Back in the States ~ more fundraising!

"Lord make us like Thee. Mould us into Thy likeness."

The purpose of this past year in language school was for us to learn the Spanish language in preparation for the work God has for us in Honduras, but during this time, it was just as much about God moulding us...which at times, felt more like pruning. As we left the comforts of home and all that entails, we were launched into a new culture & a new way of "doing life." The challenge was greater because this new way of life, included not only Gordon & I, but our children as well. The change was big but this transition period proved fruitful as we witnessed how the Lord has worked on our hearts.
God says in His word that He will never give us more than we can handle, yet at times this change, felt like more than we could handle! There were days we thought how nice it would be to go back to the comforts of home and life as we once knew it. But we were convinced that we were exactly where God had lead us, which brings peace in spite of the difficult days. We imagine as we move forward onto Honduras that the most difficult of days have yet to come. Although Costa Rica is considered a third world country, it's the nicest one, where as, Honduras is much more depressive. This is due to the extreme poverty, unemployment, and gang activity. The only light we recognize is located within the walls of the FCM shelters that house the boys & girls of the ministry. And it is for them that God continues to draw us to Honduras.

We returned to the States about 4 weeks ago, and we all were anxious to exchange the sounds of motorcycles & car horns of the city for grass hoppers & lighting bugs :) And to be able to just hop in a car again to drive wherever we wanted rather than hailing a taxi was just as exciting! One of our boys first requests when we arrived was to eat at a Chick-fil-a followed by Dairy Queen, so those where some of our first stops shortly after we returned. (It's the little things you miss!)  Since then the boys & I have started another school year so we are getting back to our old routine. Now as we look back it doesn't seem as though we have been away for an entire year, time just continues to race forward.
Gordon has already been practicing his spanish with his co-workers at work (free tutoring!) and I started back with one of my former teachers in Costa Rica a few weeks ago via skype. Technology is a great thing! We also hope to tutor one on one while we are here since we will not be moving to Honduras until after the New Year.  Between home study & meeting with a tutor on a weekly basis we can continue our language study. Please pray for us as we fit this in to an already busy schedule!

In just 2 days, Gordon & I will finally be returning to Honduras to work with the ministry alongside a team from Florida. We are excited about getting to see all the boys again, meet the new boys who have arrived since our last visit, and finally meet/get acquainted with the FCM girls. Please be praying for us & the team during the week of September 24-30th ~ pray for God's annointing on each one of us, preparation of the hearts of the FCM boys & girls and all those whom God places in our path, Gospel sharing opportunities, traveling mercies, protection, and good health. Please also pray for all our families & caregivers while we are away as well!

Thank you for your continued support & faithful prayers!!

Because He first loved us,
Gordon, Christy, Jared, Zac, & Wil

Prayer Needs:
Increase in monthly support/partners *
Mission trip ~ Sept. 24-30th
Finding a future home & purchase of vehicles in Honduras
Boys & girls of FCM - spiritual growth & protection from spiritual warfare
FCM staff Stateside and in Honduras

*People have asked how they can help and we know at times people want to give a monetary gift so we have registered at both Walmart & Target for things we will need to furnish our rental home in Honduras.

Graduation quickly approaching! Saying our good-byes...





Graduation is quickly approaching and we are just about 2 1/2 weeks (& 11 days :) away from finishing a year of language study. We have already been saying good-bye as several families are either heading back to the States for a short time or they are going to their prospective country to start the mission work they have been training for.

Although this year has been extremely challenging, we are so thankful for this time in our lives. The community of believers that God has encircled around us and the new friendships we have made, have truly enriched our lives. We could not imagine not having known these wonderful people! It will be difficult over the next weeks as we continue saying our farewells. For some of these friends/fellow classmates, this will be the last time we see them on this side of heaven, which is hard to imagine after all the time we have spent together this past school year. What a blessing each of them have been to the lives of our family! God has encouraged us tremendously through this community of brothers & sisters in Christ.

Please be in pray for continued perseverance as we finish out our language training over the next few weeks, and for each family as they start the work God has placed before them. Please also be in prayer as each family once again adjusts to a new home & for new friendships to be made. 

THANK YOU for your earnest prayers & support!!

In His grip,

Gordon, Christy, Jared, Zac, & Wil

* People have asked how they can help our family and one way is to purchase an item(s) from our registry, these are things we will need in Honduras. We are registered both at www.target.com and www.walmart. com *









                    





Language school coming to a close...

Graduation day!

Last week was an exciting week as our boys have finally completed the school year and are now attending Summer camp. We were thrilled to also celebrate Jared's sixth grade graduation. Each of our boys had a great academic year and we were thankful as they finished the year strong in spite of living in a new home and culture. Although they no longer have to tackle homework and studying each day, we still have about 7 weeks of language learning to go! So please pray for us as we continue to learn the Spanish language. Our boys will also have an opportunity to continue learning the language as well. They will be taking a Spanish intensive course as part of their Summer camp, as well as, one on one tutoring with a teacher from their school.      

Excited class of 2017!

This time in Costa Rica is rapidly passing, and soon we will have completed a year of language training ~ wow! We are marking off the days as our graduation quickly approaches. However, we are thankful for this year because we recognize that this time was extremely important to learn the language and as a time of transition to prepare us for Honduras.  Our new friends in Costa Rica have enriched our lives tremendously and we will be forever grateful for the people that God has placed before us during this past year. Yet we do look forward to returning to the States to visit with family and friends and to our long awaited arrival to Honduras. We anxiously await the day to start the work that God has placed before us with the boys & girls of FCM. Therefore, we ask that you pray along with us for new monthly partners, for God to continue working on our hearts/minds as He prepares us for Honduras, and for protection against spiritual warfare. This is a huge move and it has been evident that this decision to go with God frustrates the devil, so we ask for your earnest prayers for God's mighty hand to be upon each of us (& our families) and always for the courage to heed this call.
We are thankful for the new monthly partners that God has recently blessed us with! However, we continue to remain short of the goal set by the FCM board for our family to live in Honduras. Our plans are to return to the States immediately following graduation so we can continue raising more support. If you know of a church or anyone that would like to partner with us, please let us know and we can set aside time to meet with the church staff or individuals.
We recognize that these are tough economic times, yet we also know that God is greater and He often chooses to work through people like yourself to make a difference on this side of Heaven. We ask that you prayerfully consider becoming a partner with us so we can help share the love of Christ with the children of FCM & the people of Honduras.  Without you we cannot go forward!

Prayer Requests:
Our family's (& the children of FCM) spiritual growth
Protection from spiritual warfare
Monthly support
Good health/safety
Staff of FCM & growth of this ministry
New home, vehicle, & friends in Honduras


THANK YOU for your continued support & prayers!!
In His Grip,

Gordon, Christy, Jared, Zac, & Wil

Life in Costa Rica

Currently our family has been living in San Jose, Costa Rica attending language school for the past 8 months.  Our first trimester was a roller coaster of emotions as we attempted to adjust to a new culture, home, and in just leaving family/friends behind.  Yet God remained faithful in spite of the tears at times and feelings of being overwhelmed. We have always recognized the fact that this call is much bigger than we are and we have felt the pressures of answering such a call, but we recognize GOD is able, so we continue to rest in Him!
In just 2 1/2 weeks we will have completed our second trimester of language school...time is passing quickly! This trimester has been focused more on improving our conversational skills and we have had to write devotionals, our testimony, read newspaper articles (& explain the article) and/or stories from the Bible ~all in Spanish of coarse! Some days it seems like we are treading water, yet other days we surprise ourselves by using words we didn't even realize we knew in Spanish.  During this time here, we have sensed your faithful prayers and we have witnessed the provision of our Lord through the wonderful community of believers that God has encircled around each one of us to encourage us.

Each day starts at 7:30 am for several hours of class time followed by homework and hours of study. One of the biggest challenges has just been getting used to being back in school after so many years!   Our boys day is like an average school day, including the 45 minutes of Spanish each day. The lack of language learning has led us to start a tutor for each of our boys because we believe a huge part of their ability to adjust in Honduras will be the ability to speak the language of the FCM boys/girls. (They are enjoying this aspect of their time here!)

When we are quick to complain of our struggle to learn a new language, God reminds us of the blessing it is to be here in school especially as we hear of other fellow missionaries struggling to raise support in this fallen economy. Truly we can say that there is no other place we would rather be than right where God has currently placed us, we are thankful ~ most days :-)  While after a year we will by no means have mastered the language, we recognize that we are off to a great start. Our best training will be once we are living full-time in Honduras.

Presently we are set to graduate on August 12th and then head back to the States shortly after our graduation. We will have to remain in the States until our monthly support has reached the goal set by the board of Forgotten Children Ministries. We are about $1,500 a month short of our monthly goal set by the FCM board,  due in part to a decrease in our monthly support. We also hope to raise additional monies for our family to fly home each year on furlough & for vehicles in Honduras.  If you are not currently supporting us, then we ask that you prayerfully consider becoming a partner. Without your support, we would not be where we are today nor would we be able to get on the mission field. If you have a church or know of a church that would be interested in joining our team, please contact us. 

Thank you all so much for your continued support & earnest prayers! Your prayers are our safety net and each prayer unleashs the power of God to work in our lives. We would surely fail without you! So thanks again for standing with us. Please know that as members of our team, we will also be praying for each one of you.


Just as God calls people to go out, He also calls people to send...prayerfully consider being a sender today!   Matthew 9:37-38 ~ "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field."

*Prayer Requests:

*Need for monthly partners

*Our own spiritual growth

*Good health/safety

*Supernatural ability to learn the language

*Pray to find a home in a safe area of Honduras

*Fundraising for future vehicles/home furnishings

*Prayer for the FCM staff, boys & girls of FCM

THANK YOU once again for your faithful support & prayers!!

Con mucho amor,

Gordon, Christy, Jared, Zac, & Wil Diegelman

*People have asked how they can help, so we have made a wish list both at www.target.com and www.walmart.com ~ these are much needed items for our future home.

* Please take a few minutes to watch our video ~ the pictures tell a story of our time here in San Jose and the numerous amount of ministry opportunities for us in Honduras. We hope you will enjoy it! God bless you all!