July 2008

Dear Friends and Supporters,

This has been an eventful two months and we have much to report. We have moved our church to a different location which is nearer the front of the colonia, and we’ve seen the Lord bless with many new visitors. We are much more visible, and this past Sunday we had twenty-nine in attendance again which has been our high. There were several first time visitors.

I’m sure many of you saw on the news when the plane overran the runway at the airport in Tegucigalpa, where we live. The president of the country decided that he’d shut the airport down completely, and that has added quite a bit of stress to everyone’s life as the closest airport is now nearly 5 hours away over roads that are very dangerous. While taking our niece to the airport this past week, we saw three accidents – one while it was happening, and two that had already happened. We were face to face with several semi trucks as they passed on the curvy road and ended up in our lane and right in our face. It is only by God’s grace, and because of His protection on us, were we were spared. Thank you so much for your prayers for us each and every day!

Three weeks ago, I had to have surgery for a hernia that had gotten rather large. That also ended up being quite the adventure. The doctor had told us the surgery would only cost $800 so we decided to go ahead with it, but when we were ready to check out of the hospital, it ended up costing us nearly $3000! I had spent the night in the hospital, and instead of letting Lee pay the bill, they wheeled me down to the admissions window, and wanted me to take care of it. When we looked at the list of charges, it was obvious that we had been grossly overcharged on several things, but since we are ‘gringos’ who they feel have plenty of money, there was really nothing we could do. Lee tried to talk to them as did our pastor friend, Bro. Nando, but it was to no avail. If we didn’t pay, I could not leave the hospital, so we put it on our credit card. The ‘excitement’ ended up causing me to have a set-back, and my temperature went up really high by the time we got home. It was two or three days before I began to recover from the fever, and then I was in much pain for the next couple weeks. The trip that we had to make this past week to San Pedro was taxing, but thankfully, I am feeling better and seem to be recovering well. Lee has been driving which she does not like to do, but hopefully, I am going to be back to my full activities within these next couple weeks. We would appreciate your prayers for my health, and that the Lord will supply the funds for us to pay for the surgery.

Again, we cannot tell you enough how much it means to us to know that we have the prayers of God’s people behind us as we labor here in Honduras. We never underestimate the power of those prayers!!

Your missionaries to Honduras,
Al and Lee Pflueger

April 2008

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Greetings again from Honduras! It’s amazing how swiftly the time is flying by, which brings to mind the shortness of time we have until the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. We’ve had a busy last couple of months, and have seen blessings on the work in El Manantial. We’ve been having between twenty-five and twenty-eight people consistently in services, which just about packs out the little house that we rent. We are looking for another place to rent that has a little more room, so we would appreciate your prayers that the Lord will direct us to the place He wants us to have. Another couple of people have been talking about joining the work, so we are excited to see the interest and enthusiasm of the people.

Our friends, Nando and Bethyna Ramirez, were in a very serious accident last month, but praise the Lord, they both escaped with minor injuries. Bethyna had a broken finger, and a cut over her eye, and Bro. Nando had whiplash. Their truck was totaled. The person who hit them was very drunk, and was passing cars and was in their oncoming lane. The place where it happened was very busy with people on the side of the road. They hit head on since there was nothing Bro. Nando could do. The other man died in the accident. Here in Honduras, it seems as though there are really no laws, so when something like that happens, if someone isn’t seriously injured they are considered at fault even though it wasn’t their fault at all. We are thankful that there were witnesses willing to vouch for Bro. Nando, and that he has now been given back his license and hasn’t been charged with anything. It’s a very scary thing to be in an accident here, but it’s only by the grace of God that there isn’t one every day.

We continue to ask for your prayers for the ministry here, and for our safety at all times. The cost of everything has risen in the past few months, and the people feel it’s the government’s fault when that happens. They have large strikes, and shut down the roads where no one can travel in safety. That happened again yesterday as the people demonstrated their displeasure over rising gas and food prices. On those days, it’s best to stay in our house and wait till the roads are clear.

Our friend Camilo is still grieving over his wife’s death. He still needs the Lord, and we covet your prayers for him. Thanks for your faithfulness to remember us.

Your missionaries to Honduras,
Bro. Al and Lee

January, 2008

Dear Friends and Supporters,

It’s hard to believe how quickly the New Year is passing by! We have seen some blessings in the work here in the past few weeks. We asked the Lord to help us make new goals, and to find what would work so we could see the work progress in the coming year. One thing that has been hard is that there seems to be no good time for a visitation program. We are working in a middle class area, and the people are so caught up with their jobs and making more money, that they are hardly ever home. It is impossible to visit here after dark, so we have to go in the daylight hours. Even on the weekends it’s hard to find anyone home, because many of them visit their families at this time. We decided to try visiting right before the service for the past couple weeks, and we’ve seen some results from that, especially with having more children in the services. Yesterday we had a man to visit who stayed afterward and asked questions and talked for nearly an hour. He has two different degrees, and is very educated. His degrees are in philosophy and sociology, and as many educated people who don’t know the Lord as their personal Savior, he feels his philosophies are the right ones. Please pray that he will come again, and we will be able to witness to him further. His first name is Joshua.

We are also very saddened by the death of a friend to whom we had been witnessing. As far as we know she did not accept the Lord as her personal Saviour, although she had been given the gospel witness many times. She was a wonderful person, and had everything the world could want, but she was very Catholic, and without the Lord, there is no hope. Last week on the way home from her business, she was held up at gunpoint to be robbed, and when she didn’t give them her purse immediately she was shot in the head and killed. We attended the funeral, and our hearts were grieved by the hopelessness of the many people there. We ask your prayers that the Lord will give us an open door to witness to her husband, and also to the rest of the family.

We thank you so much for your prayers and support. Without you, we could not be here. Please continue to remember the work and us as we labor here.

Your missionaries to Honduras,
Al and Lee Pflueger