The Cross

John as well as assist Steve all week he has to take the time the first day to do a little something special for the family as he has done for the last twelve years of coming to Honduras.  He goes out into the property and picks out just the right wood and he forms a cross.  Once he forms the cross then he contemplate on where he will place them on the homeowner's property.  John take such pride and joy into this what has become a tradition each year he gets to come back to Honduras.  John is our quiet soul with a tender heart and love for his Lord and Savior.  Thank you John for your love for Honduras and coming back year after year with a joyful heart for this country.    I am grateful for that day in Sunday School back in December when God tugged and your heart and you said "yes, here am I send me."  God is good all the time and all the time God is good.  

Praising God for the First Block

Meida gathered the family together around their first block of their first home as Joel gathered his team.  Everyone laid a gentle hand upon another person until we were are united as one.  Joel asked Pastor John to pray over the first block.  Pastor John lifted up praises unto our Lord thanking Him for this amazing opportunity to serve this family through HIM.  He prayed for this family whom he just had met about an hour prior.  We started our week in the left front corner of this home and as Pastor John prayed I know God was so proud of what was unfolding in His Honor.  A family of six was receiving their first home by some seven strangers from North America.  We definitely have an awesome awesome God who loves us so much He would plan this day and this time for each and every one of us.  As Pastor John was praying I realized this almost did not happen because of a diamond shape foundation.  But God knew it would happen because this week was in HIS Plan.  Thank you God for being more powerful and all knowing than any of us can even imagine.

On Friday evening we sang "Blessed Be Your Name" and  "In Christ Alone" were sung and yes Blessed be HIs NAME  when you see such as this unfolding thousands of miles away from the North Americans' homes for a family as the Rodriguez.  As Beau said everyday is a gift  Life is a reward for choosing to follow Christ obediently.  This precious moment here would not have taken place if a bunch of humans had not fixed a foundation and other humans had not said yes!!! It took both nationalities to get this one right and they all did.  As they all did their part they came together for the first prayer over the house which in five days will be a home.  Joel's question today was "Are you building things out of wood and straw or are you building the kingdom?"

More Than a Home

I do believe at the end of the first day this team of seven surprised themselves as they arrived home at Monte De Horeb completely tired and satisfied of a job well done.  The new friends took Joel's teaching skills and went right to work.  They paired up two by two and worked laying each block to precision.  If they felt it was not to precision they asked Pastor Carlos who they all loved and respected so much. Pastor Carlos is a great construction team leader who is  humble servant of the Lord who is patient week after week with North American teams who come wanting to learn how to build a home like the Hondurans.  As the week passed the team stayed right on schedule some days harder than others and then add the heat into the scenario.  But guess what this house got built with the Rodriguez family's help and their family members and this mighty team of seven.  Everybody did more than their share and more.  John Dos moved away from the block station to mix mescal one day when the father Joel was sick and could not be there to help.   Whatever it took this team found strength to the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells within each of them.   The best part of this team was the care and love they took for each other.  There wasn't anyone who got dehydrated or sick enough to stay behind.  Each individual wanted to be there for their Lord first and then their new found family in Christ..  As they build up the walls of this home there was relationships building as well. On the first evening of orientation Mike always encourages the team to build the home yes, but don't miss the opportunity to build relationships with these beautiful people.  This was a great week of both relationships and home building on this little piece of heaven.

Blessed

I cannot praise God enough for this trio of God's hand picked staff for the North American teams.  Meida does more than translates as she uses her personality to show compassion to each lady we build a home for and how the families always trust Meida and go to Meida with any questions.  She plays hydration specialist if needed.  Tino as Steve shared one evening exhibits pure joy in his life.  His smile and laughter radiates the project site.  Tino is willing to do whatever if we need him.  His family words are no problem.  My pleasure Mrs. Ginger or Mr. Mike.  Of course there is not enough words for Pastor Carlos as he leads teams all day long and works along side of them.  As he is one of the drivers to and from the job site he then returns to the campus to clean up and go to his church God has called him to preach at each evening of the week.  He is very faithful to his calling to the church and he also is in charge of Monte de Horeb projects and staff as well.  All these three do all they do in the name of Jesus and for their love for HIM.  We are blessed.

We got blessed a couple of times with Pastor Ramon who is Wendy's pastor.  He came out to check on the progress of the home.  He is the gentleman who build the doors and windows for all our projects and makes the comfortable rocking chairs we get to set in each evening after working so hard.  It was sad Pastor Ramon could not be out there with the team more because he is one very godly and special man  We are blessed to have this man as a part of our life each and every week here in Honduras.  

Pastor John

It is a privilege to have Pastor John come along on this trip.  Pastor John gave his all to further the kingdom work here in Honduras.  He also shared the first night during devotionals how he was blessed to be at a church who allows him to be able to go and do missions nationally and internationally.  He answered Joel's first question or thought of the week which was "Why do you think God has called you each here this week?"  Pastor John shared how he wanted to serve his Lord first by providing the Rodriguez family a home and also to be still and listen to what all God wants him to hear, feel, smell and taste in this culture this week.  Pastor John shared how he wanted to refuel physically and most definitely spiritually.  Joel's devotional the first evening was "Here am I send me!"  This is exactly what Pastor John did.  

He tried every project on the job site and made time to play soccer with the boys of the family daily.  The young men at the project felt comfortable to go and sat with Pastor John as he would take a break under one of the few shade trees on the property.  Pastor John shared how he enjoyed getting to know these young man and how they have so much joy in their lives as he worked beside each of them daily.  They are so blessed to have such joy and we all could take some of this joy home with us as well. Thank you Pastor John for your servant heart and godly example for the entire team.  

Nightly Praise and Worship

I looked forward each evening to our devotionals on "Calling of the Lord" led by team leader Joel.  But also the extra blessing was we sang praise hymns which was led by team member Beau and his guitar.  This was a spirit filled time on the front porch of the North American dorm.  God surely blessed me as I am quiet sure each team member was spiritually refueled as each evening unfolded.  I always wonder who was Joel going to pull out of the Bible today.  Let's see there was Abraham, Gideon, Moses and of course each one of us and how we all handle callings differently.  But the beauty of God is He knows us and knows our downfalls and yet He still wants to use us to further His Kingdom.  He wants us to equip our flaws and doubts to make them complete for His Work here on this earth.  Thankful God can take nothing and make something amazing to serve HIM.  Thank you Joel and Beau for a spirit filled time of singing God's Word and hearing God's Word.

Final Touches

On the last day it is always bittersweet for the North Americans.  Mike along with Beau, Diana and Pastor John started working on the roof as team members Joel and John gathered the roof tin at Wendy's sister's home.  As the roof was going up Joel assisted Steve with the landscaping as well as Fernanda, the oldest daughter.  Everyone was busy with the final touches of the house which is now becoming a home.  Thank you everyone for all your hard work this week in tremendous hot temperatures and never once did I hear complaints.   Joel shared one evening how we come down when it is cold back home and by the end of the week we have become acclimated to the scorching heat of this beautiful country call Honduras.

Brothers Serving Together

Joel, team leader and brother Steve have been coming to Honduras over ten years together serving their Lord.  They both come with hearts full of joy and love for this country called Honduras.  They never work side by side by always work as a team.  Steve's main job is cutting the block while brother Joel lays the block. Though on the last day the two brothers joined together to collect rocks to put around the outside of the home to add some special landscaping touches to the new home.  This has been Steve's joy for many years.  He enjoys collecting just the right rocks to place around the home.  Brother Joel joined him this year while the finishing touches were going onto the roof of the home.  This is such a gift from God to be able to serve as brothers in Christ and in blood as well for the greater of the Kingdom of God.  Well done good and faithful servants.

Mr. Bill Presents the Family With a Cross

Mr. Bill also has a tradition when he goes on mission trips.  He and his wife Kim always provide the family with a cross.  Meida ask for Wendy to come to her new home and decide where she would like her cross to be hung.  She pick a spot and showed Mr. Bill where to put the nail.  They stood back and looked at her first gift of her new home.  She was very pleased with Mr. Bill's gracious gift. He shared with her how the cross represents Jesus Christ who died for all of us and how this gives us hope for our eternal life because of His sacrifice.  It was sweet how quietly and very special this moment was for Wendy as she thanked Mr. Bill once again for this lovely gift.  After the home dedication all the family of Wendy was looking and admiring this precious gift.

Our Gift from God

This week this team was blessed by a very precious family who stole all their hearts immediately.  Sadly, husband Joel, was not there a lot because of a sickness but the rest of the family carried the weight of their entire family.   Joel, father and husband would have been proud of his wife and children.  Wendy's beautiful smile would warm anyone' heart as those four gorgeous children who worked so hard for their home.  Daniel became the man of the house once his father became ill.  Joel I know is so proud of this oldest son.  After a hard day of work Pastor John found himself playing soccer with Daniel and Aaron, the eldest son.  This team build a home yes but they also build amazing relationships with a very sweet family they will treasure for a life time.  Thank you God for providing us North Americans such an amazing and wonderful gift from YOU.  God you knew this day and all these people would come together to bless each other.  We always say we come to bless the Hondurans but their lives they live out daily blesses us and opens our hearts to what true family and community is all about.  We could all learn from Wendy and family what true JOY is.

The Rodriguez Home Dedication

All good things must come to an end.  We gathered around the house which is now going to become a home.  When Mike and I went out to this empty lot to check on the foundation two weeks prior to this team arriving, we had not a clue what this week would unfold into.  This week has been more than any of us could have possibly dreamed of in our wildest imaginations.  Joel gathered the team and family around the home as Meida joined to translate for the home dedication.  Pastor John shared a thank you to the family for allowing the to help build their home where Jesus will shine and be glorified.  He shared scripture out of Psalm 127:1.  Jesus is the foundation of this home.  Let your home Wendy be a place where others can come and see the joy of Jesus Christ just as we have with you all this week.  It was one of those times you needed to be here to hear the words Pastor John shared from the bottom of his heart.  His words were bold and beautiful all at the same time.  Joel gathered everyone around the home to pray over the home to God and Joel gave God all the glory for this beautiful task which has now come to completion.  Everyone used their gifts and talents this week and now they are celebrating by giving God all the glory.  After the prayer Diana presented the key as Wendy placed the key in the lock and unlocked her new home.  Immediately she invited everyone into her new home.  At this time Beau presented her with her family Bible.  Beau shared how when we prayed over the first block the first day and Jesus being the Cornerstone well God's Word is your spiritual strength and it is needs to be read daily so you can live out your life in this new home glorifying God.  At this time Wendy shared with tears flowing down her beautiful face words of gratitude to God first and then to this amazing team who gave God their all this week.  It was a beautiful ending to a beautiful week.  To God be the glory!!!!

Worship Service

We rode past the project on Sunday morning to enter into the village called Colonia Williams.  Let me share with each of you reading this Wendy and all people living in her area each week walk to their church which is about three miles. So they truly love their Lord and their church family.  What a beautiful day it was to worship our Lord.  There was an awesome breeze blowing through the open windows of this quant and welcoming church.  Each North American was greeted by the Honduran church family members as they entered the doors.  What a heart warming welcome as each team member greeted everyone and then located their seat for a morning full of praise and worship unto our Lord.   

We started out by being welcomed by Pastor Ramon and then led into singing hymns.  The first hymn was "Victory in Jesus"  which the team members join along singing it in English.  Pastor Ramon and Ginger read scripture from Psalm 100.  We once again continue singing hymns, "Because He Lives". Pastor John was asked to come forward to share his testimony which team leader Joel said, "I do not need to go up there now".  Pastor John spoke with such boldness as he shared his story of following Jesus Christ.  He read from Psalm 16:11 "You made know to me the path of life, you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand."  Pastor John shared he would rather have 99 % joy in Christ than a million years on this earth.  What a profound statement this young man shared.  Joy in Jesus Christ does not come from earthly treasures but from the pure joy of a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior. He shared how he saw joy in each of you.  He made a friend in Aaron while playing soccer each day as he spoke out to Aaron in the congregation and said, "Isn't this correct Aaron?"  Aaron replied immediately without hesitation, "Si".  What a testimony for all of us.  Aaron was intensely listening to every word of Pastor John and immediately had the answer.  What a gift from God for Pastor John this Sunday morning. At this time he thanked everyone who served along side the North American team this week for the Kingdom of God.

We sang more hymns and then Joel, team leader came forward to share from God's Word out of Matthew 25:14-30.  This is called "The Parable of the Talents.   Joel first of all brought to all our attention how there were three characters in this parable.  The Master who knew his servants and three servants, two  knowing their Master and the other who did not know his Master.  The Master shared His talents with his servants to take care of them for Him.  The Master in this parable is God and the servants in this parable are us.  Everything we have is God's.  Even the air we breathe and even our children are a gift from God.  Psalm 24:1, "The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it, the world and all who live in it." God has given us everything we need and we are to take care of the things God has entrusted to us.  We are to take care of our families and to do His Kingdom work.  Our Master gave each of us what we can handle.  As with the two servants in the parable the Master gave each of them what He knew they could handle.  Two of the servants knew what their Master expected of them caring for His talents.  They took the talents and grew and expanded them for the glory of their Master.  But one did not.  Each one of us has been given something to glorify God.  God knows us all personally.  Out of the book of Jeremiah God's say I created you in your mother's womb.  Brothers and Sisters in Christ there will come a day God will want to know what you did with HIS talents.  As Joel shared earlier not even your children are yours. They belong to God as well.  Two of the servants doubled their talents they were given.  WE all need to treat what is mine as yours and come to share with my children God says.  Glorify God with your talents and God will reward you with abundant life.  Joel shared this is not talking about material wealth but eternal wealth, eternal life with our Heavenly Father.  You all will be rich in JOY which we can only find through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Lastly, the third servant was bold enough to tell his Master it was his fault he did not use his talents well.  This is me as well, says Joel.  How many times have I wasted my time, Joel shared, or did not reach out and build relationships with others, whether family or friends because I was too busy with life.  Stuff can get in our way as we try to serve our Lord and His Kingdom.  If you are here today Joel shared and don't know your Master, Jesus Christ, please talk to Pastor Ramon and do not let another day go by .  The only way to do this is to give up your life and surrender it to Jesus Christ.  Jesus said, "Take heart, ,one day in the house of the Lord is worth more than a thousand years in another house. Amen y amen.

At this time the offerings were collected and the children went off to Sunday School.  Pastor Ramon came to Mike and I to ask us would we like to stay for their Sunday School hour.  We graciously said yes.

Oscar got up to start the lesson called "How Did Jesus Call His Disciples?"   If you were to start a business how would you choose the people to work for you?  What characteristics would you look for in a person?  Oscar used one of the church members as an example.  He has a tire repair business.  He asked this man what characteristics would he look for in a person.  This gentleman replied, "To fear God first".  Wow this was a profound statement we surely cannot use in the states.  But here they can.  So Oscar continue asking for more examples, one person said to be trustworthy, one shared to be hard workers, and others shared come to work on time and to definitely know the trade of the job. Well Jesus ask the same of us.  As brother Joel shared earlier about our talents and gifts this is exactly what Oscar was sharing in his Sunday School lesson.  Joel and Oscar had not planned this out at all.  This was the work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Our God is so big.  God must have known we all needed to hear this message twice on this Sunday morning.  Oscar referenced Luke 6:12-16.  It shares Jesus prayed first before making any kind of decisions.  So if Jesus has to pray to His Father in Heaven we most definitely need to cover all our decisions in prayer.  As brother Joel shared earlier we will all have to stand before our Heavenly Father to answer to how we use our gifts and talents.  Oscar closed by asking "Do we give God our very best or do we give Him our leftovers?"  What a glorious day in the house of the Lord today at Colonia Williams.  Thank you God for bringing a profound message to each of us not once this morning but twice.  All God's children said, "Amen!!!!!"

Fishers of Men and of Fish

On the team's free afternoon after worship and lunch they went back to the campus to reflect on their week by journaling as Diana did or take naps.  John Dos wanted to go fishing for his dinner.  Each morning and each evening I would always see John Dos at the pond watching the fish swim and come up wanting food to eat.  He was always there when Manuel or Naun are feeding them.  So Sunday I asked John Dos if he would like to go fishing for each dinner this evening.  This huge smile came over his face as he said yes please.  So off we go Naun had already caught some of the fish and John Dos finished up the rest.  Manuel so graciously fried up our fish for dinner and we bought tahadas from a local lady in Pavana.  Mike made up the cole slaw.  It was quiet the treat.  What a beautiful way to end our week in Honduras with Perry Creek Church.  Thank you all for such an amazing week serving our Lord together here at Monte de Horeb.