Another College Group and Marty Carty on Spring Break

 

On March 10, 2013  The Summit College Group and Marty Carty made their third trip to Choluteca, Honduras to evangelise.  They prepared months in advance for their journey.  They met monthly as a group in order to be able to share the gospel of Jesus Christ in a village called Colonial  Emanuel Valladores, Choluteca, Honduras.  Pastor Ramon was there daily to go door to door with the team.  They met each morning in the church at 8:00 am to pray and have a devotional with their three different groups.  They shared prayer requests amongst each other and talked and shared about the day ahead.  There was a translator with each group and a few members from the church.  One comment was made by one of our ladies how the Honduran ladies gave up their day to assist with this and provide all the North Americans need to go out and share the gospel. Each evening they came back to share what God had done in their day.  There was many beautiful stories shared about how the lost came to Christ this week.  I would like to share some of their stories:

Kelby shared how he listened to Jose, our bus driver, ask someone "What do they believe about God?" The man shared "HE gave me life."  Simple and to the point.  God has given us all life.  And that is truly all that matters. 

Robbie shared how she learned from Rheana. Rheana shared how she has to be in church, pray and in God's word to be able to go and share God's love with others. Rheana was a kindred spirit.  A woman full of wisdom for these  young people to learn from. Thank you Rheana for sharing with our young people. Robbie shared how she was somewhat nervous the first time she shared but she also shared God was much bigger than her nerves.  Well spoken Robbie.  God is good all the time.

Amanda shared how she had been in the book of John prior to coming.  During the week God led her to go to the book of John or either someone in her group was led to the book of John.  This is how awesome our God is.

Anna got to visit a handi-capped child.  How her heart is drawn to children with special needs and God provided this for her in Honduras.  The joy on the child's and family's faces as the team came and visited with them.  They enjoyed the company and hearing God's plan of salvation.

Chais said he enjoyed visiting the families and getting to know them personally before sharing the gospel.  One man worked in a car garage.  Chais said he allowed the man to talk about God for thirty minutes and was there just to listen.

Ray and team planted a huge seed at a church's members home, Maria.  Her daughter did not have Jesus Christ as her personal Savior.  We prayed for Maria's daughter, Jennifer that evening.  The next day a different group went by to visit Jennifer while her mother was not at home.  This is the day Jennifer accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior with tears streaming down her face along with the evangelising team.  Tears of joy overflowed this day for all involved.  Thank you Ray for planting the seed and watering it.  Thank you Marty Carty and group who was obedient to go back and follow-up.  God is good all the time.

Tripp and team visited a lady who had been a Mormon for twelve years.  She knew all the rules for being a Mormon and for being a Christian.  Thank you Tripp and team who did not leave until she totally understood what true salvation means.  It is not by works but by God's grace and mercy we become Christians.

Emily felt the presence of God this week when she was feeling faithless.  She shared out of Matthew 10 where we do not worry what to share God does provides our words through the Holy Spirit.  She came to share the gospel and God opened all the doors for her by her obedience in coming.

Marty Carty led our friend, Vilma's sister to Christ.  Marty made a home visit to Vilma and prayed with her during a hard time in her life. Marty led a older gentleman who was blind to the Lord.  He will have a new life in Christ in his final days here on this earth.  Blind but now can see.

John was challenged by Marty Carty this week about being confident in the Word.  John found himself more in prayer this week and allowing the Holy Spirit to work through him as he went out sharing God's Word with these beautiful people of Honudras.  One family led by the Holy Spirit was led to the Lord.  The wife of the family was the spiritual leader.  The husband wanted to have joy like his wife and the joy the team exhibited.  The entire family came to Christ.

During this week the teams went door to door in the morning and did VBS with the children in the afternoon.  There was three afternoon worship services for the community.  There was 93 salvations in Christ this week.  The angels in heaven were singing and dancing this week. 

 

"But you will receive the power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth".

Act 1:8

 

 

Worship Service

 

The evangelism team went door to door for six straight mornings and did VBS for five afternoons.  On their last day with these lovely people they had a worship service.  The team sang one song, several church members sang a song.  One of the young ladies of the Honduran church sang "Open My Eyes to My Heart Lord" in English.  This was a very touching moment for all of us when she had taken the time to learn a song in English to share with the North American team.  Marty Carty shared the gospel from the book of Ephesians, "Putting on the full Armor of God".  He used a visual for the children, belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, firm feet of peace, shield of faith, with which can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.  This got every ones attention when he starting throwing the sword of the Spirit on the floor rebuking all Satan's power.  At the end of the service the Hondurans gave each team member a gift of appreciation for working beside them in the community going door to door.  Marty Carty thanked them and presented the Pastor with a KJV study bible for him to continue studying and growing in the word of God.  Chais, team leader got up and thanked them as well for opening up their church and homes to the team.  At the end of the week the team through the guidance of the Holy Spirit led 93 people to Jesus Christ.  And all God's people said AMEN. 

 

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age."

Matthew 28:19-20

 

 

 

This past week a team came together from Campbell University, Duke University, UNC Carolina, East Carolina and NC State to spend their spring break sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with a very special community.  This was a reunion for Marty Carty and this village.  Marty Carty was here four years ago on our very first team as on site coordinators and evangelised with another group of people.  It was beautiful when God placed him there again to visit with some old friends and to see some of these people come to Jesus Christ this past week.  Our God is good all the time and all the time our God is so good.  Thank you young people for coming to Honduras to work along side other Christians in sharing the gospel.  We appreciate your commitment and it encourages us as well to continue going and making disciples of all nations.  We want to give all praise and honor to our Lord Jesus Christ for dying on the cross and then arose on the third day.   

Campbell University Girls Come to Honduras

 

God blessed Cedeno, Choluteca, Honduras on March 3 when four lovely young ladies  and four professors chose their spring break to come and bless two families with pillas and other blessings..  We informed Pastor G and Pastor Carlos not to do the work for the teams.  The two gentle and patient pastors  taught the ladies how to construct the two pillas and stepped back and watched God used this team in a mighty way. It does how heart good to see young people give of their time to come and work beside us in Honduras.  The people of Honduras immediately fell in love with this team.  They were impressed with how the team persevered towards the task in front of them and never once said I cannot do this or I am too tired or hot.  They were prepared physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually for what God had in store for them this week.  Thank you Louisa for preparing your team for this opportunity.

 

"I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me."

Philippians 4:13

Pillas Under Construction

 

As the week progressed so did the pillas.  The team was right on schedule with their job.  They broke up into two teams so they could complete the two pillas. The job duties included mixing meslca, yes I said mixing their own mescla.  They wanted to do all the jobs at some time so they could have ownership of their projects. Pastor G stood back and was there as the team needed his assistance. They laid all the blocks except the corners.  Pastor G and Pastor Carlos laid the corners as needed.  They laid the floors for the shower.  They formed out the scrub board.  This was a challenge but not one they did not conquer.   It is an art to be able to form the scrub board. This group became artists this week.   Juan stands back and admires the work done by the team. On the day of dedication he thanked God for sending this team to bless his family with a pilla.  The team sang Amazing Grace.  Shuntaria shared a devotional relating pillas to our life. I would like to share this with you at this time. 

"In Christ we continue to be a new creation but as you wash your clothes and take your showers we know that we are constantly being washed clean by God.

I thought of each part of the process.  The first part was the foundation.  We first began building. We placed walls on the foundation to prepare it for the building process.  The foundation equals us as we begin to create our relationship with God..  We must first get rid of anything hindering us from developing the relationship.  But just like the foundation of the pilla there might still be things left over that are difficult to get rid of.  Then we begin to build and seal and construct our pilla as we would do ourselves.  We strengthen ourselves through prayer, meditation with God, worship and studying the bible.  Through these things we will grow stronger in the Lord and become humble servants of Christ.  As we looked at our creation of pillas we were overjoyed but it does not stop there.  We need to continue to construct our relationship with Jesus Christ on a daily basis with joy."

 

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come.  The old has gone, the new is here.

II Corinthians 5:17

The Joy of Children

 

In the afternoon the team heads up to the church to do VBS with the children of Cedeno.  They averaged 50-75 children daily.  The team provided bubbles, Frisbees, jump ropes and futbol after the bible story.  Each day the children enjoyed time of coloring and making a craft.  The joy on the children's faces when they got to play with bubbles was worth it all.  Thank you Campbell for bringing joy and laughter to the children of Cedeno.  They were so blessed to have you for a short time but a life time full of memories.

 

"At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, 'Who then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?' He called a little child to HIM and placed the child among them.  And he said, 'Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore,whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  And whosoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes ME.'"

Matthew 18:1-5

We are blessed with our staff

 

This week we truly saw how blessed we were with our Honduran staff.  The team gave them amazing complements.  Jose was like a father to us this week.  Meidi protected us like her baby chicks.  They went walking through the community visiting the people.  Meidi was there keeping them close at hand.  The first day in VBS Louisa was prepared to tell the bible story but froze in her shoes.  Meidi had her back so to speak until Louisa unfroze.  Egla enjoyed sharing and asking the girls questions about their walk with the Lord.  Egla was in awe of their godly responses. Pastor G and Pastor Carlos were patient teachers who obviously taught them well.  Orfilo was their entertainment for the week. The ladies greeted Rosa each day thanking her for a good ole home cooked meal.  They thought all they were going to have this week was sandwiches.  They were very happy to come home each day to a hot meal. The Honduran folks of the community worked beside the team with compassion and love only coming from God.  We are blessed with a godly staff who takes their jobs seriously all in the name of Jesus.  It does Mike's and my heart good to hear such good reports on how well they do their job.  Campbell University thank you so much for spending your spring break in Cedeno, Choluteca, Honduras.  Our lives will ever be changed by your presence among us this week.  As you continue your journey with Christ remember the people of Honduras admire your Christian example and will have you in their hearts.

 

"Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

I Corinthians 15:58

 

Welcome to Honduras Richard and Suszon - Happy 25th Wedding Anniversary

 

On December 8, 2012 our friend Suszon picked us up at the airport for our Christmas break.  As we were traveling down I -40 she said Richard and I are thinking about spending our 25th wedding anniversary in Honudras with you two.  Can we come?  I said you want to do what?  Yes they wanted to come spend a week with us serving the Lord for their 25th wedding anniversary.  Once I realized what she said, I said come on.  Time past and Christmas came and went.  We headed back down South to start a full year serving Jesus Christ in Honudras.  Our year was full once we arrived back.  One day Mark let us know one team had to cancel and that opened up a week in February.  One day in January Suszon sends me a message when can we come.  I gave her the week the team cancelled and they arrived here on February 17 with new eyes on the country of Honduras.  They took a slight detour before landing in Tegus.  Because of the weather they were sent up to San Pedro Sula for two hours waiting for the cloud cover to clear up.  Once they arrived we were all so relieved to be together.  So let their journey begin.  We stayed overnight in Zamorano and got up on Monday morning to head down South to the mission house in Choluteca.

 

"And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.  Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable  - if anything is excellent or praise-worthy-think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me - put it into practice.  And the God of peace will be with you."

Philippians 4:7-9

Spring Cleaning in February

 

Whenever Mike and I have a break in teams we head back down South. We like to get all the items donated throughout the year and get them distributed to different villages.  We had collected numerous beanie babies and onsies for the baby bags for the hospital.  So I saved these items so Richard and Suszon could help us bagged up the items for future deliveries to the hospital.  After doing this we took hygiene kits and put them together along with some donated hygiene kits we received while we were home Christmas.  Also a team had bought books for one of the local schools.  The second morning they were they we adventured out to this school to give the children story books in Spanish.  Oh my goodness were they so excited to receive brand new books.  There was Dr Seuss book, Green Eggs and Ham, Curious George and so many more.  The children got tickled with Dr Seuss.  They thought he looked funny.  I am supposing these children had not ever seen Dr. Seuss before.  Also the children and teachers received hygiene kits.  This was a day of excitement for the school and for us as well.  We left this school and headed to another village to a school where we gave them hygiene kits, tennis balls and school supplies.  We arrived when the parents were feeding the children their lunch of beans, rice and two tortillas.  Afterwards we went to visit a lady we had built a home for and gave her and neighbors hygiene kits as well.  She was very gracious to prepare us a fresh cup of coffee as we sat under three large mango trees and communicated with the Honduran neighbors of our friend, Ms. Aleida.  This was probably the best cup of coffee not because of the coffee but because of the hospitality shown by all who were under those mango trees on this particular morning.

We left their and went to town to buy beans and rice to feed some families in one of the local villages we help.  We contacted the pastor and he said he would be glad to give them out in church on Sunday.  We spend the rest of the day and evening bagging up the beans and rice.  You can feed one family a bag of beans and a bag of rice for $2.00.  We were able to provide food for 64 families.

God is so good all the time all the time God is so good.  What do we spend $2.00 on daily? You can feed a family of four for one week one bag of beans and one bag of rice for $2.00.  What a productive day in the name of Jesus.  Thank you God for letting us be the hands and feet of Jesus.

 

"The most important one," answered Jesus, "Is this: O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all  your strength.  The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself.  There is no commandment greater than these."

Mark 12:29-31

 

All God's Children

 

Richard and Suszon dearly love children.  It was obvious here in Hondruas.  Richard and Suszon are proud grandparents of a little angel named Lyla.  They missed her while here.  One day Richard had a huge God moment when he met our little friend Anna.  She jumped right up in his arms and stayed there our entire visit. Anna filled the void in Richard's life while away from his little angel, Lyla. We went to check on our dear friend, Vilma, who was babysitting a little boy named Jose who also fell in love with Richard and Suszon.  One little girl went home and put on her best dress so she could have her picture made.  The children of Honduras are precious in every way.  They show the true meaning of becoming like little children with the love they share.

 

"He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said,"Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me."

Matthew 18:2-5

 

A day of rest on the Sabbath

 

We had worked for six solid days.  So we decided to go to Amapayla for a day of relaxation.  It was a beautiful day as we rode across the bay in a local boat.  We arrived on the other side to one truck used as a taxi for getting folks around the island.  I thanked God for the truck.  I was wondering how we all were going to get into one of those small taxis.  God provides even in transportaion around Amapayla.  We asked him to take us to one of the beaches where we had a scrumptious plate of fish, shrimp, chismo and tortillas.  All for $7.00 a plate.  After lunch we relaxed by the beach under the restaurant's shade.  God's beauty was all around us.  How can anyone ever say there is not a God when HIS beauty is all around us on a daily basis.  Thank you God for a day of rest.

 

"For six days work is to be done, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, holy to the Lord."

Exodus 31:15

Different Sites of Honduras

 

Throughout the week Richard and Suszon saw different sites as well as many familiar sites. One day during our journey we saw the ambulance out and about. The ambulance was donated by an ambulance service out of Abington Va. During the week Suszon was determined to learn how to wash her clothes on a pilla.  And she succeeded in learning from Rosa.  On their last day before departing Honduras, Suszon went outside to wash her and Richard's clothing and hug them out to dry.  I am so proud of you my friend. Job well done.  We went to the Valle de Angeles for their last adventure.  Richard was able to see a Honduran fire station in the Valle.  They really blessed Mike and  I with their visit.  We have been friends with this lovely couple for twenty years.  But I never thought we could spend nine days and be as filled with joy as we had with Richard and Suszon.  Thank you friends for an awesome nine day vacation in Honduras. 

 

" A friend loves at all times."

Proverbs 17:17 

A lady gives all she had

 

On our last day in Choluteca we went to visit a dear friend of ours, Meranda, 93 year old angel.  Suszon is a nurse by profession.  We asked her to please check Ms. Meranda's leg.  We had a medical team look at her leg last year.  We were doing a follow up while we had a nurse with us.  Suszon dressed the wound on her leg and we all listened as Ms.Meranda talked continuously about something.  Suszon commented I wish I knew what she was saying.  While visiting with her, her church family came by to visit with her as well.  It was precious to see her home full of laughter by two different languages.  The church family left and Ms. Meranda got up moving around looking for something.  We were not sure what she was up to.  She continued looking and talking.  We just sat back and waited to see what she was going to do.  Ms. Meranda called Suszon over to her back door where there was a box.  Ms. Meranda reached down into the box to pull out her only chicken and placed it in Suszon's arms.  Suszon looked in amazement of what had just happen.  This precious 93 year angel gave Suszon her one and only chicken.  Suszon was taken back as we all were at this moment.  We thanked her for her generosity in giving us her chicken.  As we walked down the path back to the truck, Suszon carrying the chicken in her arms, with tears streaming down her cheeks, saying this lady gave me all she had.  As I type this story I tear up again at the beauty of this day.  We were truly on Holy Ground that day.  We saw Jesus Christ in a 93 year old lady who lives in a one room block home with very little more. But the day continues to get better.  We talked about what to do with our gift from Ms. Meranda.  We took our chicken who Suszon had named Meranda to a family with seven children with very little also.  God blessed four families on this day.  Because I felt more blessed this day than I had in a long time.  We can learn so much from our friend, Ms. Meranda.  She gave all she had by faith in God that HE will provide for her.  She was saying thank you to Suszon for giving her medical treatment she may have otherwise not have received.  My question to all you reading this today would you give all you had to say thank you to God for what HE has done for you.  God sent HIS only SON to die for our sins.  What are we giving back to HIM for all HE has done for us.  Thank you Ms. Meranda for showing me Jesus on this day.

 

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.  They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything - all she had to live on."

Mark 12:43-44

A visit to the Zamorano Agricultural College

 

We set up an appointment with our landlord, Aurello, to visit the college near our home.  Aurello picked us up 8:00 am to head towards the college.  He gave us, especially Richard, an detailed tour of the facilities there.  Richard and Suszon soaked it all up like a sponge.  We got to see where they milked the cows and cared for the cows.  We got to see where they actually make the milk, cream cheese and ice cream.  That was awesome to be able to observe. The man who ran the dairy dept. gave us a cup of their ice cream which is made right there on campus. We saw where the slaughtered the hogs and cattle to prepare for the meat process.  We got to visit the chapel which was nestled in the center of the campus. One of our observations was how quiet the campus appeared.  The students were either in class, working somewhere on campus or studying.  You did not observe the students just hanging out. They were also very polite when passing us. They openly said hello to us and welcomed us to their school.  This was an awesome way to end the week.  Thank you Aurello for a detailed and elaborate tour of Zamorano Agricultural College.

 

Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation seed bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds. And it was so. The land produced vegetation plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.  And God said."Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds, the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals each according to its kind.  And God saw that it was good."

Genesis 1:11-13, 25

HAPPY TWENTY FIFTH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY RICHARD AND SUSZON

 

 

WE LOVE YOU.

 

"FOR THIS REASON A MAN AND A WOMAN WILL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE UNITED TO HIS WIFE AND THE TWO WILL BECOME ONE FLESH.  SO THEY ARE NO LONGER TWO BUT ONE FLESH.  THEREFORE WHAT GOD HAS JOINED TOGETHER, LET NO ONE SEPARATE."

MATTHEW 19:5-6

 

MARCH 6, 2013

 

 

 

 

One day we headed down to Cedeno to assess a job being done in March.  Richard and Suzson got to meet my friend Lucy, the pig.  We went by to find Pastor Carlos working on his church with the church members.  Richard was wanting to get dirty and do some manual labor.  Big Papa as he is known back home got to mix mescla with the Honduran brothers.  I was so proud of him. He worked for about an hour with the other brothers.  He stayed right  there and figured it out very quickly.  Richard now has the recipe for mixing mescla, Honduran style.  He got to work beside some very special young men who taught him a new trade.  You can add this one  to your resume Big Papa.  After taking care of  the family for March we headed back to the mission house where we saw a lady selling crabs.  Well nothing would do but we bought two strings of crabs from the lady.  What do we do with them now?  We took them to another family who we had recently met.  Another exciting day serving the Lord.

 

"In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said:"It is more blessed to give than to receive."

Acts 20:35