Snapshots of amazement.

Wow! 2017 has been a roller coaster of emotions and a truly amazing year for the Weeks family and the SMCH family as a whole. We hosted 3 times the amount of teams as the year before, started several new ministries (Sewing Clinic, Women’s Discipleship, Celebrate Recovery, ministering to the local high school) and maintained ministries started the year before (Ministerio Vida, English classes, ministering to the local elementary school, the Asilo), and we also welcomed new members to the family (both baby Micah and the Amador family.)

God truly blessed this past year for me, for our family, and for our ministry. Much has been said in these posts throughout the year about what has been going on Santiago, Honduras. Today, I just want to share with you a few snap shots about some of the people involved in these ministries and how 2017 has been an amazing year of growth and redemption for them.

In July, Alishia and I welcomed baby Micah to our family. After a few days in the hospital, we brought this bundle of joy back home with us as the newest addition to our family. By this point, our foster kids, K, B and A had lived with us for a year and a half. They call us Mami and Papi, we call them our sons and daughter. We truly thought we were as close of a family as we could be. But something has happened to our family over the last 5 months. Since Micah has joined us, there have been many changes in all of our hearts. The first few weeks were rough, especially for K, as she shifted from her previous role as the attention getter and top dog, to her new role as the nurturing older sister. But Micah has brought out a nurturing passion in her we had yet to see. She is an incredible care giver, and Micah loves to hear her sing to him. In our boys, B and A, Micah has brought out the most gentle parts of their hearts. When we first met B, he was your typical hardened foster kid. All of the walls were up around his heart. He would not dare show emotion, for fear of feeling too much. Now he is an endless pool of love and caring for his little brother. He loves to just love on him, and it brings him so much joy when he can make Micah laugh. And A has shifted from being the little brother, the baby of the family, to being a big brother and protector. He loves his new role and his little brother. But he still doesn’t like to hold him because he’s terrified of breaking him. While every day in not perfect, our family has now bonded in unexpected ways over a new common love.

As I have been reflecting on our family, and how Micah has been a bridge for us that bonded our family together in new and amazing ways, I am reminded of how Jesus Christ is that bridge for us to the father. While God was always there with Israel, it was not until the coming of Immanuel, God With Us, that we had the bridge that offers man a second chance at redemption and salvation. 

For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:9

Another story I want to share is of Miguel and Gabriel, two of my Ministerio Vida guys. Miguel is an older gentleman, who had been struggling with his addictions for many years, and when he arrived at Vida he was very beaten up. Physically, emotionally, and spiritually, he was a wreck. Miguel was given an ultimatum by his family “Get clean or get gone.” He has been at Vida for 10 months now. Gabriel came to Vida a month after Miguel. He, on the other hand, is a younger man, with years of addiction, but more the victim of bad circumstance. Gabriel came to Vida after the current leader, Romalo, went out on a missionary journey preaching the word. He met Gabriel at a local store, drinking, in a town far away from us. He invited Gabriel to come back to Vida with him, and he came. Romalo has 15 months now at Vida. Miguel has 10 and Gabriel 9. Sadly, it is unusual to have 3 men doing so well for so long and showing true growth and change. I accredit this growth to several things. First has been the construction of the new ministry house. Towards the end of 2016, we started working on building a new Ministry house on donated land. For around 9 months, we worked daily on the new house. This gave the men a new found purpose, a drive, a hope, and honestly, a much need distraction. As of August, the ministry has moved to the new house, and now they are out of the city, further away from all the noise and temptation and have a better chance to reflect and rest in Christ. The second thing I credit is Celebrate Recovery. Back on January 1st, 2017 I started teaching CR at Vida twice a week. Now in our 2nd cycle, you can see true growth in each man as he learns the causes of addictions, and how much He needs to depend on Christ to overcome them. The third reason is prayer. Throughout the year, we have partnered with a mens’ group at church who prays daily for these men. Many others around the world are now praying for them weekly. The power of prayer is an undervalued instrument in today’s church and we should not forget it. Gabriel and Miguel are now on great paths. Miguel, God willing, will soon be reunited with his wife and children where he will have a lot of work to restore broken relationships. Gabriel’s future is uncertain at the moment but he and I both are praying over it daily to figure out God’s will for his life. Please continue to pray for them and all the men at Vida. If you would like to know more about how to pray for them specifically, please contact me at [email protected]. 

If you are reading this I want to thank you. Thank you for your support of the work God is doing through Sparrow Missions. Without your prayers, without your support it would be much more difficult to do what we do daily. We lean heavily on the Spirit but we must also lean on the church, Christ’s bride to fulfill His plans and desire for His kingdom. 

In the love of Christ,