Thursday, February 18, 2010
[11:47 PM]
February 18, 2009 Good Morning Everyone, Sorry it’s been so long between updates but we’ve been having lots of struggles with our internet service down here and we have been losing with great consistency. It has been a time full of blessings and struggles as usual. It’s been raining a lot, which is really strange for this time of year. Normally our rainy season is July/August, and then the rest of the year we don’t get hardly any. In blessings, we’ve had two people accept Christ in the last couple of weeks, Lydia, our newest girl here at the children’s home, being one of them. The other is a young lady named, Yessi, whose mom Lola has been coming pretty faithfully for quite a while. One Saturday night after church was over and we were packing up the instruments and things, she came up and said she wanted to accept Christ. And then last Sunday we baptized six people! It was a lot of fun for that service, and Nathan, our son-in-law, got to baptize two of them. He doesn’t speak very much Spanish and all were a little nervous he might drown them while he was trying to remember the words, but he did great. Another thing that was really exciting for us happened the other night. Azucena, our girl with the speech impediment, was in school talking to her teacher about what she believes. The teacher disagreed with her and said, “That’s not right, this is what the Bible says.” So Azucena replied, “Show me!” The teacher had no clue as where to look for anything to back up anything that she said, but Azucena knew what her beliefs where based on the Bible. We’re so proud of her that she didn’t let her speech impediment overshadow her ability to prove her position and be willing to stand up for it. Our friend Shane E. from south of Guadalajara, brought his friend, Trevor, to the home to do some repairs for us. It was perfect timing as the starter had gone out on the Ford, and the Dodge was in severe need of a tune up. We had a broken water pipe, a broken toilet, as well as many other things, including Mary and Nathan’s car that needed repaired. They fixed everything, including setting up our generator so when we lose power (which happens quite often) we can go start up the generator and we’ll have lights in the house again. Thank you Shane and Trevor! Now for the needs that you can pray about: - We need to waterproof the roof of the home. Whenever it rains, we’re having a lot of leaks and now we’re starting to have mildew growing on the walls. It’s going to cost around $400 to get everything covered and dry again.
- We are working with the government of Jerez to pay our electric bill of about $500.
- The Dodge needs a muffler as well as shocks.
- The green Ford needs new tires.
- Please pray that our internet starts working again!
- Please pray for Nathan as he had two wisdom teeth removed yesterday and is scheduled to have two more removed today.
Please pray with us that God will meet each one of these needs quickly. I know that this is a lot, but we have confidence in your abilities to talk to God on our behalf. Thank you so much for all you do. The Benedicts
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Wednesday, January 13, 2010
[10:05 AM]
Romans 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Hello Everybody,
We want to start off with a huge thank-you to all who prayed and gave for the children's home over this past few weeks. Thanks to your giving and praying, the Children's Home is back in the black! We know that it was sacrificial giving because it was during the whole Christmas season, and you just don't know how much that means to us.
Speaking of the Christmas season, it was a wonderful time for the kids and us down here. We were able to enjoy tamales (a Mexican Christmas tradition) on the 24th, and ham and turkey dinner for the 25th (thanks Aunt Thelma). It was also extremely busy with the kids being out of school. Our workers had the time off, so for the most part it was just our family. We want to praise the Lord for Horacio and Fabiola, who were able to come out and take over the home for a couple of days and give us a much needed break. Thanks also to all of you who sent gifts for the kids. They had a blast and are still really enjoying what they got for Christmas. We had bought a few Christmas movies and thought that when the kids got tired of playing they could watch the movies instead. It was probably five days after Christmas before they watched the first one and they still haven't seen them all.
It has been cold! The cold snap that went through the southern U.S. hit us also. We didn't get any snow, but it's been hovering around 20 degrees at night. You might think, "That's no big deal", but keep in mind we don't have furnaces down here. During the day it gets up to about 60, and if you're out in the sun it feels nice. But at night, the kids are snuggling under two or three blankets and have to wear winter coats to school which, by the way was cancelled last week due to the cold snap. Strange, I think it's colder this week than last, but at least they're back in school. YAY!!!
The vehicles are all running, we're going to have to replace the shocks on the vans, but that's a minor detail here in Mexico. We are waiting on parts for two of our washing machines. We brought the machine back from our house so we still have two that are running.
We want to welcome back the Ibarra family to Jerez. Jesus Ibarra was born and raised here in the vicinity, and moved to the states many years ago. He and his wife Phyllis and two of their eight kids are back for a few months and we are so thankful to have them here. They're a blessing to us. Our daughter Mary, her husband Nathan, and baby Sam should be here by the end of the month. We're looking forward to having them here - actually we have plans to ask them to babysit for a couple of hours and then we'll sneak off and have a couple of weeks of vacation - shhhhhh, don't tell them. Just kidding.
There's a young man who has been coming to church named Armando. His mother, Lola, just got baptized this past fall. He has been coming now for about a month with his girlfriend and her two kids. He really pays attention and you can see the Holy Spirit working on him. Please pray that he'll accept Christ soon, and his girlfriend also.
Sorry it's been so long between updates, but it really has been a busy time for us. Thanks so much for all the prayers, for all the support, and for all you do to further the work here.
The Benedicts
Co-Laborers in Christ,
Mexico Division
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Wednesday, December 16, 2009
[5:42 PM]
Galatians 6:2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
Hello Everyone,
We're writing today with heavy hearts. It seems like we'll never have a break. Our night helper, Chole and her family are having some problems and because of this, she felt like she needed some time off. Our day helper, Chela worked one day last week and hasn't been here at all this week. We're working day and night and it feels like we're dead in the water.
The finances at the children's home are running about a month behind. We have an electric bill due of almost $500. The Mazda is having some transmission problems to repair will be around $150 and we have no idea where this money will come from. If anybody would like to help out, but you think that only a couple of dollars won't help, just remember what Jesus did with five loaves and two fishes. For those of you who are regular givers, thanks so much for your faithfulness. You can send donations to:
TRRBC
Benedicts/orphanage
P.O. Box 1026
Branson West, MO 65737
We asked for special prayer for the kids here during the holiday season. This week, Juan (one of our newer kids) ran away from school. His teacher was scolding him for not getting his homework done and so he left. He came back later, but during his absence we were very worried. After talking with him his reason for leaving wasn't just about being in trouble, he was missing his family. He's better now, but please take seriously the kids' need for extra prayer support during this time.
We will be leaving Sunday afternoon to go to the border. Thankfully, Horacio and Fabiola will be staying with the kids so we will have an extra day and will be able to travel together. Please pray for no vehicle problems, safety on the roads, border crossing, meeting with others, etc.
The Benedicts
Co-Laborers in Christ,
Mexico Division
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