Summer Vacations/Fall Festivities/Thanksgiving

In my September letters, I am sharing highlights of my summer, upcoming fall festivities, and what I'm learning about God.  Basically, a life update.  Feel free to use any or all of these themes for sharing new parts of your life with your sponsored children.  They love to learn about you!  For Manna 4 Lempira sponsors, September letters will be delivered in the fall and November letters will be delivered around Christmas.

Hello again, sweet girl!  How are you?  I am very well.   I always think about the time that we spent together and pray that I can return to visit again soon!  Until then, God is always with you.  He left His Holy Spirit with us on the Earth to be a comfort to His children all the time.  He is a good Father who loves you so much.

What is new in your life since I saw you in June?  In my life, many things are new.  I am helping the ministry to pack backpacks for children.  We will be sending them to Honduras in December or January.  I packed backpacks for you and (names of my other sponsored children in their community) and chose special things for each of you.  I am also helping the group to pack some for children who don’t have sponsors.  This project is a huge blessing to me, because every time I look around my house and see all of the backpacks sitting there, which God has provided for His children, it’s like having the presence of God all around me.  I pray that you feel His presence when you receive your backpack.

Another new thing in my life is that next week, I plan to travel to the beach for a vacation with my family.  The ocean is one of my favorite places in the world.  I love swimming in the water and exploring the little shops along the boardwalk. I love sitting on the boardwalk outside of the hotel in the mornings, because it has 3 of my favorite things- flowers, coffee, and a view of the ocean.  I love to remember that God created the whole Earth just for His children to live on and enjoy.  I love to explore new parts of the world, like the ocean, and see some of those beautiful things that God made for me.  Where is a beautiful place that you like to visit?  

Recently, I became a teacher at my church for children ages 10-14.  I am very excited to teach them about God’s love for them.  

As I am sending this letter in September, it is almost the season of autumn in my country.  In autumn, the weather becomes cold and the leaves on the trees turn beautiful colors like orange and red.  In autumn, we harvest crops like pumpkin.  We make many foods that are flavored with pumpkin like pumpkin cake, pumpkin soup, and even pumpkin coffee!  We drink a lot of coffee during autumn and winter, because it keeps us warm.  Where I live, pumpkins are a symbol of God’s bountiful blessings, because He blesses us with an abundance of crops during this season.  In November, we have a holiday called Thanksgiving.  On this holiday, we have a special dinner with our families, including pumpkin pie, and thank God for all of our blessings.  In the bible, Psalm 118:1 says, “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His loving kindness is everlasting.”

With this letter, I am sending you some pictures from the last time that I went to the beach and some stickers of pumpkins.  I hope you like them!  I love you very much and I will write to you again very soon.

Bible Marking Kits

These are the contents of the bible marking kits that I made for my Manna 4 Lempira sponsored children for their backpacks this year.  Each one contains 7 colored pens and an instruction page.  I have a friend who is a missionary in Mexico and is using this method for her entire children's ministry.  The idea is based off of the book The Old Testament Template: Rediscovering God's Principles for Discipling Nations.  The book talks about something that I have seen a lot in Honduras- people believing the Word, but not being transformed by it.  It color codes 7 of the ways in the Old Testament where God showed us how He can transform our lives.  The idea is to encourage the children to mark in their bibles where they see the different areas of God's transformation.  

“Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?” –James 2:5

“Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your selves.” –James 1:22

God desires for His Word to transform us.  This transformation is available to anyone who chooses to become His child.  In the bible, God didn’t just change people’s beliefs; He changed their whole lives.  Here are some areas that the bible says God can transform our lives.  I labeled each one in a different color, and gave you pens in these colors.  In your bible, when you see an area that God can transform your life, mark it with the correct color.

Family: God says we can raise Godly families, even if we weren’t born into one.  He teaches us how to be Godly daughters, sisters, wives, and mothers- even if we didn’t have them ourselves.  Being a child of God means being a beloved member of His family.

Finances: When you have a personal relationship with God, you have a personal relationship with the Provider.  No matter what financial background you come from, being a child of God means having access to His opportunities.  Proverbs 22:2 says the rich and the poor have a common bond, because God made all of us.  It means we can have opportunity to do things like attend school and have a good job, because God is the one directing our paths.  Sometimes, God will do this by directly handing you something or teaching you to work for something.  Other times, He will use other people are resources, like sponsorship, to provide what you need.  He is a good Father who provides for His children.

Education: Similar to finances, when we have God as our Provider, He will give us the opportunity to be educated.  The bible says we have the mind of Christ, which means we have access to incredible wisdom.  And like we already talked about, He will provide financially for things such as schooling.  He will also provide us with churches to teach us about Him.

Science & Technology: When we have the wisdom of God, it can give us opportunity to learn, create, and discover things.  Our prayers can also impact science.  For example, when we are sick, prayer can bring God’s healing to our bodies. 

Government: When we hear the word government, we usually think of the politics in our countries and our presidents and leaders.  This is one example of government.  We can see God’s transformation in our government by praying for our leaders and obeying the laws.  However, the word “government” can also mean governing yourself, or having self-control.  The bible says that when God fills us with His Holy Spirit, He gives us the ability to control ourselves, so we never have to sin if we don’t choose to.  That is self-control, or self-government.

Communication: When you are a child of God, He is always with you, so you always have someone to talk to.  You can be open and honest with Him about anything.  He wants you to tell Him exactly how you feel, even when your feelings aren’t good.  Also, when we obey God by fellowshipping with other Christians (in church and small groups), He has the opportunity to use us in each other’s lives, to encourage each other.  In the book of Genesis in the bible, God says it is not good for people to be alone.  Because of this, He always provides people in our lives to listen to us, so we will always be heard and loved.  He also teaches us the proper ways to communicate with those people.

Recreation: The bible says that God likes to give us time to rest.  It also says that He speaks to each of us differently.  It is amazing to see how He uses each of us and gives us unique desires.