I feel like this sums up the daily emotions of missions in Honduras. The battle for these little minds and hearts is heavy and often times the burden is simply too heavy to carry alone. That is why we depend deeply on our ministry partners to come along-side and pray us through each and every day. These children are precious and they simply need the hope that only Jesus can provide.
The ministry has been moving forward what at times feels like break-neck speed and at other times feels like we are just crawling along at a snail’s pace but at the end of the day, it’s all in God’s timing and all in His grace.
As an update, I am going to include Jessica’s ministry overview she recently wrote because I feel it gives a great description of the ranch and its role in the ministry and partnership with the school, it’s a mouthful but truly a good overview of where we are now. I have included prayer requests at the end!
Wellspring of Life is a dual-fold ministry consisting of a bilingual Christian School, educating over 180 students and Agricultural education Ranch located in San Manuel, Honduras. Our goal at Cornerstone Christian Academy and Ranch is to educate and equip with the Word of God and that mission manifests itself in many different forms. Although the main priority of the ranch is to promote good agricultural production, management practices, integrity and stewardship in our students and the local community, It will always remain that the Ranch will exist to use our agricultural tools to communicate the Gospel.
Our second priority is to educate and equip through production management, showing, marketing, use and sale of our God-given resources be it horses, cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, rabbits chickens, gardens, or properties. Our goal is not to enable a lifestyle in our community that demands more handouts and perpetuates poverty and dependence on international aid and leadership but to create a hard-working, educated, sustainable community that is dedicated to bettering themselves and the next generation. Current and future ranch projects that we believe will promote these qualities include, but are not limited to:
-Reaching out to local ranchers and horsemen through equine education/horsemanship/shoeing/training clinics.
-Cattle, goats, sheep, rabbit and pig management/showing/clinics/education with the same aim and in addition directly teaching our students responsibility, integrity, work ethic, and perseverance through ongoing care and management classes.
-Teaching ethical and responsible stock management, care and butchering practices to local villagers and families in order that their sources of agricultural nutrition are safe and sustainable.
-Gardening classes for our students and village families to teach sustainable practices and raise fresh produce for our school lunches
-to provide a source of income supporting not only the ranch itself but also supporting the biblical discipleship and education at Cornerstone Christian Academy.
-Providing a safe and consistent water source for the whole ranch and for our local communities through multiple wells and irrigation systems
-Restoring the formerly dilapidated ranch property with our students in our work-study program.
These are just some of our current projects and goals. Although the school has been in existence for some years, Cornerstone Christian Ranch has been in our care for less than 1 year and operational for about 5 months in which it has already touched many lives, fed many mouths and educated many students and community members. We are however in the very beginning stages of this section of the ministry.
We believe we are increasingly unique in our goals and ministry at Cornerstone Christian Ranch, not because of who we are but because of the specificity of what God has called us to do, and the dedication He has instilled in our hearts to do it with the resources He has given us. We have been extremely blessed to see God's provision over the last year and witness the amazing growth of this unique ministry, and we could not do what we do without people who support us as partners in Honduras and especially from the United States.
One of the goals we have not yet reached or even come close to is providing a source of income to support the growth of the ranch and school. As we continually teach sustainability as one of our foundational principles, we would be remiss not to do the same within the fabric of the organization itself. One of the largest opportunities to do so is through horse training, horsemanship clinics/events, and boarding. Our family has been involved in ranching and rodeo in the US for 3 generations, and that lifestyle has been altered only in the sense that it is now utilized for the sole purpose of educating others and providing sustainable support for our ministry and goal growth.
To begin utilizing these opportunities, it is vital that we have partners such as yourself who believe in our goals to educate and equip people to the full potential God has in store for them.
Prayer Requests:
Prayer for our teachers and their continued commitment to educating and equipping the students with the Word of God as well as their own personal spiritual growth.
We are currently looking for a new principle as ours ended up needing to leave abruptly due to personal circumstances in his own life in which he moved to a location too far from the school. We are praying for strong, Godly leadership.
We currently have 3 Bible studies weekly, Mollie is leading one for our older girl students, Jessie is leading one for the women working at the ranch and Brent is leading one for Men which has included our ranch workers, other men throughout the community.
Transitions...please pray for us as we are transitioning the twins into our home. That we will have the financial provision for legal custody and eventually adoption if the Lord wills. Adoption laws changed earlier this year and we cannot proceed with the adoption for 3.5 more years. (It requires that adoptive parents have had a residency within the country for 5 years). Nothing happens easily within a corrupt government, the rules are always changing. Right now we are praying we can achieve the type of custody that would allow us to travel outside the country with them.
Mollie and Abigail will be transitioning back to the US at the end of this school term. They have given faithfully and sacrificially for what will be 2 years when they transition and now the Lord is sending them in different directions. Abigail is in the process of applying to colleges for the fall and taking SATs. She is furthering her calling to the deaf community and will be pursuing a degree in sign language interpretation. Mollie will be living in Florida, taking on-line classes with Liberty University and working. As they transition back to the US we pray God will meet their needs for school, vehicles, etc. As well as their emotional and spiritual needs as they make a life in new places with new people. Pray for our momma and daddy hearts as we let go and for the void, they will leave not just in our home but the workload they have carried.
Pray for new volunteers to commit for 9 months to work in the school. We will have 4 volunteers (which includes Mollie and Abbie) leaving between May and June.
Pray for our teams that will be visiting us. February, March, and June are busy months with short-term volunteers coming to work. Pray that their time in fruitful and fulfilling.
Pray for protection over our marriage and family life as is a difficult and delicate balance.
Pray for more monthly sponsors to come alongside the ministry to work together to fulfill the great commission.
We love to hear from you and what God is doing in your lives as well! We have a new Facebook page devoted to the ranch you will find it at Cornerstone Christian Ranch Ccr so make sure you follow us there and the Wellspring of Life page where I am going to try and devote more time and post fewer ministry posts on our personal pages so follow us there as well!
Blessings, The Ozanne’s Brent, Anne, Jessie, Mollie, and Abbie
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