Buenos dias! I want to start by saying that it gets increasingly difficult for me with every day that passes while I am here in Honduras. I say that because I truly do love the people of Honduras and with every passing day I realize my time here is coming closer to an end…for now. Tomorrow (Friday) will be our last day of ministry here and while I know I will return again, it is always a bitter-sweet feeling. With that being said, I also miss my church family at Celebration, my daughter Amber, my son Asher and my dog Ezra. I guess Honduras has become a second home home for me because when I am here I do not feel like a visitor (with the exception that I NEED to learn Spanish ASAP).
This morning my wife Nicole led the devotion time. She shared about when Uzzah reached out to touch the ark of the Lord and was killed. I must say, in the most humble way possible, that I had a tremendous “proud moment” as I watched my wife share her heart. She is an amazing woman. She shared about God’s holiness and our need to not only remember the Lord’s grace, but His holiness as well (which so many people disregard). After devotion we headed to a neighborhood in town to do door-to-door evangelism.
Nicole, Paige, and I (along with our translator Franklin) stopped at the Pulperia (a “walk-up” convenience store) which was just across the street from where we parked. It turns out that Manuel (the owner) spoke English. He learned English while he was in Mississippi for a period of time and he even stayed in Kenner, LA for a period of time as well (which is just a few minutes from our church). Manuel accepted Christ and was so happy the Lord sent us to talk with him. The next stop was at Juana’s home. She is the “Tortilla lady.” People from all over the area come to her to buy tortillas. She invited us to sit and talk with her as she worked making hundreds of tortillas. After we were done ministering to her I bought 20 tortillas for a snack later. (I had pictures but they were lost with my phone in Honduras at the airport as we were returning home).
As we left Juana’s house we saw a lady pushing a cart down the street selling produce from her garden. I went to buy an avocado from her and as we started to leave I asked Franklin (our translator) to ask her if she knew how to get to Heaven and if she had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. She said she didn’t know so we began ministering to her. God moved on her heart and she accepted Jesus right there in the street. God worked through the entire team daily as we saw dozens and dozens of people coming to faith in Christ.
After lunch we headed to an area called La Paz. We were scheduled to meet with an area church to conduct a Fiesta with the village children but something fell through with the planning on the church’s end. So, we decided to find an area in the village where we could set up and do the Fiesta anyway. Within minutes we were surrounded by dozens of people and the team began activities that centered around sharing the Good News of Jesus. Planning? Who needs planning when Jesus is running things? LOL.
While we were interacting with the kids and parents, Terry (Open Eyes Ministries) pointed a bunch of teenagers out to me that were hanging out down the street. I grabbed Franklin to translate for me and went down the street to talk with them. After about 10 minutes of dialogue, one by one all 8 of them said they needed and wanted a personal relationship with the Lord! We prayed and they expressed their thanks and gratitude that we took the time to talk with them! God is good!
Later that evening we attended Pastor Omar’s church. This church is located in a very dangerous area and it was not abnormal to see armed guards at the gate as we arrived. Nevertheless, we always felt safe and knowing that the Lord is our protector I watched the team jump right in and begin connecting with all of the locals as usual. I was scheduled to preach and had asked Alex to bring his guitar. When we arrived we met Pastor Omar (who is extremely humble and one of the most amazing men I met in Honduras). The worship team welcomed Alex to the platform and actually asked him to lead worship. He did an awesome job and the Holy Spirit allowed him to adjust and lead even though he had not practiced with them and didn’t speak Spanish (with the exception of 2 songs he learned while we were here).
After worship Nolvia shared a powerful testimony of how the Lord was with her and healed from Cancer.
After the message was preached we had a tremendous altar time as we prayed for physical, emotional, and spiritual healing.
Today was a GOOD day! This team is awesome and God is doing great things here in Honduras! Final day is tomorrow (Friday). I’m a little emotional, but for now I want to just marinate on all that the Lord has done this week. Te doy Gloria…a ti Jesus!
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