Lessons from God in Honduras

As I left Honduras, I was reminded
of God's beauty everywhere:

  the children, the landscape, the waterfalls, the vision one man was given from God to fulfill James 1:27 and the reminder of God's provisions for my own life with my own two sons.

Alfredo Cerrato is pictured here and has had the vision for the family model for orphans:  the reality is that most orphans will never be adopted.  La Provadencia will have 24 homes eventually:  all with two parents and 8 children.  They will no longer be orphans and will grow up in a family environment:  widows have been selected in the community to be assigned as grandmothers.  Aunts and Uncles are assigned from the church and the children will know a total family unit.  

I'm thankful for my own life and the provisions that God has made for me.  I'm blessed with two sons that God has been the Father to:  the provider and comforter:  the only one TRUE SOURCE OF HOPE.   What a sweet gift from God that I got to enjoy Honduras with my two sons pictured here:  Trey and Tripp.

 I'm thankful that God is consistent today as He has always been and I'm thankful for the constant environments that He places me in to keep me humble and on my knees.  

Honduras is a special place to Heal Ministries just as La Provadencia is.  God loves the orphans and windows.  I'm thankful that He has instilled a special place in my heart for them.  

Last Team Day in Honduras

The last day the team was in Honduras we enjoyed a local fish restaurant where we experienced eating talapia.....fish eyes and all! 

 Matt Elam is pictured here with his new sword because of the challenge that Alfredo gave him at the restaurant....eat both eyes and get a surprise! 

 We were blessed to be able to enjoy the beautiful waterfalls when leaving Siguetepeque:  on the way to San Pedro where the team departed on Sunday.

The two beautiful girls pictured to the right belong to Alfredo and Israel...........

Hollie Holliday is pictured here with her daughter, Chapel.

Life Lessons Learned from Building a Playground!

These pics show the team hard at work on the playground that they set out to finish.  Each member had a specific job and it was wonderful seeing everyone working together.  As the playground evolved everyone became more and more excited to reach the finished goal.   It became easier each day to visualize the children playing on it for years to come!

HOURS AND HOURS AND HOURS were dedicated to building, measuring, hammering, sanding, cleaning up, and more!  It was very exciting when Chapel Holliday was the first child to climb the ladder!!

As we finished all that we could in the time that we had:  we all took the time to pose for a group shot on the bridge and under it.........Seeing Chapel climb each step reminded us once again God's plan was for us to grow closer to Him and that the playground was simply a step in that direction!

I am thankful that Heal Ministries was able to be a part of such an important week in the life of Providence World Ministries.  Their family model for orphans is offered to everyone all around the globe.  Perhaps the bridge that we sat on during our last hours in Siguadepeque will forever remind us to bridge the gap between what the world thinks is right for orphans versus what God intended in James 1:27.

VBS at La Provadencia

During the Spring Break Mission Trip, we were blessed to be able to host a fun 3 day VBS based around Noah's Ark for the school kids for a couple of hours each day.  It was such a blessing seeing them enjoy the crafts and games that were prepared for them.  Some of our favorite memories are watching the children with the bubbles or running around with the horse sticks on the day we talked about animals.  Hollie Holliday assisted us with the storytime....and as she asked the children how many animals went on the ark.....they yelled "dos" with each animal she named.  Then she asked them how many animal cookies they were going to get and they SCREAMED DOS!!!!

The team arrives for the dedication at La Provadencia

Pictured below are a few pics that show the celebration as the team started out their mission experience.  The dedication dinner was not only beautiful, its main focus was the Providence Children as seen displayed here in the black and white photos.  Maggie Bibbs is shown here with a beautiful little boy that has been given a home!  He lives in the first family's home and has had surgery on his lips.



Robert and Evan McCarthy are shown trying to hold down another little boy that lives in the first home.......quite the typical fun and active little tike!!  His brother, Douglas, is pictured here with his head down on the table:  a table that he will use for years to come in his new school and lunch room!  The Commodore (dining hall and temporary school) is pictured to the right.  The bell tower overlooks the mountains of Honduras and the view reminds us all why we are here.  We, the Spring Break Mission Team, thought we were coming to build a playground and to assists with the dedication of this new building.  What we have learned is that God is much bigger than that:  we have come to love on the Providence children, to build a playground and to grow closer to Christ!  

Partnering PWM to prepare for a dedication dinner!

I am finally able to update the blog for Honduras!!!  The first picture shows Israel talking to the team right outside the medical clinic.  It is so amazingly great!  The entire team was so impressed at how Providence World Ministries and doing everything to glorify God!  We worked very hard to assists the staff in making the dedication for the Dining Hall beautiful.  It was easy to do with the local help:  the hotel we were staying at let us borrow table cloths and toppers in assorted bright colors and the floral farm was right next door!  The greatest highlight was the black and white photos displayed of the Providence Children!  Angela and Camille Thompson are pictured with the flowers and they were two of several right hand gals!  Dedicating the building was honoring to the Lord and we are excited for the use of this building in the future.  It will be a place where the Providence Children (they are no longer called orphans once they are placed in a home) will be able to have school, eat two meals a day, learn music and theater and have fun and games.  God must have been smiling as we opened in prayer and as we listened to the children sing a song!

Welcome to Honduras!

I am in Honduras this week and immediately after landing I was reminded of God's amazing love and provisions.  One of the pictures shows a view of Honduras as we drove from San Pedro to Siguetepeque (a two hour drive).  It is an amazingly beautiful sight driving through a rain forest, banana plantations, coffee plantations, villages and more!  The coolest part of getting to discover the beauty here that God created is that the people here are just as beautiful inside and outside.  They have a wonderful culture here that we can all learn from.  It seems their "slower" way of life is the life that we Americans dream of.  Their priorities are most definitely in better check than my own.    

Heal Ministries will be partnering with Providence World Ministries by assisting them with teams that will assists them in needs.  The team arrived today from Nashville and after spending a week at the hotel by myself, I was MOST excited to greet them!  There are 20 of us in all and they came to build the first playground for the site.  I came a week early to assists them with the dedication of a building that you will see in the next day or two.  The dedication dinner and celebration will be all day Saturday, March 14th and it is a most exciting event;  a celebration of God's provisions.  The home above is the first orphan home.  PWM has the best family model for orphan care in the world.  The home pictured will house a set of parents and 8 children.  The children will grow up in this community with 24 homes eventually and 196 orphans.  Of course, the beauty of this program is that they will grow up in a loving home with a set of parents and will also be assigned to a widow in the church that will be their grandmother.  One of the stages of the family model plan has a widows' cottage housing 2 grandmothers per cottage on site.  This fullfills James 1:27 which is the verse that Heal Ministries was based on.  

Pictured to the right is the first family to live on site.  Walmer is the dad and three of the beautiful children are pictured on the steps with him.  As I gaze at the children that they love as their very own, I am amazed again at God's provisions.  The beauty of the unconditional love that our Lord has is most expressed through the love revealed by those accepting of orphans.  

I was able to drive to Tegucigalpa with Douglas, PWM staff, to purchase some things for the dedication dinner and he drove me through several areas:  some influential areas as well as some areas that are not so influential.  As we drove through the poorer section of Tegucigalpa, I realized how similar it looked to places that I have visited such as Kibera in Africa (one of the largest slums in Kenya) or remote villages in Ukraine.  People are the same everywhere:  we all want love and relationships and we all have problems and we all need Jesus.  Fortunately, we all get Jesus anytime if we want Him.  Thanks for tuning in!!  I'll be posting pictures the next two weeks as we begin the project for La Provencia and as I head to El Salvador after the team departs to visit two orphanages there.  Blessings to you all!