allows us to leave for a year without disrupting our kids' education

Some of the requests we're praying for are:

• continued peace about such a big change
• sale or rental of our house here
• financial provision for the move and ongoing monthly support
• a good deal on a vehicle (we have to buy one in Honduras)
• wisdom for all the aspects of preparation
• ability to get all of Tabitha's medical supplies and medications there, and no health complications for her (or any of us)

In addition to praying with us, the other needs we have are mainly financial. Moving and the related expenses will probably cost around $5,000; in addition, we have to buy a vehicle once we get there which will be around another $8,000. Our monthly costs will be about $2500. If you are able to help us with these expenses, we would love to have you join our team of supporters! All gifts are tax deductible, and you can give a one-time gift and/or sign up for monthly support. Here is the link for giving:

https://providenceworld.com/app/invest/items/runkles-family.

Some other things that would be helpful:

• a full-size electric piano with built-in speakers (either to borrow for the year or to leave with La Providencia) because moving our piano down there isn't feasible
• gift cards to Amazon or Rainbow Resource for homeschool books (since we won't be able to rely on the public library like we do at home)
• plastic storage bins

If any of you would like to visit while we're there, we'd love to have you come! You could set up an official missions trip through the La Providencia website, or you could just come visit us as friends. Either way we'd love to see you and show you this wonderful ministry first hand!

Thank you in advance for your support for our family and the work God is doing through La Providencia. We are so excited to be going, and so thankful to have you involved in this ministry with us! God bless!

~Heath & Erin Runkles

Ethan, Jesse, Tabitha, and Rayanna

A True Fairy Tale

A True Fairy Tale . . . 

Once upon a time in the merry land of Maryland there dwelt a man and wife by the names of Heath and Erin.  In this merry land, Heath and Erin had four wonderful children (two “homegrown” and two welcomed from a kingdom far, far away).  While Heath and Erin felt that no more children would be coming from kingdoms far, far away (or kingdoms close by for that matter), there remained within them a desire to help other children living without a forever family.  So, in the year of our Lord 2012, they gathered together a group of like-minded people from within their church, and together they all began Abba's Hands and Heart orphan ministry.  
In the winter of 2014 a few of these AHHers visited the far off land of Honduras, and fell in love with a ministry there called La Providencia.  The “Laprovidencians” are a kind-hearted people, desiring to help orphans and widows and to build up the community around them by showing and teaching the love of the True King.  The Laprovidencians give many children the chance to have the love and stability of a family as well as a strong bilingual education; they also improve the economic and social well-being of their community in healthy ways.
The next year the AHHers decided to take a bigger team to experience the land of the Laprovidencians.  So in the winter of 2015 several AHHers returned to Honduras and were warmly welcomed by the people of the land.  During these visits, Heath and Erin were drawn into close fellowship with the children and adults, and greatly enjoyed the culture, the climate, and the coffee.  They would joke about moving to the land of the Laprovidencians, but always returned to their “normal” life in their home in Merry Land.  
After returning to Merry Land the second time, and unbeknownst to each other, Heath and Erin had frequent pleasant thoughts of returning to Honduras to work with the Laprovidencians.  About three weeks after they got home, Erin said to Heath, “You were kidding about going to La Providencia to live for a year, right?”  And Heath replied, “No.”  As happens so often in the home of Heath and Erin, the wonderful children deterred the conversation from going any farther.  So later on, Erin questioned Heath again.  “You were kidding about saying you weren't kidding about going to La Providencia, right?”  “Um, what?” Heath replied.  Upon further investigation it was discovered that both Heath and Erin were open to and excited about the idea of living in Honduras for a year and working as missionaries for La Providencia.  

However, being the “normal” Merry Landers that they are, becoming temporary Laprovidencians seemed a wee bit crazy.  So Erin emailed Miss K in the Land of La Providencia, to confirm that all the reasons this Crazy Idea wouldn't work were in fact valid.  That way Erin would be able to stop thinking about this Crazy Idea.  But Miss K's email claimed that all the objections to this Crazy Idea were in fact not problems at all!  Over the next few weeks, counsel was sought, prayers were prayed, and research was done, all pointing to the feasibility and divine calling of this Crazy Idea.  “Coincidences” continued to pop up, doors and windows were flung open, peace guarded their hearts and minds, and Heath and Erin began to think this Crazy Idea might not be so crazy after all, but might actually be the calling of the True King beckoning them to another section of His Kingdom.  

And thus the adventure begins . . . 

(Translation:  We're moving to Honduras as missionaries for a year!!!  We'll leave around August 1st.  If you would like to receive our updates, or if you would be able to support us financially or by praying for us, please let us know.  We'd love to have you on our team!)  

Shadow

On March 20th, we said goodbye to our dog, Shadow.  She was 14 years old, and finally having enough health problems that it was time to let her go.  Heath and I had had her since our first year of marriage, and the kids had never known life without her.  Even though I complained about her sometimes (ok, quite a lot), she really was a wonderful pet and we all miss her.  It was a very difficult few days, and it's been hardest on Ethan, but we are all recovering.  We're very thankful for the special pet she was and all the years we had with her.

Jesse's Baptism

Jesse was baptized today!  We are so happy to see him growing in  his faith, and to see his heart that is sensitive to the Lord.  We're looking forward to seeing him mature as a Christian and pray that he will always walk close with the Lord.

Tabitha's 7th Birthday

Tabitha turned 7 on May 10th.  It's really hard to believe she's that old!  We had a fun lego-themed party for her, and she is thrilled to be a 7 year old.  This year she has accomplished a lot.  She's learning to read, and she loves taking care of her little sister.  They're the best of friends.

Happy birthday, Tabitha!  We love you.

Rayanna Turns Four!

Well, this might be the latest blog post ever, but give me a break...by the fourth child it's amazing I even remember everybody's birthdays at all!  Almost a month ago--on March 21st--Rayanna turned four!  I've been barely keeping up with life, and blogging seems to be at the bottom of the priority list.  But, lest anyone think we forgot our baby's birthday, here is proof that we did indeed celebrate.  

Rayanna continues to bring lots of laughter and fun to our family.  She has grown and learned so much, and it is such a joy to watch her.  It's hard to believe she's 4 already!  This year she has taken a real interest in playing with the big kids, increasing her vocabulary, and "doing school."

Happy (late) Birthday, Rayanna.  We love you so much!

Home from Honduras

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

We are back from Honduras and had a wonderfully blessed time!  I know I won't be able to fully express in words the amazing things we experienced, but I'll do my best to give you a taste of what went on there.  Unlike most trips we've been familiar with, this was not a “project” trip.  We didn't build anything or “accomplish” anything.  And yet, we feel that it was an extremely valuable time of learning about orphan care and building relationships.

Our guide Douglas and his wife Karla

We learned a lot about what it means to be an orphan.  Although we've adopted two children, and even seen the less-than-ideal orphanage where Rayanna lived, on this trip we came face-to-face with the reality of what it means to be an orphan, especially in a country without much help available.

On a couple of our days there, we visited foster homes and private orphanages.  I had expected physical needs to be the most obvious needs we'd encounter, but I was surprised.  Most of these places had their physical needs met at least at a basic level.  But their overwhelming emotional/spiritual needs hit us hard.  Several of the girls we met were victims of incest, two of them bearing their father's child, and several of them having been raped repeatedly.  One girl's family had all been murdered while she hid in the bathroom.  One group of children with special needs were virtually homeless, living in an abandoned school with food provided but nothing else.  Some of the children's parents had simply disappeared and no one knew where they were.  One little 7-year-old girl had been digging through garbage to find food for herself and two younger siblings.

Of course, we've all heard stories like this before, but to meet these beautiful children in person and interact with them and see into their eyes and their souls . . . it was heart-wrenching.  Even the ones who were in “good” places didn't appear to have any help in dealing with their trauma, and several were unable to go to school because of missing paperwork or not being able to afford supplies.  Without counseling, without permanent families, without education, without hope.

Two days later we visited these places again, and I'm so glad we were able to go back.  We returned with Bibles and gifts, spent some time doing artwork with them, and read a letter of encouragement and hope in Christ that we had written for them.   Our guide and translator was wonderful and made it possible for us to share the gospel with them, and hopefully bring them some encouragement.  It was a precious time to spend with them, seeing a glimmer of happiness on their faces.  But it was so hard to leave, knowing that we can't fix things for them.

That was another thing I learned.  I already knew there's no easy fix for these situations, and we aren't going to “save the world” by visiting for a week.  But the firsthand experience really let me feel how small we are compared to the size of this problem.  However, that feeling also brings me to the lesson we learned in the happier parts of the trip—that the body of Christ is connected throughout the world by something deeper than culture or language or location.  We're connected by the Spirit of God, and we can work together to spread Christ's love and be His body to a suffering world.

The ministry that we partnered with there is called Providence World.  The contrast between the hopelessness of kids without homes and the joy in the families at La Providencia was amazing!  We spent a lot of time that week at La Providencia, learning about their ministry and their vision, and we are so excited to work with them!  

La Providencia is working on the orphan problem at a deep level—not a bandaid for the problems, but a solution.  Their model is placing children into families—a couple with up to 8 children, committed for the child's growing up years.  They ask to have children placed with them that (for one reason or another) can't be adopted, so that these children will have a family.  They provide excellent medical care and education, Christian training, and the love of committed parents.  These children will grow up to be assets to their local community and help improve the plight of children in Honduras.  But they don't stop with just the orphans!  Their excellent school includes children from the community as well (which raises the value of orphans in their society).  They provide surgeries for needy children in the area.  They are constantly looking for ways to reach out to the community and strengthen families, so that the root causes of children being orphaned will be diminished.  Their future goals which they are actively working toward include self-sustainability, a home for widows (“grandmothers” to the children), building more orphan homes, and much more.  We are thrilled to see what God is doing through them, and were so blessed to be a part of it.

The atmosphere was very enjoyable there too.  We felt much safer than we'd expected to, all the people we met were warm and friendly and welcomed us readily.  Even the scenery was beautiful!  We were up in the mountains, surrounded by gorgeous views everywhere we looked!  Up there it wasn't too hot.  It was in the 60's in the morning and would get up to maybe 80 in the afternoon.  We sure weren't in a hurry to return to the never-ending winter Maryland's having this year!

We are excited to go back to Honduras, and to take more people from our church with us next time.  We want to help this beautiful part of the body of Christ in the work they're doing.  And we desire to be a part of reaching out to orphans in Honduras and building relationships with the Honduran branch of our spiritual family tree.  If you have any interest in learning more about La Providencia, please visit their website at providenceworld.com.  You can sponsor a child, give a financial gift, buy coffee from them (I actually had my first full cup of coffee EVER while we were there.  It's good stuff!)  Or even find out about taking a trip there yourself.  You won't regret it!