Mission Honduras 2008

Report from the Collegiate-Adult and Santa Barbara Teams
July 19-28, 2008

Friday, July 24, 2008 (from Roger Record)

The Santa Barbara leg of the trip was a blessed success!  The medical team was able to ford a river to do a clinic which served many who had never seen a physician before.  Several latrines were also completed by the construction team.  Still another team took the orphans shopping for needed items.  In addition to these, a team went back to San Pedro Sula to serve at the Casa de Esperanza (House of Hope).

At this stage, nobody is sick.  On Thursday, one team went to a juvenile delinquent home and met with about 110 guys there.  Two of the teens came to Christ.  Missionaries distributed much needed diapers and Pedialite at the Casa de Esperanza and held babies that so desperately need the affection.

The construction team folks are buidling 6 houses in Copan, side by side with the Honduran folks.  Pastor Roger got a hold of a chain saw and cut the boards that Brian measured for Sergio.

All of the family boxes have been handed out.  In this process, the donations team celebrated 22 women who have prepared meals for our teams so faithfully.  These talented cooks were presented with gift bags and the missionaries prayed over them and in turn they led everyone in songs of praise.

Worship has been an amazing time.  A sense of freedom has emerged within the group as people have laid their burdens at the cross, and intense joy has erupted as a result of the surrender of fears and sins--the presence of the Holy Spirit has been felt throughout the group.

In the next couple of days, there will be several more projects completed, and there will be big parties.  Tonite (Friday), the group will celebrate the God moments of the week, and praise Him for all that HE has done.  On Saturday, the mayor of Copan plans to recognize Damascus Community Church for all of the work that has been done in the community, INCLUDING spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. Praise God for that acceptance at the governmental level!!!

Saturday is also EXTREME MAKEOVER day for the houses that were built.  We'll be walking them through their new homes

Saturday night will be like Epicenter Honduras style--("Epicentro"), and two other churches will join the Damascus Road missionaries in a worship concert in the central square.

Sunday morning, the missionaries will join with Senior Motino's church in celebrating the life of Christ through Holy Communion, which brings them to their return on Monday.  Please pray that God will continue to move in the lives of the American missionaries and the Hondurans who they serve.  More news to come upon their return!!

God bless!
The Honduras Mission Team

Reports from the NxtGen and Las Mesas Teams
June 14-23, 2008

Continue to pray for safety and the movement of the Holy Spirit as our missionaries serve.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008 (from Team Members)

There are a couple groups working on building houses today. Judy is leading a medical clinic are doing a clinic in Las Mesas while Dr. Glynn is leading a clinic in Copan. Justin is leading a construction team on building a floor in Las Mesas. Mike Schuchardt is leading a group on a food run to a school. Leila is delivering family boxes.

Today's schedule from Roger

Hi there!

Just wanted to drop a quick line--We had AMAZING experiences in Nueva Esperanza with the orphans, and I had great conversations with the staff. I met witht he director, and while talking with her the Director of INHFA for all of north and central Honduras arrived, and I was able to talk with him through Dr. Nelson for half an hour. We really connected, and he wants to continue the dialogue re: how best to serve the orphans in Honduras. He is very interested in all we are doing, was very supportive, kind-hearted man. The small baby in the nursery, Nancy is her name, weighs 4 lbs, is 3 months old, with Downs syndrome. She affected us greatly. she has a major cardiac defect, and is not going to live much longer, but she was used by God to speak not just to our group but all the mission groups there. It is amazing, just the last 3 months, a number of mission groups have been working there, and God is beginning to connect us all together to serve as one family in Christ,

The director, Rosa America, is a strong believer, and has only been there 3 months, but says it is very different than when she started. 2 days before we got there 20 new kids were dropped off--they just get picked up off the streets and dropped off. One girl in particular that had just been dropped of was crying inconsolably, saying that she didn't have a mother anymore. Kelly talked with her, then I just held her for a while, calmed her down and was able to tell her that God loved her so much, would never, never leave her. Her name is Angie--please pray for her, she is 10 years old and is so broken hearted. 

These children so need to know the love of God. Many were very open to the gospel. We had a chance to go to Mujeres Adolecenta and Jessica and I went in just for a quick visit. She went in to talk with the director about the center, and I stayed just interacting with the women. These are women between 13 and 18 years old and have been rescued from sexually abusive situations. I felt God tell me to go back to the cars and get Kelly and a couple girls to come in to sing, so I went out--had to get unlocked first, and got Kelly, Katie, Victoria, and Emily. We just started singing in this large courtyard, and the women sat and got very quiet. We sang Cantalelujah, El es el Rey, El Vive, and ended with Christo, Cristo...at that point, a number of the women had tears in their eyes, and there was such a feeling of a holy sweetness in the place. We found out later that the others outside in the cars that didn't come in could hear the songs, so were singing with us outside for all the neighborhood to hear. 
 
As a group, we have a number of us, largely themedical team have diarrhea and aren't feeling well. Please pray for healing and strength. Nobody is seriously ill, but it is more than I've seen in the past few trips.
 
Debbie Schuchardt  wants me to tell you that the medical trips have been amazing--they did hard core mountain trip where they crossed a crazy bridge 100 yards across, and the river about 100 yards down. The railing was a cable, reinforced every few feet with barbed wire.  She was so impressed with the village children on top of the mountain that came down, helped them carry water, etc in their bare feet up some rough terrain. The village was VERY needy, and a lot of good was done there. (The photo of the swinging bridge is from an earlier trip)

Wendy Honchel sends greetings, who was really blessed by taking the orphans shopping and seeing the kids cuddling and smiling. A bunch of us had opportunity to cool off in the swimming hole.
 
We have all enjoyed the group from Arizona that joined us--they are such a down-to-earth group, and have jumped right in to form new friendships, have been very eager to partake in everything. They have shared that they have been changed, and hope to return with us another time.
 
In small groups last night a number of our teens shared publicly how God has worked in their lives, enabling them to come here, and how they have felt so much love from the Hondurans even though at times communication is mostly nonverbal!! There is a wonderful sense if unity with our Honduran brothers and sisters.

Ok, I'd better go, I just snuck away while we are waiting for a box of medical supplies to get here from Las Mesas.  While we were waiting, we got to go see a 6 month old baby that as of last night had had a high fever for 4 days, and wasn't opening it's eyes anymore.  Some of our teens were very concerned about this baby, and were afraid he would die before the medical team would get there later in the day. They all prayed over the baby last night. We were able to visit this a.m. and found the baby still with a high fever, but responsive. However, the mother said she gave the baby medicine last night, and the baby threw it up, so she didn't give any more. The medicine was just what the baby needed, so we were able te show her how to give it properly so the baby had to swallow, and reinforce that the baby had to take all of it. I believe if we hadn't gone there this a.m., the baby wouldn't have gotten medicine that was right there in the mother's home!

OK, better go, love to you all,
Sue Erichsen

Hello!

Just wanted to let you all know we´re safe in Copan and all is well. Motiño´s house is amazing and has changed so much over the last year, since I was here last. The weather is wonderful and the youth are hilarious. We are in great health with a few bouts of the Hershey squirts. Just wanted to let you know. Hope all is well on the home front.

Mucho amor a la iglesia de nuestros misionerios en Honduras.
(Much love to the church from the missionaries in Honduras)

Leila Baldo

Tuesday, June 17, 2008 (by Roger Record)

On Sunday, Roger received word from Chip Gordon with regard to how everything is going in Honduras. Chip reports, "It's a well functioning operation. All operations are going forward."

The team that visited the orphan holding tank in San Pedro Sula, led by Mike Schuchardt, were broken by the conditions they witnessed. Children taken from the streets are being held in a pen with 25 ft walls topped with barbed wire. Infants and todlers are being cared for by a small staff of teenagers. For a day, all these children were loved and served by our team as we continue to pray about what we can do to make a difference in their lives.

The medical team, lead by Glynn Thompson and Judy Pangborn, drove about one hour up into the mountains and then loaded their gear onto horseback for another 45 minutes to where they had to cross a swinging bridge, suspended 200 feet in the air with two missing planks which they replaced. They then crossed the bridge and provided medical care to a village that had never seen a doctor before. In the evening they returned to base camp, only to get up the next day and go back again.

Ralph Wolfe lead a team of missionaries with orphans from Santa Barbara into town on a shopping trip for clothes and shoes. Woody Pangborn and Jerry Rader lead a team that built two latrines to help improve sanitation.And finally some of our teens where cutting out small mattress for babies to have a place to sleep on.

Everyone in both the NxtGen and the Las Mesas teams is well. Both teams stayed at a vacant retirement home while they were in Santa Barbara. Today they are traveling to Copan and Las Mesas where they will begin the next phase of their service.

Saturday, June 14, 2008 (by Nancy Poist)

Leaders organized and checked in 41 Damascus Road Honduras Missoinaries who gathered at BWI at 3 am this morning for departure on Delta Airlines. Meanwhile another 3 missionaries gathered at Continental Airlines. The advance preparation team of 4 was already in Honduras since Wednesday and the guest medical team of 5 from Arizona arrived in Honduras on Friday. This makes a total of 54 missionaries who have stepped up to serve and once Roger joins them this coming Wednesday, we will have 55 missionaries in Honduras, our largest group yet.

Check-in at the airport went smoothly, and we witnessed a miracle as God used a BWI staff person to lead Roger through the security area of the airport so he could have worship with the team that had cleared security about one hour before departure.

Roger received confirmation that all missionaries have arrived safe and well so far in Santa Barbara and are getting settled into their living quarters for the next few days.

The team will remain in Santa Barbara through Tuesday when the group will split into two teams, one in and around the town of Copan and the other in the mountain village of Las Mesas located about 30 minutes outside of Copan. While in Santa Barbara, missionaries will serve orphans both locally and at the government run orphanage in San Pedro Sula. Missionaries will serve and minster to prisoners. They will lead a medical team up into the mountains to a village that has never seen a doctor before. They will build latrines to improve sanitation. Teens will prepare mattresses for baby baskets. They will pray and be open to the leading of the Spirit.

Sunday, June 8, 2008: Missionary Dedication

85 Missionaries will serve in Honduras this summer. The missionary dedication service was held during church on Sunday, June 8.

For more information about Mission Honduras, click Honduras Mission.