Update

Things are going well - busy, but well.  Life of the Pettengills is never an idol one.  We just returned from a 2-day Mission to the World missions conference.  Mike and Roger both had an opportunity to speak.

While Roger (our Honduran doctor) is here we wanted to give him a taste of the American life.  So, we've taken him to an IMAX movie, purchased girl scout cookies, In-N-Out burgers, a store that offered more than 400 types of craft beer, and shown him the landscape of Arizona.  We went over to some friends who were in town and watched the Super Bowl, ate pizza and chicken wings.  Great game to be able to show Roger a little taste of what sports here is all about.

This weekend Mike and Roger will be traveling to Utah for the Northern California Presbytery which will give them a chance to talk about our ministry, be a part of what's going on, and to see the countryside along the way, and I will be working.

Busy, busy, busy...I keep wondering when that "down time" is going to hit...

The Clinic Stays open and Dr. Roger comes to visit

What a reminder...that what God sees fit to continue will - regardless of what I do, because I can't do it on my own.  The clinic was in danger of closing due to lack of funds - I put the plea out, and watched God do all the work.  He already knew whose heart  He was going to touch to pray and to financial give to enable to clinic to remain open.  And there you have it - within a few weeks of my plea to God's people, the deed was done.  So here is my thank you - to all of you who felt the call to pray and give to the clinic.  I feel blessed and in awe of all of you!  Thank you SO SO much!  All funds came in to keep the clinic running for a full year.  I sit humbly on the sidelines and watch Him work.  Seven years ago when we arrived in La Ceiba, a far off distant dream of mine was to plant a permanent clinic to serve the people in the community we were working in.  A dream is one thing, but to see the reality is a totally different thing.  It is a humbling thing to watch medicine being delivered out of a box from the back of a truck and a few years later seeing medicine being delivered from a pharmacy by a Honduran physician out of a permanent facility.  I leave La Ceiba feeling a sense of completeness and contentment.  I leave La Ceiba knowing I have done what I came to do.  I am excited that this far off dream became a reality, and now I look forward to seeing what God has planned for me next.

Speaking of Dr. Roger (our Honduran physician), he will be visiting us here in the States.  Next week he will arrive into Phoenix, and we will host him in our house.  He then will be traveling with us to Southern California where he will speak at a missions conference, and then he will be traveling with Mike up to Utah to meet with many folks at Presbytery.  This will be Dr. Roger's second visit to the States - the first on the East Coast, and now here on the West.  He has an unusual love of the desert, although he has never been to the desert, so we will have an opportunity to tour him around, take him to the Grand Canyon, and through the Salt Flats up to Utah.  I am excited to have this opportunity to let other missionaries hear from a national partner.

Don't let the clinic close...

For more than 4 1/2 years I ran a mobile clinic serving the poorest of the poor.  In that time we hosted lots of medical brigades to serve these communities as well.  Then God saw fit to have us open a permanent clinic and have an incredible Honduran physician - Dr. Roger - work alongside us.  In the first year alone we saw more than 3,800 patients - and turned so many away because we simply didn't have the ability to see them.

Each year I support raise for Dr. Roger's salary.  The nominal fee we charge for people to come to the clinic in no way can pay for his salary. 

At this point I am still in major need of funds for his salary.  We in no way have enough to even cover him for the first two months of next year.  If we are unable to raise enough funds to cover his salary, we will have to close the clinic and all the other medical related ministries (mobile clinics in the communities of La Fe and Las Delicias) until such time the funds are raised.  This is the reality of living by faith.  God will make happen exactly what He wants to happen.  If no further funds come in, then this is God's way of letting us know that He doesn't want the clinic open.  If funds do come in, then we know the opposite is true.  I truly am not in anguish over this - I have turned the clinic over to Him completely. When we return from furlough, I will no longer be running the clinic, Dr. Roger and John Clow will be overseeing the clinic.  My job will now take me elsewhere to start medical / mercy ministries in other parts of the country and other parts of Central America.  However, I want to leave the clinic in a good way, and hopefully this means fully funded.

So if you have those end of the year funds and you need a GREAT place to send them for tax purposes - this link will get you to the MTW (Mission to the World) site that funds the clinic.  Please then let me know you have sent funds in so I can be looking for them.  This is also the account where other funds go to so we need to ensure that the funds get to the proper place.

 

You can easily send in a one-time (or better) a monthly contribution by clicking https://donations.mtw.org/donate/AddDesignation.aspx?No=92410.

Update

Traveling

Speaking at churches

Working

1/2 Marathon

California visit

Thanksgiving

Getting Sick

Marathon on Sunday

Rinse...Repeat


Our lives right now have been all about transition - sharing what God is doing in Honduras, speaking at different churches, and I've been working.  We have finally had a chance to take a week and catch our breath.  Still speaking at churches, but a few days to hang with friends and family.  It is a much needed break.

Our sweet Madison comes home in three weeks and then we get to spend some time as a family.  It will be the first time we've seen her since we dropped her off at college in August.  Way past due.

Funding the clinic

 

You may have already read the blog or letter from Mike announcing our promotion with MTW. If not, I have included it in the bottom portion of this blog. Basically, Mike has been promoted as the country director of Honduras, and the Regional Director for Central America. Because of these exciting job promotions, our personal ministry focus will change dramatically.   I will use the experience I have gained as a nurse and clinic director to help other MTW missionaries throughout Central America to expand a medical/mercy program in their country. Therefore, I will not be able to continue in my current position as director of medical/mercy ministry of La Ceiba, Team Honduras. I am looking at turning all the medical/mercy activities in La Ceiba to Dr. Roger Guillen. In the almost 7 years we have been in La Ceiba, we have hosted well over 500 mobile medical clinics, hosted more than 25 medical brigades and have seen more than 12,000 patients. I want to see the ministry in La Ceiba thrive and grow through the continuation of hosting medical brigades, mobile clinics, and seeing patients at our permanent clinic. As a matter of fact, we are hoping to open a second permanent clinic in downtown La Ceiba within the next year. In order to continue giving quality health care at an affordable price to the poorest of the poor, Dr. Roger’s salary cannot be supported with the revenue generated from the clinic alone. For almost three years, I have relied upon one-time donations to provide a salary for Dr. Roger. I am hoping to fund Dr. Roger’s salary through monthly contributions to the Armenia Bonito clinic. The salary will be overseen by John Clow, the new MTW Team Leader in La Ceiba. This letter is to ask you to support Dr. Roger. You can easily send in a one-time (or better) a monthly contribution by clicking https://donations.mtw.org/donate/AddDesignation.aspx?No=92410. I would love to turn over this ministry with Dr. Roger’s salary fully-funded. What do I need: to continue having Roger work in a part-time capacity, I need an annual salary of $18,200, which equates to a monthly need of $1,517. My desire would be for him to work full-time in order to oversee all our medical/mercy ministries in La Ceiba. This would obviously require additional funds. Please let me know if you have any questions or need clarification. If you would like to support Dr. Roger, you can click on the link above and then let me know of your contribution. In this way I will be able to keep track of the funds that come in for Dr. Roger’s salary. In addition, if you know of any other person who would be interested in supporting this ministry, please feel free to forward this e-mail on to them. In Christ, Erin Pettengill, RN Director Medical/Mercy Ministries, Central America Mike's letter: Dear Friends and Supporters: We have some wonderful news. Mike has taken a new job with MTW. In fact, Mike has taken two new jobs with MTW. Starting January 1st, 2015, Mike will be the Country Director for Honduras and the Regional Director for Central America. We pray the information bellow answers some of the questions you may have: Where will you live? We will continue to live in Honduras, but we will be moving closer to the city of Tegucigalpa to be nearer to an international airport. Are you still missionaries? Yes. We will remain missionaries by any definition of the word. We will continue to live in Honduras and bring God’s glory in a cross-cultural setting to Latinos living throughout Central America. Are you still with MTW? Yes. We appreciate and value the support given to us over the past seven years from Mission To the World (MTW). Our new work is within the leadership team of MTW. What exactly will Mike do? Mike will continue to work with our two mission teams in Honduras, the existing team La Ceiba and our new team in Tegucigalpa. Mike will work with the existing MTW missionary teams in Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Mike will also work toward starting new MTW mission teams where there are currently none: El Salvador and Guatemala. What exactly will Erin do? Erin will take the vast knowledge she has acquired as a Registered Nurse for 19 years and as a missionary nurse for seven years and use that to create and expand medical and mercy ministries throughout Central America. She will serve and counsel the missionary wives and mothers in the region. Erin will also have an expanded role in evaluating new missionaries for their readiness to serve on the field. What happens to the other missionaries in Honduras? John Clow will be the new Team Leader of the missionaries in La Ceiba, Honduras. John and Kathy Clow have labored in Honduras for four years and as missionaries in Latin America for over 10 years. We are thrilled to place God’s work into their capable hands. Under our guidance, the Halbert and Marlowe families are starting a new church planting team in the capital city of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. What about the ministries in La Ceiba? The 12 other adults missionaries in La Ceiba, Honduras are beyond capable of running all the ministries we started together. There are no plans to do anything other than watch God grow the work he has started under us. Why the change? When we arrived in Honduras almost seven years ago there was no MTW/Presbyterian presence in Honduras. Since then we have added a high school, medical clinic, four churches, a StreetKids ministry and a home of single teenage moms. Our team has hosted 758 short-term missionaries and 25 interns. We have discipled pastors, educated children, fed the hungry, clothed the naked and loved the unlovable. We want to bring that same vision and experience to Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador, Guatemala and expand it in Honduras. Do you still need financial support? Yes. Now, more than ever we need the financial partnership of our individual and church supporters. In fact, we need more finances to cover our increased travel expenses. If you are not a current financial supporter, please prayerfully consider partnering with us to impact Central America by making a tax-deductible, credit/debit card contribution HERE. How can we pray for you? This new work is exciting and very scary. Please pray for the following: Mike and Erin have the boldness found only in Christ to do all that is set before them. The new missionaries we work with throughout Central America embrace our leadership. The team and ministries we are leaving in La Ceiba flourish under the new leadership of John and Kathy Clow. Our marriage is strengthened and we grow closer to the Lord as we step into the stress and uncertainty of the future. We pray you are as excited about this new chapter in our missions journey together as we are. Our blogs, twitter, Facebook, YouTube and monthly e-mails will continue as they have. You will continue to be informed on how you can be a part of what God is doing through us. If you have any additional questions please e-mail Mike directly by clicking HERE. It is exhilarating to imagine how God will use us throughout Central America. In Christ, Mike & Erin Pettengill Missionaries to Central America www.pettengillmissionaries.org twitter.com/mikepettengill Sent from Yahoo! Mail for Windows 8

 

Regional Director Promotion

Big changes are on the horizon for the Pettengill family.  Mike has received a promotion and is the new Regional Director for Central America.  This is going to require a lot of changes for us - please see Mike's blog for the entire scoop.

http://www.pettengillmissionaries.org/exciting-news-about-the-pettengills-in-honduras/

Dominican Republic

     Every four years all the missionaries from Latin America get together in a different location.  This time we are going to be in the Dominican Republic for the week.  It is a time of re-connecting with each other, be spiritually refreshed, attend some break out sessions, and even time to hang out and lay in the sun.  Normally all family members are invited, but with this being Madison's first semester in college, we felt we couldn't take her out and miss an entire week of school.  So - it will just be Mike and myself meeting up with the rest of Team Honduras in the Dominican Republic.
     I have been asked to give a presentation of the work in Honduras. This is a great opportunity to share with everyone else what God is doing in Honduras.  Please pray for our time, and a chance to take a deep breath and find some rest in there too.