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Newsletter- January 2008

Newsletter- April 2008

 

Dear Saints,

 

“I am the resurrection, and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” John 11:25

 

Maydalin is a 13 month old child whose aunt and cousins come regularly to church.  During the month of December a flu type sickness began to cause illnesses in young children.  Maydalin became ill.  In the course of a few days her condition worsened.  Her parents took her to the hospital.  Maydalin was experiencing respiratory arrest.  The child was pronounced dead by the doctors.  Elbin, Maydalin’s father began to pour his heart out to the Lord.  “Please Lord, give me back Maydalin and I will serve you the rest of my life.”  Maydalin began to breath.  The doctors could not believe it.  Elbin knew that God had answered his prayer.  Today Maydalin is a happy little girl who has no mental or physical illnesses due to this experience.  The Lord is a God of miracles and healing.  Chuck and Juan Argueta have been sharing the gospel with Elbin for more than a year.  Elbin’s hard heart was softened by the Holy Spirit.  Pray for Elbin and his companion.  Pray that they will both make a commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ.  This couple is not married.  Elbin would like to get married and then be baptized.  Pray that Maydalin will be raised knowing the gospel.

 

“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Mt.11:29

 

In March the congregation of Siguatepeque made another trip to visit our brethern in El Progreso.  During this trip a young man named Gustavo was baptized.  Gustavo is a bright young man who has a love for the truth.  He has 2 sisters, a brother, and mother who are attending scripture classes with Chuck and Charles.  Gustavo desires for them to also make a commitment in the waters of baptism.  Please pray for them.

Gustavo has another brother who lives next door to him.  His name is Jose.  Chuck gave scripture classes to Jose for a year.  Jose fell back into the trap of alcoholism and stopped receiving classes.  It was at this point that Gustavo asked to have classes in his home.

 

A few weeks ago Jose became so drunk that he shot his son and best friend.  When returning from Wed. night church, we saw a group of people gathered outside of Gustavo’s home.  Gustavo and his sisters were returning from church with us.  We all got out of the truck and were told about the shooting that had just taken place.  We had prayer right there in the street with the family.  Chuck offered to take them to the hospital to find out what the conditions of the 2 young men were.  At that moment Jose’s wife returned from the hospital.  Jose’s son, 14 year old Osman was in the vehicle.  He was ok.  He had been shot in the foot.  Jose’s friend was not as fortunate.  He had been shot in the leg and shoulder.  This man had also been drinking.  The families of both men were able to work things out.  No one went to jail.

 

Due to this experience, Osman, and his sister, Yahaira are coming to church.  It was a blessing that their father, Jose, was willing to let them attend. Jose even went a step further and is allowing his son and daughter to have scripture classes in their home once a week.  Each time Osman comes out of his house to go to church there is a smile on his face.  He has said to me several times with that same smile, “Sister Regina, I am able to go to church.”

 

On the prayer request from the last newsletter, Elizabeth, our oldest daughter had asked for prayers that she might be able to share with someone at the school she works at.  On Wednesday, April 2, a door of opportunity was opened.  A fellow co-worker, Yami, began to ask her questions about other religions. At that point she shared about 3 destinct believes that we have in our church:  Authority, Open cannon of scripture, and Zion.   Yami’s husband is preparing for a seminar on religious sects.  Elizabeth was able to give her some written information about Seventh Day Adventist, Jehova’s Witnesses, and others.  A few days later, Yami’s husband came to school.  They began to talk with Elizabeth and ask her what her beliefs were.  At that point she shared about who Jesus Christ was to her and about the Book of Mormon.  Please pray for Yami and her husband, Milton.  At the end of this conversation they both said that they could see that the Book of Mormon could be a “good” book but it wasn’t of the devil.

 

Thoughts for the Church:


“Alabaster is a white, marble-like mineral that people used to store ointments in. While the alabaster vial remains sealed and unbroken, the contents are completely hidden, closed off from the world. When Mary broke her alabaster vial we are told that "the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume." If we want our environment to be filled with the fragrance of Christ, then we too must be broken vessels.

This breaking does not seem joyous at the time, but sorrowful. It involves pain, yet those who humble themselves before God and make themselves pliable in His hands will find that the breaking is more easily attained than if they had resisted and were hardened in pride.

 

"I am the foundation upon which all other things must be built," the Lord said. "My people are broken. When they bring the broken pieces of their hearts and lives to Me, and begin to build upon Me, I will put the brokenness back together and raise up a glorious and victorious Church. My Church shall stand triumphant when it is built upon Me. I will have a people called by My Name. I will have a Church." [end excerpt]”

 


“To arouse one man or woman to the tremendous power of prayer for others, is worth more than the combined activity of a score of average Christians.” - A. J. Gordon

 

Prayer Requests:

  1. Pray for our son Charles who will be going to the States to further his education.

  2. There have been a lot of sicknesses here in this country.  Please remember those who are sick.  Our family has been having our share of sicknesses.

  3. Pray for the church and ministers here in Honduras.

  4. Please remember Elbin and his family.

  5. Pray for Gustavo and Jose’s family that they will come to Christ.

  6. Please remember Elizabeth as she shares with Yami and Milton.

 

Proposed Projects:

 

We want you to be aware that there are 3 projects that need to be done:

 

  1. Tile bedroom floors in the house.  We have lived in the house now for almost 8 years.  The floors are all cement floors.  The quality of cement here is poor.  The bedroom floors are badly cracking.  We need to put some tile on them in order to prevent further damage.  The cost for this project is estimated at $1,500. 

  2. Paint the inside of the house.  The walls need to be painted.  Some of them have never been painted.  I am not able to give an estimation of paint.  We will have to get back with you on this one.

  3. Truck engine rebuilt.  The diesel engine on our Ford F250 has to be fixed.   It is still a workable vehicle and rebuilding an engine is a lot less expensive than purchasing a new vehicle.  Approx. cost $1,200.

 

Because of these expenses and having a son going to the States, Chuck found some free-lance work translating.  It does not give us a whole lot, but it makes us feel better that we are able to do something to help with costs.  Chuck began working in Nov of 2007.  He has earned a total of $2318.20 between the months of Nov 2007-May 2008.  This money is put in an account and is to be used for these projects or for emergency funds.  As you can tell below, the months of Dec, Feb, and March were low.  Funds were used from this account to help with living expenses. 

 

We ask you to prayerfully consider how you might be able to help this family.

 

 

Newsletter- July 2008

 

Newsletter July 2008–07–17

 

Some of you read in our last newsletter about the history of one of our neighbors, Jose, who got drunk a few months ago and shot one of his friends and then shot his 14-year old son.  A couple of weeks after Chuck got back from the States, Jose beat his 13-year old daughter so badly that she was in the hospital for almost a week.  We spoke to the police about it, but they didn't do anything.  We didn't figure they would.  The daughter, Yajaira, had been trying to attend church with us as often as she could, but many times her father refused to let her attend.  After the son, Osman, had healed up enough, he asked his father for permission for both of them and their younger brother to attend church with us.  They have been attending church regularly for about 3 months.  He also asked his father if they could have cottage meetings with us.  His father agreed to that also.  Timothy, Tikva and Chuck have been having weekly cottage meetings with them for the last couple of months.  One Thursday evening in a cottage meeting, Osman indicated that he was interested in being baptized and asked, "What are the requirements that I need to fulfill in order to be baptized?"  Chuck explained about the different requirements for water baptism and for confirmation.   He then asked Osman if he wanted to be baptized.  He said that he would like to be baptized as soon as possible.  Osman needs more time though, so that Chuck can have "a sufficient time to expound all things concerning the church of Christ to their understanding, previous to their partaking of the sacrament, and being confirmed by the laying on of the hands of the elders; so that all things may be done in order".  This normally takes about 3 months of classes.  Chuck had a meeting with his father to make sure that Osman had his approval to be baptized.  His father said that as long as he sees a change in his son, he would approve.

 

Another young man approached Chuck shortly after that and asked to be baptized also.  He will be attending the baptismal classes with the other young man.  This young man is named Onan.  Please pray for him and his family that they too will desire to know more about the Lord.

 

   Chuck went on a mission trip to Guarajao de la Paz to meet with  some of  Juan Argueta's family that live there.  In this area there are not many churches.  Chuck visited a Pentecostal pastor while he was there.  The pastor invited Chuck to come and preach in his church.  Please pray for the community of Guarajao. There are several villages close together that are good possibilities for future mission work.  Chuck will be returning to this area the end of July to preach in the Pentecostal church there.  Please pray that the Lord will open doors and that there will be open hearts for the gospel.  Thank you.

 

Projects:

 

We believe that it is important for all believers to be involved in their community.  This provides many opportunities to witness to people.  The following are some projects that we are involved in.  We use these projects as door openers to share the Gospel with a wider range of people.

 

  1. Public School Library Project.  This is a project that gives grade school children the opportunity to read books.  Most schools and communities here in Honduras do not have libraries.  Can you imagine living in a city where there is no library?  This program provides a “library box” of 50 books to be used in school.  We distribute these “box libraries” in February and collect them in October.  The books are loaned to the schools.  If the books have been properly cared for, the school will receive a different box of books the following school year.  This was our first year to distribute books.  We had enough books to place 6 boxes in schools.  If you would like to donate Spanish books or help purchase some.  Please contact us by email at chassperry@yahoo.com.  Thank you.

 

  1. Repair and Upkeep of the Community Baseball Diamonds.

We became involved in a program sponsored by the Peace Corps to teach rural children ages 8-12 how to play baseball.  Because almost the only sport here is soccer, most people have never played baseball.  Our family decided to help train children in a Honduran Little League team to help expand their horizons, but also to be able to help them to know Christ better.  When we started helping we asked the children if they would like to pray before practice.  They said, “yes” which surprised the Peace Corps volunteer that was there.  He was not adverse to it and later on even began initiating the time of prayer himself.  One of the problems that we had when we started was that the baseball park was in total disrepair.  For years, the neighbors had been using it as a trash dump and letting their cows graze on the diamonds.  Timothy decided to help improve the baseball fields as an Eagle Scout project.  This has gone very well.  Many individuals and construction materials suppliers have donated materials.  Our family, along with about 13 other people planted trees in the area. This will be an ongoing program that we hope to be involved with over the next few years.  Regina and Chuck are now part of the city baseball league council.

 

3.  Microbiology for Public Schools

A school district in the States donated about 10 microscopes.  Most of the students here in Honduras have not had the opportunity to ever see a microscope let alone use one.  With this program Regina gives a simple class on cells and the microscope.  The children then have a chance to look in a microscope to observe cells and other items.  The whole family is involved in helping the children use the microscopes.

 

4.   National Forestry University Conservation Program

Our sons are part of the Lone Scout Program of the Boy Scouts of America.  The boys have to do many projects that deal with conservation.  Regina was asked to become involved with the Forestry University program as a biologist.   Now the entire family teaches conservation to the public schools on a regular basis and sets up programs in the public schools to help the children to be more conservation-minded. We have been involved in developing a conservation center to teach the public about caring for God’s world.

 

  1. Water Project

There are a number of neighbors that do not have potable water in our neighborhood.  They have to walk to a stream and haul water by hand or use a horse.  The water that they get out of the stream is contaminated by sewage.  Chuck and another man are trying to help get a water system developed for them.  They found three very good springs up in the mountain, but the owner is not willing to let the water be used by the community.  Please pray for this project. Pray that water can be provided for these families.  We know that the Lord can soften hearts or provide water from other sources.  Thank you.

 

     

Financial Report:

 

 

We want you to be aware that there are 3 projects that need to be done:

 

  1. Tile bedroom floors in the house.  We have lived in the house now for almost 8 years.  The floors are all cement floors.  The quality of cement here is poor.  The bedroom floors are badly cracking.  We need to put some tile on them in order to prevent further damage.  The cost for this project is estimated at $1,500. 

  2. Paint the inside of the house.  The walls need to be painted.  Some of them have never been painted.  I am not able to give an estimation of paint. 

  3. Truck engine rebuilt.  The diesel engine on our Ford F250 has to be fixed.   It is still a workable vehicle and rebuilding an engine is a lot less expensive than purchasing a new vehicle.  Approx. cost $1,200.

 

Newsletter- August 2008

Newsletter- November 2008

 

Planting Seeds

 

Elizabeth, our oldest daughter has travelled to El Progreso for the last 4 weekends.  She is teaching two young ladies how to give Sunday school classes.  They are excited about teaching the Sunday school class.  Both of the young ladies are named Gabriela so we call the younger one Gabby and the older one Gabriela.  Gabriela and her two brothers live with their aunt and uncle since their mother left for the States illegally to find work and their father has never been part of the family.  Gabriela is trying to finish high school, takes care of her two younger brothers and now helps care for her baby cousin also.  These three young people are struggling as they no longer have their mother with them.  One afternoon Gabriela asked permission to go around the neighborhood to invite children to come to Sunday school classes.  Her aunt and uncle would not let her.  This made Gabriela sad since she has been very active in church ever since she was baptized.  Pray that Gabriela and Franklin, who are both baptized, will continue to be excited about serving the Lord and that the hearts of their aunt and uncle will be changed.  Gabriela really wants to be able to teach the Sunday school classes and they both would like to be permitted to attend church and invite others to attend also.

 

In el Progreso, a man who has been attending church has asked for baptism and the congregation there is talking about building a roofed patio for holding church services.  During the months of August through October we had constant rain.  Flooding became a major problem throughout the nation.  There were hundreds of people whose homes were flooded.  As a church we purchased food to give to those families who had their homes flooded.  We also collected used clothes from the different church families to give to those who had been flooded out.

 

In the last two newsletters we have written about a neighbor named Josue and his family.  He gets drunk and at times is violent with his family and others.  His children began to attend church for the first time at the beginning of the year after he had accidentally shot his oldest son in a drunken brawl with a friend of his.  His son asked to be baptized, but continued to have extremely unchristian-like conduct.  Chuck continued to have classes with him and he continued to attend church until he got into three different fights with one of the neighbor children who has been attending church with us for the past two years.  When we went to talk with his father, his father said that his son wasn’t ready to be baptized and that he needed to change his life.  We agreed and told his son that he was always welcome to attend church as long as he didn’t try to pick fights with the children there.  He has not attended since then.  These children have no spiritual support at home.  When I walk or drive by their house, I can see sadness in their eyes.  There is an emptiness there which only the Lord can fill.  Please continue to pray for spiritual deliverance for this family.

 

We have also written about a young man named Onan.  Onan is a good kid.  He attends church on a regular basis and has asked again to be baptized.  The first time he asked, his mother gave her OK, but said that she really didn’t think that he was ready.  Chuck had classes with him for a number of weeks and then he started “playing hooky” from school and lying to his mother.  When Chuck confronted him on that he confessed and asked for forgiveness from his mother, but he continued to lie to her about other things.  He also stopped attending classes.  About six months ago, he started attending church regularly again and two weeks ago he asked again to be baptized.  He could use your prayers since his mother has a live-in-boyfriend and neither one of them are very supportive of his spiritual growth.  Please pray that Onan will be an example for his family.  Pray that the changes in his life will cause his mother to support Onan in his decision to be baptized.  Please pray that he will be firm in the Gospel.

 

Two young ladies named Mirna and Maria have been attending regularly for the past 4 months.  They now have invited their uncle, Arnulfo, to church.  Chuck has had the opportunity to visit him a few times and share the Word of God with him.  One evening while at his house, Arnulfo told Chuck that he had never prayed.  He asked Chuck if he would help him learn to pray.  This last Wednesday (Nov 12), Chuck felt lead to ask him to give a prayer at church.  Arnulfo stood with a little hesitation and gave a very nice prayer.  This was the first time for Arnulfo to pray in public.  It was a neat experience.

 

Your prayers of support are very important for missionary work.  One prayer might make the difference between someone accepting the gospel or not.  Through your prayers lives can be changed.  Thank you for praying!

 

Prayer list:

 

Josue and his family

Onan and his family

Mirna, Maria and their uncle Arnulfo

Gabriela and her family

The country of Honduras

Our son Charles who is now studying in the U.S.

God’s people throughout the world

 

 

3 Nephi 3:15-16

“And there became a great inequality in all the land, insomuch that the church began to be broken up; yea, insomuch that in the thirtieth year the church was broken up in all the land, save it were among a few of the Lamanites, who were converted unto the true faith;

And they would not depart from it, for they were firm, and steadfast, and immovable, willing with all diligence to keep the commandments of the Lord.”

 

Even though there may be division, stay firm, steadfast, immovable, willing with all diligence to keep the commandments of the Lord.

 

3 Nephi 5:29-31

And there shall be no disputations among you, as there hath hitherto been; neither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrine, as there hath hitherto been; For verily, verily I say unto you, He that hath the spirit of contention, is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger one with another.  Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger one against another; but this is my doctrine that such things should be done away.

 

If you are not one, you are not mine.

 

If you love me, keep my commandments.

 

Let us petition our head Jesus Christ for unity in the body, so we can help Him establish His Kingdom on earth.

 

Each of us have been called to do a task for the Lord Jesus.  We must be His witness and fulfill the purpose of Him having created us.  Do you remember the prophet Abinadi?  As far as we know, he only converted one person to the Lord.  Even if he had not converted one soul, he fulfilled the task given to him.  He planted the seed.  Be strong and of good courage.  The last days are unfolding before us.  There is still the message of hope that needs to go to the world.

 

The words to this song may be meaningful for such a time as this.

 

Who here among us has not been broken, Who here among us is without guilt or pain?

So often abandoned by our transgressions, if such a thing as Grace exists, then grace was made for lives like this.

 

Come ye unwanted and find affection, Come all ye weary come and lay down your head.

Come ye unwanted you are my brother, If such a thing as grace exists, then grace was made for lives like this.

 

Oh blessed father, look down upon us, We are your children, We need your love.

We bow before your throne of Mercy and ask your face to rise above.

 

MAY THE GOD OF GRACE AND MERCY BLESS EACH OF YOU IS OUR PRAYER.

 

Chuck, Regina, Charles, Elizabeth, Timothy, Christina, Hanah, and Joshua Sperry

 

 

Community Projects:

 

1. National Forestry University Conservation Program

Our sons are part of the Lone Scout Program of the Boy Scouts of America. The boys have to do many projects that deal with conservation. We help in public schools on a regular basis and set up programs to help the children to be more conservation-minded.  This year we had a conservation drawing contest for 5th and 6th graders in 32 of the grade schools in Siguatepeque. This program has been endorsed by the President of Honduras and the Minister of National Resources.  There were over 1,500 children who participated.  Local businesses donated prizes for the 52 winners.  The mayor provided snacks and the National Forestry University provided the auditorium for the event.  We were pleased with the amount of schools that participated.

 

2. Water Project

There are about 30 families in our barrio that do not have potable water. They have to walk to a stream and haul water by hand or use a horse. The stream that they get their water from has a number of homes with latrines that are within 5 feet of the bank of the stream. Chuck and another man are working to get an adequate water system for them. They have found another spring and the owner is willing to let them use the water.  The source is big enough to provide water for 40 houses.  We have to test the spring during the dry season to be sure that the spring will provide sufficient water for these people.  Please pray that enough water will be provided to meet their needs. 

 

3. Public School Library Project.

This is a project that gives grade school children the opportunity to read books. Most schools and communities here in Honduras do not have libraries.  This program provides a "library box" of fifty books to be used in school. We distribute these "box libraries" in February and collect them in October. The books are loaned to the schools. If the books have been properly cared for, the school will receive a different box of books the following school year.  This project is a program of La Buena Fe, sponsored by Lottie and Leonard Brown.  The program is called “Biblioteca Leonardo”.  Our family helps distribute boxes to rural schools in the area where we live.  If you would like to donate Spanish books or help purchase some, please contact us by email at chassperry@yahoo.com.

 

 

Newsletter- December 2008
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