Worldwide Heart to Heart Ministries

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OLD NEWS / NOTICIAS VIEJAS

This listing of old news is kept for research and archival purposes:

09/06/2007, 11:25 AM (submitted by Mary Frenter Felix veered to the south and missed us. Amy said that all of northern Honduras is on Red alert for flooding and mudslides. Schools are still closed and rivers are scheduled to crest today. She said the stove is hooked up and the moms are loving it!! Our Honduras church will head for Los Flores, Marvin and Alex's home village, about 4 hours into the mountains, to check on the people there and do a crusade with the new instruments we sent on the bus, if the roads are still intact. She asked for prayer for this crusade. She said this morning Honduras news warned of another storm/possible hurricane heading their way from Panama. Please keep the prayers coming!!!

09/04/2007, 9:30 AM. (submitted by Project Honduras) Good morning... Felix is now a tropical storm. The effects in Honduras will be felt largely in terms of heavy rains throughout the rest of this week, which will cause flooding. The front page of the Washington Post today has a photo of residents of La Ceiba trudging through downtown in a couple feet of water. It is expected that the level of the rivers in the north will continue to rise.
It has been raining in Tegucigalpa since about the early afternoon yesterday (Tuesday), and there is concern about half of the city's population of roughly 800,000, given that these people live in areas vulnerable to the effects of heavy rains. Many of these individuals live in shacks propped along hills and mountainsides where most of the trees have been cut, either for wood to build the shacks or for cooking. This causes extreme soil erosion. Without trees, there is little in the way of roots to hold the soil together.
In short, it is soil erosion caused, at least in part, by deforestation that poses the greatest threat to Honduras each year when hurricane season comes around. We hope to touch on this issue during the Conference on Honduras 2007 (http://www.projecthonduras.com/conference) in Copan during October 11-13. Roy Lara of the Episcopal Church in Trinidad (Santa Barbara) will give a presentation about his reforestation program, which is supported jointly by St. Mark's (http://www.stmarks.net) and St. Columba's (http://www.columba.org) Episcopal churches in Washington, DC.
I'd like to thank the Government of Japan for its donation of $6.7 million yesterday to Honduras for fire fighting equipment. We're also grateful to the US Agency for International Aid (USAID) for its donation of $25,000 to procure hygiene equipment for the region of La Mosquitia and to the UN Development Programme (UNDP) for its donation of 300,000 rations of food. I'd also like to again thank in advance the numerous missions teams headed to Honduras over the next few weeks to villages and towns in the departments of Choluteca, Copan, Cortes, Gracias a Dios, Intibuca, Yoro, and others.

09/04/2007, 9:30 AM. (submitted by Lorna Atherton on behalf of Harold & Carol Krause, Honduras missionaries) Dear Praying Friends, we just wanted to send you a quick update on Felix, since many of you have written that you’ve been praying for Honduras. Here in Tegucigalpa it rained all night, but only lightly. The northern and northeastern sections of Honduras got the most rain, and it is still raining heavily in one area in the northwest (Ocotepeque). We haven’t heard of any catastrophic damages, although the TV news reported this morning that at least 120 homes were destroyed in the Gracias a Dios region (far northeastern corner of Honduras). They also said that about 9,000 people are in shelters across the country, but that is mainly because they temporarily evacuated their homes as a preventive measure, not because they lost them. Rivers have risen, but if we don’t receive any heavy rains within the next few days, they shouldn’t cause problems. Felix developed faster than any hurricane in history and it looks like it may dissipate about that fast also. We’re so thankful for God’s mercy.

09/04/2007, 6:30 PM. (submitted by Mary Frenter) Hi All, thank you for your prayers. The hurricane is now just a tropical storm as it moves over Honduras. It has veered to the southwest and appears to be missing Puerto Cortes and Tegucigalpita, where our Children's Village is located, completely. Just spoke with Amy and she said they had only a little bit of rain today, no high winds. However, school and most businesses are closed locally until Thursday. She asked for prayer for southern Honduras and the mountain areas that will get the brunt of the deluge. I will be in touch with her tomorrow and will let everyone know how it is going. Blessings and praise God for Prayer Warriors!

09/04/2007, 3:30 PM. (from www.cnn.com) Felix weakens but prompts fears of massive flooding. (Full Story) http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/weather/09/04/storm.felix/index.html

09/04/2007, 11:45 AM. (Submitted by Mary Frenter) Just spoke with Oscar. He said so far the sun is shining. The schools and businesses are all closed but he and our workers are working on the construction of the Girls' Homes. They are all prepared for the storm to come and are thankful for everyone's prayers. He said if the Village begins to flood they will evacuate our kids to high ground. They have a plan all ready to go. Please keep the prayers coming.

09/04/2007, 6:30 AM. (from www.msnbc.com) Felix, a monster Category 5 storm, makes landfall; 20 fishermen missing off Nicaragua-Honduras border; 2nd hurricane forms. LA CEIBA, Honduras - "Hurricane Felix roared ashore early Tuesday as a fearsome Category 5 storm — the first time in recorded history that two top-scale storms have come ashore in the same season. The storm hit near the swampy Nicaragua-Honduras border, home to thousands of stranded Miskito Indians dependent on canoes to make their way to safety." (Full Story)
09/03/2007, 11:45 PM. (from www.cnn.com) "Hurricane Felix increased in strength in the early hours of Tuesday as it barreled toward Central America, where it is expected to come ashore along the Nicaragua-Honduras border... Sustained winds of 74 mph or higher, are expected within 24 hours. Forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center have said both countries could receive 5 to 8 inches of rain, with isolated amounts of up to a foot of rain possible. Felix could also bring storm surge flooding of more than 18 feet above normal tide levels. 'These rains could produce life-threatening flash floods and mudslides,' the hurricane center warned." (Full Story)

09/03/2007, 11:08 PM. (from www.msnbc.com) "Tourists leave the Honduran island Roatan as Hurricane Felix approaches on Monday. In San Pedro Sula, planes shuttled tourists from island resorts in a desperate airlift Monday as Hurricane Felix bore down on Honduras and Belize. But thousands of Miskito Indians were stranded along a swampy coastline where the Category 4 storm was expected to make landfall. Grupo Taca Airlines provided special free flights to the mainland, quickly touching down and taking off again to scoop up more tourists. Some 1,000 people were evacuated from the Honduran island of Roatan, popular for its pristine reefs and diving resorts. Another 1,000 were removed from low-lying coastal areas and smaller islands." (Full Story)

09/03/2007, 7:52 PM. (Submitted by Mary Frenter)
Amy just called from the Children's Village. Oscar finally got them to release our bus from the port and they are at the village unloading. It is 9 pm there. She said the weather report on local Honduras news is that the Hurricane will not reach Puerto Cortes until Wednesday. Power has also been restored. Keep the prayers coming!!!

09/03/2007, 12:25 PM. (from www.cnn.com)

Your prayers are working! Keep it up! Category 4 hurricanes are still dangerous storms. Hurricane Felix weakens to Category 4 storm.

09/03/2007, 10:25 AM. (Submitted by Mary Frenter) Good Morning, Prayer Warriors, I just spoke with Amy Serrano, National Director of WWH2H in Honduras. God woke her up at midnight and she has been in prayer all night for the Mosquito Coast of Honduras where Category 5 Hurricane Felix (track Hurricane Felix) is scheduled to hit land tonight about 10:00. This is the poorest part of Honduras. There are no roads, no electricity, no communication for these people. Most don't even know this storm is coming. She said this will be another Hurricane Mitch for these people. Please pray divine intervention. Four of our girls, Sintia, Daniela, Miriam and Karla are from this area. Hurricane Mitch that devastated Honduras in 1998, was a Category 5 as well.

Se prognostica que el Huracán Felix va a azotar a Honduras y otras partes de Centroamérica esta noche. Por favor, ore para que todos en Hogar de Niños estén sano y salvo, junto con todos en el área afectada por el huracán. Publicaremos aquí más información cuando la tengamos.

As I write, Oscar is at the port trying to get the bus released. There was a mix up with the paperwork, so it has not been given to them yet. Roatan and all the islands just off the North Coast have been evacuated as of last night. All the water and electricity has been turned off in Puerto Cortes (Honduras map showing location or orphanage), so Serranos are without those services. Serranos have moved all of our older girls and mommies to the Village, who were living in Puerto Cortes while we build their houses. Allison Alexander (Eternal Family Project) is on her way out there with her girls. I believe some of our church are also planning to go there. Our buildings are the strongest for 100 miles around. Many will be at our Children's Village with all the rest of our "family" to ride this out.

Tegucigalpita, the village near our Home is about 15 miles inland from the coast, so is safer than Puerto Cortes right on the coast. Serranos just bought a months worth of food for the Village so they will be fine that way. They have plenty of bottled water as well. Our well has purified water thanks to the Washington Overseas Missions group from Washington, Missouri who put in the purification system last March. We hired five new mommies two weeks ago so there are lots of adults at the village to help.

Amy and Oscar will stay in Puerto Cortes. They want to be sure, if all the roads and bridges are washed away, that there is someone away from the Village that can get to them after the storm to be sure they are OK. Amy said they are high enough up the hills in Puerto Cortes that they will not be flooded. I would imagine they will go to the Girls' House up the hill if their new house starts flooding as it is at the bottom of that hill. She said the government put in better storm drainage recently so hopefully that will help. She said the land lines for phones are still functioning and after that the cell phone, but that probably the land lines and the cell towers will go out when the hurricane hits.

I will keep in touch with her for as long as I am able and keep all of you informed if I hear anything to report for specific prayer.

To summarize, please pray specifically:

For the people who live in the Mosquitia Coast of Honduras who will be first hit by Hurricane Felix
For Holy Spirit wisdom for all our family in Honduras to make lifesaving decisions in preparation for this challenge
That the hurricane would Divinely disapate and just be a small storm by the time it hits Honduras
For our children and our church to be able to ride out this storm safely and are comforted during this challenging time
That Serranos who will be staying in Puerto Cortes, are safe through the storm
That Juan and Diomar Cardoza at the Flamingo Hotel in Omoa on the coast are safe and are spared any damage
That all the tourists are able to get to safety
That the bus is released this morning and has time to get to safety at our Village
That the new storm system in Puerto Cortes will work
That mud slides will be at a minimum
That there will be no loss of life
That the new road and bridges, many just completed since Hurricane Mitch, hold
That the help the people need after the hurricane comes and that WWH2H is able to help in all ways the Lord provides

09/03/2007. Just received word that the port officials finally released the school bus to Oscar. Our understanding is that he is driving it inland to higher ground away from the hurricane.

08/29/2007. Pastor Oscar and Amy have announced that the WWH2H Church in Honduras will be having three days of fasting and prayer at the beginning of every month. The first is planned for Friday, August 31st through Sunday, September 2nd. Please join us in praying for upcoming mission teams, construction of the Girls’ Houses, and the prayer request list. Amy reports that the foundation for the new Girls' Houses is going well.

David is done with casts! David is shown with Mary Frenter, his guardian while he's in the U.S.

08/29/2007. David is finally cast free! David now has a nifty blue outerspace brace that velcros and can be worn in a shoe. He is to wear it full time except bathing and swimming. His foot is still tender so he won't walk on it, but I don’t think it will be long. We go back in two months for a follow up. I don’t think he will be playing soccer this season. Maybe we will stay on as team mascot. David starts back to school next Wednesday and is excited to get back to all his friends. (provided by Denise Bardal).

08/27/2007. The bus arrived safely in Honduras. We are now waiting for the port to release it.

08/20/2007. Severe storm warnings have been forecast for the next three days as category 5 Hurricane Dean moves from Jamaica to Mexico and the edges hit Honduras. Please pray for all those in the path of this monster storm.

08/20/2007. The container ship with our school bus sailed yesterday but is waiting somewhere in the Caribbean until Hurricane Dean passes.

08/20/2007. Allison Alexander, our friend who provides housing and an education and training for young adult women through Eternal Family Project, has two new wheelchair-bound girls living with her placed by INFA from the orphanage in San Pedro Sula that we told you about last month. Gabriella is eight years old. No one is sure why she can't walk, but it may be psychological. Arisellie is three years old. A baby from the orphanage, she never learned to walk because she was crib bound for all those years. Tragic! Bob Tutland, a physical therapist from Bellevue, will be going on the medical team trip the end of September, and we are hopeful he will be able to teach Allison exercises to do with the girls to help them learn to walk. Please pray for all of this and for the multitude of others still crib bound at that orphanage, whom we hope to help when God sends the worker mommies we need.

08/20/2007. Construction began this morning on the two new Girls' Houses at the back of the Village property. We were given the $4000 for the foundations but we still need $3000 more for the walls. Part of the challenge is that we underestimated the cost to do the walls for the two homes and part of the challenge is that the team that was going to do the walls in Sept. has cancelled. They will still raise $3000 to build with, but since they will not do the work we will have to hire masons to do it and it turns out that and the additional wall costs will be an extra $3000.

08/17/2007. WWH2H has been approved to receive Boeing Employees Community Fund (ECF) donations where employees can set up one-time or ongoing support to approved charities. Boeing is one of the largest employers in the State of Washington where WWH2H headquarters are located.

08/07/2007. The presentation this past Sunday at Calvary Community in Longview was super. Thank you to all of you who hosted presentations and fund raisers for WWH2H this summer. God blessed his WWH2H Honduras kids enormously through all of you!!

08/07/2007. Arrived at PDX to discover we could not fix Serrano tickets to arrive in Honduras on August 13th as planned. Serranos flew home to Honduras. The family arrived tired but safe.

08/07/2007. I worked with the freight forwarder in Houston to ship the bus. The good news is that the bus had already been delivered to the port. The challenge news is that the port charged us an extra $500 because the bus was loaded. Bus ships out of Houston this Saturday or Sunday. Current fantasy is it will arrive in Puerto Cortes August 16 or 17. Pray, please!!!

08/07/2007. Serranos arrived home to find the 7-passenger van is shot. Please beef up prayers for a donation for a 12-15 pass van for Honduras. Until then, we only have the truck for transportation until the bus arrives. Then we will have the bus and the truck. We hope to replace the smaller van because with gas costs so high, we cannot afford to use the larger bus for small groups that will not fit in the truck.

08/07/2007. Just received word that good friends of WWH2H are sending funds to pay for the foundation for the first two Girls' Village houses so they will be be done and ready for the first construction team from Faith Tabernacle in Stevenson in September who plan to do the walls. The two teams in October from Immanuel Lutheran in Centralia plan to do the roof. The November team from Summit Valley Community Church in Addy plan to do the plumbing and electrical. We hope to have the Girls in their new home by January 2008. Thank you, Jesus!!!

08/01/2007. The Annual Benefit Banquet hosted by Castle Rock Christian Church and chaired by Tina Campbell was a huge success. Many new and current supporters of WWH2H attended to spend time with the Serranos and see a new video of the children and Village. Sara and Rachel Serrano performed a traditional Honduran dance in traditional Honduran dresses. Thank you to all who helped make this banquet a success!

Rachel & Sara Serrano in Honduran dresses

08/01/2007. David's pins were removed from his foot and he received a walking cast today. After the cast comes off, he will be in a brace and then will have some therapy. WWH2H recently received a visa extension for him from INS until January 19, 2008. Please pray we are able to obtain a student visa after that for him to remain here to go to school. In the meantime, the Bardals will apply to adopt David from Honduras.

08/01/2007. The school bus is on its way to Houston, Texas, where it will be shipped to Honduras. It is loaded with donations from all over Washington and Oregon. Thank you to everyone who donated things for our bus "container" to Honduras!!

Commercial stove
Two large-capacity washers and dryers
Another washing machine
New pump for the well
Several new air conditioners
Christmas gifts for all the children
Rice cookers
Numerous bags of clothng and toys

Fabric
Bibles
Computer
Two TVs
New audio equipment and speakers
Teaching materials
School supplies, and more!

07/13/2007. Invitation emailed to invite everybody to WWH2H Annual Benefit Banquet at Castle Rock Christian Church on Saturday, at 5:30 p.m., July 21, 2007. Program will feature the Serranos, Children's Village video, native Honduran meal and native Honduran dance by Sarah and Rachel Serrano in full costume. Please RSVP to Tina Campbell 360.274.8840 or Mary Frenter 509.427.8585.

07/02/2007. By July 13th all items going on the bus need to be in Centralia at the home of Joanie and Alyn Swedberg where the loading will take place on July 14th.
A wish list of items needed to ship on the bus include two welders, 60-cup rice cooker, school supplies (pencils, glue, pens, markers, colors, erasers, sharpners, etc.), computer printer, medicines (children’s vitamins, ibuprophen, scabies meds, lice shampoo, cortisone cream, triple antibiotic cream [Neosporin]), bath soap, toothpaste, lotions, air conditioners, new and gently used boys and girls children’s clothing (modest clothing, please, for ages 2-19), shoes and sandals.

06/30/2007. David has had the last of his surgeries! He has a straight foot! David and his host family were at the Celebration Potluck at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Centralia where he showed off his red-white-and-blue cast.
06/04/2007. Norma is the widow of the former pastor of the church our church members attended before he died. Over $1000 has been pledged for her from different sources to replace the beds and refrigerator she had sold to pay the school costs for her two children. Norma was overcome with gratitude. Please continue to pray for her.
06/04/2007. We have received 35 volleyballs and 33 soccer balls from Nike to take to Honduras. We have received about 40 shirts for volleyball/soccer to take as well, and we have received the funds to purchase the volleyball net that we will take with us. Praise the Lord!!!

06/04/2007. The new 70-passenger bus we prayed for is here and the Meckles are having our name painted on the sides. They took the bus to Lynnwood to their son's church so they could see it. His church is helping to raise funds to pay for shipping the bus to Honduras. When he heard we needed a commercial stove, he told them he had a contact who just may be able to help us. We could ship it on the bus. We will see what God has in mind! Amazing!!!! Serranos will do a presentation at his church in Lynnwood on July 29th.

06/04/2007. Of the 10 churches Serranos will do presentations for this summer, seven are new to our ministry, as far as meeting us personally. Please pray they will be touched to become prayer partners and monthly supporters for our kids.
06/04/2007. On the school building front, there is one team going for sure November 24-December 1 from the Frenters' son's Summit Valley Church in Addy, WA. Joel Olsen is organizing some men from Faith Tabernacle to go in October and Alyn Swedberg is working on an October team from Immanuel Lutheran. Alyn is hoping to make it a two-week team. We do not yet have the funds to build, nor do we have the land. However, the Summit Valley team has the $3,000 for their team to build with in November. So, please pray that God will provide the land and the rest of the funds for the other teams to build on the school, and that travel funds will come in for the team members of all the teams going. Oscar said that the three-room school will cost approximately $20,000 to complete. We still are getting the shipment from Kathy Cadden's ministry in Columbus, MS, that includes 24 desks with attached chairs, arriving sometime this fall.
06/04/2007. Adopt a Child for Christmas - Carol Rutledge said only have three children of our 49 still need sponsors for the Adopt a Child for Christmas Project. All the things for the children will go down on the bus in August. So that is coming along great!!!
06/04/2007. Regarding the Drama Team, we leave at midnight on Friday and return at 8:30 pm on Saturday, June 16th with Serranos. On Sunday, we will take the whole Drama Team AND all our 49 kids and workers to Puerto Cortes for church. Afterwards, we will have a baptism service at the river, with Elvia preparing the food for all of us. What a time this will be!!! Next Tuesday, we will take all our kids to the water park. Afterwards, our Village teen girls will have a slumber party at Flamingo with our Drama Team girls. While in Honduras, we will get to do ministry at three schools Wednesday through Friday and one crusade-type service on Friday night in Puerto Cortes to Youth. Please pray for all of this.
05/24/2007. Yesterday, David had the third procedure on his foot. It is going so well that Dr. Sussman told us there will only be one more surgery required on June 6th. After that one, he will have a full cast on for about 6 weeks and then a walking cast for a few weeks more. Thank you for your prayers and please keep them coming!!!
05/23/2007. On Tuesday-Thursday, June 6-8, the WWH2H Church in Honduras is calling for three days of fasting and prayer for the Drama Team. They will be doing lots of evangelism in the schools and in the church. It would be nice if you would like to pass on those dates to our praying churches in Washington and we can all be together in prayer and fasting for the group that many unsaved will come to the Lord during this time, especially the children and the youth of Puerto Cortes.
05/21/2007. Immanuel Lutheran Church hosted a very successful dinner/raffle/auction on Saturday night, May 19th. $9,359.56 was raised toward the purchase of the bus. Dave and Pat Scherer and crew fixed delicious spaghetti and Kevin McStay and his lovely wife Lori entertained us with his comedy skits between live auction items. Enough has been raised so far to pay for the bus, now we just need money for shipping.
05/11/2007. Carol Rutledge from CRCC reports that a local church is hoping to purchase 75 Bibles in different age levels and Cross necklaces for all the kids!!! These will be included in the gifts for Christmas that are being shipped on the bus.

Note: This list was begun when the current website was redone May-July 2007.

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