December/January's Prayer Letter

Dear Prayer Team,

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I hope you all are having a wonderful and very blessed Holiday season! 

Praises
-Brandy and I found, and have moved into, a new apartment which will fit all of the ministries needs. Praise God for His provision! (And the rent is only $350 a month)

-We have set the dates for both the MK Youth Retreat (June 8-13) and MK Camp (August 3-8) and were able to reserve the camp facilities we used for the last MK Camp! The first step in the long process of planning and organizing these events has been accomplished. Please continue to pray for these upcoming events and for the lives of all of the MKs that will attend.
  

Picture from MK Camp 2014 

Prayer Requests 

-We are still trying to raise the ministries monthly support, at this point in time the ministry is receiving about $250 in monthly donations, praise God, but we need about $500-$600. Please pray that the needed funds will be found soon. 

-Please continue to pray for Brandy's family as they learn to deal with the fact that their father (and husband) is no longer here on this earth, and thank you so much for all of your prayers this past month.

Brandy's father at our wedding (August 9th 2013)

-In a few weeks I will be helping cook for a women's conference in La Esperanza (for Honduran women). Please pray for all of us cooks, most of whom are flying down from the States, and for all of the women who will be attending.


Thank you again for being a part of this ministry's team! We feel so blessed to have your prayers surrounding us and this ministry, and want to thank you for all that you have done to help make the work down here possible. 

Love and Blessing,
Rachel and Brandy

A Missionary Mother's Thanks for MK Camp

Here's an email I received from one of the missionary moms who sent her kids to this year's MK Camp. It's addressed to me, but she wanted me to share it since she knows I had lots of help from many of you with prayers, funds, encouragement and other things to make camp possible. 


Dear Rachel,

Four months ago we picked up our kids from MK camp.  And yesterday at the dinner table, they were STILL talking about the relationships they began and nurtured while at camp!  We've been sending our kids to MK camp for about 8 years now, and it is one of the two highlights of their year (the other being the retreat in September, where they see their MK camp friends).  For the most part our kids love being in Honduras.  They also enjoy the time we spend in the US, though it’s always full of travel and is stressful for many reasons.  But the time they feel like they really fit somewhere is at MK camp.  They feel like their Honduran friends can’t really understand them.  We live out in the country, where the most exposure kids have had to US culture comes from cable TV at a local restaurant or business!  There are no other north American kids around.  We have to travel about an hour and a half to get to the nearest ones, and they’re not actually our kids’ ages.  When we are in the US, the kids don’t really “get” US culture.  They see the surplus and materialism and the more shallow thinking of many young people, and they feel like odd-balls.  

MK camp is the one time each year when our kids can get together with kids who, like them, are growing up in a third world country.  They see extreme need and respond to it.  They have experienced some of the dangers of living near the “most dangerous city in the world”, and they’ve learned to trust God with their lives.  Camp is a time when they can share some of those things with their friends and support each other as well as FORGET about those things and enjoy being with friends!  It’s a wonderful time to worship God in their first language and to joke around with other kids in a way that is truly unique to North America.  They don’t have to worry about their actions reflecting poorly on “the church” or their parents’ ministry.  It’s a time when they can really let their hair down and be themselves!  I should also add that the candy brought down from the north and the special foods Cindy served – like mac-n-cheese and some of her amazing desserts – are always a major highlight for our kids.  It’s literally a little taste of “home” to them each year.  Maybe we’re unusual these days, since we only get to go to the US every third year or so.  That makes those treats even more special!  Seriously… it’s up there with Christmas!

I can’t tell you how thankful we are that you have taken up the torch to continue MK camp, as the original directors are moving into a new phase in life.  I’ve said each year – our kids come home with enough memories to last them from camp to retreat and then retreat to the next camp!  I’m thrilled that this year there will be a time to focus on the big kids at the high school retreat.  Their needs often get swept aside as they focus on the little kids.  I also really appreciate how hard you all work to keep the costs down.  To be honest, there is no way we would have been able to send our 4 kids to camp over the years any other way!  And yet it has been their life-line.  I know prices have to go up, but for many missionaries, salaries don’t go up!  Ours is the same as it was 11 years ago when we first started out!  Knowing that there are people focusing on fund-raising all year long is a real blessing!  Our “extra” money generally goes into our own ministry, leaving little to cover things like camp.  I really appreciate all you’ve done to make camp as affordable as possible for us to be able to send our kids!  I can’t say that enough!

Please thank your family and anyone else who participated in making MK camp possible!!

Love, Cindy Williamson

Please consider donating to this coming year's MK Camp and MK Youth Retreat. There are so many missionary families being blessed by these events, and we are trying to keep the prices down to make it possible for the missionary families with multiple kids to be able to come too.  

To Donate by Mail, send checks to:

The Foundation

PO Box 560233

Orlando, Florida 32856-0233

- Make check payable to "The Foundation" 

- Be sure to write "preferenced for Rachel Sowers Reyes- MK Camp" on an enclosed paper 

To Donate Online:

To donate online using credit card, debit card, or automatic monthly donations from your bank account click here:

http://foundationformissions.com/donate/ 

Make sure that you choose "Missionary Support" from the drop down menu, and type in "Rachel Sowers Reyes- MK Camp" in the box requesting "additional specifics on how to use the gift."

Important info: The Foundation for Missions is registered 501(C)3 and as such donations made in the States are tax deductible. Also, 100% of the money you donate towards my ministry gets passed on to me - The Foundation does not keep a percentage.

- If additional instructions or information are needed for donating online, please don't hesitate to call The Foundation for Missions, at 407-730-3364, or send your questions by email to thuy@foundationformissions.com

November in One Post

For those of you who are only following the ministry and my life here on the blog you're probably wondering why I haven't written anything in awhile. This past month has been so busy, full of joys and grief, that I haven't been able to post much.

Besides going to Guatemala, for the orientation and retreat, Brandy and I finally found and moved into a new apartment! And I spent a lot of this past month packing, moving and now I'm working on settling in. Brandy also graduated 3rd in a Mandarin class he was taking, and then the day after the graduation ceremony Brandy's father died. 

I'm not going to go into all of what happened, but Brandy's father, who was only 55, had a bad heart and because of that his organs shut down. Brandy, his older brother and I were there for his last hours and this past week was spent with Brandy's family in Gracias. 

As you can imagine this has not been an easy time for us, or for Brandy's family, and any prayers you can give us we'd really appreciate. The loss of a father is always hard to deal with, and Brandy's father was young and some of his children aren't even adults yet. Also he wasn't a Christian. While in the hospital Brandy said a prayer with him, but by that time he could hardly breath, let alone talk, so Brandy told him to repeat the prayer in him head. We pray that he excepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and savior, but we can not be sure. 

Please keep Brandy's family in your prayers. They're going to need strength to deal with all of the grief their are feeling right now.          

The First Guest in Our New Home

Fluffy and I found a kitten the other day while taking our morning walk. We heard it crying so we went to investigate and in the process of trying to find it, the kitten's owner walked by and asked if we'd seen a kitty. I told him that we thought in was underneath the car we were standing next to. He told us that he didn't want the kitten anymore and that we could take it home, and then he walked away. 

I really like cats, and this one is so sweet, but one pet is enough right now, especially with me leaving for whole weeks at a time. So the kitten is only a guest. The plan is to take it to Gracias when we go to visit for Christmas and give it to my mom who says she wants it, but for now I have a kitten in my house who's sleeping on my dirty clothes and eating my tuna, because I haven't been able to go to the store to buy her food yet. :)