Four Friends Come Together

God knew a long time ago about these four friends coming together to bless themselves as well as Pastor Carlos with Sunday School Classrooms.  They are from three different churches and two different states.  Now that there is a God moment in itself.  We shared several times throughout the week how big our God is to put a team together from four different backgrounds to do His kingdom work.  They came last year on the exact same week to move the ministry to Mt. Horeb, Pavana.  They worked so well together we decided to do this team again.  They brought on a new friend, Bob this year who shared how blessed he was to be included in this special event.  Derek, team leader along with Rodd and Joel simply love being in Honduras working beside their brothers in Christ.  They come to bless but leave more blessed each time.  They joined forces each morning to get their coffee, breakfast and sandwiches prepared.  They were up ready to start their day at 5:00 am and left out at 6:30 each morning to journey up the rocky roads which actually in several places were not a road at all.  They never once complained about the task placed before them and praise the Lord for His beauty as they traveled each and every day.

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:12

Start the Journey

The four friends worked hard each morning loading and unloading the Kia truck.  They enjoyed the rising of the sun each morning as they prepared to get their day started.   They gathered in a circle to start their day with the Lord and give Him their day. They asked for guidance on what He had prepared for them each day.  Equip us with your will not ours dear Lord they always prayed before hitting the rough terrain ahead of them.  They always gave God all the praise and honor for each and every step along the way.

Let the journey begin.  Each day they traveled about thirty minutes before turning down this dirt road to head up the mountains to Las Uvas.  This mountain is a little piece of heaven once you arrive.  They traveled one hour and fifteen minutes to get eight miles behind them.  Once they arrived to Las Uvas they were grateful for safe travels and the beauty of God's creation.  The mountain peak in the picture above is where these gentlemen traveled to daily, to the very top of this little mountain peak.  They were blessed daily with one of the boys from the campus to go along and work with them.  Mike also helped them several days.  As the week started to unfold on the first day, the team was not sure they would complete the task God had called them to do.  There was several conversations about all the work which needed to get accomplished in five days.  Rodd, team members eyes got large when he heard there were 1200 blocks instead of 800 blocks to build these  SS Classrooms.

Little did they know what God was going to do through each one of His willing and able servants.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Arrival to Our Little Piece of Heaven

The team arrived daily to gather inside the church to pray again with their brothers and sisters of Las Uvas.  Several days one of our own guys would pray.  Wuilmer looks anxiously to pray unto the Lord for his day of work.  What a blessing to have young men working for North Carolina Baptist Men who are eager to pray to their Heavenly Father.  What an example for all of us to learn from our Honduran brothers.  They always teach Mike and I many lessons each and every day and the most precious part of this is they do not even know they are doing it.  They live out their life daily for the Lord.

How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity!

Psalm 133:1

The Four Men Were Blessed

After prayers they headed out the front door of the church to start their first day.  They were surprisingly blessed with five Hondurans who helped them unload the truck and whatever needed to be done.  Bertie, Tony, Danielle, Johnny and Juan were God moments all week for our four gentlemen.  Mike and one of our staff came several days to assist these men work towards their goal of building Pastor Carlos Sunday School classrooms.  Mike and Joel worked on the cornerstones along with help from Rodd, Wuilmer, Pastor Carlos and Bob.  Wuilmer stood back and learned from the best on how to lay out the four corners of this structure. 

The team leader Derek along with Bob and Tony unloaded the boards from the Kia.  Everyone worked very hard towards the first block of the day.  One of our staff members cousin was there to help as well.  God had answered many prayers on this first day which included plenty of help and not too much help, just enough.

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Matthew 7:7

Making Disciples

Pastor Carlos has five young men working on the ministry campus.  They are all around 23 to 24 years old.  One being his own son.  The young man in the above picture is Wuilmer who by far is a godly young man. He loves to serve others and is always eager to learn all he can.  We gather in a circle to pray he looks at me with eyes saying please let me pray today.  He studies God's word and goes to visit his sick mother who has cancer and reads his bible to her because unlike her son she does not know the Lord.  He prays for his mother's salvation which is most important for her eternal life.

Pastor Carlos was discipling  Wuilmer on the job site teaching him another trade for his future.  Wuilmer listened carefully and did exactly how he was as taught.  Pastor Carlos turned him loose to lay blocks after he got through with the assisting of the four corners.  Wuilmer worked diligently on his wall laying each block ever so carefully and produced a beautiful back wall on the Sunday School Classrooms.  After a long day of laying block he goes back to the mission camp to do his shift as a security guard.  Wuilmer is the proud father of the rock wilder on the ministry campus, Oso.  The way this dog loves Wuilmer radiates who Wuilmer truly is a godly young man. He assists Sunovia in the kitchen as needed.  Wuilmer is an example of a young man with a servant's heart.  We are proud to have him on staff here and appreciate all he does for the Lord first and then for the ministry at Mt. Horeb.  Thank you Wuilmer.

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,
Matthew 28:19 

Thirty Five Year Member

The team was busy at work as I sat back taking my pictures and taking in the morning activities.  I looked over to the side road behind the church as I watched an older gentleman come around the corner.  He walked up to the front of the church and enter the construction site.  Pastor Carlos immediately stopped working and came over to this gentleman and introduced him to Mike, Joel, Rodd, Bob and team leader Derek,  This man was the first member of this Baptist Church up in Las Uvas.   I would feel honored to introduce Neives.  He shook everyone's hand and watched everyone busy at work on the next stage of his church family.  He has been up on this mountain is entire life and watched the church grow into 60 plus children and 40 adults.  He has watched generations come through this church of multiple families. As we got to the point of praying over the first block, Pastor Carlos asked Neives to join him and place his hand over the top of the first block .  What an honor for all of us to meet such a humble godly man of  this church and this community.

When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them. Acts 15:4

Prayers Raised Up

Team member Rodd opened up the first day with a prayer over the first block.  He have our Lord and Savior all the praise and honor as he lifted the Lord's name on high.  Pastor Carlos and Neives bent down over the block with their hands laying upon this concrete block symbolizing the new beginning for these beautiful children of Las Uvas.  Each member of the North American team and Hondurans laid a hand on someone's shoulder to connect this prayer in unity.  The entire week was week of unity while each of these gentlemen worked side by side in the name of Jesus.  What a testimony unto our Lord where they could hear Rodd's prayer from the mountain tops and the surrounding homes.  If they did not know about Jesus they heard it this particular morning. 

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people.

Ephesians 6:18

Learning From Each Other

The team this week all learned from each other in all aspects of this ministry.  Mike learned quickly Pastor Carlos wanted this project done in an expertise manner.  I got tickled several times where Mike had done something and Pastor Carlos came behind him very gingerly moving a block just a little and looking at Mike with his humble smile.  Manuel learned a lot this week too from his father, Pastor Carlos as well from his team members.  Bob stood back and learned a lot of tricks from Joel who has built three other Sunday School Classrooms in his many visits to Honduras.  Bob was a quick learner and a hard worker.  The two heifers of the team sharing their thoughts on the ministry project God has placed before them.  Everyone spent time sharing about their projects or simply sharing about life in general. There was some relationships formed this week in many ways.  Some relationships were strengthened as well with Mike and Rodd working and standing with hands on their hips and the scratching of their hands as they try to figure out a way to get a task complete.  What an amazing group of men this week.  They were small in number but powerful in strength of the Holy Spirit.  These guys questioned this project getting complete and God exceeded all their expectations.  Team leader Derek was really exhausted one day and did not know how he was going to continue throughout the day.  The evening during God moments Derek shared how God gave him the energy he needed to do what he was called to do come and serve beside Pastor Carlos and his church community.  The smile Pastor Carlos demonstrated throughout the week helped the team trudge along laying all 1200 blocks.

Philippians 4:13

Hours became a day of work completed, days became a week of a completed project.  These four gentlemen along with Mike, Pastor Carlos and one staff member laid the 1200 blocks, placed four windows and two doors into place to make this structure the future of Los Uvas.  Team member Joel shared one evening how every child in the community will go by this facility knowing it is for the children and knowing they could go learn all about Jesus on Sunday and during the week as well.  These guys were so blessed with the Honduran help who mixed and delivered mortar all week for their project.  On the last day they knew how valuable those helpers were when two of them did not get to come help them.   The Hondurans mixed the mortar for the floor while the North Americans carried the buckets to Pastor Carlos to smooth out the floor.  They did an outstanding job and were still able to function normally afterwards.  God gave them all they needed spiritually and physically to finish their task.

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Philippians 1:6

Breaking Bread Together Daily

The boys only made sandwiches one day.  After that they were blessed daily with numerous Honduran cuisines.  One day was bean soup, fried chicken with rice, chicken soup, fried fish and on the last day after church they surprised us with postulates.  The ladies of the church fed everyone plus all the children.  There was over 200 postulates prepared on Sunday morning.  Jesus fed the multitudes  and there was plenty left over.  Pastor Carlos was blessed this week with his lovely wife, Suamayda who helped cook daily for the team.  There was laughter flowing out of this kitchen each and every day. These ladies played a big part in serving the Lord this week through their gift of cooking.  Tablecloths laced the plastic table and the men sat down daily to a nice hot meal provided with the most unbelievable hospitality.  I got the privilege one day to help make up the chismo and these sweet ladies found out very quickly I understood their Spanish when I responded to something they were saying about how we cook in North America.  We all laughed and once again started chopping and cooking and enjoying fellowship together.   It is a blessing for me now after seven years to be able to share and talk with the ladies better. Thank you God for this gift you have given me over the last seven years.  They better understand my Spanglish. 

God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.

1 Corinthians 12:6

Coffee Break

The team enjoyed delicious meals then as the afternoon came around the ladies delivered fresh brewed Honduran coffee with a lot of sugar.  It was so delicious.  They were also provided pastries to go along with their coffee.  The team really worked very hard but were also blessed with many blessings of hospitality.  They shared how blessed they were with the numerous ways of the Honduran people displaying love and compassion.  Their gratitude to the North Americans was abundantly and sacrificially beautiful.  Once again we can learn how to give sacrificially unto others as Jesus has taught us to do.  Somehow we always leave more blessed than we every imagine.

Many Different Jobs

There is so many jobs in building anything down here.  Rodd and Joel were filling in the channels all the way around the four walls with the help of Manuel.  Derek was cutting boards to pour the corners.  Bob and Rudy's cousin were collecting rocks to go down into the channels to fill in the holes.  Mike and Rodd were cutting more block towards the completion of the project.  I even got out there one day and helped Mike with the cleaning out of the cut blocks.  These are just a few of extra jobs which go along with building a structure here in Honduras.  Everyone pitched in to do what it took to get the job completed.  Well done good and faithful servants.

"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

Matthew 25:23

Fellowship Time

Each evening after another delicious meal the guys cleaned up the kitchen and headed out to the porch for devotionals and God moments.  Derek started out the first night challenging his friends with a positive word from the Holy Bible, Ezra 10:4.  As the week came to an end Derek reflected back on this verse and shared how God provided all their needs all week, protected them and no one got hurt seriously anyway.  God provides our courage and led us to do it this week.  The part in the scripture where it reads we will be with you is where the community came forward and helped them accomplish the task God set them out to do.  Each evening the guys led amazing devotions.  Bob shared out of Mark 11:24.  He discussed Francis Chan's book Crazy Love about lukewarm Christians.  God wants an intimate relationship with us.  And how we need to seek first the kingdom of God and don't be anxious about life.  We as well as the Hondurans all have same needs, we need to feed our families, we need to provide work for our families and we need to provide a place to live for our families.  Bob shared the Hondurans truly understand what the kingdom of God means and what it represents.  We can learn from them Bob shared. 

Finally Joel shared when was the last time someone ask you about your life in Christ?  When was the last time you invited someone to church with you?  There are two items of witnessing for Christ, one is to be able to share your testimony.  Everyone has a testimony if they are believers in Christ.  Number two pray for opportunities to share the gospel with someone. These are great thoughts as Christians we need to heed.  As Christians we should be bold in our witness about the one who gave his life for us.  Who died a brutal death for a bunch of sinners.  We need to shout it to the mountain tops how awesome our Lord and Savior truly is in our lives.  All God's people shouted AMEN.

Rise up; this matter is in your hands. We will support you, so take courage and do it."

Ezra 10:4

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Mark 11;24

Our Last Day of Construction

The team traveled once again at daybreak to that mountain peak called Las Uvas.  Each day was journey, a long bumpy journey for these gentlemen but not once did they ever complain.  Because the benefits daily upon arriving was worth the one and half hour ride one way to serve the Lord beside Pastor Carlos and his church family.  The contentment the team experienced daily for themselves as well in the eyes of Pastor Carlos words cannot express.  These four gentlemen by being obedient to God's calling not to only come once this year but to commit to twice will be forever blessed.  The beauty of God's creation on a daily basis along is priceless.  Money cannot buy what these gentlemen experienced this week.  We are forever grateful for their willingness to come and participate in a week long God moment.

As always upon arriving we gathered inside the church to pray up our day as the excitement was escalating into anticipation of the completion of these Sunday School Classrooms. We were all praying for God's will to be done today as we prepared to give it our all upon completing the task God sent each of them here to do, build relationships and Sunday School Classrooms.  This is just what they did.  Thank you God for all your many blessings this week as we traveled each day to and from with your angels around the two vehicles all the way.  Thank you for the energy we found each day to do the work with such a small team.  Thank you God for all the Hondurans who helped and cooked for us. We are forever grateful. Derek shared Ezra 10:4 on the first night not knowing what God had in store for each of them.

Rise up; this matter is in your hands. We will support you, so take courage and do it."

Ezra 10:4

Can We Do It?

Yes we can and we did.  These guys came in to put up a roof and a floor for the Iglesias Bautista Conbah Vid Verdanera Las Uvas on the last day.  They worked so hard.  There were several Hondurans who did not get to come to help.  This did not discourage these four gentlemen.  They pushed hard and did not give up until it was completed.  Mike and Rodd got up on the roof while Derek, Bob and Joel fed the tin to them.  They went through many obstacles to get the tin to its final destination the roof.  They actually had to get rid of some rocks to open a path to get the tin to the backside of the structure.  This never slowed them down.  The only thing which slowed them down was their delicious fish plate for lunch.  They got their tummies full and it was hard cranking back up again.  But they did and found if the floor was going to be completed on this day they were the ones carrying the five gallon buckets of concrete mixture to Pastor Carlos for the floor to be done.  Wow and they did just this.  Bucket after bucket they hauled down the hill to the bottom to pour their buckets of mixture into the foundation.  These four men along with Mike, Manuel, the three guys mixing the concrete for the floor and Pastor Carlos got the job done to completion.  It was breathtaking and humbling to see what God can do with us if we only allow Him to use us.  He will give us all the strength, perseverance , endurance and grace if we just trust and faith in our Father, our Heavenly Father.  There is not anything too big for HIM. 

Our Meida

We never say it enough of how much we appreciate all Meida does for the ministry at North Carolina Baptist Men.  She is so much more than a translator.  She prepares for her time to share God's word .  She blesses others by serving them.  All the communities we go to love her and enjoy her.  There is one community we go to and when we leave Meida is always given a little gift of some sort.  Last time she went home with chicken.  The ladies just randomly gave it to her.  She is very creative in going away with some type of root from plants to plant at home to help with sickness or even to eat at later times once the plant grows into maturity.  She is always protecting the North Americans even if they do not realize it.  Meida is attentive to all needs of everyone except herself.   She is selfless and takes amazing care of her three children as a single mom as well as help us whenever we ask.  Thank you God for sending Meida our way. We are forever blessed because of this gift, Meida.

Godly Family

We are also blessed with Pastor Carlos as he walks beside Mike weekly making decisions for the ministry at Mt. Horeb.  This week he was blessed to have his son, Manuel, helping build the Sunday School Classrooms.  He was doubly blessed to have his lovely wife, Siumada.  She helped cooked all the delicious lunches the team had this week.  It was special to have their to be apart of what her husband does on a weekly basis for the kingdom work.  Pastor Carlos was proud this week of the support his family showed in a community two hours away from their own home town and they were there daily to see all this come to reality.  Thank you God for sending Pastor Carlos to us as he does so much for the ministry at Mt. Horeb Baptist Camp.

But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

Joshua 24:15

Rodd Brought the Message

Rodd a true servant of the Lord was humbled to be able to bring the message for Ingelisa Buastia Conbah Vid Verdadera Las Uvas.  The church started filling up as folks came from all around this mountain peak.  They walked from a few feet to miles to come to church.  Rodd and Meida gathered one more time to discuss the sermon before they made their way to the pulpit.  Pastor Carlos gets up there and welcomes everyone. Pastor Carlos read from Genesis 12:1-9. As Abram did, Pastor Carlos adventured out to this place and God provided him and blessed him with this church family.  He continued to bless him after many years of praying for these Sunday School Classrooms.  Pstor Carlos left his hometown to ministry to these people as Abram did.  He has been blessed many times over for making the journey up those bumpy roads on his motorcycle two to three times a week to shepherd his flocks.   Pastor Carlos thanked everyone who participated in the completion of the Sunday School Classrooms.  It could not have been done without each of us working together as a team.

We enjoyed time of singing several familiar hymns, "When the Roll is Called Up Yonder" and "How Great Thou Art" to name a couple.  There is not a language barrier when you are praising the Lord.  Johnny, one of the workers sang a special with the accompany of the piano also played by Johnny. 

Rodd stepped up to present God's word.  Bob shared how he watched Rodd all week spend time preparing for this moment.  Rodd had prepared prior to coming but he was committed to His Lord to give Him his very best.  What a testimony for all of us.  How much time do we spend preparing to share God's Word with others.  How much time in prayer do we spend preparing to share God's Word with others.  Rodd's topic was "Heart Condition". Rodd shared he will be reading several different scriptures to make it very clear this is all coming from God and not Rodd.  He shared the title of his sermon to be "Righteous through Faith".  Rodd started by saying without Christ in our hearts we are simply lost.  If you do not have Jesus Christ in your heart then our righteousness becomes a heart problem. What we do daily affects our heart condition in Christ.  In Romans 3:9-12 it says we are all sinners.  Do we look at people differently?  Do we think we as Christians are better than others even other Christian?  Romans 1:18-20, we are all a sinful humanity.  If we say we are Chrsitians and believe His Word there is not any excuse for living in sin.  God's Word is never changing.  We are not perfect, not one of us.  We need to humble ourselves before God daily and confess our sins.  We need to confess out of our hearts to the Lord and get our hearts right with HIM. If we do not do this our hearts will not be right with God.  What sins or idols in our lives keep us from giving our whole being to Christ Jesus?  What we say, how we act and who we spend time with will place us under God's judgement.  Are we as Christians okay with the sins in our lives?  We will all be judged one day by our Creator.  We will stand before Him and be accountable for all our actions.  This comes out of John 3:18-23.  Do we believe His Word, His Grace and if we do what light is within us that others may see.  Does our light shine brightly or dimly for others?  Our lights need to glow brightly so others can see God's kingdom work taking place in our lives. Rodd proceeded to thank everyone who made this week possible.  The sacrifice made by so many to serve the Lord away from their families.  As you move forward with your new SS Classroom facility you will be shining light in this community. So where is your heart taking you today.  In Proverbs 4:23 it shares to guard your heats.  God sees it all.  So what do others see, the worlds gain or God's gain for the kingdom.  Once more give your entire being to Jesus Christ and to God be all the glory.

Thank you Rodd in being bold with every word which came from the heart of God.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--

Ephesians 2:8-9

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
John 3:18

An Amazing Dedication Service

Joel led the next stage of the dedication.  He shared how Jesus gathered his disciples and humbly washed each of their feet as a service unto God.  Today we are going to wash the feet of Pastor Carlos as a representation of the entire church.  As Joel and Bob washed and dried his feet Meida read

Derek and Meida talked to Pastor Carlos on how the rest of the morning was going to unfold.  This was an unique dedication where we did it after woship service on Sunday morning.  Derek thanked the church family for their humble and most generous hospitality. You worked besides us all week mixing the mortar endlessly without complaint.  You all did it with smiles on your faces.  The ladies were joyously preparing our lunch and coffee on a daily basis.  The way you had all this orchestrated was impressive within itself.  You all worked together as a church family which took you all away from what you would do daily to provide all our needs.  We will be forever grateful for your generosity. Derek read Ezra 10:4 to the congregation for the first time but we all heard it on the first night and was in all of how powerful this scripture truly was.  The task set before us was to take courage and do it and this is what we did with all your help.  This big task needed support and this church family came forward to support us to the very end.  This building is for our Lord because it is an extension of this church building. This is where all this children and many more for years to come will come here and learn about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Derek read Mark 9:36-37, "Let the little ones come to me for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven."  Whoever will be teaching these little ones as they grow into adults will receive them just as Jesus received them.

Joel led the next stage of the dedication.  He shared how Jesus gathered his disciples and humbly washed each of their feet as a service unto God.  Today we are going to wash the feet of Pastor Carlos as a representation of the entire church.  As Joel and Bob washed and dried his feet Meida read

Bob led the next stage of dedication.  He asked in Spanish if all the children would come down to the front and sing with them Jesus Loves Me.  They all took off to the front of the church with joy in their hearts to be included in this special service.  They all are use to singing and reciting bible verses.  It is something practiced in all churches here in Honduras.  Rodd commented how was Bob found out he was in charge of the music which they did sing it all in Spanish he walked around the next two days with a piece of paper in his hand.  Bob had worked diligently on being able to speak in Spanish to the congregation and what an amazing job you did Bob.  Thank you for putting your all being into your part of this service.  The three gentlemen learned how to sing this song in Spanish in one evening and did an outstanding job I must say.

The final and most exciting stage of this dedication is where the children were asked to go outside to the classrooms.  The two keys were given to each Sunday School teacher.  The children then entered into the classrooms and placed their hands on the walls as Joel prayed the final prayer and prayer of dedication to Las Uvas' Sunday School Classrooms.  What a beautiful ending to a beautiful week.  These four men left here with humble hearts of how truly big our God is.  They represent if you are willing God can do anything with anyone if only your hearts are willing to let go and let HIM,  These gentlemen's heart conditions were in check this week for they were willing to let God use them beyond anything they could truly imagine.

How Firm a Foundation

Above were some very excited young men.  One week prior to the team arriving to build Pastor Carlos' Sunday School Classrooms the entire staff of Mount Horeb minus one security guard went to Las Uvas for three days to complete the foundation.  North American, Joel, stay after his team went home to help build the Sunday School Classrooms.  He did not know he was going to be so blessed with these gentlemen for three days.  Joel transported them each day up about one and half hours into the beautiful mountains of Las Uvas.  Arnold, one of our staff members had not ever been out of Pavana.  So he was excited to go help his boss, Pastor Carlos and to go somewhere new.  Pastor Carlos disciples all these guys daily on Mt. Horeb.  Now in return they go and help him lay out the foundation for the future Sunday School Classrooms. 

They all worked hard and enjoyed the ride daily with laughter throughout the Kia.  Joel shared how blessed he was to be a part of an event which exemplifies dedication to the Lord and the their earthly boss, Pastor Carlos.  Pastor Carlos is training these guys to be strong godly men at work and daily living.  They have requested a bible study referred by another Honduran pastor to study and learn more about their Lord.  God is providing Pastor Carlos the skill to train them spiritually, physically, emotionally and mentally.  He has a lot of sweat equity in these boys and they are all living in out in their daily lives.  Thank you God for such an amazing three days in your Name and for our friend Joel to be blessed beyond words.  God is good all the time and all the time God is good.

First Baptist Raleigh Returns

The team arrived on a Thursday as our first team of the year.  They were told their travel time to El Quiquistal Agua Caliente Linaca would be one hour and a half.  They came with open hearts and minds to what God had called them to do, build Gorge, his lovely wife, Nery and their son Jose, age 10 a home.  This family was renting in Choluteca an apartment which had them away from their family.  Mike and Ginger met Gorge two years ago at a police check point.  He was questioning what we were doing and where we were going.  He asked who we worked for and what was the nature of our ministry.  Mike explained to Gorge we work for North Carolina Baptist Men building homes, churches, Sunday School classrooms, dental and medical clinic but all teams were evangelism teams.  So one time we came through Gorge's police check point he asked could we build him a home.  Mike shared there were many others ahead of him.  Please pray with us and one day we will build you a home. 

One day we were coming through and we said can you take us to where you want to build your home.  So off we go and we traveled through some beautiful mountains on treacherous  rocky roads.  When we finally arrived what a beautiful sight.  Gorge's property was nestled in a cove waiting for us to build a home.  We told Gorge he would get a home in 2017.  But he had to get his foundation completed before we would commit.  He said he would do just that.

So as the team arrived up in El Quiquistal Agua Caliente Linaca they found their long ride turned out to be a little piece of heaven.  They introduced themselves and a local pastor open the week up in prayer.  Gorge was not able to be there until Day Four of the construction but he made sure there was plenty of family there to help get his home built.

Thank you First Baptist Church Raleigh for being the willing servants to make Gorge, Nery and Jose's prayers become a reality.

Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.
For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house.
For every house is built by some man; but he that built all things is God.

Hebrew 3:1-4

Prayer, Work and Fellowship

The team broke to find the many jobs they all knew to well, except for their new friend Brad.  Brad was a first timer to Honduras but shared numerous times with Mike how humbled he was to be here and to serve such beautiful people.  He learned early on he was not coming to bless them they were going to bless him tremendously.  So as his week unfolded from day one when they prayed over the first block Brad learned so much from our Honduran family and friends.  Dennis who has come for many years has been working on his Spanish each year upon returning home. In the last couple of years Dennis has gotten quiet well with the language.  So team leader Steve asked Dennis would he lead the prayer over the first block.  Dennis of course said he would be humbled to do such a task.  Dennis decided to pray the prayer in Spanish and wow what an amazing job.  It does our hearts good when team members come and embrace the culture and the language of the people of Honduras.  Thank you Dennis for taking the time while back home teaching yourself the Spanish language so you can better get to know the people and engage with in depth conversations which you will treasure for a life time.  How amazing our God is to allow us to see what true joy can be found in work on our part and having an open heart and mind to what HE wants us to do.  Our God as Joel shared is so big if we would allow HIM to be our God.  All God's people shouted AMEN!!!!

God moments on the first night were Joel sharing about the beauty of God's creation as he drove out to the job site. Team leader, Steve,  was in awe of the simplicity of the community and how it was refreshing to be away from the hustle and bustle of home.  Tom shared how the sitting was unfiltered and how all these things around us God had created for us.  How we need to take the time from our busy lives and take in the beauty not only in Honduras but back in North Carolina.

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.

1 Corinthians 15:58