CC Roatan Update Link to Calvary Church Roatan website: www.ccroatan.com
1/21/2007 Dear Family and Friends,
Blessed be the name of the most high. Another year has past and Jesus hasn’t come yet?! God has a special time set for His coming. This December we have been truly thankful. We have learned so much about the Joy of Christmas. How glorious and precious it is that he lives in us. Thank you to all who are praying for us. We are so grateful for it. You can’t pray too much for us we really need it.
Here in Roatan things are going really good. We had two teams come down in December and another in early January. Clayton, Hadassah and I are doing very good. We have been very healthy recently no disease has gotten us in two weeks. This has been a relief because it seamed every Saturday one of us was getting sick with a cold or some other third world nightmare making it hard to function well.
As usual Clay is busy around the church. He is trying to get things moving as fast as he can. The biggest project Chuck and Clayton have been working on is putting in a water system up the hill from the church at another missionary house that will soon bring purified water to 80 local homes. Last week Clayton and I went to La Cieba (main land) to work on a water treatment system recently installed at the SOS orphanage. We were also able to enjoy a small vacation while we were there. Clayton and I were in need of a small brake.
This week Hadassah and I have been helping out at a Christian orphanage up the street. They are a bit under handed right now because the main leader is in the states having a hip operation. I watch a one year old (the youngest of the orphans) while the other children are doing school
The church is growing very fast with children. Every Sunday they come trickling in, It’s such a joy to watch. After serves we have a meal I love watching the children line up along the counter, half the kids are only knee high so you can only see their eyes and fingers barely peek over with a plate waiting to be filled. Even a child is known by his doings. Proverbs 20:11. Please pray that people start coming to prayer on Fridays. Prayer is so important, it can move mountains! And please pray for a couple in our church who is getting married this week end. Next week we have a family coming down here to join the team here. Wow! Praise God for that. We are in need of more permanent help. Right now we have a young woman here (Judy) who is helping for a short time. She is great with kids. Judy has been helping me with Hadassah by baby sitting. Colton and Leah love playing with her. Leah used to follow me around the church but now she follows Judy.
Thank you all, your friendship is so very important to us. Without you we would not have the strength to continue on. Please do not forget us when you kneel to pray. May the Lord richly bless you this glorious day.
Your friends Danielle, Clayton and little Hadassah
After the dedication of his baby brother in church, little Johnny sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car. His father asked him three times what was wrong. Finally, the boy replied, "That pastor said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home, but I want to stay with you guys!"
If the Lord is leading you to bless us financially, please send your tax deductible donation to our sending church. Make checks out to the Lord’s house Christian fellowship and in the memo section write Roatan Missions then send it to: Lord’s house Christian fellowship
ATT: Roatan Missions fund
P.O. Box 560,
Perblossom, CA 93553
Thank you very much
12/21/2006 The Church
Much has happened over the past couple of months. During the first three weeks of November, the Lairds (Chuck, Tia, Cliffy, Leah, Colton, and Carlton) were blessed with the opportunity to spend some time in California visiting with family and friends, and shared God’s vision for this ministry with their supporting churches. At the church here, Clayton managed the facility and ministry, Henry gave the messages on Sundays, and Stephanie managed the kitchen and hotel rooms. Although, through God’s grace, things were managed sufficiently while they were away (including hosting a mission team for a week), the team here was very ready and relieved when the Lairds returned. Our community dearly missed Chuck and Tia; their absence was especially felt during church, prayer meetings, and Bible studies. Jeremiah, a young man who Chuck has been discipling, frequently visited the hotel while they were away and would say “I miss Chuck”. Cliffy will be spending a couple more months in the States, living with his Uncle Todd and Aunt Jennifer.
We continue to give God glory for the work that He is doing in the lives of people in our community. Every week, children come in droves from all over Sandy Bay and about 15 children usually come with our worker, Delcia, from Colonia Los Angeles. It seems that very rapidly, the children’s ministry has grown and the Spanish-speaking children in attendance have become the vast majority. Jenny and Olivia have been a tremendous help with children’s ministry, especially during the time that the Lairds were away, and mission teams always enjoy leading the children’s service when they are here. Tia and Luma also continue to serve in children’s ministry, and Frances faithfully watches the toddlers.
Serving lunch after church on Sundays is an increasing joy to us. With all of the kids who are coming, we usually prepare about 50 - 70 plates each week (plus seconds!). Our meal serving team usually consists of Henry & Frances, Tia, Stephanie, and Suzanne, though others are always willing to help out when we need an extra hand. We just love to share Delcia’s great cooking and Tia’s delicious cakes with our church community, and to enjoy fellowship with one another each week after church (Act 2:42 And they were continuing steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, and in fellowship and in the breaking of the loaves, and in prayers). Plus, there is something especially sweet about being able to fill the bellies of the precious little ones who can’t even see over the counter!
Our church and family feel more complete now that we have Clayton & Danielle (and their new baby girl, Hadassah) with us again, though our hearts are missing Clint, Sarah, and Charlotte… and now Clifton as well. Clay came back an ordained pastor from “The Lord’s House Christian Fellowship” and has reassumed his position worship now as Worship Pastor. This is an answer to prayer, and it is excited to share some new worship songs with the church. Danielle has also been blessing us all with her sweet voice on Sunday mornings.
Although adult church attendance is not growing at the same rate as it is for the children, our community continues to expand and be strengthened in the Word. Our church is very rare for this island in that it is home to gringos (that’s us), English-speaking islanders, and Spanish-speakers; it is encouraging to see new and familiar faces in church from all ethnic groups, since they are not usually found in fellowship together. We are still praying for a Spanish-speaking pastor to teach in the church as we are only able to have a translator on Wednesday night services. Chuck and Henry are faithfully discipling young men and studying the book of James early in the morning Tuesday through Friday, while Frances and Tia arise early as well to spend time in the Word and in prayer with the ladies. The ladies in our Women’s Bible study on Wednesday mornings have been studying the “love chapter” (1 Corinthians 13) in-depth and each of the women are sharing their testimonies with the group. They are all taking such pleasure in drawing closer to one another and especially in drawing closer to our Lord.
The Missionary Inn
In the middle of October, we had the absolute pleasure and privilege of hosting a mission team of 8 young adults from Cornerstone Calvary Chapel in New Jersey. They came here with the hope of blessing us, and they definitely did! During the week that they were here, they installed electrical wiring in most of the beach house, finished painting the café, painted the serving area and the foyer (including the public bathrooms), and they painted the church. Everything looks so fresh and beautiful. The team also donated the finances and began the work to build a roof over an open part of our deck, which we would like to use for our overflowing children’s ministry. The team spent a couple of days of outreach in the colonia, distributing Bibles and hygiene packages. Several people were led to the Lord, and many received the gospel of Jesus Christ. Pastor John and Christine Durante were an incredible blessing to us, as were all of the members of the team. We love you guys!
Only a few weeks later, we were honored to host a team of 17 youth and young adults from Golden Springs Calvary Chapel, California. To be honest, the idea of hosting a team without Chuck and Tia here seemed perhaps a little daunting to us, but we had no reason to fear; they were such a joy. They worked very hard and had thankful hearts. They even worked late into the night and early in the morning to finish a large portion of the roof for children’s ministry. The team’s leader, Scott, had the team prepared for a deep jungle escapade and some serious “roughing it” (which they did on the Honduras mainland after staying with us), so they were especially excited and blessed to have rooms with AC, a day at the beach, and good food to eat while they were here. The team brought a special blessing for the café ministry: a beautiful new coffee maker, espresso grinder, and a heavy-duty blender. Praise God! During two outreach days to the colonias Belfate’ and Los Angeles, the team planted a garden and banana trees, and distributed Bibles; as a result, several people were led to salvation.
We just cannot thoroughly express the significance of people being saved, which always seems to happen in greater numbers when teams are here. It is just so incredible to think that people who were going to hell are now going to share in the inheritance of heaven to spend eternity with our Savior. Hallelujah! Please pray they would join the fellowship and grow in the Word.
As more teams come to stay and serve with us, we are becoming ever more aware of God’s desire to use the facility at Son Rise as a missionary inn. We are anticipating many more mission teams, and are excited to see what God will do with this area of ministry.
The Water Ministry
We are now working on a water system here in Sandy bay for homes that get washing and bathing water only two times a month (not safe for drinking). With the help of CenterPoint Church in Tallahassee, FL we hope to have a clean drinking water system working in Jan. 07 with water piped to the homes available each day.
– Mike Houghton Center Point Church -We are so anxious to watch God use us to meet a critical need for our new friends in Sandy Bay, a place too easily forgotten. We held their children in our arms, and they left a tender mark on our hearts. We would love nothing better than for God to use us to provide clean water.
Were God guides God provides, thank you Jesus.
The Coffee Ministry
Much progress is being made in preparing to open our “Higher Grounds” coffee shop. Through the hands of volunteers and the grace of God, we have nearly finished the transformation of our rundown “lobby” into a nice little coffee house. Some work is yet to be done, and several key items are still needed, but we have confidence that this is God’s café and He will make the provisions for it to be completed.
We believe that God gave us this vision to start the café, and we are overwhelmed by His confirmation and the blessings He has given to make it a possibility. Although God is able to do abundantly more than we could ever hope or imagine, we have recognized several ministry prospects that may come out of the café. First of all, we will be using our own brand of coffee called “Java Mon” that is being roasted for us by single moms here in Roatan, giving these ladies the opportunity for employment. Additionally, the café has potential for ministry opportunities to people who would not have otherwise come to the church, and will be a place where people can ask questions about God and where sound Christian books will be available to read. A specific need that we feel the café will fill is the lack of a wholesome place for young people to gather in the evenings. Discipleship of employees is another desire in our hearts. Ultimately, we are unsure about exactly what God will do with the café, but we are being faithful in doing the work. It is our prayer that the café would bring God glory and that He would use it to draw people to Him.
The new Education Ministry
While in the States, God brought supporters to Chuck and Tia to sponsor some teenagers so they can go to high school. There is no high school in Sandy Bay and the kids must pay for their own transportation and supplies. 5 kids now will be starting back to school and Jesus is getting the glory.
The Team
Chuck and Tia are now walking around bare foot because on their trip to the States God’s people blessed their socks off.
Henry and Frances Zittrower are still patiently waiting for their new house to be completed. Although they are longing to move into their new place, they are building precious relationships with Elizabeth and Stanford, the children of their apartment landlords, who they are teaching about the Lord. Their presence and support bless us all immeasurably, and they have become such a vital part of our church leadership and community.
Stephanie Poschwatta spends much of her time assisting with everyday chores, especially kitchen work. As the leader of the coffee house project, she is eagerly pushing for its completion and is anxious to open the doors. She is also praying about starting a Bible study for teenage girls on the book of Ruth. Stephanie is engaged to marry Carlos Bodden, who is from the East side of Roatan, and the two of them are enjoying pre-marital counseling with Chuck and Tia.
Clayton and Danielle have returned to us with baby Hadassah. As Clayton is occupied with ministry and works hard on facility projects, Danielle is busy being a new mother and helps with hotel chores as much as she can. They are hoping to build a home for their little family in colonia Los Angeles, Roatan (where they already have land) when the Lord provides. In the meantime, we are happy to have them here with us.
Sam Matthews and his family are preparing to come and serve with us long-term at the end of January. As hotel building and repair projects remain a constant concern, we look forward for Sam and his general construction expertise. Upon his arrival, he can expect a long list of special projects with his name on it. We are so excited and thankful that he and his family are being obedient to the Lord’s calling to serve with us here.
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Praise Reports
Thank you.
In Christ’s love,
Chuck Laird