Praise Him!

Praise God for his many blessings!  This past week has been exciting here on the farm.  One of the kids in our care has an abusive past.  This child with our aid was able to go through examinations and counseling sessions and named her abuser. This opened a case against this man 8 months ago!  We have been waiting and praying, knowing that our God works all things together for good in His timing.  Last month someone else came forward against this man and our child’s case was opened for investigation.  The abuser ran and hid, very angry and hurling many threats.  Praise to God his was caught this week in an undercover sting.  We are very excited that he has been caught.  Please be with us in prayer that God’s will be done in this situation and praise His holy name for those who have been released from bondage to him.

Stacy

Moved In!

We officially moved into the new house as of August 30^th.  We are enjoying our new living space; it is a sweet gift from God.  Our family loves being down in the pasture area with the cows and have been working on planting crops.  Thank you to everyone who has been praying for this house over the last year and for those who gave financially to make it a reality.  Please continue to lift our family and the ministry up in prayer as we seek God’s will in taking more children and building more housing.  We are working on the governmental certification requirement for operating a child refuge here in Colombia and have recently received a list of requirements from Biena Star the government’s social service agency.  Please pray for this as the requirements are extensive but necessary for certification.
Stacy

CGF Spring 2012 Newsletter

Orphan Ministry

 After much prayer and deliberation we have decided to place the children in our care in a private school. The children are able to receive the benefit of a Colombian native helping them with their reading and writing in Spanish as well as their mastery of other subjects. Please pray with us as we strive to arm each child with a personal saving faith in Jesus Christ

and the tools necessary to thrive in life.

Evangelism in Turbana

We have had some opportunities with mission teams and separately to share the gospel with our neighbors in Turbana. Mike and Josh with the help of our translators Jamie and Luz Mercy were also able to spend time sharing the gospel during the week of Semana Santa or the holy week leading up to Easter. Please keep this city in your prayers as we reach out to them with the glorious gospel.

Building 

Building, building, building! We have been busy working on completing our first additional house here on the farm. The process has been longer and slower than expected but we have learned a lot and are looking forward to when it is completed. The roof, concrete floor, plumbing and wiring have been completed and we are now focusing on screening it all in so that the house is move in ready.

 

Church Growth



Salome Martine Gomez
Born March 8th, 2012



Church services have been going well as our members continue to grow in the Lord. Bible studies are still being held during the week and there is a seminary class being held on Saturday nights. We had the privilege of having two baptism services baptizing a total of 4 people one being our dear little Ashley Riffle. On a personal note Pastor Luis and his wife had their first child Salome and everyone is doing great.

Other News

We have been blessed by many kind and special donations these past few months. We have been able to receive medical help for those in need of special care and were blessed by a dentist who traveled to the farm, cleaned all the kids’ teeth and even filled cavities.

What generosity we have seen from others. At the moment the main house is being re-roofed. It has involved much moving but will give the main house a dry floor during the raining season after it is completed. It should be completed in the next week. We have also received a new washing machine that will speed up the daily laundry process once it is piped in. Thank you to each and every one of you praying for us and supporting us. Your prayers are felt daily as we are held up and supported through them.
 

Prayer Requests

- continued opportunities for sharing the gospel in Turbana.

- wisdom and diligence in shaping and molding the children here with Christ-like character.

-that the building of the first house would finish soon and the transition would be smooth for all involved.

 -wisdom as we pray about adding new children to the farm.



A quick update

There are always changes happening here on the farm, some good humanly speaking and some Romans 8:28 speaking, but always changes. God has been gracious to us and has been by our side as we blindly and helplessly carry out the work He has set before us. One of the most recent and most impacting changes is that we have decided to enroll the kids in school. Through a long series of events, prayers, and many meetings with some of the local public schools, we felt God graciously led us to two, small private schools. The 3 Harpole kids and 2 of the Colombians study together and the other 2 kids study together in a more one on one setting to get them reading and writing well. We are so excited for them! We never imagined they would receive this kind of education, and we know that they never would have imagined it either. The private school setting is so incredibly different than the public schools here that are over crowded and under staffed. There have been several people investing in their education and for that we are so thankful.
The changes that are the most special to me are the ones I see in each one of these precious kids that God has given us. I wish I could give you all specific details of the changes I see in each one of them, but it would take hours to write. I will say this, I see God at work in a mighty way in each one of their lives. These were broken, abused, detached, and dysfunctional children who had no hope. He hand selected them among thousands and thousands of children with the same life or worse and is transforming them before our eyes. The hope they have, the love they give, the work they do, who they are, is becoming a portrait of His grace. I am awestruck, and amazed at what He alone has done in them, and I am looking forward to what He will continue to do!
Here are some things we are praying about if you would like to join us in prayer for Gods time and provision, in all that we do:
-Daily strength and wisdom
-Extending the day for the two kids who are considerably behind
-Work projects on the farm that will alleviate some space issues
-Radio ministry for our church to reach people with the true gospel
-Bible studies and evangelism opportunities in the community
Thank you for all your prayers and support!
Julie

Satisfied In Christ

It is Friday! For us here it means no school, sandwiches for lunch and friends who come to entertain the kids for a couple hours. So I sit here at the computer with my kids busy and the baby sleeping and I feel inspired. I feel God calling me to update the blog and feel inspired to share scriptures. First I think I will share about God as my helper and strength. He helped us find a new cook and things are going great. As I look in the Bible for some scripture to share about how God has fortified us these past few months I come upon a scripture in Psalms on the stubborn attributes of the mule. I am convicted and think to myself God is calling me to bare my soul over my stubborn pride. Then it happens, like it always does, the kids start popping in to ask questions, our neighbor shows up for a visit and I have to resolve an issue between a couple kids. Thirty minutes later on my way back up the driveway to the house I realize I haven’t yet hung my laundry that I washed earlier this morning and have to take yet another detour. I hang the laundry in the blistering sun (it is hot today with no breeze) then hot and sweaty come back into my room which is possibly the hottest room in the entire house except for the kitchen and plop down at the computer. I wake up the computer because by this time it thinks it has been completely abandoned and stare at the verse in the Bible again, put my head on the desk and pray. I am down and no longer inspired. I actually feel like I could cry and contemplate not even trying to update the blog. I am a mom. That is my life. I cook, clean, fold laundry, wipe noses and butts and answer questions all day long. My life is a lot like it was before Colombia only now I have more kids, more chores and the overall living conditions are harder. Everyone always asks me if I like it here. I love my family and I like the farm but I’m not going to lie, life here is hard. Just when you think you’ve worked out one problem another one rises up to take its place. Even so God is good! He has been sustaining us and providing abundantly for us. We are grateful to serve Him here even in the hardships. Now I am crying because I am overwhelmed by what God does for me each and every day. For those of you who have been here and seen what life is like you may be able to understand where I am coming from. For the rest of you just know that what he does for us here every day is miraculous to say the least. Well, I have bared a little of my soul but my son has made a mess in the bathroom, I have more questions, the baby woke up, I have some chickens out of their pen and I need to go help make around 30 sandwiches for lunch. I hope you all have a blessed day and ask that you remember us all here in prayer. Stacy