We are the Ruttan family. Dale, Carolyn, Ben & Elisa. We are serving the Lord in Honduras.

The new school year began this February in the public schools in Honduras. This year we are teaching the kids about growing their faith like a seed grows.  Seeds are planted, watered and harvested.  With the Bible classes, we are planting seeds and trying to grow seeds of faith. Our theme for the year is Super Heroes of the Bible. This month we are talking about Esther.

We are also talking about standing up for what is true and right, even if it may not be the cool thing to do, and everyone else is doing the wrong thing. We demonstrate peer pressure with a fun game and it is interesting to see the various emotions on the kid’s faces that are “centred out” because the other kids try to trick into doing the wrong thing. Emotions like fear. There are the odd few who are bold and cannot be tricked into believing a lie. But you know what? They are getting it the point and understanding that God wants them to do what is right even if they have to stand alone. It’s cool to see them grasp the truth.

Something new that we will be doing in the near future is evangelistic outreaches for the CCP ( child care plus) kids and their families.  Our CCP kids are grade one through high school. Since we are only in the public schools up to sixth grade and not in the high schools at this point, these outreaches and Hope camp are our way to reach the older teens for Christ.  The outreaches will be for the entire family. The plan is to do them in April, August and December. We want to teach them about worship, have a Bible story and related activities. This is how we water the seeds planted and grow those seeds of faith.

Hope Camp is an annual four-day retreat where the CCP kids can come and stay at a rustic camp outside the city. There are kids services, games, crafts and outings like the zoo and zip lining.  Just this year we added a youth section to Hope camp because let’s face it… the sponsored kids are getting older and we wanted something more relevant and at their age level. It was an amazing time with these kids. It was especially faith growing for us to see them seeking God at the altar and the longing in their hearts for more of Him.

If your children’s ministry or VBS would like to support Hope Camp and help to water more seeds, donations are appreciated. Our goal for Hope camp 2018 is to raise $5,000 for this life changing event.

We are believing for the seeds that have been planted and watered, that one day we will see them harvested and one day those children and youth to become men and women of God.

- Dale & Carolyn Ruttan, global workers in Honduras