Fields Family Missions Update & Newsletter

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Artie Sanchez, Marinajo's daddy,
died on June 19th, 2014. Love you Daddy!

IN THIS EDITION:

What happened this summer for the Fields...

Time with family and friends in Colorado.

MK Camp - It was like a VBS for all ages!

What's coming up for this fall for the Fields...

The First Presbyterian Jacksonville, OR team has been coming to LDL for years. We’re looking forward to their return!

Honduras Missionary Conference

In late September we will be heading to a beautiful mountain town in Honduras to help lead the thirteenth annual Honduras Missionary Conference.

Some things will never be the same. Peanuts. In the shell. Rockies Baseball at Coors Field. Daddy wasn’t there to share them with me. I don’t think I will ever eat peanuts again and not miss my daddy deeply.

I want to thank each of you for your love and prayers and words of encouragement that you sent my way for our family and my mama after my daddy died this past June. I love you all in Christ so much. You are my brothers and sisters and we are the body of Christ. You mourned with me when I mourned. I promise you, your prayers were felt deeply in my heart. I had strength and patience and peace.

I gave the eulogy at daddy’s rosary. I knew I would be the one to do this – I’ve known in my heart for years. God blessed me by letting my words flow out of my heart about my dad and about Jesus’ forgiveness and unconditional love. Mariah and I sang, “Bless the Lord” to close the service out. Through your prayers I was blessed with grace and strength to glorify God in front of dear family friends as well as a whole bunch of my extended family. (Remember, I’m Hispanic! Ha!) One doesn’t get a lot of opportunities to do that in a life time. Many of my family asked me for a copy of the eulogy – you can find it here.

We arrived back home to Honduras only to turn around and leave again in a week. Earlier in the year I had committed to leading praise and worship at a Missionary Kid’s Camp in early August. I had actually been preparing for it while I was still at my mama’s house. How wonderful God is in that I was able to practice worship songs that lifted His might and strength and dominion on high during a time when I could have been experiencing sadness, depression, anger, etc… God is good.

One of the hardest things that we deal with as international missionaries is that we can not be with our family when a thing like this happens. My daddy died while we were in route to be with the family. While grieving and traveling was very difficult, I’ve got to say, not being there was a blessing this time. We didn’t have to see Daddy all hooked up to life support. They literally covered his body with ice blankets to put him in a state of hypothermia to hopefully protect his brain from any more damage. My daddy hated those machines and hospitals. He hated being cold.

I’m used to being apart from dad. We have been in Honduras for six years now and on a day-to-day basis I really don't miss him much. It may be hard to understand, but this fact has softened the emotional blow for me. If I had been in Colorado for the past six years I know that his death would be much harder on me, on all of us. Some other things that will never be the same: I will never spend time again with my daddy, never laugh with him again, never hold his hand again...but that's O.K. God is good and His love endures forever; This is a fact that will be the same and will never change, and in Him I put my hope.

I appreciate your prayers in the next few months for I am told that those months can be harder than the first few. Daddy would have been 80 this week; his birthday was a hard day for me. Please keep praying for my mommy, Mary. Although she has her garden to occupy her this summer, fall and winter are coming. Pray for renewed friendships and Christ to be her most important companion. Pray for my brother, Archie as well. He has been lovingly taking care of Mom and Dad for a long time now. His and my mama's lives will be so different without Dad around. Some things will never be the same.

Family, Friends, and a Funeral

Weddings and funerals have always been the best way for me to keep in touch with my extended family. Daddy's funeral sure brought them out: my aunts, my uncles, my cousins, second cousins, cousins that we've always called our cousins but never really were our cousins. We were also blessed to get to see some old friends: my mom's and dad's high school friends, compadres and comadres - some that I've only heard of and never met, friends that my dad knew from his business over the years, and the children of my parent's friends who had already passed away came too. Mine and my brothers' friends that we grew up with and even some of their parents were there. They all came to give their love and support and to honor my dad. It was a joy to laugh and cry together with them, sharing memories and making new ones.

We got to spend some quality time with my brother Archie while we were there. My brother has lived at home with Mom and Dad for years and has been a strength for them in so many ways. It was great to have time with him. I got to hug him every morning before he went to work. That was nice.

This crazy photo is from a family trip to the Colorado Rockies game to celebrate my brother Kip's birthday. (This is where the peanuts hit me - see main article above). I am cracking myself up here because I am so bad at using smart phones for any reason, much less a selfie of me and Mommy. That's my brother to the right and my sister in law, Patsy in the background. As you can see we had a great time - I know that my dad would have wanted us to.

Our family and friends are so important to us. You all hold a special place in our hearts. I also want to make sure to mention all of you who couldn't come see us but sent your love via email, Facebook, cards, phone calls, and flowers and most importantly through your prayers. We love you all!

Missionary Kids Camp!

Just one week after arriving home our family headed for the hills of Honduras for Missionary Kids’ Camp. This is an event that our kids love. This year Mariah was a counselor for the first time and Marinajo got to lead worship; Ben simply had a blast. His favorite part this year was the activities, including a challenging ropes course, that built trust, communication, and unity within the teams. (That's Ben in the bottom photo, spotting his teammate as she balances on a moving spool.) Mariah's favorite part this year was the spiritual aspect of these activities where the team members debriefed afterward and discussed the spiritual side of trust, communication, and unity. Marinajo had a ton of fun leading worship. It was an adventure to say the least. Her favorite part was leading the songs with motions. That's her, the tallest "kid" in the photo on the bottom left. (A side note: this is one of the things I did at my mom's house after the funeral - come up with motions for scripture songs. It was great!) It was so much fun leading youth in worship. They are so full of energy. It was like a VBS for ages 7 – 25! It was a week filled with new and renewed friendships (these kids come from missionary families that serve from all over Honduras), challenging activities, swimming, encouraging and spiritual teaching, bible memorization, worship, and fun!

Dave and Marinajo opted to give up the camp scene and stay at a hotel that overlooks the largest lake in Honduras. Truly, we stayed at the hotel so that Dave could work and be a part of MK camp as well. Yet, the time together apart from the kids and away from everyday life was wonderful. We truly relaxed. Thank you Lord.

Dave's Summer Happenings

Dave has had a busy summer in the midst of everything. Here's what he's been up to:

Working with a web developer on a major upgrade for the Hospital's website, to be released soon.....
Preparing to implement a new Hospital Software System
Working on specifications and funding for several hospital projects like solar, new water lines, and a new prosthetics lab
Traveled to Louisville and Jacksonville, OR.

Medical & Construction Teams

In mid-September our biggest team of the year comes down to serve. They are dear friends and loyal to the hospital. The First Presbyterian Jacksonville team has been coming to LDL for years. We’re looking forward to their return! This year they will be working on a variety of projects that will really help the hospital run more smoothly. Each year Dr. Rich Owens is part of this team. He is an Orthopedic Surgeon that performs a seemingly endless amount of surgeries while he's here. Please pray for Dave as he prepares for the team’s arrival on so many fronts. Pray for the team as they travel and serve; for their hearts to not only be touched but transformed by God’s Spirit as they serve. We also have a couple of teams coming in October, so it will be a very busy fall.

This will be our 4th year to lead worship for this conference.
Here we are last year leading the wonderful worship song, "Bless the Lord."

13th Annual Honduras Missionary Conference

This conference has been a very important event for our family ever since we arrived in Honduras. This conference is a time of encouragement and spiritual renewal for missionary families from all over Honduras. We have made very special friendships while attending the conference. These friendships serve as an encouragement to us all year long. Since our first year we have served on the leadership team for the conference. Marinajo has been blessed to lead praise and worship at the conference for the past three years. It is a wonderful blessing for her to be able to share her heart of worship with our fellow missionaries. Marinajo and Mariah have a lot of preparation, prayer, planning, and practicing to do in the next month. Dave always plays an integral part in the planning and organizing of this conference as well is the ‘M.C.’ for it. This is a very important time for our fellow missionaries to have a time to pull away from being those doing the ministering to being ministered to. Because of this our family covets your prayers, most specifically for both physical and spiritual health before, during, and after as it is often a time when we come under spiritual attack. We are especially excited this year because our dear friends, Bruce and Jill Koble - former missionaries to Africa, will be the speakers. Bruce is a "pun-filled" and encouraging speaker who has a huge heart for missions. He sits on the board of directors for Hospital Loma de Luz and is the Missions Pastor at his church in TN.

Thanksgiving:

We have done a lot of travelling both by car and plane. God protected us throughout and we have remained healthy throughout all of our travels.
God’s financial provision which allowed us to fly back and be with family during the time of my daddy’s death. We are so grateful that we were able to be there for a few weeks after his death to help “soften the landing” for Marinajo's mom and help her with many of the items that needed to be taken care of.
A great time of rest and ministry for Dave and Marinajo as well as a lot of fun and spiritual growth for Mariah and Ben at MK camp.
Our family, near and far.

Prayer Requests: Please pray for...

Wisdom and grace as we parent a 13 year old boy and all that involves and a young lady who is pondering her future, relationships, and her identity in Christ.
Marinajo, she's been experiencing a lot of tendinitis in her fingers which affects her ability to type and play the keyboard.
Dave as he continues to spin his three main plates in the air: Family, work, and ministry.
Mariah, Ben and Marinajo as they begin the school year. Please pray for the preparatory time and for our hearts to be ready to make the transition again.
Hospital Loma de Luz is struggling financially. Please pray for hearts to be moved to give.