…Grace to you and peace from our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 1:1)

And as I am learning, grace is always first, as there is no peace without God’s grace.

A certainty here in La Moskitia, is that life is hard and death is certain. On our last trip one of the work crew, Herman lost two of his brothers suddenly within a couple days of one another.  This trip, Rudy, another of our crew, lost his mother unexpectedly last Friday afternoon, after one day in the hospital.  Saturday we called it a short day as to support and help Rudy build his mother’s burial vault.

Everyone is buried above ground here, I believe due to the fact that the water table is so high.  This probably goes without saying, but La Moskitia is not the place for urgent care.  If that wasn’t enough, today when we came back into town, we were met by crowds of folks gathered around with news that one of the water taxis, (a 25’ boat with a 200hp motor) that was carrying 24 people (safely made to carry only 12 people), combined with the high winds capsized the boat.  Several people lost there lives, six others hospitalized. Prayers for all the families involved are needed as most do not know the Lord.

On a way more positive note, I am loving the time with the boys even though it can be draining occasionally.  I laugh because we are only talking about three boys here at the moment, so we will definitely have our hands full at Casa Del Camino with 8+ boys.  They are such a joy to be around – full of life, even as difficult as it is here – and we pray for their hearts to be opened to the beautiful truth of Jesus. Amen.   (Isaiah 40:28-29) Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.

I see God teaching me that I must renew my strength, daily, and I’m not talking about pushups or pull-ups. I need to remain focused on the battle and the fact that it’s a battle that has already been won!  I realize that even in my strength I am weak.  I can’t control most things, only the direction in which I look to be renewed.  And while I feel the spiritual battle intensifying with each step we are taking, it is good to know that these intermediate struggles are nothing compared to the vastness of God’s purposes.

As we continue taking the steps of faith God places before us – the uncontrollable logistics of material delivery from the mainland, and the language barrier (the bilingual manager at the construction supply store is no longer employed), limited cargo space for material delivery with a “first come first serve” mentality of the shipping company, and a material supplier that has a bigger supply of excuses for not making the boat than they have of product, even the delivery of the local woods have been frustrated by all the heavy evening rains producing impassable mountain roads for the heavily loaded timber truck, the frustrating fact that we have been unable to find any dry wood to use as our material while what we do have is drying under the house, the well water although looks very clear tested positive for bacteria, or the fact that the table saw that we delivered this trip was over-worked within a couple days and melted down the motor windings, and our DeWalt worm saw that has been reliable since day one of this project has stopped working due to what I’m hoping is a simple switch fix (of course there isn’t a DeWalt dealer this side of the Rio Plantano Biosphere), the issue with my iPhone and iPad being temporarily stolen before being retrieved – are just a few of the challenges being prayerfully handed over to the Lord, because I am certain His plans and reasonings are far better than any I might have had!

I’m grateful for His faithfulness in allowing me to continue to grow spiritually and for His indwelling Spirit.  Although we are waiting delivery of plaster for walls, more cement, rebar, plumbing, roof vapor barrier, and while much of the wood needed has been delivered (though freshly cut, needs to dry), we were able to purchase a back up saw here and have made contact with the Latin America DeWalt repair shop in La Ceiba to avoid possibly having to return parts to the States.

The new solar well pump we brought down this trip is incredible! And we added a couple gallons of bleach to the well to see if we can shock it clean. We will continue to pump water out of well because they say the well gets cleaner the more water it passes, and I have one more bacteria test to perform before I leave. The guys are making good progress on finishing the window and door openings and will begin plastering walls after that.

Giving praise to God for bringing Pastor Ludy and his Miskito church to the property last Sunday for a baptism service.  Three ladies were scheduled to be baptized and it turned into 6 girls and three boys!  I’m sure the enemy wasn’t happy about that. (This was the third baptism service that has been held at Casa Del Camino property).

Thank you for your prayers, not sure where I’d be without them. I had kind of started thinking this mission was untouchable for Spiritual warfare, I was wrong. Game on!

Psalms 4:8  “I will both lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, LORD, make me live in safety.”

Resting in His Peace,

Mike

Brenner ACTION Web Site