Monday, November 21, 2011

November Prayer Letter from Mike Lane (Photos Added!)

Below is a reprint of our latest prayer letter that was recently sent to our supporting churches.  I tend to be a bit long winded (No comments please!), but Mike seems to be able to put A LOT of info in a one page letter.  Unfortunately, because he tries to keep it on one page, we rarely have room to post photos. BUT... if I reprint his prayer letter onto my weblog, I then have plenty of room to post a few photos to show you a little of what he is talking about in the following letter!  Enjoy!

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November 2011
Greetings beloved co-labourers,
Well it has been another one of those years...full of opportunity and challenges, hard work and blessings. Paul said it best in I Cor. 16:9, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, AND there are many adversaries.” They seem to always go together, don’t they?...open doors and adversaries. Satan always tries to block, camoflauge, and distract us from taking advantage of the open doors of opportunity that God makes available. But my God is ABLE!!!

My Parents -Mildred and Ted Hastings
61 Years Together!
I took this picture on Mom and Dad's 61st Anniversary
on October 6, 2011.  The following evening, Dad went
into a skilled nursing and rehab facility. At this writing,
he is still there and does not seem to be regaining
his strength.  We greatly covet your prayers. 
Most of you know that the night before we were scheduled to depart for Honduras in January, Deb’s father had a heart attack, so I she stayed and I went back home. We nearly lost him, but a delicate surgery and a long recuperation finally brought him home, but now he is back in a skilled nursing facility. While here in the states Debbie has been able to address some long-standing health issues and is doing better also.

Meanwhile, I was able to visit when a church brought me back for a conference in March. I visited some of our churches until the first of May. I had another mission conference in the middle of September and also it was time for my cancer check-up so, I’m back visiting our supporting churches and a few new ones. As most missionaries, we’ve lost some support as a few churches have had to cut back. Thank God for 3 new churches that have taken us on! I also received a better Cancer check- up report this year than last, which was a good one! Praise God!

Pastor Jim Callen and the Mission Team from
Eastern Avenue Baptist Church, St. Cloud, Florida
Standing in front of the Iglesia Bautista En Cristo
(In Christ Baptist Church) of Naranjitos.

In Honduras, we’ve completed an addition with two classrooms and bathroom in our mountain church (Calvary Baptist in Ojo de Agua) in the Lenca Indian reserve.

Then, in
 July, we put up the walls and roof of a church building in Naranjitos with the help of Pastor Jim Callen and his church, Eastern Ave. Baptist,St. Cloud, Fla. What a great blessing this hard working church has been to the work in Honduras! We are currently trying to plaster the walls and lay the floor, weather permitting.

Lincy and Hotir, who used to be students in my
Sunday School class, are now faithful young men
willing to do whatever is needed.  Mike has
considered Hotir his "right-hand man" for some time.
Thank God, in addition, we’ve been able to put the roof on the two 25 x85 side additions at our church in La Esperanza (our home). We’ve waited several years to be able to do this. Now we can finish out classrooms on one side and the muti-purpose assembly and kitchen on the other side, allowing more ministry in the days ahead! Also, we are buying land for the work in Quebrada de lajas. I still owe several thousand for this land.
It seems that keeping the vehicles
in running order is a
CONTINUAL job!

All this building plus the purchase of a small bus-van and bringing our donated F450 to Hondudras, paying transportation, import taxes, and MANY repairs on ALL our vehicles has really drained our funds.  

We can see the bottom of the barrel and yet there is still SO MUCH TO DO! Dear co-labourers, if there is anything you can do extra now, it would be really appreciated! Special thanks to Pleasantview Baptist, Arlington, TX, for a gift of $1,000 for vehicle needs and their visit in August, and the VBS and Adult S.S. Class of Aurora Baptist, Aurora, TX, who gave another $1,000.

God bless you all for your expressions of love and your investment in Honduras. We love working together with EACH of you to reach the REGIONS BEYOND!
Loving Serving Him, 

Mike and Debbie Lane

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To see more photos of the mission teams that visited and some current photos of the ministry, please click on the slide show below.



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