Open Hearts Nicaragua - Farrington Family

We are in the middle of the dry season and the winds pick up here dramatically.  We noticed a few trees around our house were leaning and could fall on our house or vehicles.  A couple of the same type of tree had already fallen, one while we were standing on our porch one morning.

So today it was action time.  Yader who has worked for Open Hearts for many years scaled the tree and Santos (Open Hearts’ Foreman) spotted him.  No safety ropes here folks….ah!!!

Got to make a really cool phone call today.  On February 5th Aracely, her husband Victor and their twin daughters Genesis & Mileyding will be getting a new house.  Actually where they live now would probably not be considered a house to many.  Life is very hard in Nicaragua and though not a common home in the U.S., their house is not uncommon here. Either way, this family is going to blessed in a huge way!

Palmer Trinity School from Miami has been building houses with us in this neighborhood for nearly the last decade.  They are coming in February and Aracely, who had written a letter to Open Hearts asking for help last March, is going to be blessed with a new house!  We tried to visit her last Wednesday and she wasn’t home.  We were able to meet up with her on Saturday.

Something really cool happened when we first got there.  They were getting ready to go to church for a fasting prayer service.  She told us how her pastor had just stopped by the day before to get her information to give to a ministry offering to build houses.  The previous week I asked a friend Ezekiel to ask his brother, who is a pastor in the neighborhood, if there was anyone with great need.  And if so could he get their information for me because we will be building a house again soon.

So, it turns out God had something special planned for Aracely & Victor.  Both sorting through the letters we received from the previous year and the reference of a local pastor led to them.  This is not a coincidence and we are excited to be a part of what God has orchestrated.

She was floored when she got the news today.  Praise Jesus!

We took the girls from Casa Havilah and our families out to Ruby Ranch this week to ride horses for the first time.  Lots of fun.  We gave the big horse the name Jethro and the smaller black one we named Geronimo.  We are hoping to add one for two more horses to the stable to be able to accommodate everyone when we have kids and groups come out.

Aliyah was ready to go right off the bat, but Mason was a little nervous at first.  By the end of the day though he was galloping with daddy.  Some of the older girls from Casa Havilah were actually riding solo.  We are all really excited about having horses at Ruby Ranch!!!

“Now, son of man, say to your people:  The righteousness of the righteous person will not save him on the day of his transgressions; neither will the wickedness of the wicked person cause him to stumble on the day he turns from his wickedness. The righteous person won’t be able to survive by his righteousness on the day he sins.  When I tell the righteous person that he will surely live, but he trusts in his righteousness and commits iniquity, then none of his righteousness will be remembered, and he will die because of the iniquity he has committed.

So when I tell the wicked person:  You will surely die, but he repents of his sin and does what is just and right — he returns collateral, makes restitution for what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without practicing iniquity — he will certainly live; he will not die.  None of the sins he committed will be held against him.  He has done what is just and right; he will certainly live.” -Ezekiel 33:12-16

It is interesting to be reading through Ezekiel and come to this passage.  He spent several chapters detailing the annihilation of entire nations for their iniquity, not as it had happened, but as it was going to happen.  It was intense.  Then he turns in this chapter and tells Israel how they can have hope for restoration…in verse 11 with loud emphasis Ezekiel says REPENT, and follows with the above verses.

These verses struck me because they are so focused on the moment of an encouter with God.  There is no reward for past righteousness of an individual or that of his family, nor is there condemnation for ones past wickedness or that of his family.   “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked.”  says the Lord.  REPENT.

For us today, there is that moment when God is present and we know He is there and He is saying repent.  It has nothing to do with how we are defined, known, veiwed, etc., righteous or wicked….it has to do with that moment.  God does not delight in the death of the wicked and is calling us to repent.  Likewise, I may know personally that I am saved, but I need to tread lightly if I start viewing my righteousness as my salvation because at the moment of iniquity I will fail miserably.

Jesus Christ had not yet come when Ezekiel wrote, but the truth that we are not saved by our own righteousness was already being proclaimed.  As a follower of Jesus, His blood is what makes me righteous, at the moment of iniquity I need to cry out not claiming to be righteous but that I am covered in the blood of Christ.

Yesterday, I was sitting with an 87 year old woman in a community where we build houses.  Five of her twelve children were sitting with us.  She can’t do much but sit anymore, but it was a great moment to be sitting there with her on her porch.  She told us how the other day she fell out of her chair backwards and smacked her head on the floor.  She was sure it was the end.  Then she heard a voice telling her, cry out “the blood of Jesus”.  She cried out.  She didn’t die, where she thought she had a huge gash their wasn’t one, she was able to get up.  She said she didn’t even go to the hospital or anything.  One of her sons added “Satan was trying to take her, but she is still here with us”.

Now I know her story is not in the same vein as our culpability for sin/righteous not being able to save us.  But all the same, for Maria de los Santos, Jesus’ blood sustained her when she was pretty sure she was going to die.  For those who are saved, the blood of Jesus has such great significance, it is so powerful.

The blood of Jesus is what makes us righteous at the moment of iniquity.

Thank you Jesus for dieing for me!  You are my righteousness, my hope, my salvation, my all.

Krista and I said I do….greatest 8 years of my life!  I am so in love still!

So my 5 year old was running down the differences between boys and girls yesterday.  She said “boys are on the computer and girls watch TV a little, boys are on the computer ALOT like you Daddy”.  Oh the great wisdom of a child.

That is something I need to think about as we are preparing as a ministry to do 21 days of fasting starting tomorrow.  We are going to be combining fasting from food, Daniel type fasts and fasting from things for the next 21 days.

I would be lying to say I am always doing important things on the computer.  The fact that my five year old daughter indentifies me as being on ALOT and then says all boys are like that, makes me kind of sad.  Too much checking the news, too much checking on my favorite teams, too much checking the surf forecast, too much facebook browsing…..and the list goes on.

The Lord has challenged me, thank you Aliyah.  These next 21 days will be much more disciplined.  I love children.

Aliyah on our recent visit to Miami….acting like a big girl 🙂

Please pray for these three.  Their mother Faviola is considering taking them out of Havilah & Robles.  This has been ongoing and after every vacation this seems to happen.  She is unemployed and very unstable.  Her mother and sisters are trying to convince her to have the children come back this weekend.

This is the hard part.

We love them dearly and they have been with us for nearly three years.  It will be heartbreaking not to have them come back.  I really can’t imagine Casa Robles without Luisa.  So please pray.

Pray for the Luz, Kener & Luisa.  Lord I ask you to take care of them, reach in and guide this time Lord, we trust you to do what is good.   Amen.

Father Damien was a preist in the late 1800s who served the exiled leper community in Hawaii.  He went and lived with them.  He served them as the Lord called him.  This is a Hymn called “Leper’s Song” sung during mass by the colony’s inhabitants.  It was composed by a native poet.

When, oh when shall it be given to me

To behold my God?

When,

Oh when shall the captivity of my wretched soul

Cease in this strang land where night and day

Weeping,

Weeping alone is my portion;

When oh when shall I leave this valley of sorrow,

Where the only bread I eat is my continual tears?

When, oh when shall I see my well-beloved Lord?

Prince of the heavens is he,

Guardian of my soul, my Hope, my savior,

My All.

Saint Damien’s final days as recorded by his confessor:  “Saturday, the thirtieth, he prepared for death.  It was truly edifying to see him.  He seemed so happy.  After I had heard his general confession, I made my confession to him.  Then we renewed the vows that bind us to the congregation.  The following day, he received the holy viaticum.  During the day he was bright and cheerful, as usual. ‘Look at my hands,’ he said.  ‘All the wounds are closing, and the crust is turning black.  That is the sign of imminent death.  I am not mistaken, for I have seen many lepers die.’

He died of leprosy.

The hymn reminds me of the great hope that is Jesus Christ.  Those who are dying, but dying slowly and painfully sing out that He is their Hope, He is their Savior, He is their All!  Jesus is a penetrating force.

The last words of this man are challenging.  God has called us all, into different circumstances and different places.  That we would be filled with joy and peace as we lay dying is worth striving for.  As this man lay dying, looking at his hands he knew his time was near because he had buried so many with the same disease.  He knew he risked everything coming to serve them.  He knew it was his calling.  He knew God was with him and had used him.

Peace and Joy at the end.

Ruby Ranch “The Double R” is a new project for Open Hearts.  It is a large peice of land that we hope to develop into a place where we raise crops, game and produce to provide for the needs of different ministries.  We also want to make Ruby Ranch a place where children can visit and explore the great outdoors.  We are planning to develop nature trails, outdoor activities, repelling, rock climbing, a swim hole and other ideas.

Today I went out to the farm with Krista’s brother Brinson and we purchased two horses.  Hopefully more to come, but these two are a great start.  They don’t have names yet….but the brown one is quite a stallion!

It will be sooooo much fun to take kids down trails on these guys!!!  Praise Jesus!

We got to go dance the night away for the New Year.  The mall here in Managua has a live band and all the restaurants put out tables….lots of fun….it is a sweet sight to see older Nicaraguan couples salsa dancing together.  We gave it a shot too 🙂

We had a great time!!!

Happy New Year!