May and June have been very busy months for Open Doors. We have certainly had our challenges here in Honduras.

Two of our girls have been bitten with mosquitoes carrying dengue. Thus they have been diagnosed with dengue fever. We really do need some construction people to help us with the cost and installation of the ceiling in the girl's shelter and screens on all of the windows. This is a rather expensive undertaking and at this time our budget doesn't have funds for these 2 items. Both of the girls are doing well with lots of love and medical attention to monitor their blood levels.

Angels watching over us: One day Nilda, the house Mother came home from town loaded down with supplies for the house. Among her purchases was a jug of pesticide to battle the army of roaches that had moved into the kitchen and food storage areas of the house. She placed all of the goods still in the bags in the corner of the kitchen and gave instructions for everyone not to touch any of the stuff. She was going to her room for a few minutes and would return shortly to put everything away in its' place. She then shut the kitchen door. Two curious young children snuck into the kitchen without anyone noticing to explore the goods in the bags. Of course they noticed the jug of pesticide right away and went to the cabinet to get a cup for a drink of the JUICE. This was not juice at all but indeed toxic poison. Nilda later found the 2 children laying outside beside the cup of pesticide appearing to be in an abnormal state of sleep. She immediately called for Dr Ivan a private physician to come. This is a very devoted local doctor in Tocoa that totally pours himself out into the medical care of all of our kids there for free to be a blessing. The 2 girls, Lorena 4 and Rosita 8 years of age were immediately transported to the hospital to have their stomachs pumped. The tests showed the girls had not ingested any of the poison but were evercome only by the fumes. We all rejoiced and are much more aware to immediately lock up any deadly chemicals. The enemy uses any situation to try to succeed at what he is a specialist: to cause fear, confusion, doubt, destruction and death. God definitely had His guarding angels on duty that day.

We have taken in a new girl Yency, she is 14 years old and pregnant. She was raped by a 22 year old man. The son of her shelter mom while living in a foster home in LA Ceiba. She not only became pregnant as a result of the rape but she also contracted a serious venereal disease and cannot have a normal delivery. Her cesarean-section is scheduled for the 15th of July. I took her for a sonogram to see how the baby was doing and we found out it is a girl. She wants to name her Julliet.

We had a team working with us from New Beginnings Church in Jacksonville for a week co-laboring with Mission Air they completed a lot of painting, miscellaneous handy-man repairs, played games with the younger children giving often the much needed love and attention. The team ministered both as a group and individually to the girls at The Gate's of Hope. There were some intense times of sharing and many confessions and tears were shed. The girls will never be the same and have taken more steps toward the hope they can have through Jesus Christ. The memories of their painful past and reality of the daily emotional and mental battles equals days filled with fear and sadness. We are so grateful to have teams come and pour into the girls and children. It is definitely HIS hands extended.

The team spent most of their days at the Las Brisas Feeding Center. For 3 of those days they ran a dental clinic. Dr Rick a retired dentist from Jacksonville, dusted off his talent and put on his gloves to once again go to work on people's teeth. This time it wasn't in a nice clean dental office with running water and electricity and Osha guidelines. Here in Tocoa at the river, we laid the patients on a hard wooden bench, carried the jugs of clean water for rinsing, and used flashlights to see into the mouths and we sterlized the instuments the old fashioned way by boiling them. Crowd control was done by keeping the kids busy coloring and doing crafts while they waited their turn to be seen. What a blessing for these kids. None of them had ever seen a dentist before. In 3 days they did 101 exams and cleanings and 35 extractions.

A RHEMA Moment: I had the priveledge to experience this particlular clinic on the mission field in a way I had never experienced outpost clinics in the past. Because of the needs and responsibilities that go along with running a shelter like The Gates of Hope, it is often difficult to escape and participate working along with the visiting teams off property. But one day last week things were running particularly smooth and I decided it was safe to leave the house for an hour to be with the team doing the dental clinic. As I walked up to the sight along the river I observed everyone busily taking responsibility for their assigned task. Some helping with coloring and using ink stamps, some teaching effective brushing techniques, some assisting with the rinsing step of the process, one holding the light for the dentist, one holding the patient's hand in and attempt to calm their fears, and of course there was the professional dentist peering into the mouths intently not wanting to miss finding any cavity or an infection that was in need of immediate attention. Because all of these children eat 5 days a week at our feeding center we have taken on a sense of ownership. Not in a bad way, but we feel responsible for their well being and because we by faith, every month trust God on their behalf that the funding to feed them will come in. Like parents we can't bare the thought of seeing them go hungry. So seeing all of this ministry in action to our kids, I felt like I was litteraly being ministered to in all directions all at once. At that moment as if I was being cared for in every area of my life. Barry and I went for a walk along the river to greet some of the people. As I was walking I was moved to tears for the verse in the Bible that says If you do it to the least of these you do it unto me. These by society would be considered the least, but Jesus was being ministered to in a deep way that day. Demonstrating how to brush your teeth or rinse your mouth, MINISTRY?? You bet it is!

We are waiting on God's clock but our job is to let the need be known.

You can reach Penny at Penny@open-doorministries.com