ROATAN, HONDURAS

Our Directors, Don and Sondra Tipton have just returned from Friend Ships Village in Roatán,  Honduras where they began planning for the medical outreach that Friend Ships will bring to the island in November of this year.  All local churches are being invited to minister to the patients and their families while Friend Ships provides medical and dental services. At our conference center there, great things are happening as the local churches are hosting a series of discipleship meetings that are turning the island upside down.  One of the exciting key elements about the meetings is that the local churches are aggressively taking back spiritual ground for the kingdom of God.  Real transformations are taking place as church leaders effectively address the issues that tear peoples lives apart.  The meetings are very well attended because the Lord is absolutely changing lives!  Our facility is booked every weekend for the rest of the year with some additional mid-week conferences.  Generally, the meetings last throughout the weekend. The guests sleep and eat at Friend Ships Village from Friday through Monday. They seek the Lord and  study the Bible as they deal with routine problems and also more serious issues such as family troubles, alcoholism and drug addition, as crack cocaine is a big problem. Some of the weekend meetings are conducted in English and some in Spanish as the island is a wonderful combination of languages and cultures.

During their week in Roatán, Don and Sondra met with our staff and local pastors to discuss how to expand the facilities so that we could sleep as many as 500 weekend guests. We also began to explore what would be the next step which perhaps will be a full time discipleship center.  All are encouraged and optimistic about what is to come.

ISRAEL DISTRIBUTION

The majority of the thousands of tons of supplies that Spirit of Grace and her crew delivered to Israel last October,  is being distributed by the Joseph Project. It is being utilized by their network of more than 40 Christian organizations throughout Israel as well as government hospitals and welfare departments.  Here are some highlights from the distribution reports we have received thus far.  The JP network of distribution centers generally have 60,000 pounds of clothing to distribute each year.  Since the ship’s arrival, they now have 60,000 pounds of clothing each month to distribute! There is enough to last one and a half years, and the centers are able to take all they can handle every month.  In addition, 30 tons of work clothing has been given to the development towns of Ofakin and Sderot, Delat HaCarmel in the Galilee (which is Druze) and Kalansuwas (which is Israeli Arab).  All types of furniture has been distributed to newly married Russian couples and elderly people in many areas of the country, both Israeli and Palestinian.   Asaf HaRofe Regional Hospital, the largest hospital in Israel, received heavy duty vinyl tarp and uniforms. The City of Sderot,  which is attacked daily with Qassam rockets, received many rolls of  vinyl tarp.  Several public agencies and cities have been given floor tile and uniforms. A Christian Arab congregation in Ramle is set to receive floor tile and  are very excited about it!  Styrofoam containers for food service will be distributed to Tents of Mercy in Haifa, the Taibe Police Department for sending meals to policemen guarding the borders,  and to several other facilities.  Joseph Project still has much supplies to be distributed throughout the remainder of the year and will continue to send us reports.