We're Coming Home

We will be headed to the airport soon. I have mixed emotions, I miss home and I am looking forward to returning but at the same time it is sad to leave behind the friends that I have made over my two trips down. There have been numerous people involved in the church and ministry that have been essential to our success. They are dedicated to serving the Lord and assisting their neighbors here in Honduras.

Jennifer I thought you may be interested to know Santos and his wife are having another daughter in about two months. You had such an impact on his daughter that she is trying to get them to name their new daughter Jennifer. Go ahead and wipe away your tears now.

See you guys soon!

Mike

kids, kids and more kids!

Sorry for the lack of blogging, we have been on the road for three days and it has been taxing. We have handed out half the backpacks so far. We are back in the capital city and we will be handing out at least another 80 today. The kids have been a real treat to watch and interact with. I am reminded that the Lord will provide for us what we need to survive. These children have nothing by the standards of most US citizens but you can't tell them they need to be sad. These children are still running around playing and having a blast.

Yesterday was a treat because Don and Ashlie got a bicycle for a girl as a gift. I will let one of them go into detail about it, but we delivered it yesterday and it was a touching moment to see her reaction and the way she immediately shared it with her siblings.

Mike

Start of another wonderful day

Today we are back in the capital city, Tegucigalpa, and headed to a church to distribute backpacks to children in 2 places: Iglesia Filidelfia and Iglesia Jerusalem Nuevo. Tonight we will be attending church services in the local church. I'm looking forward to seeing how the folks here worship!

We have been on the go quite a bit. I hope to have some time for deep thought and devotion tonight.

~dana

Below are pictures from the last couple of days:

We made it to Cheloteca yesterday and checked into our hotel. We then traveled to La Fortanita (probably spelled wrong) where we handed out school supplies. children from another nearby village Los Humos were also there to pick up their supplies. The village was very simple, no electricity, no running water. We had church service in the middle of the village and most everyone choose to participate. It was an enjoyable service even without being able to understand the language. Just knowing these people, with completely different life experiences, speaking a different language were worshiping the same God I worship. It shows the true power of God to reach all of his children.

After church we handed out the school supplies and food to families. The children seemed very excited. Several of them were still wearing their backpacks, weighed down with books, when we were leaving.

Another neat experience was seeing the land that the ministry helped purchase where construction will soon begin on the village's church. That will give them a building to worship in no matter the weather.

All in all a humbling day. At a quick glance you catch yourself looking at the Hondran people feeling sorry for them for the poverty they live in, but once you look closer you see they are ritcher then most of us in the things that matter to Christ like true love for each other.

Mike

We arrived in Honduras today and it is a beautiful country. Traveling takes a lot out of you! We got settled, went grocery shopping, and had an amazing home cooked dinner graciously prepared by our hosts. The Martin family has opened their home to us and will be wonderful guides during our spiritual journey. We stopped by the church today and saw all of the school supplies and backpacks we will be packing tomorrow. Lots of God's work to be done! And we can't wait!!!

~dana

Overwhelmed with love and opportunity

My first thought as the plane "scooted" down the sidewalk turned runway was what a beautiful place. But first let me explain what I saw as we arrived. The amount of space available for a plane to land isn't much, I literally thought the wings of the plane were going to scalp the roofs off the houses that lined the airport!!! LOL, after I started breathing again I was able to fully appreciate the beauty of this country.

Jim and Francis welcomed us with open arms and showed us around. We got to go to the local "Walmart" and picked up a few supplies. We came back to the house where they prepared the best tacos I've had in my life!! Kudos to Francis and her mother for the meal. The food here is sooo full of flavor, unlike what I've ever had in my life. Can't wait to try some more. Over dinner, we talked about the many opportunities for ministry here and quickly got a sense of being overwhelmed. There are sooo many people who need help, not enough of us or money to help them all. I wonder how Jim and Francis ever get a sense of accomplishment when their cup runneth over with the needs of the Honduran people.

I got to talk to the family which really helped my homesickness.....boy do I miss them!! Well going to get some shut eye, there's lots of work to be done.

Ashlie

Back Again

Well we are settled in and just finished enjoying dinner together with Jim and his generous family. It feels good to be back. I remembered the food being good but I had forgotten how good. Jim just got done telling us about the growth the Ministry experienced last year. The Lord has provided some amazing things and Jim is confident there is more to come. I again am amazed and inspired by Jim's faith in Christ. I am confident the Lord has meaningful things in store for us and the people of Honduras. I just pray we are up to the task and we make our saviour proud.

Bless all of you back home,
Mike

Send Off Pictures

Here are a few pictures from the 2011 Honduras Mission Trip send off.

Deflating soccer balls to pack.

Dale leading the worship service.

Weighing boxes as we are packing supplies to deliver to school kids.

Checking in at the airport (sorry, this is the only picture that turned out this morning...)

Great Start

Great send off party tonight, thanks to all who attended!

The team will depart early tomorrow morning to begin what is sure to be an amazing trip. I wish I could go to...

Jeremy

Here We Go Again...

A couple of hours ago, we completed the launch service for the next team traveling from LifeSpring Christian Church in Kansas City, MO to Honduras to work with Jim & Francis Martin. I suppose we should have begun blogging about this quite some time ago. After all, we've been planning this for months.

Our team consists of four members. I will be pushing each of them to share - perhaps even more than once - while they are away. The main focus of their time will be to prepare packages for school supplies to distribute to more than 360 students. That's over 100 more that Honduras Ministries helped out last year!

Over the next week, we'll read about their experiences...I hope! So stay tuned. The team is scheduled to leave at 6am tomorrow. Perhaps they'll be able to record something even tomorrow evening after they settle in.