New Hope Baptist Church Raleigh NC Returns to Honduras!!!

 

Welcome back to our church family who has returned to Honduras for their third trip.  They arrived safely on June 3 ready to serve the Lord.  It is always so special when we have family come down and these folks have been our family for over thirty years.  They worked in an area called Piedra de Agua, Choluteca. Each day they climbed up the dirt path to the job site. The project was nestled around some of God's beautiful mountains. The home was build for a lovely lady named Eva and her son, Pedro.  The team had a small opportunity on the first day.  The awesome thing about this small opportunity the team came in with flexibility under their belt.  They all pitched in to fix the problem and still go their five courses completed by the end of their  first work day.  Their days were extremely warm.  One day got up to 108 degrees.  The team worked together and took care of one another to keep everyone healthy and hydrated.  The Hondurans were there to help out mixing the mortar and carrying the buckets of mortar to each location.  Each day Eva had coffee prepared for those who cared for a cup.  She served her coffee on her finest china with a huge smile upon her face.  She worked hard right beside the team to get her home completed.  New Hope Baptist came to serve wholeheartedly to help the Hondurans but in return the Hondurans shared as well how to serve wholeheartedly.  Thank you our brothers and sisters of Honduras for being so precious to us.

 

"Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not man."

Ephesians 6:7

Praying over first block and last block of home

 

 

 

As the first day progressed and we got beyond the opportunity it was time to lay the first block in one of the cornerstones.  Ken Johnson, team member, led the group in a prayer of the building of this home and what it will represent in its community, a godly home. After the prayer was completed the team went and found their spot for the first day of work.  There was only a few return folks who had worked together in the past.  The new folks fell in and learned quickly how to lay block, mix the mescla(mortar) and work as a team.  It is always a blessing to see how God puts teams together and brings them together as one to accomplish the purpose He had for them.  As the week progressed and the walls started going up so where the new found friendships.  As always the five days have come and gone and it is time to dedicate the home.  John Jones led the home dedication by sharing words in Spanish to Eva and her family.  Kaitlin Jones, John's daughter, presented the family with their bible.  At this time John asked everyone to join in the prayer of dedication over this home which God provided for Eva and Pedro.  We are only the hands and feet of Jesus. God opens the doors for opportunities to go and serve Him.  This group answered the call to go and build this family a home.  God is and will always be our great provider.  Without Him this home would not be a home.  Just a house.  We give God all the praise and glory for a job well done this week.  Matt presented Eva the key to her new home.  Eva unlocked the door, peeked inside, and slowly entered the threshold of her new home.  She also thanked God first for providing her and Pedro a home and for sending New Hope Baptist Church to help make it happen.  God is good all the time.  All the time God is good. 

 

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God- this is your true and proper worship."

Romans 12:1

What makes a week special?

 

What makes a week special?  Is it the completion of the home after a week of sweating and aching muscles from doing work we are not use to?  It is so much more than building a home.  What is so precious about teams who return year after year knowing they are going to be hot for five days, is their spirit. They all come with a heart felt spirit to serve God.  Scott Chalmers will never come back to Honduras without Chick-Filet.  Ray could not convince the Hondurans he was 78 years old.  They were overwhelmed by Ray's spirit of serving and how he was able to do all he did.  We had an awesome time sharing how Ray had worked hard all his life and was grateful to God for his ability to come to Honduras and serve here.  David Hart set back one day and enjoyed listening to John share with Pastor G about seminary and biblical teachings.  Ron, Matt, and Ken  enjoyed a game of marbles everyday during their lunch break.  Sarah and Vanessa enjoyed  some time of relaxation up on the mountain overlooking the lovely view of God's creation.  Kaitlyn learned how to wash her clothes Honduran style, good job Kaitlyn. Beth enjoyed the afternoon of bubbles, just simply blowing bubbles with the children.  This is what makes a week special.  The house will get built is what is always said at orientation.  But unless we take the time to blow bubbles and learn how to wash our clothes a new way what will we be able to take away from our mission trip.  Thank you church family for taking the time to smell the roses.  I feel you were all on Honduran time this week. 

 

"Be still and know that I am God."

Psalm 46:10

 

Please take the time this week to see God in what you are doing.  It may be blowing bubbles or listening to a friend.  Just remember to take the time. 

 

 

Feliz Cumpleanos Meida

 

One of our translators, Meidi celebrated her birthday with us.  Jose is in huge trouble, just saying.  Meidi got the true Honduran birthday blessing from Jose.  Eggs on her head.  Meidi was a very good sport more so than me.  I was blessed to be sitting next to Meidi and also got a little birthday wish.  We are grateful to have Meidi helping us when we need her.  Job well done Meidi, God bless you!!!

 

Psalm 139

Eye clinic and Worship - Two ways of sharing the gospel

 

 Beth Lockamy shared the first night the passion she had for people to have physical vision as well as spiritual vision.  When God open the door to bring an eye clinic she knew she was suppose to be here. Thank you Beth for accepting God's call to led the eye clinic. During the week, Beth Lockamy was able to take off three afternoons and take Sarah, Vanessa, Kaitlyn and John to do an eye clinic.  Beth had anticipated 30 patients a day.  Well God had other plans for Beth.  I believe Beth had 57 the first day, 70 the second day and 126 people the last day.  There was three salvations and numerous re dedications.  John helped the first day with the salvation station but then Pastor Darwin did it the last two days.  Pastor Darwin, age 22,  is an amazing example of following God's calling to serve.  He has worked hard for his God and for the church he serves.  We were blessed to work beside him this week. There was one day Beth had a older lady who she could not help.  Her cataracts were so bad.  There was not a pair of glasses strong enough to help her.  Meidi waited patiently for Beth to recompose before moving on to their next patient. Thank you Meidi for being sensitive to others needs.  Kaitlyn had the opportunity as well to help this lady by giving her a pair of sun glasses.  This dear sweet lady was very grateful for the ladies taking the time for her and to help her.  Such a humbling story.  They did their best and she was so appreciative of what they were able to do.  One lady was so excited to finally be able to see to read her bible.  She so longed to read her bible and a pair of eye glasses was keeping her from reading and learning God's word.  What keeps us from reading and learning God's word.  Hopefully it is not eye glasses.  Is it your work, alot of family activities, time on Internet or business at church?  Please do not let anything hinder you from your spiritual vision.  I pray as you read this today you will find time to be in God's word and praise His name for your physical vision as well as your spiritual vision.  Thank you Beth and team for allowing 253 people some hope in life. 

 

"And afterward,

I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

your old men will dream dreams,

your young men will see visions."

Joel 2:28

 

"Where there is no vision people will perish."

Proverbs 29:18a

John and Kaitlyn

 

It was not hard to get pictures of these two.  They were side by side the whole week.  Kaitlyn had been after her dad for a while to go to Honduras.  God finally opened the door for the two of them to come and share an amazing week together.  They even shared an evening devotional together one night.  It was a precious sight to watch them working for the Lord together.  The only time they were not together was when Kaitlyn was diligently giving the Hondurans their water every thirty minutes.  What a servant heart and Kaitlyn you truly learned from one of the best.  It was such a privilege to serve beside you two this week.  May God bless your memories you shared this week.

 

"Children are a gift from God."

Psalm 127:3

First Baptist Church Southern Pines College Group Sixth Trip

 

Welcome back our college friends from Southern Pines.  It is always awesome to have our young people come to Honduras to serve our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  The group arrived on a Sunday, May 19 eagerly wanting to serve the Lord.  When you come to Choluteca, Honduras to serve the Lord you have to realize upfront how nice and cool the weather is here.  NOT SO.  These young people left behind the comforts of home to sweat, sweat some more and work extremely hard in 105 degrees.  Five of the young people were returning for their last time through this group.  They knew coming in what was ahead of them and yet they returned to do it one last time. Why is this?  Why would you come where the weather is extremely warm and then bring some new comers to do the same thing and say you enjoy it?  The answer is very simple.  First of all it is their love for Jesus Christ and then their love for the people and children of Honduras.  Until you come here and experience what these young people and others have experienced through serving the Lord  here in Choluteca,Honduras you will not truly understand why they enjoying sweating and working so hard.  I commend these young people this week who worked so hard and can proudly say they built a family a home.  Eight hundred blocks and 50 bags of cement later this home was built by a college group from First Baptist Church of Southern Pines.  Unlike other trips, this week they had only a few Hondurans assisting them. We decided was a praise. The people were working which is a big praise.  Work is very hard to find down here. But the new comers learned very quickly how to mix the mescla(mortar) and lay the block.  Mike and I were very proud of these young people this week.  Those of you who are reading this today and you are a parent of one of these young people, job well done.  You all have awesome children who are becoming awesome young people. 

 

"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.  All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

2 Timothy 3:14-17

Learning and enjoying the culture of Honduras

 

While here the young people did more than build a home. Chais and Christian washed their laundry Honduran style on a daily basis.  Mary Allison a new comer allowed Meidi, our translator, to teach her how she does her laundry.  Meidi was very proud of how quickly Mary Allison learned how to wash her clothes.  Mary Allison commented how much cleaner her clothes were doing it the Honduran style.  Thank you Meidi for taking the time to teach Mary Allison a new method of doing her laundry.  At the job site, the ladies of the church worked diligently daily on preparing breakfast and lunch for the Honduran workers.  Kensly found herself learning how to make tortillas.  Job well done Kensly and they were very delicious. Caitlin learned how to shoot marbles by the little boys on the job site.  During the day team learned quickly what it meant to take a siesta.  In Honduras the folks take time to relax while they are working.  They are not driven to get the job done but work accordingly while enjoying the friends they are working amongst.  The North Americans were able to build new friendships while following the lead of the Hondurans.  God provided nice shade trees, I believe were Mango trees, for them to take a siesta and get to know each other as well as the Honduran people they were working with.  I overheard a couple of them say they did not miss their cell phones or Internet, facebook and other distractions in life which keeps them from building relationships by actually talking and sharing with one another.  We can learn so much from our young people.  Thank you for letting go of the world and all that is in it to see a little of heaven under those Mango trees this week.  God is good all the time and all the time God is good. 

Pastor Bryan shared one night about what it would feel like to be trapped in a mine and could not see out.  There is no light.  Out of John 3:9-16  Jesus came to save the world because we cannot do it by ourselves.  If we are not saved we are like a miner trapped in a mine.  We cannot get out.  We are trapped.  We are lost.  At one point in our lives we were like a miner, lost and trapped.  Someone came into our lives and lead us to Christ.  We were brought of the trap of Satan.  We were not lost any longer and we belong to Jesus Christ.  This week we need to take this gift out to the job site with our Christ-like attitude and go and share why we are here to share the love of Jesus Christ.  One of the team members, Zachary, a new Christian,  shared he was here to give back to these people because someone else was there for him and brought him out of the dark gloomy mine.  We are all responsible for giving back to God what has been given to us, Jesus Christ.  Thank you Pastor Bryan for God's word.  It applied so beautifully of the attitude of God's and your team of young people this week.

 

""How can this be?" Nicodemus asked.

You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven - the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake out of the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him."

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

 

John 3:9-16

 

 

A Ray of Sunshine

 

God bless this group of young people with a beautiful smile all week called Karen Griffin.  Thank you Karen for taking good care of the group this week.  She did it with a warm smile all day long.  Karen stayed busy delivering water and Gatorade to each team member and to the Honduran helpers.  In the evening she would come in and take the water bottles to the sink wash them out and Clorox them preparing them for the next day.  We appreciate your heart warm servant attitude Karen.  Job well done.  There was no one dehydrated this week.  God is good all the time all the time God is good. 

 

"His master replied,'Well done, good and faithful servant!"

Matthew 25:23

Abundantly giveing of others

 

The ministry of NCBM of Honduras was blessed abundantly in many areas this week.  Pastor Bryan sent out word he needed baby items and hygiene kit items to his church family, to the learning center and the community.  He was overwhelmed with gratitude as the items starting coming.  God blessed the ministry with 199 baby bags for the local hospital and 135 hygiene kits do be distributed as needed.  Thank you all you participated in these efforts. 

They were also blessed with numerous mangos on a daily basis.  There was mango juice, mangos to eat and even mango pie for some of the team. 

But most of all their was abundance of God's Word shared on a daily basis.  Each even one of the young people would lead us in a devotional followed up by their God moments for the day. 

 

Patrick's devotion was from Psalm 42:11 and Romans 8:28.  He shared how God revealed in His Word to Patrick, come to me for rest.  View this time here in Honduras for God to work in us through His Holy Spirit.  Patrick shared he was fearful and anxious about going to Honduras.  God was preparing him for this trip by relying on HIM for all these emotions.  "Nothing is impossible for God."  Do I get an AMEN?  This came from a young man who followed God's calling to come to Honduras and allow God to use him however He needed.

 

Mary Allison shared, "Why are we here?" "What does it mean to serve?"  Counting others above ourselves and following Jesus lead on how to be a true servant. We need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds through reading God's word.  God calls us to be different.  We do not need to blend in with the world.  "Faith expresses itself in obedience."  Chais shared to turn away from whatever we are doing to be in the presence of God.  We need to strive to be more like Christ.

 

Caroline shared about being Profiled with the Obsessed.  We are too comfortable in our own world.  Came to Honduras where she was not comfortable.  We are also to be servants of God and givers. We are to be rooted as Christians in God's word and through this will be deeds and actions. If we have faith in God we will produce deeds. 

 

Kensley's topic was on worry.  Worry is a sin and when we are in God's word and pumped up in God we know and feel the peace which only comes from God. 

 

Zachary and Eva shared God's word entitled "What is in it for me?"

 This past week we all worked as a team knowing we were all doing for God, not for ourselves or to get paid for such difficult labor.  It was all in the name of Jesus.  We need to desire this passion for Jesus on a daily basis.  We need to desire this passion back home in Moore County just like we did here.  They shared a quote from My Uptmost for His Highest, "Never tolerate, because of sympathy for yourself or for others, any practice that is not in keeping with a holy God.  Holiness means absolute purity of your walk before God, the words coming from your mouth, and every thought in your mind - placing every detail of your life under the scrutiny of God Himself.  Holiness is not simply what God gives me, but what God has given me that is being exhibited in my life."

On Saturday morning Caitlin shared how we are to be different and be like Jesus in our daily lives.  What keeps us from being like him?  What keeps us out of his word?  What do we put before HIM?  We can put even our own families before serving God.   When we are called to serve God we take up our cross and follow HIM.  

Chais shared on their last morning how we need to get excited for Jesus.  "The Son is the image of the invisible God. the firstborn of all creation.  For in him all things were created, things in Heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all things have been created though HIM and for HIM." Colossians 1:15-16 

Does this not get you excited to hear God's word shared through our young people.  Our young people are our future.  Everyday we were blessed abundantly be God's word in each and every life of these young people.  Even the ones who did not do a devotional shared how amazingly God worked in their lives.  People this is something to get excited about.  Our young people on fire for Jesus Christ.  Praise the Lord for all blessings in HIS name. 

Below I am going to list some of the scripture shared by our young people this week during their devotional.  Please take the time to look them up and read them in your quiet time and meditate on God's word for your life.
Romans 8:28
Psalm 42:11
Colossians 3:23
Philippians 2
Romans 12:1-2
Luke 6:32-36
Isaiah 42:8
Matthew 5:16
Matthew 13:44
John 15:8
James 2:14-26
Psalm 1:3
Philippians 4:6-7
Matthew 6:25, Matthew 13:22
2 Corinthians 4:17
Luke 8:50
John 14:27
2 Corinthians 4:17
Isaiah 41:10
Acts 16:9-10
I Corinthians 1:3-4
Isiah 26:12
John 6:27
Luke 18:22

All good things must come to an end

 

On day number five all the hard work winds down and the day becomes bittersweet as the floor goes down and the roof goes up.  The team worked once again extremely hard to get the floor just right and the roof completed.  There was alot of North American gentlemen mixing mortar this week along with their brothers of Honduras.  They built relationships each will cherish forever.  The ladies placed the floor beautifully in place as the mortar came up the four steps of the home.  Wow what an amazing and humbling sight.  Mary Allison,Kelsy, Eva, Kensly, Caitlin, Catherine and Caroline worked together to get the floor in place while Christian, Zachary, Patrick and Chais mixed and carried the mortar. We were all so very proud of each and every one of them.  Never doubt what you can do when you put God in charge.  Well done good and faithful servant. 

At the end of the day we gathered around with the family and dedicated the home with a key, bible and a prayer blanket made by one of the church members.  They laid hands on the house as Pastor G prayed a prayer of commitment to God first and then to each other.  What a beautiful way to end such a beautiful week!!!

 

"I can do all things through Jesus Christ who gives me the strength."

Philippians 4:13 

Two families serving together

 

I truly encourage all of you reading this to make an international mission trip with your family as Pastor Bryan and his son Patrick, Barry and his daughter Kensley did this year.  It was beautiful watching them together sharing in the kingdom work.  The joy they all received by being together serving God.  The smiles and laughter they shared with each other.  Working side by side on such inspiring memories.  I treasure seeing families come through this ministry together working and building relationships with each through the name of  Jesus.  I am very humbled and honored to be a small part of this happening.  Thank you my God for all things.

AMEN

 

"Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Ephesians 5:20