Welcome Forest Lake Baptist Church

God blesses us every other year with an amazing godly group of people who love their Lord.  Team leader, Bobby, brings a group here to go door to door evangelizing and VBS.  I would like to introduce to you by name some humble godly folks who put the Lord before themselves, who cover themselves in prayer and who truly know and live out God's Word daily.  There genuineness is too genuine not to be lived out on a daily basis.  The Word of God flows off their lips from memory but you can see it in their hearts and actions as well.  Welcome to Honduras Team leader, Bobby, his brother in law, Harry, Chad, a new team member to Honduras, Pastor Wayne who always comes with Bobby and his son, Richard who came for the first time last year who brought along his lovely bride, Holly, also we have two more couples with us this week, Darren who always comes with Bobby brought his lovely bride Rebecca who has been many years ago and is so happy to be back serving beside Darren in Honduras and welcome our first time couple Brad and Julie to Honduras.  This team of team came equipped to share the gospel wherever the Lord was planning on sending them.  Mike and shared before they arrived we are fixing to go into a revival this week and join me as I share about this amazing week God has placed in front of us.

For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.
2 Corinthians 6:2

Three Godly Couples

As I shared earlier, we want to welcome Brad and Julie who brought so many gifts and talents to this evangelism team.  First of all Julie was nervous about coming but after preparing her devotional for one  morning she realized God has this.  Julie shared how we serve a living God.  What would it be like to walk with Jesus while He was on this earth?  Would we follow Him or crucify Him?  What do we do today?  God is always there waiting on us.  He is there.  Are we there with Him?  Do we pray like we should.  He thinks about us all the time but do we think about Him like we should.  He loves so much more than we can ever imagine. Brad shared how God took him right on out of his comfort zone one day out going door to door.  He shared all week it came time to share the plan of salavation with someone and he would back off  to let Pastor Wayne or Bobby do it. Well this one visit they were not around and so Brad got to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with someone who because of Brad's boldness and confidence in his Lord this person came to Jesus Christ.  Halleiugh and praise the Lord for this one new sister in Christ.  Thank you Brad for taking the plunge and being obedient to what God had called you to do this week, bring the lost to Christ.  Brad's devotional was spot on for what happened to him the very next day.  Brad's shared out of 2 Corinthians 12:7-10,

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

By Brad allowing God to take his weaknesses God was allowed to use Brad to glorify His Kingdom here on here.  Brad shared he will get his way regardless of what we think we should do.

Julie made a special friend named Precious who was special needs and was shunned by her peers but with Julie's beautiful and warm smile she was able to befriend Precious and let her know she was loved by Jesus too. 

Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst?

1 Corinthians 3:16

Welcome back Richard to Honduras.  This year he was so excited to bring his lovely bride Holly for her first visit to Honduras.  Holly is forever grateful she was obedient to God's calling to come serve beside Richard.  Holly shared God was dealing with me about coming here.  She gave God all the excuses not to come.  First the trip was planned for September and she was just starting up her kindergarten class for the year and she did not want to leave her babies.  But then the trip got moved up to October so she said well maybe I can go.  She said she did not want to be the only woman on the team and then Julie and Rebecca came on board.  Holly was running out of excuses of why she could not come to Honduras.  During her devotional she shared how sad it would have been if she had not come and missed out on all these many blessings God placed before her this week. Holly with her sweet soft voice shared with us "If God tells us to do something then we better just do it and do it with all our heart."  Satan will give us many excuses not to do anything the Lord has called us to go and to.  Holly's scripture reference for her devotional was

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

Holly was touched especially by being a teacher how the parents struggle to get their children an education down here.  After sixth grade the children have to pay to continue their education.  Holly shared how there was one family who they visited and the lady had cancer, the lady was Christian but the rest of her family were not Christians. The lady shared with Holly she had faith God will heal her body from the cancer.  I believe if I am correct Holly shared the daughter in law had a stoke yesterday and in saying all this they all were joyful despite their hardships.  The mother is working two jobs for her daughter to go to school.  So with all they have going on in this home physically they are still working hard as a family to provide for their children to continue their education. Saturday morning before their last day going door to door it was Richard's turn to do devotions.  His topic was on fear.  He shared fear is sin.  Richard has been fighting God for over twenty years about becoming a pastor.  He turned God away so many times because of fear and so many  other reasons.  Richard became a elementary education school teacher a few years back and he had been there about two months when he got real sick and had to walk away from his classroom.  He loved his children and his job but he could no longer work as a teacher.  During this trial in his life God once again said I need you to be a pastor and follow me.  Richard shared once he said yes to God he went home that evening to the best night of sleep he had in many years.  Others fear him coming to Honduras the plane ride and other reasons.  Richard made a very profound statement in saying if I go today I know where I am going, home to be with my Savior.  How many of us look at life this way?  If we are true followers of Christ and not of this world we will know this is just a short journey we are on and our eternal home is awaiting us. 

For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.

Isaiah 41:13

Richard was humbled by the greetings they received by being complete strangers in this country and they were welcomed with open arms.  As we were walking door to door others would come running asking if they could hear the good news of Jesus Christ and asked for prayers for their families.  Richard shared how back home people do not want to be bothered with hearing about the greatest gift of all, Jesus Christ.  There was a lot of visits to Pulperia and how they were generous and gave us physical water and in return we gave them the living water.

but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

John 4:14

We want to welcome back Darren and this time he was blessed to bring his lovely wife Rebecca.  Years ago Rebecca came with him before having their three children.  But since their children are much older now they were able to return together to serve their Lord.  Rebecca shared how God placed a fourteen and a half year old named Gracie into her life on the first day.  She shared how she was missing her children but God placing Gracie in her life let her know her fourteen and a half year old Gracie back home was just fine.  God told Rebecca I have got this now go and serve me with trust, faith and gladness.  She shared confrontation with many people was not her strong hold.  But her forte was a lot of one on one which is what God has given her this week.  One of the church members who went out with her daily, Florencia, would always welcome her each day with a huge hug.  This was encouraging for me she shared and helped me through my journey here this week.  Rebecca started her morning devotion off with "Sanctuary" which pulled at my heart strings that morning.  This song takes me back to when my girls were fourteen and would sing this with joyful hearts.  Such fond memories we develop through serving our Lord.  Rebecca talked on how sharing sometimes need to be only simple.  Simple is best in some situations.  Also how sometimes we get too busy serving Him and we do not spend time with Him. He needs us to be near to Him and then He will send us where we need to go for Him. So if we give God our all daily and receive a clean start daily being cleansed through and through God can do so much with us and it is what He wants us to do not what we want to do for Him. We need to do it joyfully and with gladness as it reads in Psalm 51:1-2

Darren came back to work beside Rebecca which did his heart good.  It was beautiful seeing the two of them together serving their Lord.  Darren and Rebecca worked a lot on the preparations for VBS along with their other team members.  But to see them working side by side in one accordance with the children was Jesus and the children.  Darren shared during his morning devotion how it has rained everyday since we have been here but has not rained while we were doing the work of the Lord.  He did an amazing analogy of thunderstorms which we have massive ones here in Honduras.  How much rain do you think one cloud will drop at any given time? Millions of drops of rain at one time comes down through a cloud.  But unlike the rain God gives us his living water through His Word one drop at a time.  We then in turn give out His Word in droplets maybe even a puddle or two. As time goes by puddle after puddle of living water will hopefully fill me or whoever to overflowing with the living water which will make us all whole in Christ Jesus. God's thoughts and ways are so much more powerful.  God's promises will never come back void.  Thank you God for your living water.

Isaiah 55:8

Darren and Rebecca were also in love with little Precious. Darren shared how all the attention little Precious was getting by Rebecca braiding her hair and how Rebecca was showing the love of Jesus to Precious and other children were seeing her get the special attention she never receives from her peers.  The other children saw Jesus through the actions of Rebecca.  Darren said for just a little bit Precious was a "Queen".  Darren said this little one may have special needs, cannot talk or read but she sure knows how to pull on your heart strings.

These three couples exhibited an amazing testimony for all couples to go together and bring the lost to Christ.  You do not have to go to another country to do this.  But today we challenge all Christian couples to go and lead the lost to Christ.  So thank you all for setting the examples for what being a witness for Jesus is in a Christian home.

Off They Go

Off they go following behind their Lord and Savior into an amazing week of salvations and rededications to Jesus Christ.  They headed out of the church doors and turned right and turned right again.  They ended up about a mile up the road and worked their way back. 

Pastor Wayne said their first stop was at the home of a lady who had just received word her son was killed in Tegus and found after many months of searching for him.  She said with tears streaming down her cheeks God sent each of them to her on that Tuesday morning. Pastor Wayne shared how this was ordained by God long before that morning and God took North American strangers to a broken and hurting Honduran lady just at the right time.  God's timing is always perfect.  Margetta and Victor who were the church members in the group encouraged Katalina to get in church and be with others who are believers who can encourage her and help her through this hard time in her walk with the Lord.  The team gathered around her to pray for her and shared a bible with her to read when she needs uplifting and encouraging moments. Darren followed behind Pastor Wayne in sharing about a Veggie Tale story where we orchestrates everything  but God nudges us along the way to get His work done. Darren shared the topic of VBS that particular day was Patience and how he saw patience through Meida with the children in VBS.  Bobby shared how he saw patience with the children on the back row of church waiting their turn to receive crayons to color their  bible story sheet.  Chad enjoyed hearing Meida asked the children questions about what Richard's story was about.  One child played a game with Chad and he could not speak Spanish so he shared how he child was so patient with him as they figured it out between the two of them.  Chad shared how he was taken back at a home visit where 20 year old young lady took in an elderly man who was homeless and is caring for his needs. Chad was humbled by the way the people here take care of one another even when they do not have it to give.  They give all they have for those who are in need.  There was a lot of people saved and did not have a bible.  Thankful for the generosity of this group to bring bibles to all who need or so desire one.  Can you imagine being a believer in Christ and you do not own a Bible to read on a daily basis.  My question to you reading this today who are Christians and have a Bible do you pick up daily to read and grow in the Lord.  Or is your Bible sitting on a coffee table collecting dust?  This is a good question for all of us who are believers in Jesus Christ.  We have the opportunity to read His Word daily and do not.  These people are hungry for the Word and do not have it. 

Bobby shared about meeting Luis at this Pulperia.  Bobby stopped to get his church members a bag of water because they did not have anything to drink.  As Bobby prepared to pay for the water, Luis said, "Please I do not want your money because we are grateful you are hear sharing the gospel with our people.  Bobby said prior to the purchase of the water bags there were three young people there who heard the gospel.  There was a revival at the Pulperia. Luis excepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.

On the second day Bobby asked Tino to take them back to this Pulperia where there was a family close by who wanted them to pray over their father and husband on dialysis.  He was not there the day before so faithful Bobby went back on day two to see and pray with this man. Then others came along their path who wanted them to pray over them. 

The team shared so many times I will receive Christ at church.  I will do it later not today.  One little boy received Christ during this week and lives in a home with non believers. 

There was so many ready to give their lives to Christ though.  Pastor Wayne shared how one lady was simply gracious for their visit and she had Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior.  Why cannot folks back home want to sit with you and talk about the greatest gift of all, Jesus Christ?  Why do folks back home turn the other way when they see us coming to share the gospel?  Jesus is so much more welcoming here in Honduras than at home.  The people here do not have stuff which hinders them from trusting and having faith in God for all their needs.  They know where there trust comes from, it comes in Jesus Christ.  It is nothing we have done but all He is and does in and through our lives.  We need to live more like the Hondurans, Christian and non Christians who are willing to listen and hear what God has in store for them.  We need to be open to who God truly is in our lives.  He is our Lord and Savior who gave His Son on the cross for my and your sins.  We are sinners saved by God's grace and how to we receive this on a daily basis.  Rebecca was praying one morning and thanking God just for the things He provided once our feet hit the floor.  How many times do we thank God for our breath we breathe and the day He has created for us?  How many times are we grateful for our provisions daily.  These people here opened their homes and a lot of their Pulperias for this team to share the gospel.  How many businesses back home would let you stand out in front of it and share the gospel of Jesus Christ?   Envision all these scereios and what a better place our world would be if others would allow Jesus back into their lives and receive the greatest gift of all, HIM. 

Our Blessings

The team shared numerous times how there week would not have been complete without our amazing staff.  They are more than translators.  They go beyond their call of duty wherever needed for the team.  Their words are ready to go when out on the field with the different families but their eyes are also wide open watching and protecting their North American friends every move.  Meida is over the top with leading the VBS on a daily basis. Darren shared she simply knows what to do and when to do it.  He also shared she can give them the eye when needed without saying a word to make sure they are with her and follow directions.  Carlos and Gorge were right there monitoring the one hundred children daily to make sure they were showing respect to the lesson at hand.   Meida took time during her lunch one day to help me talk with Pastor Ramon about he can help with papers for ten families in his community who a lot were visited this week by the North American team of evangelism.  God bless our Tino with a smile on his face he watched their supplies, water and vehicles all day long.  Mike and I pulled up one day to a smile which would light up your world.  He had to be bored stiff but regardless how bored he may have been we would have never known it.  Tino takes pride in the job God has given in through this ministry and we are forever grateful for his willingness to work beside us for Jesus.  Tino drives with extreme caution while the North Americans are in his care.  He got up both times to and from the airport at five a.m. to follow Mike and I took pick up the team once again with that glowing and godly smile he wears.  We are so blessed to have these folks work beside the evangelism team this week and making their lives easier and feel secure in all their endeavors.

Evangelism in Colonia Williams

The team arrived without two of their pieces of luggage.  One had a lot of baby bags for the hospital and the other was Darren's clothes and VBS materials.  Also we had a translator cancel on us the morning going out to Colonia Williams, The first couple of days Pastor Ramon was not there because of chemo treatment in Tegus.  Yes Pastor Ramon apologized for not being there the first two days.  The team became flexible and went out in two groups instead of three the first day.  Darren read his manual and brought a change of clothes just for this very purpose.  Darren said not to worry about VBS they would make it all work out which you will hear about later on in the blog.  So in saying all this we gathered with smiles on our faces and ready to see what God was going to do through all of us for His Kingdom work.   Mike did the introductions and did such an amazing job sharing what their task was at hand this week.  We are the hands and feet of Jesus and He is going to use us to bring the lost to Christ in this beautiful community or plant seeds which hopefully will be cultivated by the church family in weeks ahead.  Mike challenged the church family to follow up and disciple the new Christians as they are already doing with their church members at this time.  This church is strong in the Lord.  Pastor Ramon's wife, Margetta, a school teacher by trade took off of work today to greet and meet the North American teams in the absence of her husband Ramon.  Mike turned it over to Bobby to introduce everyone on this team and the Margetta introduced the members of the church who were going out with the team door to door. 

They separated into their two teams to get to know each other.  I heard them asking about their families and how many children they had.  Each one shared a little about themselves as to break the ice of where they were fixing to become one special family in the name of the Lord for the next five days.  They shared their prayer concerns with each other and prayed over their prayer concerns.  The group prayed for where the Lord would lead them this day and this is something the team did each morning upon arriving to the church.  They gathered together and lifted up their day unto the Lord.  Thank you God for Meida and Carlos who did show up to serve their Lord along side of the North Americans.  We want to thank, Chun, Florencia, Margetta, Victor and all the ladies who were behind the scenes cooking lunch for the Hondurans daily.  It took everyone to bring the lost to Christ this week.

Breaking Bread

We got blessed several mornings with a very hearty and delicious breakfast.  But more importantly we had some amazing times of fellowship with our brothers and sisters from Forest Lake Baptist Chruch.  The fellowship far out way the food we enjoyed.  The last big breakfast all the men got in there and cooked a good ole Baptist Men breakfast with lots of love.  The morning of the pancake breakfast though Mike and I could not eat with them.  We had to be in Choluteca for something so we got left out of this feast.  I teased Darren and Rebecca about cooking the best breakfast while we were not there.  Well the next morning the team was having cereal and grits for breakfast.  I walk into the dining hall to get my grits upon Rebecca handing me two perfectly crispy pancakes topped with syrup.  Tears came to my eyes as I was so humbled by such a generous act.  Once I started tearing up Rebecca was tearing up with me.  This may sound like very little but this was very huge to me.  They did not have to mix up a batch of pancake mix for two pancakes for me but they did.  So my two very special pancakes was my God moment that day.  Thank you Darren and Rebecca for going the extra mile and making me feel extra special.  I was truly blessed in so many different ways by this kind act which only can come from our Lord.  When you live out your life for the Lord this will not be a task but a blessing for you more than for others.  We learn this a lot here in Honduras.  We come to bless others and in return we are so blessed.

Tools for the Road

Along with God's Word there was other tools the team was abled to implement.  Bobby always brings this life size evagi cube to share the gospel especially with the children.  This evagi cube goes through the entire plan of salvation in a visual form.  The back packs are full with Bibles, spiritual tracks and eye glasses to those who are in need of vision care.  They would give out a Bible and the people cannot see to read their Bible.  The team observes this need and pulls out different strengths to help them read their new Bible.  Bobby and Harry both shared how excited they would get when they could actually read for the first time and they were able to read God's Word.  This week they needed umbrellas, hats and sunglasses to protect them from the sun rays as they hit the dirt paths everyday.  Sadly on the last day we were blessed with a tropical storm which caused the umbrellas to be used to protect us from the millions of droplets of raining being poured down on Colonia Williams and all of Honduras.  It has not been this cool in Honduras since 1944. The tropical storm did not deter this team from what they came to do share the gospel.

Three Teachers Got Blessed

Rebecca, Holly and Julie are all three teachers in the elementary school system back home.  Upon arrival to Honduras they did not even imagine going to visit a classroom much less share the gospel of Jesus Christ with over 100 children their second morning evangelizing.  The teachers brought all the children to the facility which was an over hand with concrete poured and a stage.  The team climbed up on the stage as the children stood back eagerly awaiting what was fixing to take place.  The team did a mini VBS with them.  Darren played the guitar as they all joined in song singing praising unto the Lord.  Yes we are at the public school sharing Jesus Christ with these beautiful little ones.  Bobby presented the salvation story with the children and had twenty children come to Christ this morning.  The three ladies shared during God moments how they were so blessed with what God has provided them to serve the children in their class rooms.  BUT how the children here were full of joy and contentment with what they had.  There was laughter coming out of the classrooms which sometimes we do not see in our classrooms.  They have very little but in many ways has so much more than we do and the children we teach daily. 

Be Still

Each day the team returned from going door to door to shutting the doors and being still and being in the presence of the Lord.  Whether it was Harry removing himself to be in God's Word to refuel for the afternoon or Brad who physically needed to rest and unwind from his morning.  Others gathered to share about their morning after eating a delicious peanut butter and jelly sandwich or ham and cheese.  Pastor Wayne did something special while he was here, he spent a lot of time with Mike sharing about God and His Word.  Mike needed this and we are both grateful for Pastor Wayne taking time for Mike after he had been out all morning sharing God's Word.  Pastor Wayne shares we should never grow weary in sharing about our Lord and Savior.  So it is okay to be still and be in His Presence because Jesus went away to pray while out sharing the gospel with hundreds of people.  If Jesus needed to get away to pray and be with his Heavenly Father we definitely need to do this as well.  Jesus led by example, let's follow His example.

VBS

The team came down with an agenda with many different visuals with them.  But sadly some of them did not make it and stayed at the airport until they flew out on their last day.  Darren shared we will make this work and this is exactly what they did.  They gathered their 100 plus children daily to sing songs with Meida and each day their was a theme of the day and the team sang to the children with the accompaniment of Darren and a guitar a song which went along with the theme.  At this time a team member came forward to share a short testimony about their life with the word of the day.  Chad was in charge of the recreation for the children daily.  Chad got them in a circle one of the days Mike and got to be there to play hot potato.  I was quiet amazed how calmly this game was played in the sanctuary of the church.  How each one of them played the game with the best sportsmanship the team said they had ever seen in a group of children.  If they got caught they backed up and removed themselves from the circle.  Darren would play the guitar as the ball was going around the room in the circle.  Darren quit playing the guitar and whoever had the ball stepped out of the circle.  After the recreation each day they gathered back together for the Bible story of the day. This group of folks put so much time and effort into providing a meaningful VBS for these children.  They gave these children exactly what they would give their own children at Forest Lake Baptist Church.

Scripture Memory Time

Also each day during VBS Julie led the children in their memory verse of the day.  She put the scripture up on the wall with some special gum glue.  The children learned the verse and then recited it back to Julie.  During the process they would remove one strip at a time so they could not see the scripture but that did not stopped this little ones.  They knew these bible verses.  Each day they went back to the day before and recited the others until by the end of the week they had five Bible verses memorized.  But the biggest impression of them all was when the children recited Psalm 23 for the group the very first day of VBS.  This was a humbling and honorable moment how the churches here are teaching these children God's word at an early age.  They know God's word from memory and now they have these verses in their hearts.

Beautiful Blessings

God has truly blessed Mt. Horeb with so many gifts of teams coming through here, construction work continues as God provides the means and simply the beauty of being here daily enjoying God's creation.

This team enjoyed their time at Mt. Horeb and the beautiful mountains and culture surrounding them.  The multi purpose building was a place where we shared laughed and cried tears of joy for what God has done here in the last three years.  This was Bobby and his team first time staying at Mt. Horeb and they were grateful for such an amazing opportunity.  They were content sitting and sharing about their day while even eating leftovers one evening.  This team was grateful for a prepared meal whether it was leftovers or a brand new dish.  They were content sitting in a hammock having some quiet time in the Lord. They were content watching the sunset beautifully over the mountains  each evening God provided one.  They were grateful even for the rainstorms which helped plenish the grounds of Honduras so maybe a few more crops of corn could come off for their brothers and sisters.

This group share they were definitely on their own revival this week.  See right before they came down they participated in a huge tent revival with several other churches for five or six nights.  So Pastor Wayne said he was ready for a much slower pass in serving the Lord and to refuel his soul as well.  On the fifth morning I shared with them how I felt like I was in a revival this week as they shared the gospel in a profound and in depth manner.  Pastor Wayne then shared how he felt like the entire team was on a revival this week and what a glorious time this was for all of us.

My Family Came With Me

As Pastor Wayne entered the Tegus airport and hugged me tight, he looked at me and said, "My family came with me this year.  What a sweet precious gift from God to be able to come with your son and his wife and evangelize together for five days.  There is a lot of things in life that bring joy but to serve and share Jesus with others with your family is the greatest joy of all.  Pastor Wayne prayed for years for Richard to become a pastor as well.  Richard a few years back accepted the calling to preach along side his father and will preach his first sermon before the church once returning from this mission trip.  Holly is the gentle quiet spirit that compliments these two so very sweetly.  We need more families going out there to bring the lost to Christ.  For others to see this example of God's family working for Him.  Thank you Pastor Wayne for bringing your sweet family to Honduras beside you and you teaching them by your example.  They are so blessed to have such a strong heritage in the Lord.

Brother in Laws

For many years, about ten total Bobby and Harry have come together bringing many different evangelism teams to serve beside North Carolina Baptist Men and Women of Honduras.  Bobby is the team leader but his faithful brother in law, Harry is always by his side.  They are such faithful and godly men of the Lord and set by their examples.  They have huge servant hearts in all they do while here in Honduras.  They are bold in their witness for Jesus and lead by example in all areas of life.  They are a joy to just sit with and share the love of Jesus.  Jesus flows off their lips.  Words truly cannot express the gratitude we have for these two young men.  Thank you guys for continuing to bring such amazing teams.  This year they were sharing how awesome the young people who came because one day we may be too old to keep doing this.  We all said "yeah right we don't think so."

We love you guys in the name of Jesus.

Lizard Soup

When teams come down interested in the culture and all they can embark and the word lizard soup comes up, either the team is 100 percent or not at all.  Well coming down the mountain we saw some on the road trip from the airport.  We joked about how it tasted like chicken soup.  We asked them would they like this to replace one of their meals one evening.  Immediately  everyone said of course.  So we asked Edwin the husband of Sevnoiva the lady who cooks for us to get us five and that is just what he did.  Our staff was so excited about this special treat, because this is a special treat for us Hondurans to get lizard soup.  I cannot tell you the last time we had 100 percent say yes to this delicacy.  So we all set down to a feast and partook of a very delicious  bowl of lizard soup.  All God's people shouted AMEN.  Thank you God for this amazing provision for the team.

"They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts."

Acts 2:46

Amazing Time of Worship

The team gathered together to worship with Colonia Williams. This evangelism team has been door to door and done VBS for five days now they come together to worship in one accord.  There was one small opportunity.  We started out having the children in the sanctuary and as the church started filling up there was thirty five plus adults coming to worship this morning.  So Pastor Ramon, Pastor Wayne and Mike went  back to the Sunday School classrooms to assess which would be the best way to go with so many adults as well as so many children.  We were blessed with three amazing translators all will, praise God.  So they divided the children into the two classrooms and the adults stayed in church. So the choir was practicing for worship and we found out Gorge, one of the translators is a member of the mother church.  So he was up there in the choir practicing as well.  Media and Pastor Ramon did the final details of the morning to prepare for an amazing worship service in the name of Jesus.

We started worship with singing "How Great Thou Art".  Afterwards many more songs were song in the name of Jesus.  Ginger assisted Pastor Ramon in the reading of Psalm 133.  Pastor Ramon welcomed everyone to church this glorious day and thanked his North American brothers and sisters for coming to serve beside them in the bringing the lost to Christ in Colonia Williams.  Pastor Ramon shared his person testimony. Pastor Ramon after sharing his testimony said let's sing "Victory in Jesus"  because I have Victory in Jesus he shared.

Pastor Wayne approached the pulpit along side of Carlos to bring God's Word out of Romans 12. Pastor Wayne thanked them for an amazing week serving the Lord.  How kind everyone was to us and took great care of as we shared the gospel of Jesus Christ. Pastor Wayne's title to his sermon was "Right Relationship Brings On Right Living'.

What does God want out of us?  He wants us to sacrifice unto death.  God wants to rise up in us to live our lives through you and me.  He wants us to demonstrate Jesus to a lost and dying world. We need to be the hands and feet of Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives within our hearts.  We must be a clean vessel. When God saves our soul through the blood of His Son Jesus Christ He will wash us clean so He can use us to serve HIM.  Our God is a Sovereign God.  He does not need us.  God is the Way the Truth and the Life.  God does not need our opinion. God already knows all the details.

In verse 2 Pastor Wayne says "how do we do this?" 

We must be transformed by the renewing of the mind.  We must be changed and if the changes does not take place in our lives then we do not know Jesus Christ.  In order to be in the image of Christ we must be in the Word daily, get control of our lives,  if we are not careful flesh with follow but with the Holy Spririt we can be renew day by day.  Our relationship with Jesus Christ starts in our minds.  We need to change the way we think. This place is not our home anymore if we are believers in Jesus Christ.  Heaven is my residence. 

In verses 3 through 16 it talks about relationships with other believers. We need to be honest with ourselves and don't think of ourselves as too highly than others.  Pride can get in the way of our image of Jesus Christ.  Also do not think lowly of yourselves and use the gifts God has given you to further His Kingdom.  Do not waste our talents and gifts.  The church needs to be in unity with one another.  We need to be in right relationship with one another.  When I hurt the whole body hurts.  In verse 6 it talks about the many different parts of the body of unity.  If it is to prophesize then we need to go prophesize, it if is to serve, if you are to lead then be a leader and it takes all of these and more to make a church be unified.  They are all important. Pastor Wayne shared how every person this week right down to the ladies cooking for the Hondurans is so important.  God used all your gifts in this church this week to help us do what God had called us to do bring the lost to Christ.

If we do verses one and two our gifts unto the Lord will happen.  Evaluate yourselves today to see what God has for you to do for His Kingdom.  In verses 9-16  it talks about putting on a show,  being a hypocrite.  you have to put total trust in the Lord.  We need to be about the business of serving HIM, not ourselves.  If Jesus came to this earth to serve and not be served who are we to think we have to be served.

You do not need to be more concerned about your own needs but put others above yourselves.  Jesus had the miracle of the five thousand, the tragedies of many storms where people lost everything and we as North Carolina Baptist Men have fed over thousands of families in North America.   We do not need to be lazy unto the Lord.  We need to be concerned  about the lost souls.  We need to get off the pews and go and make disciples of all nations.  God loves us in spite of us. We need to hate the sin but love the sinners.  We need to continue to pray and show hospitality to all who we meet.  We do not need to show hospitality just to our friends but even to our enemies.  We need to be of the same mind, unified in Christ Jesus. 

Love is the main thing.  The greatest commandment is Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'
  This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' Matthew 22:37-39.

So who is our neighbor?  The one who is in need. We need to minister in accordance of their needs, whether it is spiritual, physical, word of encouragement and also be able to correct them in love when they fall away from the Way, the Truth and the Life.  God cares for us all and wants our minds to change according to His Word.  How will folks meet Jesus if we do not take Jesus to them?   Jesus needs to be in our daily lives.  Others need to see Jesus when they see us. We need to be on the meat of the Word, not the breast milk of a baby.  We need to feed on the Word daily if not we will always be on baby food as a Christian.  We need to be bold Christians.  Philippians 4:13 states "We can do all things through Jesus Christ who gives me the strength."  When we get to Heaven there will not be any excuses of what we did not to while here on this temporarily journey.  In Matthew 18 how many times do I forgive God?  Seven times seven Jesus said.  What if God did not forgive us?  If we cannot find peace in Jesus we cannot find peace with man.  We need to get on our knees daily and seek His forgiveness daily.  We need to have the right relationships with our enemies.  This is easier said than done. How do we make friends out of enemies?  Through the love of Jesus Christ.  We cannot love others only through the love of Jesus. We need to overcome evil with all good. We need to have a right relationship with God, a right relationship with fellow Christians, and we need to have a right relationship with our enemies.  Right relationships brings about right living. 

We need to be different.  We do not need to be apart of this world.  We need to become a new creature in Christ Jesus.  An example is one of God's own creations, the cocoon transforms into a lovely butterfly.  We need to be a new creation in Christ Jesus  If you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ today or you need to be transformed please get with your pastor and make all things right in the name of Jesus. Tomorrow may be too late.

Thank you Pastor Wayne for a most inspiring message led by the Holy Spirt through you.

While this was taking place the rest of the team, Meida and Gorge did Sunday School with the children. This was such a humbling time in the house of the Lord. But the most humbling of all was when Pastor Ramon asked the team members in worship to come forward so they could pray over each one of them individually.  Pastor Ramon laid hands all of them and prayed for each of their families, the church and their travels back to their families.

We were in a revival this week, To God be the glory.

AMEN

Forty Seven Salvations

This group of folks came well equip for the task God had for them in Honduras this week.  They brought 100 bibles and they all were distributed to whoever needed one.  They were in God's Word morning and evening hour and lifted up all things in prayer contiously.  They prayed without ceasing daily.  This week they went door to door, Pulperia to Pulperia sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.  They prayed over hurting families, whether they were on dialysis, lost of son to death, husband walked out on a lady the day before the team arrived to visit her, cancer patients and the list goes on and on.  You see these people have the very same concerns we do back home.  This team went back several times to the place they went before because the person needing prayer was not at home.  There are continuous stories of how this team went the extra mile for these beautiful people of Honduras.  God equipped them prior to coming so they hit the dirt paths running in the name of Jesus.  They were able to share the gospel with the local school of 200 children.  In saying all of this we are definitely not about the numbers but there were angels dancing in Heaven forty seven times this past week. There must have been a huge celebration all week in Heaven and twenty two of them were children.  There was around twenty rededications this week as well. Well done good and faithful servants.  We appreciate you all so very much and look forward to the next time God brings us all back together.

We Are Blessed With Our Dental Team

Dr. John has  orchestrated a dental team out of Jacksonville for the last three years.  He prepares his team for the task at hand which is providing dental care for people who some have not ever been to a dentist. Dr. John's dental team is the only one we have coming each year.  So when they arrive we are forever grateful and give God all the praise and honor for this provision.  Also this team brings something of more importance and this is the Word of God.  They gather each morning and each evening in God's Word which has been most beneficial for all of us.  Their topics have been appropriate   for the week they were having.  Ms. Alice is in charge of the sign up sheet for devotionals and there was all the slots full but a couple so Ms. Alice filled in the gaps.  As we journey into their week please note they started a closed their day in God's Word which is refreshing for Mike and I to have this opportunity to hear God's Word both morning and evening.  As always we do a lot of praying here at Mt. Horeb.  What a blessing it is to serve beside these beautiful and talented people of God.  On the first morning Ms. Becky signed up for the morning devotional and this was definitely a God moment because she shared about our gifts and talents.  She shared with her team how they would be sharing their gifts and talents in Pavana today.  They will giving services today to people who they will not ever receive anything in return but a "Gracious" and a beautiful smile.  God will say well done good and faithful servant.  Now that God has given you these talents go and share them enthusically in the name of Jesus.  As we set up yesterday it looked like total ciaos but it was orchestrated by our Heavenly Father and it was done to completion with God's grace.

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:17