Team 116 New Hope Baptist Youth Group

On June 15, New Hope Baptist Church Youth Group arrived in Tegus for the first time. It always does our hearts good to have young people come here and especially for the first time. They came ready to learn all they could about the people and their country. This is our fourth youth group this year and we have been beyond please with the excitement and energy these young people bring with them to Honudras. The group met that night with their Youth Pastor and discussed the week ahead and what to expect on the first day. The Youth Pastor, Brian came last year and was able to enlighten them on the culture and their week ahead. Each night a different youth shared a devotional with the group. Each morning they got up with their different job duties. It takes alot of people to make this opportunity to build a home function. There were two young people who mixed up the gatorade, several people in charge of breakfast, lunch and dinner. There were several young people loading the equipment on a daily basis. Being a new group we had a class of laying blocks 101. Our translator, Egla is much more than a translator, she is also a block mason. So with the help of Egla and Orfilio the team learned how to build the house. They got to work and found where they were suppose to be and off they went with getting the first five courses up on the house. It was such a pleasure to stand back and watch these young people hard a work along with their brothers and sisters of Honduras. The Garcia family stood from the doorway of the old house watching as each and every block and mortrar went on their new home.

Construction keeps moving

On day two we were preparing to pray for our day out in the breezeway when we received a phone call from Pastor G which he shared he had been in a motorcyle wreck. So after the phone conversation we all gathered and prayed for the day and for Pastor G's safety. We were on the way to the scene of the wreck when we got a phone call he had driven he and his son to the job site. Mike and I arrived at the job site with him trying to work. Well, that did not last long because I had him sit down and he had messed up his shoulder, several severe scratches but the worst of all was a hole in his ankle. So the team, for the first time since Pastor G came to work for us was on their own. So while we took Pastor G to the hospital we left Arnold in charge of the construction. God is good all the time. Thank you Arnold for stepping up to the plate and keeping the construction moving along. By the time we got back from the hospital there was one of Pastor G's friends from a sister church helping out and remained the rest of the week. Pastor G's son was not as badly injured so he also continued helping as Pastor G watched on the side lines. This is definitely not something he does very well. We finally got him three stitches in his ankle after a second trip to the hospital. The team continued working throughout the rest of the day and got up to the ninth course on the second day. Pastor G was very proud of this group of young people. As well as building the home they also built memorable relationships with these beautiful children. The children of the area and home pitched in and help mix mortar and carry mortar and sift sand. This was definitely a huge team effort to keep working and doing their best to get the job done.

Continuation of Home Construction

There was not anything they would not try. They all pitched in did several different jobs each and every day. Those of you who are the parents of these young people should be beyond proud of all they did this week. They definitely got out of their comfort zones and done things this week they had never done before. We share "God moments" each night and man did we have plenty of them this week. This group of young people can proudly say they finished this house in four days along side their new found friends of Honudras. There was a tremendous amount of team work going on this week. God is good all the time.

Church Services

In prepartion for their mission trip they were all encouraged to prepare a testimony. We were blessed to go to two different worship services. Eight of the youth shared their testimonies and their walk with Jesus Christ. At each service they shared a song with the church families. Pastor Brian, Youth Pastor preached at one of the services and Pastor Ricardo, Sr Pastor, preached at the other service. Both pastors had different sermons but similar messages. We need to go out and share Jesus with the people in our villages. We all are suppose to go and out and be fishers of men. This week these young people went out into a new village and were all fishers of men. Parents you would be proud once again of how this group shared Jesus Christ with people in another part of the world.

There is more than just Building a House

There is more to building a house. There is building relationships. From day one these young people played with the children. There was numerous games of futbol and jump rope as well. And there was also time to build relationships with one another as a family. This week this team developed a new family. A family they will always treasure. They learned alot about one another and shared alot with one another. As the week went on there was another small bump in the road. Pastor G's foot swelled up with infection. His famous words as he looked at us was "No problem". Orfilio shared we could get some medicine to kill the infection. So off we go the Farmcia to get the injection over the counter. I asked Orfilio who is going to do this because I sure can't. He said "no problem" I can do it. So Orfilio gave Pastor G an shot of medicine to take care of the infection. Pastor G's next question was when is the next team coming in and we told him on Friday. His comment was "No Problem" I will be ready for them. God is good all the time. Thank you God for such dedicated employees that we have in this ministry.

Bubble Baths and Dedication of Home

The day of the dedication arrived and the girls along with Egla wanted to give the girls baths and some beauty care. They washed the seven girls hair and taught them how to bath themselves and brush their teeths. The little girls were all so proud of their hygiene kits which included toothbrush, toothpaste, wash cloths and soap. They enjoyed getting their hair washed with the shampoo. Some things we all take for granted. They got all pretty for the dedication of their new home. Pastor Brian shared some scripture from God's word and had some of the youth to share scripture as well. Several of the youth shared words from their hearts about how blessed they were to meet such an awesome and loving family, the Garcias. The Garcia family was asked to share some words and it was such a sweet yet emotional moment as they shared their gratitude for all that was done for them this week, their new home, loving the children and working so hard so they will now have a dry and safe place to live. God was truly in that home today as each family and team member shared from their hearts how mighty and wonderful our God is. Without God none of this would have taken place. God was given the complete glory for all things which took place this week. THANK YOU GOD FOR BEING AN AWESOME AND MIGHTY GOD. AMEN AND AMEN

Fellowship at Mission House

On June 6 a youth group from Carolina Memorial Baptist Church out of Thomasville, North Carolina arrived ready to hit the dirt streets to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is so refreshing to have youth come down here excited about serving the Lord and bringing others to the Kingdom. They arrived in Choluteca to a nice Honduran supper of Chicken Tacos. We have asked the teams would they like more of the Honduran cuisine and they have said yes. So our bus driver, Jose's wife cooks us up 50 chicken tacos and they are truly delicious. It takes alot of work to get prepared for Evangilism and going out door to door and they also did a week of VBS. There is time of quiet where you are in God's word, you of course pray and then all the crafts for each day for VBS. We had one morning where a couple of the ladies, Nicole and Jennifer who wanted to brush up on their spanish and get help from the translators on how to share the gospel in Spanish. These were some really determined young people to learn all they could so they could be more effective in their witness here. On June 7 there was a very special day and it was Candance's birthday. Well one of the Honduran tradition's is to make them a birthday cake but the interesting part about this cake it is made on top of your head. We were very gracious to Candance and only put an egg in a sandwich bag on top of her head. Normally it is two eggs and some flour without the bag. Also, we had a birthday cake and ice cream and sang to Candance. Candance had shared this was the of the most special birthdays she has had spending in Honduras with all these beautiful people. Feliz Cumplenous Candance.

Team 115, Carolina Memorial Baptist Church

On Tuesday morning they headed a beautiful community called Colonia Unidas. There is around 2, 500 homes and families in this community. They met inside the church to break up in teams of three and prayed for their day ahead. During this week the team visited many families who were Christians, who were not Christians, who were sick, who just needed a friend to give them a hug and one of the teams even ended up in a corn field sharing the gospel with a young man. This community does not look as big as it is but there is so many side roads and this team covered as many as the good Lord intended for them to cover. The first couple of days was nice and not as hot but the last couple of days were rather warm but they kept right on going door to door to share Jesus Christ with their neighbors of Honduras. The bible says to go and share the gospel to all nations and this is exactly what Carolina Memorial Baptist youth did this week. They were 26 salvations. To God be the glory for these new brothers and sisters in Christ. They were given a bible upon accepting Christ and shared they needed to go and share the good news with others. To continue to share the good news that was shared with them. Isn't that what we all should do? Go and make disciples of all nations. If we have Jesus as our Lord and Savior we should be telling everyone we see about his precious and free gift of salvation. During the week after their lunch they would go right into VBS with these precious babies. They started out with 120 children but by the end of the week they had 150 children coming to the VBS. There was alot of preparation in planning the VBS. Thank you Ms. Linda for all your hard work to get VBS prepared for these young people and for working beside them each day. Each day two of the young people would lead the VBS. They did a bible story, sang songs from both languages and did a craft. Imagine the time spend on making 150 of something. And when they were not having night worship they took the kids to the field to play futbol and just have good ole fun. Thank you young people for all you did this week to make memories for these children they will treasure forever. And to God be the glory for our new brothers and sisters in Christ. God is good all the time.

Praise and Worship

The contemporary band of Carolina Memorial Baptist has been practicing Honduran Christian music to be able to play along side the band of Colonia Unidas. There was a concert on Saturday evening with both groups playing and singing together. Thank you Alan, Dan Junior and Spencer for learning the music and espanol words of the music of Honudras. Also as was shared earlier the young people shared VBS with the children. The children of Honduras always look forward to North Americans coming doing VBS with them. That is their special time to get to do a craft which they do not do during their Sunday School hour. They sing songs, bible story and memorize scripute verses each Sunday. The team had written out the bible verse (in espanol) for the children to say and to the young people's surprise most of the children already had the verses memorize. As usual we always learn so much for our brother and sisters of Honudras. They had three night services and a Sunday morning service. Pastor Tim preached twice while they were here. HL shared his testimony one night as well. Two of the ladies shared their personal testimonies during the night services. Thank you Nicole and Candance for getting out of your comfort zones. Thank you Teresa for closing in prayer during one of the services. Thank you Junior for giving up his graduation to be here this week. Thank you Megan who was patient with us while there was no internet service and you were preparing for a test and yes she did get internet back in time to take her test. Megan you could add flexibility to your vocabulary. We are very proud of all the young people of Carolina Memorial Baptist Church for getting out of their comfort zones and coming to Honudras and sharing the love of Jesus Christ with others. God is good all the time.

Friends of Choluteca

There are not words to describe how wonderful, humble and godly our friends of Honduras are. We learn so much from each of them each and every day. Our teams come through and always share the same thing, how amazingly giving these people are. How you see the love of Christ in all they say and do. Our North American brothers and sisters always go home with a piece of these beautiful love for Christ in their hearts. Thank you Honduras for teaching us in such a humble way Jesus' love. We love all of you and are grateful for serving along side of you in the name of Jesus Christ.