UPDATE: January 2008!

FOR THE SAKE OF HIS NAME
January 2008 Vol. III Issue 1

Shelly Medlock serving with World Gospel Outreach in Honduras

Blessings flow!
I am forever indebted to you as my friends, family and church. There is no way that I could be fruitful here without God’s grace and the provision of you. It’s by the grace of God that I am here. I am the blessed one. The love, encouragement, and support I get from the States is completely overwhelming. A single, female missionary could not ask for much more. I received so many encouraging Christmas cards and gifts, Birthday cards and gifts, and an abundance of year-end financial support. I thank God for each of you!

My first year on the mission field, the Lord was faithful in encouraging me by providing almost 100% of my financial needs before I left. My second proves different. It seems that the Lord has decided to test my faith and continues to increase my faith, month by month! Like He promises, He never fails. Each month, I have just enough, and I do believe it’s because the Lord uses His Spirit to prompt His people and moves them just at the right time to provide. Thank you and Praise God for the incredible gifts of monthly and year-end finances.

Christmas on the Coast

Most of you know that I spent Christmas here, in Honduras. It was different being away from my biological family, but I knew this was what the Lord had for me for this year. I chose to find joy in it because I was truly excited and joyful to walk where the Lord led: spending Christmas here. I learned what Paul meant when he spoke in Philippians 4: “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.” It was a joy to be here and celebrate Christmas with my Honduran and North American brothers and sisters and family in Christ. I can’t wait to see what Heaven will be like: with all tribes, languages, peoples and nations glorifying God all day long!

Since I was in country for Christmas, I had an awesome opportunity to visit other parts of Honduras. Several of the North Americans of the ministry took a four-day vacation to the North Coast. We went to the beach at La Ceiba and stayed at a resort called Hotel Palma Real, right on the beach. I was blessed as my parents decided to gift me the trip as a part of my Christmas blessing. The coast was beautiful, and the resort was amazing. The resort was all-inclusive: all meals, on-site activities, snacks etc. It was really quite a great deal! The meals were served buffet style and they had every kind of food and a lot of it. I ate way too much! We had an awesome time, enjoying each other’s company and even some sun on the last day. Yes, it rained three of the four days that we were there, but fortunately there was plenty to do. There were several covered outdoor areas around the resort. So, we were still able to enjoy the ocean and beach, even with the rain. I would certainly go back again and I refer anyone to go there on a vacation get away!

Remember Ada? We had an opportunity to visit her around Christmas and bless her with some necessities. We got to spend a few quality minutes just being with her in her home, laughing, talking and seeing her domestic pig, chickens and cat. She is a blessing to me personally and she often has encouraging words for me and warm greetings when I come home from school each Tuesday.

“Friends, romans, Countrymen”
So, now that the holidays are over, and school is back in full swing, I am reminded just how much I really enjoy my job and the current call the Lord has placed in my life. He continues to confirm me in so many ways. We started school on January 7th, putting us in our fourth week. We’ve gotten off to a good start. The spring always seems more difficult. We have more weeks and less breaks in this semester. In 10th grade Literature class, we started Julius Caesar. My 10th grade English teacher made Julius Caesar fun, and she has inspired me to do the same. Shakesphere can be fun to read and enjoyable if someone can help you understand it. I pray the 10th graders will enjoy Caesar as much as I did. In my Art classes, we are currently working with Pointillism. It’s an interesting concept–explaining that you can create a piece of art by just using dots, only dots. During class, all I can hear are markers hitting the table, one after the other, but at least I know they are working.

I have found a new joy in teaching English Grammar and Language. These past weeks, with my homeroom girls, 7th and 8th grade, we have been studying pronouns. I put an example sentence on the board today. I will admit, it was far from the perfect example, but makes for a good story. I wrote: “The class took them clothes.” (I should have wrote ‘The class took them the clothes.’) We were studying Objective Case Pronouns and I was trying to get the girls to recognize that “them” was serving as the Indirect Object, and therefore, in Objective Case. Here’s the funny thing: the girls read “them” as an adjective or something else that just was not right. They saw it as a way of describing the clothes, instead of seeing it as a pronoun. If you’re from Arkansas, you might have heard this incorrect lingo or jargon and lazy way of talking. This was NOT the way that I intended for the sentence to come across but it caused quite the moment of laughter. We regained composure as I reminded them that we are studying Grammar, and that, yes, you may hear people say that, but it is NOT grammatically correct. They were quick to see that “them” was functioning as an objective pronoun.

Training with The Arrow Project

A few weeks ago, The Arrow Project came to visit our ministry. The Arrow Project is Child and Family Foster Care Ministry based in Texas. They came for a week, bearing a wealth of knowledge and guidance about fostering abandoned and orphaned children. They blessed us in a tremendous way, brining encouragement and insight into our ministry. Praise God for their vision (www.arrow.org) and their desire to partner with us!


New Opportunities
Over the past few weeks, two new opportunites to serve within the ministry of World Gospel Outreach have been laid before me. I would ask that you join me in prayer in petitioning the Lord for wisdom and guidance. God promises His widsom, if we will only ask for it. I seek His will in these decisions and as I approach the end of my second year and begin my third year of service in July. I want to hear His voice and following His leading. Won’t you join me in prayer?


ABOVE: Color Month at School: represented by CRAZY HAIR/HAT day at school.
Top to Bottom:Jefry with spray painted red hair, Cristian with a colorful hat, and Maria with chopsticks in her hair.

ABOVE: Color Month at School: represented by colorful classroom doors!