Every plate helps

Our Shalom Church women cooking the beans and rice. 

The Shalom Church members are working together to sell plates of food every month to help raise money to purchase the property. Last Saturday, 144 plates were sold for a profit $350 or nearly $2.50/plate. Every little bit helps us reach the goal together. 

The purchase of the project is a strategic goal for use by the Shalom Church and by the high school. It will be an important tool that we will continue to develop for the goals that we have for impacting the people of Choluteca.

It was encouraging for us to learn that the seller of the property recognizes the importance of us developing the property for the goal of transforming Choluteca. Even though doña Beti is physically unable to get out very often from her house across the street, she has often commented on the activities that she sees and the sounds that she hears coming from the property. Numerous times, she has told us that she enjoys the singing that takes place during our church services. 

The men cook the meat.

This week, doña Beti inquired about what all the activity was about on Saturdays. She could see the activity of a dozen people hurrying around. They brought in firewood and cooking pots. The aromas that spread throughout the community gave a good idea of what was taking place. The mixed smell of sausage, fresh pork, and chicken would attract anyone. 

When doña Beti found out the purpose of cooking the meals, she informed us that she wanted to participate in helping raise the funds to purchase the property. She wants to make sure that we include her in the list of people who will buy plates of food each month. 

Following the sale of the plates of food for raising funds, this week has been a time of prayer and fasting for the church. Members have been encouraged to fast as they are able and participate in nightly prayer meetings at the church. There were many topics that we prayed for: health needs, family needs, our outreach ministries, and the development of disciples in the local church. 

Enjoying coffee and bread after church.

One of our main topics of prayer was to continue to pray that God will provide the funds necessary to purchase the property. This property will contribute to the transformation of the church's ministry and of the health care in the region.

Our 50% property payment is due on September 13th. We have already raised $28,000 toward the payment. In order to meet the deadline, we still need 62 more people to commit to donating $100/month for the next 16 months. (Or, if my math is correct, we need to sell 40,000 more plates of food.)

Recently, Dan Shafer, the president of World Gospel Mission, commented "Our God-powered efforts will always succeed! Therefore, Satan can only defeat us by convincing us not to act." We invite you to help us pray that all of our acts will indeed be "God-powered" and that we will never be convinced to not act on what God wants us to do. 

On-line donations with World Gospel Mission-https://www.wgm.org/choluteca-nursing-school-property?