Honduras Update - Post Trip

We had an amazing week. I know that I can’t even write words to explain how awesome it was!  We saw God work in our lives and the lives of the Honduran people. God provided everything we needed to do ministry.

I am not going to go into much detail on this post; I don’t want to spoil all the stories before we share with our church in a couple of weeks.

But, I can say that the gospel was shared with hundreds of people.

 This is really ALL that matters.

It doesn’t matter (much) that we gave away shoes, food, toiletries, mattresses, medicine or anything else. These things were opportunities to show the love of Christ to poverty stricken individuals. But ultimatley, if we were to comfort, provide for, and even better or extend the lives of the Honduran people, and not share with them the gospel, it would be for nothing. I am humbled that God would use me as a vessel to share the gospel.  I was blessed to see people share the gospel for the first time. It was awesome to pray over people after they heard the gospel that God would open their eyes and grant them faith to believe. And that is my prayer still.

Sure, we got to see some awesome sights, feel strong emotions, hug beautiful children and meet physical needs. However, I don’t believe these things were the primary reason God put us there. They were great opportunities, but not the main objective of our trip.  We were there to tell them the greatest story, the story of Jesus.

Please pray that the seeds God planted will be watered, will grow, and will produce the fruit of salvation.

Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

Honduras Update - 33 Hours

Supplies not including Bible story, games and crafts

I haven’t had much extra time to blog this week. Between packing and planning for Honduras and trying to do a few things to get ready for school to start, there just hasn’t been much extra time. However, I wanted to give you a super quick update on our trip!



I can’t believe how God has allowed everything to happen. Several church members had expressed much concern that we would not be able to take all the supplies we had collected. To be honest, I was a little concerned myself.

Tuesday night we spent about 3 hours packing Bible story, craft, and game supplies, along with 180 care bags, over 400 pairs of flip-flops, clothes for the orphanage and lots of candy.  Our fellowship hall was crazy! We had people sorting clothes, flip-flops, and assembling care bags. Then we packed and weighed and labeled all of our bags…..

Praise the Lord, we packed ALL of our supplies and still have 6 empty suitcases. We still have a few odds and ends to pack, but how amazing is this?  All the glory belongs to God!

We leave Friday at 5 pm and will spend the night in New Orleans.  Our plane leave sat 6:40 am Saturday morning!

If you have me as a Facebook friend, check my note for a list of our team members so that you may pray for them by name.

33 hours and counting!

Keep praying.

Honduras Update

This time next week myself, my hubby and 13 other FBC Vidalia church members will be in Honduras preparing for our week of ministry.   As my fingers typed that sentence, my heart skipped a beat. Can it really be only a week away? Wow! After over a year of anticipation, it is surreal that it is actually about to be reality.

During our week we will visit an orphanage, build a wall at a school, do VBS-type programs in schools, cook a meal for a community, and lead a women’s Bible study.  We have collected flip-flops, school supplies, clothes, and personal hygiene items to take with us.

I already asked you to pray for both the Honduran people and our team in my last Honduras update post.  In this post, I urge you to continue your prayers!  Below, you will find some specific needs for which to pray.

•      Pray that everything we say and do will shine the Glory of Christ.  This is the most important! We desire for the Honduran people to realize the truth of the Gospel.  Pray that we would be bold to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
•      Pray for the children, teachers, and families we will come in contact with. Pray that God would prick their hearts with the Gospel and draw them unto Himself. Pray that these people will be able to recognize truth and will not be swayed by the many false religious groups that are also proselytizing there. Pray that they will realize the God’s grace is enough to meet their needs, whatever they are.
•      Pray that we will stand strong against any attacks of Satan. Pray that our team will remain unified. Pray that we would not give into anxiety or nervousness.
•      Pray for our travel. Some on our team have never flown. One has trouble with motion sickness. Pray that these things will not hinder us in any way.
•       Pray for the missionaries and the International Mission Builder Organization. Pray that God would give them the grace, love, strength and patience to continue God’s work in Honduras.

Your prayers are so appreciated. We want nothing more than to bring glory to God through this trip. It is going to be a wonderful week, and I can’t wait to tell you about everything!

  

Until then, please, keep praying!
Seven days and counting....



Honduras Update

We are three months away from leaving on a mission trip to Honduras. THREE MONTHS! Stephen and I have been to Honduras several times, this will be my 5^th trip and his 4^th. This trip, however, will be so incredibly different from all the others. We are leading this trip. I can’t believe that we will be leading a group of 14 other people to a third world country.  It is scary, but so exciting.

Today, we had a flip-flop drive at our church. Our church brought 548 flip-flops! We will be able to put flip-flops on the feet of 274 precious souls. We will take these with us, along with care bags and other supplies to attempt to meet some of the material and physical needs of the Honduran people. However, this is not the focus of our trip. The most important thing is that we will take the good news of the gospel. We will share the story of Jesus.

 The people of Honduras have absolutely stolen my heart. The love I have for these people, people I don’t even know is overwhelming. My heart breaks for their bondage. I am so burdened for their lostness. I cannot wait to place my feet on that soil again, and to share the love Christ, which knows no language barriers.

I cannot wait to spend a week our team, and see the unbelievable things God will do. I am overcome with emotion as I imagine what it will be like.  As I type this, tears are steaming down my face, out of pure anticipation.

But, I know that our trip must be surrounded with prayer. So, I ask you to join me in praying for this trip. Please pray that god will allow all the details to work out, including finances, supplies, passports, and plans. Pray that God will begin preparing our hearts so that we may minister effectively. Pray that our team members’ health remains strong in the next few months.  Pray that individuals’ hearts will be open and sensitive to the Gospel. Pray that the strongholds of the country to be broken. Pray that we are sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Pray that Stephen and I would have wisdom to lead well. Pray that God will do exceedingly more than we could ever imagine! 

I thank you in advance for your prayers, you have no idea how much they are appreciated!

There are so many details to be worked out, but I trust that God has a plan for us in the beautiful country of Honduras........ 61 days and counting.

Looking Forward.

The norm this time of year may be to blog “reflections” of 2010, to talk about all the neat things we said, did, and witnessed in the past year. But, I am honestly so excited about the things God will do in 2011 that, today, I just want share some of those with you.

iMiTATORS. http://www.fbcvidalia.com/#/ministries/imitators  This is the High School drama team at our church. My heart swells with love for these teens; they are amazing, talented and fun to work with. I am excited about the opportunities that await this team as they minister both in our church and in other churches.  We begin practicing the second Sunday in January, and will incorporate some new members at that time.  Several of the team members are seniors and I am sad to see them move on, but excited to see them mature into God-honoring adults. I pray that the team will first and foremost grow in discipleship and love for God and one another. I pray that this group would live by their convictions and not bend them. I pray that God will open wide doors for them to share the good news of Christ through drama.

Honduras. Words cannot even begin to express the emotions that are conjured up when I think of this! For those of you who don’t know, Stephen and I have been on several mission trips to this country. Honduras and the people there have an enormously special place in my heart. 

Oscar and me. 2006.

Sharing the Evangecube at a school. 2008.

Stuffing a "Jesus Bear." 2008.

Every child in this school got a new pair of shoes. 2010.

Stephen sharing bubbles. 2008.

I remember in April of 2009, when we came to FBC Vidalia in view of a call, sharing about our trips to Honduras. I felt God say that one reason he was bringing us to FBC Vidalia was to organize an international mission trip. I did not assume that we would get to go to Honduras, but secretly hoped so. However, I am thrilled that Pastor Tommy Johnson and the International Mission Builders would work with us to allow us this opportunity. Our team of 16 will spend July 30th - August 5th sharing Christ in Honduras. God has already shown himself in our planning of this trip! From an overwhelming response from interested church members to anonymous donors, God has confirmed that he is in this thing! I ask that you would continue to pray for financial obligations to be met. I also ask that you would pray that God would lead two more men to take this trip with us!

Marriage.  In 2011, Stephen and I will celebrate 5 years of marriage. Wow. Time has flown by; I still feel like a newlywed. J 

It is exciting to think of all the things God has done with us and through us in the past five years.  We married young, in college. We knew from the day we met that God’s calling on our lives would mean giving up some of our personal dreams. However, we have never looked back.  I pray that God would give me the ability to be a better wife in 2011. I want to be a better helpmate that willingly puts my husband’s needs above my own.  I pray that the Holy Spirit would empower me to grow in lovingness, submissiveness, and humbleness.

There are so many other things I look forward to in 2011: running the Austin Half Marathon, my second year of teaching, conceiving a baby, and all the unexpected things God will do. There is no doubt that God is going to do great things. I am eager to be grown and used by him in 2011.