The House Got Built

Joshua was assigned block cutting for the week.  As he was instructed by Mr. Mike to get this job done in the correct manner.  As if Joshua didn't already know how to do this task.  But Joshua was very respectful of his "elder" and followed his directions.  Joshua had a deadline each day to have all his blocks cut for the family's home.  He worked hard and his assistant ending up being Meida who brought him more blocks and knocked out the nubs for Joshua so he would not have to do that extra work.  His main focus was cutting the block and this is what he did.  Another young person who brings light to our world which sometimes can be a little gloomy.  Thank you son for a job well done

Oh my there was so many young men mixing the mescal this week and it was also a job well done.  This is an understatement to say this is easy work.  This is hard back breaking labor which not one of these gentlemen once complained about.  Cameron, Jansen, Conor, Mr. Alan, Joshua and different Hondurans daily helped make each block into a home with their mescal mixture.

Larry took the time to teach the ladies how to lay block for the first time.  They ended up filling in the joints for the gentlemen who were laying the blocks.  This team worked so well together as they all did what needed to get done.

Blocks being laid and rows going up the first two days.  What a beautiful site.  The team each day was right on schedule and sometimes Pastor Carlos had to tell them to slow down.  They all worked so hard to help Medardo and family get their home after waiting for twelve long years.  Their dream is no becoming a reality. Their many prayers finally being answered and what beautiful home it is becoming.  Thank you Hopewell Baptist Church for answering such a calling as this.  Hannah shared in her devotional one even how if it wasn't for the water and the shade on the project it might would have been more difficult because of the hotness of Honduras.  But in her devotional she referred to the Living Water the woman found which sustained her life which was Jesus Christ.  One day she shared O'Nil had mescal waiting for them when they arrived.  What a huge gift from God.  As we felt inadequate and as we have possibly this week going out and building a home when some of us have not ever laid a block but when we allow God to use us we can do anything.  God can use our bad to make something beautiful and good like this home for Medardo and his beautiful family.  Do not ever doubt yourselves when you are at the center of God's will.  He will use us all in a mighty way!!!!!

 

Families Serving Together

I am definitely sure of two people who are very proud of the Prices right here.  Cameron and his wife Aubrey of  two years as returned for their second trip to serve together in Honduras.  Joshua who we are all so glad returned after many years away came with his big brother and sister in law.  The trio came with a package of gifts and talents which brought production and lots of help for their team.  They were the willing ones to get up early with Pastor Larry and cooked their team a hearty breakfast.  It warmed my heart to see siblings come together to serve our Lord as each of these young people did.

This lovely couple whom I have already mentioned earlier came and served endlessly for their Lord and Savior.  Cameron was asked to pray over the first block and God spoke boldly through this young man.  Aubrey work to make sure her team had fresh fruit with their breakfast each morning and this young lady can cook up some delicious pancakes, almost Honduran pancakes. Yum Yum!!!!  Cameron shared an amazing devotional one evening about finding God's peace in the midst of what life throws us. You used several scripture references on peace but the one which stood out was from John 14:27 "Peace I give to you my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you."  Cameron shared how he used to have addictions in his life such as sports and his work.  Now his focus is living is life for Jesus and where He will lead Cameron in his walk with his Lord and Savior.  What an amazing testimony from a young man to lead his marriage and one day a family to put Christ first and everything else will come together according to God's plan.  Thank you both for returning and working hard for Jesus.

Welcome Jasen and Jessica to Monte de Horeb Ministries for their first time. They have been married one year and decided to start their marriage out by going on an international mission trip.  This is such a beautiful way to start out your marriage by putting our Lord and Savior first.   What a joy it has been to work beside these two.  They did not work together because while Jansen was making mud but got promoted to block laying by Pastor Carlos Jessica was filling in the joints.  Jessica had devotional the first evening and what a humbling devotional she shared.  The two songs she picked to be sung at the beginning and the end were "Goodness of God" and Into Dust".  Jessica's scripture reference was found in Luke 9:23-27.   The just of this beautiful scripture is "less of me and more of Jesus."  Why should we give up the world, was a question Jessica asked the team.  Because Jesus is all we need she shared, amen y amen.  In verse 25 she shared when you accept Jesus Christ as you Lord and Savior you may have to give up some things, maybe even things you would do on a daily basis if it does not align with God's plan for your life.  The treasures of this world will not please you but the treasures of eternal life is where you find the most joy in your life.  She asked on last question, "What are you putting before God?"  What a profound statement and devotional coming from a young lady of 25.  

Monte de Horeb wants to welcome back Alan and Donna our seasoned couple who has gone on several trips to Honduras working beside Monte de Horeb Ministries.  They bring so much knowledge to the table for all these young people they worked beside this week.  Donna's sweet and humble spirit was an inspiration to me this week.  Along side of her compassion of caring of the well being of others.  She was flexible with not having VBS this year but enjoyed her mini VBS under the shade trees of the property. She also enjoyed working on the construction end of it as it reminded her of the work her grandfather use to do.  Thank you Donna for being so understanding and flexible this year. Alan was a good leader for the young men working beside him.  He enjoyed learning more about how Monte de Horeb does ministry.  Mike and Alan chatted along about the loss of Mike's best friend a few weeks ago.  Alan was a good friend to Mike this week.  He was a good listener and an encourager to Mike.  Thank you Alan for this. He was a great sport when Alexa beat him in cornhole.  And her smile when she beat him was priceless.  Alan and Donna love serving the Lord wherever He sends them.  Donna said she would rather go on a mission trip than go on a vacation somewhere. Alan and Donna both said what a honor  to come along so many young people eager to serve and worship the Lord this past week.  This is our future they shared and what a strong Christian future it is.  

  

 

Our Ladies

This team brought some beautiful young ladies inside and out.  Jessica, Donna, Aubrey, Hannah and Madison got to meet our Meida this week.  They enjoyed sitting around talking with Meida when the work got harder to do.  Pastor Larry came over one time while I was there visiting  asking them to gather rocks to fill in the fifth course.  They were all so eager to help Pastor Larry with anything needed.  They learned how to lay blocks and fill joints and did alot of that this week.  They also got to do some fun stuff as well.  This year was very different for the team where they did not get to do VBS at the local church.  They were very flexible and made the best of the situation.  They found a frisbee in the dorm room and took it out to the job site to play after lunch.  These girls started building relationships with whoever was around.  One afternoon they brought out coloring pages and had a mini VBS and told the story of Daniel and the Lion's Den.  It doesn't take a hundred children to make VBS fun it only takes a few and these ladies had a ball coloring with the children and getting to know them which would not have happened if they would have had one hundred children.  God you are so good to allow this God moment to take place for this group of ladies. Amen y amen.

 

Mini VBS and So Much More

Hannah, Madison, Jessica, Aubrey, Donna and Meida continue enjoying the children who showed up from around the neighborhood of the family.  Pastor Larry had an opportunity to share the gospel with Christian and Angel.  Once he had shared he ask Meida to call Pastor Carlos over to make sure they understood about sin in your life and how the only way to Heaven is through Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins.  Pastor Carlos came over and asked them again and they understood and Pastor Carlos prayed over their lives which was transformed under those trees into a new life.  Praise God Hallelujah and this is why we are in Honduras to share the gospel with everyone who has an ear to hear and a heart to receive.  The home construction and VBS is only a tool to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

Pastor Larry

Monte de Horeb Ministries is grateful for Pastor Larry's return to serve alongside of Pastor Carlos and Meida this week.  Pandemic slowed us all down but he was so excited to be back and getting up on the scaffolding working along side Pastor Carlos.  He also leads his team very well and they are always well prepared upon entering Honduras.  They know what is expected of them and they all willingly serve along beside their pastor and their team leader.  I told Pastor Larry on about the third or fourth day this is a very well greased machine so to speak.  They all jump in and do what needs to be done and this is due to preplanning prior to coming and meeting with the team so they know what to expect while in Honduras.  He gave a quick lesson on Block 101 for the new team members and a couple of the old ones as well.  One evening the young people on the team went up on the rock with Lassie to watch the sunset.  Pastor Larry took this time to sit down on the steps of the multi purpose building and enjoy for himself a very beautiful sunset.  Thank you Pastor Larry for a job well done.

 

Feliz Cumpleanos Conor

Happy Birthday Conor!!!!  What a special treat for you to celebrate your brother in Honduras.  God is good!  You are growing into a godly young man who loves his Lord and Savior.  I pray you can celebrate many more birthdays serving our Lord wherever He leads.

 

Cornhole

This was a very intense week of cornhole.  Each evening after dinner we gathered around the boards to see what would unfold.  There was one evening when I did not have my camera to capture the best game of the week.  Cameron and Aubrey vs Jansen and Jessica.  Actually I cannot put into words how entertaining this particular game was.  I have never saw Conor, Joshua or Mike laugh so hard.  Let's just say Aubrey won five times in one game.  But the best part of the week was how Jansen never gave up.  He kept playing against Mike and Cameron with whoever would play with him and never once won a game. But the beauty of this was his beautiful smile and attitude as he walked away defeated.  You see here Jansen was the winner simply because of his positive attitude in loosing.  Let's just say as I finish out this part of the story Mike and Cameron were undefeated the entire week.  One eye half brain did a good job against all those young people.  This was such a fun week laughing and joking over a simple game called cornhole.

 

Bittersweet Day

The final touches going up by Jansen and Joshua.  Pastor Carlos and Mike got a day off today.  Thank you gentlemen for completing the home of twelve long years of waiting for Medardo and Magdalena.  How precious it was when we got there only to find Medardo so emotional in was in tears and walked away to the kitchen area to get recomposed for this very special day.  Then he came out and help the North American men feed the tin up to the young men on the roof.  Job well done.

Jessica saw the need to clean their front door which was covered in mud.  Jessica, Aubrey and Donna got rags started cleaning up the doors and windows.  Aubrey mentioned she could not reach the top of her door as along came Larry who was just the right height to get the job done.  This entire week has been about how can we serve these beautiful people and this entire team did a phenomenal job doing this for Medardo and Magdalena.

 

Two Rededications

This was an end to a beautiful week.  We gathered Medardo, Magdalema and Yelson in front of their home to bless this home in the name of Jesus.  Pastor Larry led the dedication by opening up with prayer first and foremost.  He led into our this home was built on a firm foundation with the cornerstones placed in each corner.  As the week progressed the walls went up and the doors and windows and finally the roof was put into place.  This home was made from the love of Jesus Christ by the team and all the Hondurans who came along beside the team this week to make this house into a home, a home you both have prayed for a very long time.  Also Pastor Larry presented the Bible and the lock and key.  He shared how as a family the Bible is your firm foundation and the lock and key are your protection from the evil that lurks around us daily.  God's  protection is in this home.  Before praying over the home Pastor Larry asked the family if they had any words to share.  This is when this home dedication took a huge turn.  Medardo ask Pastor Carlos to pray over his rededication to Jesus Christ.  Medardo shared how he had not been in church for quiet some time and now he was ready to serve the Lord alongside Magdalema and family.  At this time he song a song for the team called "I leave the Past Behind".   Amen y amen.  At this time Pastor Carlos came up to the home and ask was there any one else who wanted to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior.  Today is the day of salvation.  Here is the altar, is it calling you, shares Pastor Carlos.  Isamel came forward to rededicate his life as well. Wow, what a home dedication this was for all of us.  This is why we come to Honduras from North America for moments such as these.  Pastor Larry prayed over the home and Medardo opened the front door to his home and they invited everyone in for a visit.  Magdalema went inside her new home and burst into tears.  Pastor Larry said what an emotional day this was for her.  Medardo rededicated his life to the Lord and the Lord gave her a home she had been waiting for twelve years.  Mike and I stayed outside the home for various reasons but the beauty of the music coming from inside this home warmed our hearts.  God is so good and this team was obedient and came down to serve their Lord in such a mighty way this week.  Monte de Horeb Ministries says thank you Hopewell Baptist Church for your commitment and obedience to our Lord and Savior.  All God's people said AMEN!!!!

 

Welcome Back Forest City Baptist Church and New Friends

Monte de Horeb Ministries welcomes back Bobby and an all new evangelism team.  First of all we missed all our old friends so much and hopefully next time they will be coming back with Bobby to share the love of Jesus Christ through evangelism.  This group of five, a perfect number for evangelizing, came equipped and ready to serve their Lord in what they thought was going to be in a community in Monjares.  But God had other plans for this team.  Two words which describes this team is flexible and respectful of Monte de Horeb Ministries, When they came back the first day we were all sitting on the porch of the puperia having our cold Frescas and cokes.  The discussion began and we shared with the team we definitely need to relocate and Mike said let's go up to where Pastor Carlos' church plant is, Cerro Maranan.  Everyone was willing to switch gears where God wanted them to all go.  Also they gave Pastor Carlos a box of bibles for the other community we started in so the pastor could continue with his ministry of reaching his community.

So switched gears but not their daily routine.  Each morning we gathered for breakfast which the first morning was baledas and good old Honduran coffee.  But also Mike and I would find them at the tables fueling up with their spiritual food first before having breakfast.  After breakfast we gathered on the North American porch for a devotional and prayer time prior to the team heading up a road that was not a road to share the love of Jesus Christ with a community who just found out about Jesus back in May.  Pastor Carlos has been going up there twice a week, Sunday afternoon and Wednesday afternoon sharing God's Word with a community who is hungry to learn and live out the Word of God.  As of the first day of this new journey Pastor Carlos had seven salvations, one being O'Nil.  Pastor Carlos knew he had to have another community and church member going with one of the evangelism groups because he was going with one.  O'Nil eagerly said yes and off the team went for their first day at the place God had called them to serve this week.

Bobby's first devotional this week was on 1 Corinthians 13 the chapter on love.  This week this five member team shared love and received so much love in this community who wanted to learn about the love of Jesus Christ.  This community is hungry for the love of Jesus.  Thank you all for coming and being willing to go where God wanted you to go no matter how rough the terrine might have been.  There was not anything to keep these five of sharing the love of Jesus Christ.  Thank you Bobby, Pastor Steve, Pastor Scott and his wife Terri and Gorge for coming and serving along side of all of us this week. 

 

God's Plan not Our Plan

This team did not know when arriving here on Monday their week would turn out very differently from their plans.  But our plans sometimes are not always God's plan.  As I shared earlier we started out with a sweet pastor and community but this was not where God had intended for us to be sharing the gospel.  So as we rearranged "our" plans into God's plans we were in for some amazing God moments for the rest of the week.  There are so many pictures but yet so many stories to unfold on this one blog page.  Pastor Steve on the first day was able to lead a young man who was slightly intoxicated to Jesus Christ or he rededicated his life to Jesus Christ.  The pastor of this community in Monjares had been discipling this young man for quiet some time but he got pulled back into the ways of this broken world we live in.  Bobby shared when he saw Pastor Steve head over to this group of men, the Honduran pastor just shook his head.  Even us as Christians sometimes doubt what God is capable of doing through others.  After this young man rededicated his life he followed the evangelism team the rest of the morning listening to this group share the gospel with other families like he had just heard himself.  Hopefully now this young man will reach back out to his own pastor and continue learning all he can about our Lord and Savior.  Terri was with the other group evangelizing asking God to give her peace today as she traveled over two miles to get to a community to share the gospel.  She quoted Philippians 4:13, 6-9 to herself as she walked along the dusty rocky road to the home God had sent her group to.

God sustained Terri and gave her more than enough energy for this first day evangelizing in Honduras.

As they returned that afternoon full of joy for the four salvations and even for their disappointments of one lady sharing with Pastor Scott when he asked her did she know where she was going when she died and she said yes, "I am going to hell."  Sadly she was okay with this and this hit us all very hard as Pastor Scott shared this story.  All we can do is share the Word and pray her heart will soften.

As they moved on to Cerro Maranon community on the second day the harvest was ripen for fruition.  they broke up into two groups one being led by Pastor Carlos and one being led by O'Nil.  Yes our O'Nil was so excited when he was asked to go out with the group to evangelize with the the group.  At breakfast that morning I was eating beside him as he looked at me and said "Boss are all these people pastors?"  I replied, "no and you will be just fine learning more about Jesus as you lead these folks to different folks in your community who need to hear about Jesus as you did about two months ago."  He looked at me and smiled and bounced down the hill from the multi-purpose building all dressed up ready to serve wherever he was needed.  That evening as the team arrived back to Monte de Horeb Ministry campus they were overflowing with praise and glory for our Lord Jesus Christ.  The group consisted of Scott and Terri, Bobby, Meida and yes O'Nil.  Scott shared how they would share and ask the families questions and ask O'Nil to read the scripture and pray at the end of the visit.  O'Nil received this privilege with humbleness and a genuine heart for his community.  What a beautiful time to see this community's mayor, O'Nil, praying and reading scripture with each of his neighbors.   Meanwhile Pastor Steve, Gorge, Joel and Pastor Carlos was going door to door as well.  These door to doors were not actually next to one another as you may envision it to be.  But nevertheless they went and visited different families Pastor Carlos already had formed relationships with as Pastor Steve shared.  Once Pastor Steve saw the relationships Pastor Carlos had with some of these families he graciously backed off and allowed Pastor Carlos to visit with these families and reach out to them in his culture.  What humbleness led by Pastor Steve and Gorge as well to step back and let the Hondurans reach out to their own people.  The first day both groups came home with eight salvations only God Himself could have provided.  Amen y amen.  As the week continued more and more folks came to Christ.  Eight children came to Christ which one includes O'Nil's daughter Kimberly and two of Noel's children as well.  Both groups shared how Pastor Carlos had already planted so many seeds and they were blessed to reap the harvest of many whole families.  Yes whole families came to Christ this week.  O'Nil's father and mother along with all his siblings accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior.  There was so pretty devout Catholic families who accepted Jesus Christ this week.  The oldest man and patriarch along with his entire family accepted Christ this week.  He is also O'Nil's father in law and the owner of the property the community may purchase to build their church on one day in the future.  Praise God the gentleman is selling the land to the church for $200.00.  Now the church is got to raise the money to purchase the land and prayers will start towards the church building fund.  They definitely got the manpower up there to build their own church.  Let's pray along with them God will make provisions for the church as well.

One of the mornings Meida and Terri did not go up the mountain to share the gospel.  Instead they stayed behind and prayed for what was about to unfold once they got to their destination.  Bobby, team leader shared he checked his watch once he started climbing up the path to where finally the path was not a path anymore and one and half hours later they arrived at their first home visit.  Pastor Scott shared it may have been a long journey up but God knew we needed to go and share the gospel with several families who if I am not mistaken Pastor Carlos had not reached yet.  Gorge shared it was well worth the journey if someone else could hear the good news of Jesus Christ.  Pastor Steve shared Pastor Carlos was in his Sunday shoes climbing those paths as if they were a piece of cake as we all struggled to get to the top with our tennis shoes and hiking shoes on.  Actually Pastor Steve left one of his soles at the top of the mountain and had to wear his Crocs the rest of the visit in Cerro Mararon.  There was not anything or anywhere this group of five would not have done to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the lost and broken world up in those mountains. Praise God for Meida and Joel who worked hard right beside the North Americans and Pastor Carlos and O'Nil.  There is so many more awesome stories of the lost coming to Christ this week.  God is good all the time and all the time God is so good.

 

VBS

As we have come upon our one year anniversary of Monte de Horeb Ministries God has revealed to us more and more what He wants this ministry to be about.  We had an awesome team to be able to share this with especially during the VBS time.  One of the items was simple is better.  This team came with a parachute and other fun things to share with the children. But once we explained that simple was better and why, this amazing team left behind the parachutes and other "fluff" we as North Americans like to introduce to the Honduran children.  The reason being which this team totally understood was once the North Americans leave with all their "fluff" the children go back to their Sunday School where they read the scripture sing songs and memorize a bible verse.  This may allow the children to be less interested in what their Sunday School teacher has to offer after having a good time with all the North Americans brought for them.  So in saying all this for five days these children sat on a blue tarp while Meida shared in music and Pastor Steve taught them a song in taught children while he was a missionary in Africa.  They colored a picture relating to the story.  Pastor Steve and Pastor Scott acted out each bible story daily.  Bobby shared the plan of salvation with the children through a paper airplane. Each day they memorized a scripture for the day which Terri said they learned very quickly. So with this team we discovered all these precious ones need is our time and our "gift of presence".  During this week of the Creation Story, Jonah and the Whale, David and Goliath and Jesus eight children came to Christ all because we gave them our gift of presence.  At the end of the week they walked away with a bracelet to go out and share the gospel with friends who have not heard about Jesus.

 

Scott and Terri

Monte de Horeb Ministry Campus would like to introduce a couple who are also missionaries full time and chose this week to come along with Bobby to share the gospel in Honduras.  They have a six month ministry in Maggie Valley at a campground and six months they are in India.  The name of their ministry is Christ Care 4 U ministry.  They had such a wonderful time serving beside us they have signed up to bring another evangelism team in 2022.  They worked beside Meida all week and O'Nil.  I appreciated all they both engaged O'Nil in reading of the scripture as they handed him a bible where the scripture was located and then in turn asked him to close in prayer.  What wonderful examples of Christ for O'Nil as these two worked beside him all week going door to door sharing God's Word.  Pastor Scott and Terri are gifted in many areas, as in singing praises unto our Lord and Savior and in knowing God's Word and being able to humbly share it with others. Pastor Scott does not push the Word on anyone he simply ask them specific questions which leads him into the plan of salvation.  Their means of sharing God's Word is brought in a special way for anyone to totally understand.  I want you to pray with me as they continue to share God's Word at their Maggie Valley campground and throughout India.