My dear friends and supporters,
I have not written a prayer letter in a long time! I have not ceased to be a missionary, but I had ceased to be completely dependent on financial support. However, prayer letters are not just about financial support but also about mutual encouragement and prayer. I repent and I apologize, especially since I do consider many of you as friends and certainly brothers and sisters in Christ.
Life gets in the way! That is certainly what the enemy uses to distract us. Fortunately, in spite of my self-reliance, God has kept me busy doing missionary work. I continue to be an associate missionary with the Society of Anglican Missionaries and Senders (SAMS). I continue to be President of Osman Hope, Inc. and we continue to help the children and families of Honduras.
As an update on Osman Hope, I will tell you that the last couple years have been a period of adaptation as it has in everybody’s lives due to the pandemic. During the pandemic we had to switch to closing shelters and feeding families by providing baskets of goods every couple weeks. Starting in 2022, we officially opened all the shelters and with the necessary measures are receiving the children and going back to feeding them, helping them with school work and encouraging them with their walk with the Lord and with their life goals. Of great encouragement is that we have several of our high school graduates attending university and have just celebrated the graduation from university of a young lady with an Electrical Engineering degree. Others did not choose the university route but are gainfully employed! Thank you for your encouragement and support as I have walked through this call.
On a personal front, three years ago I decided to move to Florida. The empty nest and the cold weather of Pennsylvania influenced me to move to a very active retirement community. I thank the Lord every day for the move, but I also have to watch my priorities as there is a lot of pull into worldly activities that can zap my energy and take away from God’s work. Although just being the light is good! I am still very close to my Lord and sometimes I am surprised that people notice and react/ respond to the light that is in me because of Christ being in me. I am constantly reminded that it is about “being” not “doing”, but I do believe that doing is good for many reasons.
A new call! Another call? Last September I went to Kenya and Tanzania to fulfill one of my life’s desires, to go on Safari! I had a wonderful time! I loved the people, the animals, the land… I came back resolved that I would go back. Five days after my return from Africa I attended the New Wineskins missionary conference in Ashville, North Carolina. It was there that I discovered that my trip to Africa had a greater purpose than I realized.
SAMS had a missionary gathering/conference prior to New Wineskins. It is a great event of meeting as a society, meeting with the other missionaries, worshipping, spending time with the Lord, etc. As part of this conference, we were broken into small groups to share with each other and encourage each other, be of support. Well, lo and behold, my small group was composed of women who either were or have been missionaries in Africa. By day 2, I had these women laying hands on me and praying for me to discern a call to Africa!
In all of the activities that we did for self-reflection, Africa was on my mind. So, I met with SAMS about this stirring and was given a list of people I should talk to while at the conference since many were there. It was amazing how God orchestrated me running into the very same people I needed to talk to! If I told you how all of that happened, it would take many pages but believe me God was doing His thing!
In summary, I left the conference knowing that God was calling me to do work in Africa. But what about Honduras? Was my question. The answer was and is “You can do both”. In prayer I was given the word that there would be synergy between Africa and Honduras and that one would benefit from the other! Wow! How exciting!
I am in conversation with two different teams of SAMS missionaries in Africa. First, Richard and Martha Menees will soon be arriving in Uganda to work on a project of the Diocese there. They will be working on renovating a site in an island to convert it into a prayer retreat center. They would love for me to join their team to do some project planning, marketing plans and general business planning. As you may remember I have a business background and they do not!
The second SAMS missionary is Lucy Chavez. Her ministry in Kenya helps youth with scholarship, mentorship and very much the same that we do at Osman Hope. During holiday, they do vacation bible school. It is possible that I can help with that.
Where do we go from here? ”But I know the plans that I have for you says the Lord” What I hear is to go to Africa in the Spring/Summer of 2023 to help the Menees kick start their project. There will be a need for canvassing the competition, assessing the realities of the resources and do a reality check of what is possible. Of course, the Lord oversees that!
I will take advantage and visit Missionary Lucy Chavez’s ministry and see how and where I fit in their plans. I believe their holiday time is later in the summer so there would probably be a second trip in the summer. Only God knows. I will probably go to Africa at least twice next year for a period of two to four weeks in between trips to Honduras.
I am excited about the work in Uganda as we plan to work with the locals providing employment as well as forming relationships. We want to involve them in the project creating opportunities to share the gospel while gaining access to their knowledge of the land and culture. I am equally excited about the ministry in Kenya as it is very similar to what we do in Honduras. I love finding fun ways to share the gospel with the youth.
Would you be interested in helping to send me on this mission financially and with your prayers? Airfare to Africa is on average $1,500- $2,000 per trip. I am not sure at this point what the cost of room and board will be or the local transportation. All in all, I am foreseeing that I will need an additional $5,000-7,000 to be able to go twice and stay 2-4 weeks on each trip.
All I know is that the Lord has put the burden on my heart to go to Africa to make disciples of all nations!
So, I humbly come to you to ask you to partner with me in this mission to Africa while still helping in Honduras. You can help in prayer, encouragement and financial support. And I promise, I will keep you informed of God’s miracles on this journey because you know there will be many!
For His glory,
Margarita
Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart”
As I have delighted in Him, He has placed the desire to go to Africa in my heart!
