New Hope Online

To reach the next village they had to walk for three miles, carrying food, water, etc. They had to ford several streams. At one stream they were fortunate to find a log down and were able to cross the stream by walking on log. It took them several hours of very difficult walking and climbing over fallen trees to finally reach this village. When they did, they could hardly believe their eyes. Everything was either leveled or torn to pieces.

The conditions were totally unsanitary. The water in the village looked like sewage. The people looked like they were in very poor shape.

The only one Joshua saw eating on his trips to these villages was a little boy eating a stick. He would take a bite of it, then swallow it and then take another bite. Otherwise, Joshua has not seen any food anywhere.

One of the team members lost his water bottle and they had to ration water today. After the water bottle was in their back pack for only ten minutes, the water was so hot they could hardily swallow it. Joshua said that someone made some coffee and the water appeared to be smoking from just being out in the sun.

The Miskito Indians are having to drink out of the Rio Coco river even though it is contaminated. They must have water, even if it is bad water, or they will dehydrate. There is no place they can buy good water. So they really do not have any other choice.

Some of them had diarrhea because of the bad water, so Joshua gave them what medicine they brought with them to help them.

As they delivered the food, people came from every direction in the surrounding area, eager to receive it. The people were so thrilled to receive the food. They kept saying, "God bless you. God bless you."

When the team arrived back to their base, the village of Waspam, there was no electricity.

Then at the end of the day, Joshua filled up the gas-tank on the military truck that helped them carry the food. The gas bill was $140.

Thanks for your prayers of agreement for the team, the most challenging part of their mission is ahead. Below is a an updated copy of the prayer request I sent out on October 3rd. Since many of you did not receive it, I will include it with this email.

For the Children,

Brother Ford

PRAYER REQUEST FOR JOSHUA AND TEAM:
Today the team will spend all day bagging up 8,000 pounds of rice (they purchased) in small bags for the hundreds of families who live down the Rio Coco river. Then early Saturday morning they will load the rice on a big canoe and head down river to distribute it to families living in 11 Miskito Indian villages that are without food. They will also be taking a lot of medicine with them to try to help those who may being having medical problems.

Because of the length of the trip, as well as the work involved, they believe they will not be able to make it back to Waspam before next Thursday.

Thanks so much for covering them with prayer. They will be facing a river that is up (causing dangerous currents), several life-threatening diseases (malaria, dengue, etc), as well as many other obstacles, including no place to stay at night as they travel, dangerous thugs in the some of the villages, those who would "prey" on them and try to take their rice away, etc.

Joshua and team are determined! not to "turn back" or "give in" no matter what adversities they face. For they believe God sent them on this mission! Joshua has invested almost everything he owns to try to help the Miskito Indians through this crisis. And yet, his all, is not enough seemingly to make even a "dent" in their need.

Things are especially difficult now for Miskito Indians families. Most of the people who came and saw their needs and said something must be done, have gone home. There is very little to no aid now and very few people to stayed around to try and help them. We understand there were some in the government who said these people were starving before, so if they are starving now, what is the difference? There seems to be a lack of concern now for the plight of these people. All the pictures have been taken and the news cameras are now turned off... and the Miskito Indians appear to be "out of sight and out of mind."

As I was writing these lines, I just received a report from Nicaragua stating that an urgent call is just now being made for help. The reports says that the Miskito Indians have absolutely no food and their warehouses are completely empty! Besides that, they report that some communities have not yet received any food.

It comparison to what needs to be done, it seems that Joshua and his team can do so little... for the need is overwhelming! Only several thousand meals to give out. No nails. No building supplies... nothing with which to meet the need. You can not even purchase "seed rice" there (the kind that would grow - and if you did, the people would only eat it as thy are so hungry, they couldn’t wait for it to grow). There are no beans available that will grow. We must admit, things do look pretty hopeless.

From every indication it looks like Joshua is... "in well over his head." He is trying so bravely to help meet the needs... and yet, with every step he tries to take forward, he is seemingly very often "knocked flat on his face." However, we praise the Lord, that yesterday that the team was successful and so many families who were hungry received food! This was an answer to our prayers!

I must admit, New Hope has faced a mountain of discouragement in this effort. Leo and Charity just returned from this area this past Sunday after going out to the villages to try to reach out to the orphans. After 'struggling" for several days to bring orphan children out of the rain-forest, the heads of one villages told them to come back Sunday and we will have all the orphans ready to go with you. After they cancelled their return date and returned to this remote village this past Sunday, they were told that the people had decided that they were afraid to give the ten orphans to New Hope because they had decided we Americans were going to take their children and kill them to harvest their body organs for some of our American children who are sick. The children there have such dire needs, and yet, the people in the villages there love these little orphan children so much, they are afraid to give them up lest more harm come to them. So, after traveling to this village three times (and others), they had no choice but to leave "empty handed."

The "wheels of the government" are turning very slowly (as usual), where it comes to helping us get the orphans out of that area. We need your prayers to get this ball rolling. We now have an individual from the government who has come forward to help. She is planning on going "up and down" the river to reach out to the orphan children in New Hope's behalf. Please agree with us in prayer for her success.

We are also facing a number of other problems at our headquarters in El Crucero. With all the many things that have gone wrong in the past few days, I believe we could write a book on "How To Become Discouraged." But we must not "give up"... we can not "slow down"... we must continue to "keep our eyes on the Lord." For we know... if we persevere... VICTORY IS AHEAD!!!

Though sometimes, it seems that all we do seems to be so little... and yet we must never forget that... "little is much if God is in it."

Thanks again for your prayers... we are believing that our prayers will "hold them up" through the "trying days" that are a head. Yes, we still need money, but far more important than finances... are the "prayers of the saints."

Keep "THEM" going up to the throne...