August, 2014

Quinceaera
t for a Queen
My dear friend Andrea from the Childrens
Center was recently crowned Queen of
Balfate, Honduras! It was so much fun to
celebrate this special event with her. God
has denitely brought her beauty from a
life of ashes. She also celebrated her
quinceaera !15
th
birthday" this month. This
is a signicant event in the life of every
Honduran girl. Andrea no longer has
parents, so some
other missionaries and I gladly honored her
with a big quinceaera party. Andrea spent
the day with me and helped decorate her
cake prior to the party. We had a lot of fun,
but my favorite part was getting to share
the Gospel with her. She is not yet willing
to accept Jesus Christ as her Savior, but
another seed was planted in love. She has
heard the truth many times and as I look in
her eyes, I know God is working in her
heart. Please pray for her salvation!
Getting Older but Having Fun
One of our missionaries organizes an annual community race. This year
it was on my birthday and I decided to run with all the kids. I tell you,
I woke up the next day feeling much older! The heat this summer has
LIFE ON THE NORTH SHORE
OF HONDURAS
Tragedy | Healing | Birthdays | Fun | Heart | Future
Healing Begins
Our community has endured a lot of
suffering recently, including a
shipwreck that claimed the lives of nine
young men. We have tried to comfort
and support their families as they
grieve and encourage them as they
begin to heal. We raised funds for food
baskets to give to the families. We are
also in the process of building and
repairing the houses of their families. It
has been a difcult time, but we see
Gods hand at work saving souls and
healing hearts.
Buses and Bells
Another local young man was run over
by a bus. His pelvis was crushed and he
was bleeding internally. After many
units of blood and hours of surgery, he
emerged from the operating room in
critical condition, but alive! Only God
could have saved him and only God
could continue to heal him. For the
next two months, he lay in a hospital
bed and drove my nurses crazy ringing
his bell incessantly with ridiculous
requests. All the while, God was at
work realigning his shattered pelvis
and healing him. Just this week, he was
discharged home! He is still on bed/
chair rest and his muscles are quite
atrophied, but he is recovering! Praise
the Lord!
been quite intense, but swimming at waterfalls and the beach has provided
some relief. Childrens Center kids enjoy coming along on my various
adventures. They absolutely love the water and the special outings.
Feeling Pretty Special
My nurses once again proved to be amazing friends. They conspired
together and threw me a surprise birthday party. They pooled their
resources, put together a very nice dinner and even bought gifts. This is
pretty unusual in the Honduran culture, but boy did they make me feel
special! I truly
enjoy the
friendships
God has given
me. Its
amazing to
look back and
see how they
have grown.
Onward
In July, I ew to Kentucky to meet with the board of my sending agency,
CornerStone International. While there, I received approval to transition
to long$term service. This means I will keep serving the Lord in Honduras
as long as He keeps me here! Logistically, not much will change. I have
been blessed by faithful prayer and nancial supporters during my two$
year term and I hope that many of you will continue partnering with me.
Please pray that God would provide the additional support needed to
serve long$term. Thus far, I have relied on others for transportation and
they have been incredibly gracious. However, it is increasingly di%cult to
maintain relationships and minister in the community without my own
transportation. Vehicles that stand up to the rough Honduran roads cost
about &16,000$&20,000. Pray that God would provide the nances in His
time and that I would use them wisely as He does. Thank you for your
ongoing encouragement, love and support!

Serving Together,


Heather Matthews
hmatthews127@gmail.com
Araon the Brave
Little Araon is keeping us on our
toes. After his radical neck dissection
in June to remove a growing
cancerous tumor, we started looking
into options for radiation therapy.
We are hopeful that radiation to his
neck will halt further metastasis. If we
can cut through all the red tape, he
should start radiation this week in
San Pedro Sula.
Update on my Dad
My dad continues his ght with
cancer. He has completed six rounds
of chemotherapy as planned and is
waiting to have a PET scan in Seattle
scheduled for September to see if all
the cancer has been killed. Pray that
it is all gone!
Of the Heart
My role as nurse educator keeps me
busy. Most of our employees have
taken CPR classes. Ive also started
EKG classes with my nurses since
nursing schools here dont cover this
at all. Its been fun to see them light
up as they learn things they never
thought they could. As they study
the complexity of the heart and
begin to feel overwhelmed, I
encourage them to instead give
glory to God for His amazing design.
CornerStone International
PO Box 192
Wilmore, KY 40390
1-800-859-4578
www.cornerstoneinternational.org