Everybody thought that the top top top of the Trey Morgan drive for feeding people at the dump would be maybe $7500. And that was a big maybe.
WRONG
As of this morning -
$11500.00
ELEVEN THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
MAY 5 For The DUMP!
I met a guy last year that travels the world doing nothing except helping people with cleft lips and pallets. In the USA my friend could make close to $500,000 a year doing the same type of medical work - instead, he chooses to go to some of the poorest places in the world to work for free. Every time he does a surgery, he asks the family this question "Why do you think I do this?". Most of the time, the people answer - because you want to do good. He tells them that that is only part of the reason. He tells them "Jesus loves me so much that there isn't anything that I can ever do to make him love me more - nothing! I help people so that I can show them just a little bit of the love that Jesus has shown me."Today, you too can show just a little bit of the love that Jesus has shown you. How? You can do this by sharing a little of what you have with people that have literally NOTHING.
Every Wednesday for more than a year we have been feeding people in the Tegucigalpa Dump. There are more than 300 people there every day and they are all hungry. All of them.
We have a friend in Texas that is leading a drive today May 5th, 2009. His name is Trey Morgan and he is working to help us fund the purchase of food for the work at the dump.
Today, there is already one person that has agreed to match up to $2500 every dollar raised over the first $2500. That means that if we are able to raise $5000, the total will actually become $7500.
You can join the fund raising drive at www.treymorgan.net
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc Tindall
Saturday, May 02, 2009
Planning
We are planning a couple of events for the end of 2009. The first will be during Thanksgiving week.
We want to start planning earlier in 2009 for a way for everyone that can to spend Thanksgiving in Honduras. We can easily sleep 11 or more in our house and we hope to fill it up with people that want to come and build houses during Thanksgiving week 2009. We tried this in 2008 and had a few takers but, we really didn't start the planning until October. Hopefully bu starting the planning in May, we can fill up the house and build 10 or more houses. To make this easy and to help everyone that comes to stay busy building, we are inviting everyone that comes to be our guests. All we ask is that you buy your airline ticket and your mission insurance (about $1.50 t0 2.00 per day depending on your age). We also ask that everyone that comes help us raise funds for building houses. We will take care of everything else including an amazing Thanksgiving Feast. If we fill up the house, we will add more beds. Make your plans and let us know.
In December we are planning Christmas at the Dump. There are friends at Trace Crossing Church in that are planning to return with gifts for everyone - especially the children. We want to make the day extra special so, our plan is to have some type of special meal for everyone that day. Wouldn't it be amazing to have some sort of "sit down" meal where we could serve a banquet to people that never expected to be invited to a banquet? That is the vision. I will nail down a date for this within the coming weeks but, wanted to let you know to make plans for the most amazing Christmas party that you can imagine.
Be a blessing to somebody today,
Marc
We want to start planning earlier in 2009 for a way for everyone that can to spend Thanksgiving in Honduras. We can easily sleep 11 or more in our house and we hope to fill it up with people that want to come and build houses during Thanksgiving week 2009. We tried this in 2008 and had a few takers but, we really didn't start the planning until October. Hopefully bu starting the planning in May, we can fill up the house and build 10 or more houses. To make this easy and to help everyone that comes to stay busy building, we are inviting everyone that comes to be our guests. All we ask is that you buy your airline ticket and your mission insurance (about $1.50 t0 2.00 per day depending on your age). We also ask that everyone that comes help us raise funds for building houses. We will take care of everything else including an amazing Thanksgiving Feast. If we fill up the house, we will add more beds. Make your plans and let us know.
In December we are planning Christmas at the Dump. There are friends at Trace Crossing Church in that are planning to return with gifts for everyone - especially the children. We want to make the day extra special so, our plan is to have some type of special meal for everyone that day. Wouldn't it be amazing to have some sort of "sit down" meal where we could serve a banquet to people that never expected to be invited to a banquet? That is the vision. I will nail down a date for this within the coming weeks but, wanted to let you know to make plans for the most amazing Christmas party that you can imagine.
Be a blessing to somebody today,
Marc
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Last Hope
The Last Hope project was started by the youth group at the Campus Church of Christ in Atlanta. The project was idea that was born because of last years mission to Honduras and a visit to the dump in Tegucigalpa. So far, the project has helped feed people in the dump for a sizable portion of the past year. After another trip to Honduras in early April, the Campus youth have renewed their comittment to being a part of this ministry. As part of their effort, they have designed a T-Shirt that I want to make available to anyone that would like to show others that they are supporting the feeding of more than 300 people every week.
Here is a photo of the T-Shirt - worn by Liz and Jenny - my little sisters from Atlanta.
You can get yours for $25 with 100% of the proceeds going to feed hungry people. How great is that!
If you want one send me an email and we can get the ball rolling - marclt2003@yahoo.com
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Here is a photo of the T-Shirt - worn by Liz and Jenny - my little sisters from Atlanta.
You can get yours for $25 with 100% of the proceeds going to feed hungry people. How great is that!
If you want one send me an email and we can get the ball rolling - marclt2003@yahoo.com
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Food Update
The food will be loaded and shipped the 5th of May.
A friend from Iowa sent me an email yesterday letting me know that she and her husband will be paying the shipping invoice for the 271,000 meals that will be used to feed hungry kids in Honduras.
Awesome! That is the best word that I can think of to describe our Awesome God..... and it doesn't come close to a description of Him.
I promise to post photos of the load when it gets here.
Be a blessing to somebody today.
Marc
A friend from Iowa sent me an email yesterday letting me know that she and her husband will be paying the shipping invoice for the 271,000 meals that will be used to feed hungry kids in Honduras.
Awesome! That is the best word that I can think of to describe our Awesome God..... and it doesn't come close to a description of Him.
I promise to post photos of the load when it gets here.
Be a blessing to somebody today.
Marc
Thursday, April 16, 2009
271,000 Two hundred seventy-one thousand!
Had a call this morning.
We have been praying for a way to feed kids in the church / feeding center project in Santa Katerina. This morning I had a call from a ministry project in Indiana offering a 40 foot container of special rice meals. The meals are specially made to provide a day of vitamin needs for a child - in one serving. There are 271,000 servings on the container. This ministry helps Christian feeding projects around the world - only 2 strings attached - the first is that 75% of the meals need to go to children and the second condition is that the food be a part of an evangelistic project. Amazing because that is exactly the design of our project - feed kids and plant a church.
The amount of food in this shipment will help us feed 225 kids a day - 5 days a week for more than a year. It will also be a source of food for the feeding project at the church in Los Pinos - it will also help feed the kids at Casa de Esperanza.
I told the group that we would find the $5000 needed to ship this food to Honduras.
Imagine 271,000 meals for $5000. That is less than 2 US Cents per serving.
Why not get your children's classes in chruch to help us pay for some of these servings. Why not get some of your adult classes to do the same. With this load of food we can serve 225 to 250 kids a day for way more than a year. That is an amazing gift from our God.
Once again, our God has given us the hard proof that He listens and he answers.
If you can help with this shipment, please let me know.
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc
We have been praying for a way to feed kids in the church / feeding center project in Santa Katerina. This morning I had a call from a ministry project in Indiana offering a 40 foot container of special rice meals. The meals are specially made to provide a day of vitamin needs for a child - in one serving. There are 271,000 servings on the container. This ministry helps Christian feeding projects around the world - only 2 strings attached - the first is that 75% of the meals need to go to children and the second condition is that the food be a part of an evangelistic project. Amazing because that is exactly the design of our project - feed kids and plant a church.
The amount of food in this shipment will help us feed 225 kids a day - 5 days a week for more than a year. It will also be a source of food for the feeding project at the church in Los Pinos - it will also help feed the kids at Casa de Esperanza.
I told the group that we would find the $5000 needed to ship this food to Honduras.
Imagine 271,000 meals for $5000. That is less than 2 US Cents per serving.
Why not get your children's classes in chruch to help us pay for some of these servings. Why not get some of your adult classes to do the same. With this load of food we can serve 225 to 250 kids a day for way more than a year. That is an amazing gift from our God.
Once again, our God has given us the hard proof that He listens and he answers.
If you can help with this shipment, please let me know.
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc
Friday, April 10, 2009
Two Month Report
I apologize for failing to post a report for February. This report will serve for February and March of 2009.
During the past two months we have been involved in many adventures. Working with a not for profit from Texas called Hunger Plus, we have shipped and delivered almost a million dollars of supplies to the people of this country. The first container arrived in early February and was full of heart monitors, medicines, and other much needed supplies for clinics and other locations throughout the country. The second container arrived in early March and was filled with a bunch of food, medicines, and many other items that are needed here. We were able to supply Casa de Esperanza with several thousand pounds of mixed vegetables, green beans, and other great foods. We were also able to deliver food to many other places. The second container also had a good number of wheelchairs, crutches, and other suppplies that are needed here all of the time.
One of the items that was fun to deliver was a tricycle that has hand cranks. I delivered one of these to the special needs orphanage and where there was a little boy that cannot walk. I sat him on the bike and he took off. His smile was amazing. The second container also contained two full pallets of antibiotics that are alreay being used in 100's of places around Honduras.
During the past two months I have been working with the family of a 19 year old young lady that was involved in a horrible motercycle accident. Gabriela was on a motercycle that was hit broadside by a car and the impact pretty much destroyed her left leg. As I reported earlier, Gabriela was taken to Hospital Escuela for treatment and was told that she was going to lose her leg if the proper supplies could not be purchased. Long story made short, Gabriela layed in HE for 44 days waiting for the surgery that never happened. We were able to move her to a private hospital the end of March and she has had 5 surgeries to repair the damage. She has a long way to go but, hopefully she will be able to walk by mid-year.
In February I was asked to preach in Los Pinos. I asked - Spanish or English. The answer was speak in Spanish - you live in Honduras where that is the language! I must have had a crazy moment because I agreed to do it. I told the church that my message would only be 12 min - that is because I didn't think that I could possibly speak for much longer than that. Los Pinos is a place where the church is my family and they were very accomidating and kind. I survived and promised that I would come back in a year and give it another shot.
Learning the language is much more difficult than either Terri or I could have imagined. It seems that perhaps I am making some progress- in the past couple of weeks I have had people that I don't see very often tell me that I sound Honduran. I am not sure if that is because of my bad grammer or that I am in fact actually making progress. I practice every day with some of the people that I work with as well as with the kids here at Casa de Esperanza. For me - the best learning comes with working with people that don't speak any english - it helps.
Terri too is making a lot of progress. She works with the books here at Casa and isn't with spanish only speakers as often so she struggles a little - sometimes. I am really proud of the way she is learning and keeps on trying. It is hard.
The children's home is growing. In February we took on 2 more children. Anita and Jose came to us from another children's home that was built to house boys only. Anita was in a place with 81 boys and one little girl. The "small world" part of the story of our new children is that their dad is the guy that takes care of the mother of 4 of our other kids. Anita is 7 and Jose is 6. They are adapting to Casa very well and we have grown to love them in a very short time.
We have hired another worker to help us with child care and she will start here on April 20th. If all works out, we should be able to start bringing children into the new "Bill Brumly" house in the coming weeks. Please pray that our new worker will be the perfect Tia.
The churches in both Los Pinos and in Santa Ana are doing well and growing. Both have had new christians added in the past weeks and both continue to reach out to their communities.
It won't be long until our summer groups begin arriving - Terri and I are leading 7 teams in 2009 that will introduce more than 300 people to the work and the needs here. We are blessed with the best job in the world and we want to thank you for your constant prayer, support, and encouragement.
Be a blessing to somebody today.
Marc & Terri
During the past two months we have been involved in many adventures. Working with a not for profit from Texas called Hunger Plus, we have shipped and delivered almost a million dollars of supplies to the people of this country. The first container arrived in early February and was full of heart monitors, medicines, and other much needed supplies for clinics and other locations throughout the country. The second container arrived in early March and was filled with a bunch of food, medicines, and many other items that are needed here. We were able to supply Casa de Esperanza with several thousand pounds of mixed vegetables, green beans, and other great foods. We were also able to deliver food to many other places. The second container also had a good number of wheelchairs, crutches, and other suppplies that are needed here all of the time.
One of the items that was fun to deliver was a tricycle that has hand cranks. I delivered one of these to the special needs orphanage and where there was a little boy that cannot walk. I sat him on the bike and he took off. His smile was amazing. The second container also contained two full pallets of antibiotics that are alreay being used in 100's of places around Honduras.
During the past two months I have been working with the family of a 19 year old young lady that was involved in a horrible motercycle accident. Gabriela was on a motercycle that was hit broadside by a car and the impact pretty much destroyed her left leg. As I reported earlier, Gabriela was taken to Hospital Escuela for treatment and was told that she was going to lose her leg if the proper supplies could not be purchased. Long story made short, Gabriela layed in HE for 44 days waiting for the surgery that never happened. We were able to move her to a private hospital the end of March and she has had 5 surgeries to repair the damage. She has a long way to go but, hopefully she will be able to walk by mid-year.
In February I was asked to preach in Los Pinos. I asked - Spanish or English. The answer was speak in Spanish - you live in Honduras where that is the language! I must have had a crazy moment because I agreed to do it. I told the church that my message would only be 12 min - that is because I didn't think that I could possibly speak for much longer than that. Los Pinos is a place where the church is my family and they were very accomidating and kind. I survived and promised that I would come back in a year and give it another shot.
Learning the language is much more difficult than either Terri or I could have imagined. It seems that perhaps I am making some progress- in the past couple of weeks I have had people that I don't see very often tell me that I sound Honduran. I am not sure if that is because of my bad grammer or that I am in fact actually making progress. I practice every day with some of the people that I work with as well as with the kids here at Casa de Esperanza. For me - the best learning comes with working with people that don't speak any english - it helps.
Terri too is making a lot of progress. She works with the books here at Casa and isn't with spanish only speakers as often so she struggles a little - sometimes. I am really proud of the way she is learning and keeps on trying. It is hard.
The children's home is growing. In February we took on 2 more children. Anita and Jose came to us from another children's home that was built to house boys only. Anita was in a place with 81 boys and one little girl. The "small world" part of the story of our new children is that their dad is the guy that takes care of the mother of 4 of our other kids. Anita is 7 and Jose is 6. They are adapting to Casa very well and we have grown to love them in a very short time.
We have hired another worker to help us with child care and she will start here on April 20th. If all works out, we should be able to start bringing children into the new "Bill Brumly" house in the coming weeks. Please pray that our new worker will be the perfect Tia.
The churches in both Los Pinos and in Santa Ana are doing well and growing. Both have had new christians added in the past weeks and both continue to reach out to their communities.
It won't be long until our summer groups begin arriving - Terri and I are leading 7 teams in 2009 that will introduce more than 300 people to the work and the needs here. We are blessed with the best job in the world and we want to thank you for your constant prayer, support, and encouragement.
Be a blessing to somebody today.
Marc & Terri
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Things We See
In Honduras - our lives are quite a lot different than we ever imagined.
That is an understatement!
We often pray that God will open our eyes to the needs of the world around us and He does.
Sometimes when He opens our eyes, we sit back and ask "Lord, why do you keep showing me all of these things and what do you want us to do about it?"
Examples -
Gabriela is 19, is in the hospital waiting to have surgery that will save her leg. We keep thinking that the surgery is going to be tomorrow but, every day there is some other reason that the doc's have for another delay. We tried to move her to another hospital but, Hosp. Esc won't give us the records and the other hospital can't (or won't) taker her without them. It is agonizing to know that this young girl needs to have her leg saved and frustrating that nobody seems to care.
Last week I was in a hospital in SPS. They have 5 x-Ray rooms and only one machine that works and the day I was there, the printer was broken.
Last week I was in a place called San Francisco de Cortez and met a lot of people that are working to help this community of more than 25,000. It is really spread out through tough mountain roads. They are 40 or so miles from SPS and don't have an ambulance to transport people to the hospital. Anyone that needs emergency care goes on foot, in a bus, or if they are lucky in somebody's truck. In a bus, they are at least 4 hours from the nearest hospital.
There is a little boy named David that lives mostly on the streets of Tegucigalpa. I usually see David near one of the McDonald's and almost always buy him something to eat. There are 4 or 5 little guys that have become my friends and they like it that I know their names and they always remember mine.
Today the dump was crazy. Everybody was way hungry and thirsty.
I like the dump - even though the people sometimes push and shove, they almost always thank us and when the food is gone, they hang out to talk and laugh with us. There are several that we know by name and many that remember our names. Today, we met a lady that asked for help with a house. She lives with her mom, her 3 kids, one of her grandchildren, and one other person. They live in a "plastic" house. In the states, we might call a subdivision with a bunch of look-alike houses plastic. Here is plastic house is exactly what the name implies. It is made of plastic tarps and sticks.
Every day we drive to Tegucigalpa we see many houses on the side of the road that are some of the worst living conditions that you can imagine. Most are on 'squatter' land so it would be difficult to do anything about them.
I pray that I will never be synical about what I see.
I pray that I never close my eyes to the needs and that God will pour out resources to allow us to do something about what we see.
I am blessed that every day I am here we see the 15 kids that live here at Casa de Esperanza. I try to pray for them by name and for their specific needs. I would ask you to write their names down and pray for them by name too -
they are.
Pamela
Brayan
Jose Antonio (Fito)
Jackson
Daniela
Anita
Jose
Fernando
Maryuri
Cindy
Monica
Doris
Katy
Sisi
Rosita
Pray too that we will soon find the staff that we need to openn our new house.
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc
That is an understatement!
We often pray that God will open our eyes to the needs of the world around us and He does.
Sometimes when He opens our eyes, we sit back and ask "Lord, why do you keep showing me all of these things and what do you want us to do about it?"
Examples -
Gabriela is 19, is in the hospital waiting to have surgery that will save her leg. We keep thinking that the surgery is going to be tomorrow but, every day there is some other reason that the doc's have for another delay. We tried to move her to another hospital but, Hosp. Esc won't give us the records and the other hospital can't (or won't) taker her without them. It is agonizing to know that this young girl needs to have her leg saved and frustrating that nobody seems to care.
Last week I was in a hospital in SPS. They have 5 x-Ray rooms and only one machine that works and the day I was there, the printer was broken.
Last week I was in a place called San Francisco de Cortez and met a lot of people that are working to help this community of more than 25,000. It is really spread out through tough mountain roads. They are 40 or so miles from SPS and don't have an ambulance to transport people to the hospital. Anyone that needs emergency care goes on foot, in a bus, or if they are lucky in somebody's truck. In a bus, they are at least 4 hours from the nearest hospital.
There is a little boy named David that lives mostly on the streets of Tegucigalpa. I usually see David near one of the McDonald's and almost always buy him something to eat. There are 4 or 5 little guys that have become my friends and they like it that I know their names and they always remember mine.
Today the dump was crazy. Everybody was way hungry and thirsty.
I like the dump - even though the people sometimes push and shove, they almost always thank us and when the food is gone, they hang out to talk and laugh with us. There are several that we know by name and many that remember our names. Today, we met a lady that asked for help with a house. She lives with her mom, her 3 kids, one of her grandchildren, and one other person. They live in a "plastic" house. In the states, we might call a subdivision with a bunch of look-alike houses plastic. Here is plastic house is exactly what the name implies. It is made of plastic tarps and sticks.
Every day we drive to Tegucigalpa we see many houses on the side of the road that are some of the worst living conditions that you can imagine. Most are on 'squatter' land so it would be difficult to do anything about them.
I pray that I will never be synical about what I see.
I pray that I never close my eyes to the needs and that God will pour out resources to allow us to do something about what we see.
I am blessed that every day I am here we see the 15 kids that live here at Casa de Esperanza. I try to pray for them by name and for their specific needs. I would ask you to write their names down and pray for them by name too -
they are.
Pamela
Brayan
Jose Antonio (Fito)
Jackson
Daniela
Anita
Jose
Fernando
Maryuri
Cindy
Monica
Doris
Katy
Sisi
Rosita
Pray too that we will soon find the staff that we need to openn our new house.
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc
Saturday, February 28, 2009
The Week That Was
This week has been filled with many things that are great and some that are difficult to think about.
We started on Gonzolo's house this week. Gonzolo is a man that always smiles. He worked with me for several months last year when we were building the women's center project. Work is a pleasure for Gonzolo and he is always happy. We are building him a block house in Mirador de Oriente.
My mom and dad arrived on Wednesday. Early Wednesday we were able to feed 100's at the dump. We were joined this week by Jen, David, Sam, and several of Jen's friends visiting from Ohio. Having a lot of people to help meant that I was able to visit with a bunch of folks in the dump. Mom and dad arrived on time and we are really enjoying having them here.
Wednesday's paper announced that there was a village in the Tegucigalpa area that was "bulldozed' away. The land owner had taken the squatters to court and won. He reclaimed his land by using a bull dozer to clear out 300+ families. Somebody had duped the squatters into believing that they owned the land and had sold lots for the houses. There was nothing that anyone could do.
On Wednesday morning, I had a call from my friend that is the director of Jovenes en Camino telling me that the paper work was complete for moving a couple of their kids to our home. We were able to take in Jose and Anna on Thursday afternoon. They are 7 and 8.
Also on Thursday, we found out about Gabriela. This young lady is 18 and was in a motorcycle accident 2 weeks ago. Her upper right leg was shattered and the Dr's at hospital Escuela did the best that they could to repair the mess. After 2 weeks they realized that the leg won't heal without proper orthepedic surgery materials. The family couldn't afford the more than $1000 cost of the pins, screws, and other materials needed for the surgery. Without the surgery supplies, the Dr's had told the family that the girl would loose her leg at the hip. Thank's to our amazing God, we were able to purchase the supplies and hopefully, Gabriela will have surgery this morning. PRAY!
Yesterday (Friday) I recieved a call that I had been waiting for for a long time. I have been working with friends in Nashville to put a water well in Oriental. There is a group from Texas that has a well drilling ministry and they have been promising to get us on the schedule for a long time. Yesterday I got the call that the time is here. I am meeting the manager of the operation in Oriental this afternoon to begin the process. Once complete, this village of more than 1000 will finally have a source for their water needs. What a blessing.
Please pray for the needs that I have talked about here. Please lift up thanks for the answered prayers here too.
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc
We started on Gonzolo's house this week. Gonzolo is a man that always smiles. He worked with me for several months last year when we were building the women's center project. Work is a pleasure for Gonzolo and he is always happy. We are building him a block house in Mirador de Oriente.
My mom and dad arrived on Wednesday. Early Wednesday we were able to feed 100's at the dump. We were joined this week by Jen, David, Sam, and several of Jen's friends visiting from Ohio. Having a lot of people to help meant that I was able to visit with a bunch of folks in the dump. Mom and dad arrived on time and we are really enjoying having them here.
Wednesday's paper announced that there was a village in the Tegucigalpa area that was "bulldozed' away. The land owner had taken the squatters to court and won. He reclaimed his land by using a bull dozer to clear out 300+ families. Somebody had duped the squatters into believing that they owned the land and had sold lots for the houses. There was nothing that anyone could do.
On Wednesday morning, I had a call from my friend that is the director of Jovenes en Camino telling me that the paper work was complete for moving a couple of their kids to our home. We were able to take in Jose and Anna on Thursday afternoon. They are 7 and 8.
Also on Thursday, we found out about Gabriela. This young lady is 18 and was in a motorcycle accident 2 weeks ago. Her upper right leg was shattered and the Dr's at hospital Escuela did the best that they could to repair the mess. After 2 weeks they realized that the leg won't heal without proper orthepedic surgery materials. The family couldn't afford the more than $1000 cost of the pins, screws, and other materials needed for the surgery. Without the surgery supplies, the Dr's had told the family that the girl would loose her leg at the hip. Thank's to our amazing God, we were able to purchase the supplies and hopefully, Gabriela will have surgery this morning. PRAY!
Yesterday (Friday) I recieved a call that I had been waiting for for a long time. I have been working with friends in Nashville to put a water well in Oriental. There is a group from Texas that has a well drilling ministry and they have been promising to get us on the schedule for a long time. Yesterday I got the call that the time is here. I am meeting the manager of the operation in Oriental this afternoon to begin the process. Once complete, this village of more than 1000 will finally have a source for their water needs. What a blessing.
Please pray for the needs that I have talked about here. Please lift up thanks for the answered prayers here too.
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
I Like This Quote
The other day I read this quote -
"Vision without action is only a Dream!
Action without Vision is only an activity!
Combining Vision & Action can change the World!"
I like this.
Imagine adding Jesus to the center of every Vision?
Imagine waking up every day with only one purpose in mind - your Vision!
Vision with Jesus in the center and Action with Jesus as the master will surely change the world.
One soul at a time.
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc
"Vision without action is only a Dream!
Action without Vision is only an activity!
Combining Vision & Action can change the World!"
I like this.
Imagine adding Jesus to the center of every Vision?
Imagine waking up every day with only one purpose in mind - your Vision!
Vision with Jesus in the center and Action with Jesus as the master will surely change the world.
One soul at a time.
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc
Thursday, February 05, 2009
January 2009 Report
We finished 2008 and started 2009 in the states. While there we were blessed to be able to spend time in Fairview Heights with our home church. They are amazing! We could not have a more loving and supporting family. I was able to speak at both Sunday School and during worship.
While in Fairview Heights, I was able to meet with friends that had access to a mobile medical clinic. It is one that is built on the chassis of bus similar to those used for rent car shuttles. It is in excellent condition and we were offered the bus as a gift. Of course we accepted and we will be working to transport the vehicle to Honduras prior to the many groups working here during the summer months. In addition to summer usage, we will partner with Baxter's clinic. The Baxter institute has an ongoing clinic operation that utilizes the resources of doc's from a medical school in VA. They will be able to use the clinic in many of the remote clinics that they tie in with remote churches. It is a perfect partnership.
From IL we travelled back down to Arkansas where our son in law graduated from Harding. As soon as graduation ended we were on our way to Kansas to meet with the Overland Park Church. They had contacted me and asked me to speak to them about short term missions. This is a church of about 800 and their college plus group had been looking for a mission opportunity. This group will be joining the team from Topeka in the summer of 2009 and it looks like they will have about 30 travelling to Honduras for the first time. The total KS Torch team will be about 50 to 60 strong and this is only the second year. Pretty amazing & very exciting!
On the same Sunday we were blessed to be able to speak and meet with the Central Church in Topeka. They are very excited to be coming back to Honduras in 2009 and we are blessed once again with the family there. The Topeka team formed because one of the families there had been coming to Honduras with my large July team - they went back to Kansas and told them that they should ask me to come and speak. I was able to go and speak & preach in September of 2007 and the rest is history.
We left Kansas to spend Christmas with all of our family in Texas. While there, we were able to speak & preach in both Shamrock and Wheeler. Both of these are wonderful churches and we are again blessed because our amazing God has put them in our lives.
We ended our tour of churches in Gulfport, MS and headed back to Honduras on January 8th. We didn't arrive back in country until the 9th because our tickets required a "lay-over" at the Miami airport (landed 1:30 AM departed for Tegucigalpa 10:00 AM).
We had to hit the ground running as there was much to catch up on.
On the day we returned, our AIM'ers told us that they had decided to return to the states. There were some issues within the team that they needed to resolve and they are in Lubbock working to regroup. Please pray for them.
Terri and I are continuing the Tegucigalpa dump ministry. We make about 350 bologna sandwiches a week, we buy about 100 pounds of bananas, and 10 gallons of water to share with the hungry people - men, women, and precious children - every Wednesday. We are blessed when we are able to share this work with others and in January we were able to team up one Wednesday with Karen (director of Casa), her mom and a friend from Ohio. Yesterday we shared the work with a group of ladies from PA as well as a few other folks from here in Tegucigalpa.
In January we were able to build 3 houses for families. A container of medical supplies from Mississipi arrived and is already helping many many people that have needs. The crutches, wheelchairs, walkers, hospital beds, and many other goods were put to immediate use.
In January, we were able to spend time with a friend from California. Mandy works with a group of ladies from Danli. The ladies there assemble gift items for Mandy's business and it is exciting to see her work to get more women able to feed their families.
In January we were able to spend time with new friends from Texas. JB Roberts and Dan Carpenter were here to find out more about the work we do and to meet with a number of folks about the needs of Honduras. These gentlemen work with an organization called Hunger Plus as well as Rotary Clubs International. They have already shipped a container of medical supplies our way (should be in country today) and have plans to help us with many many projects. Once again, our Amazing God introduces us to amazing people.
In January we were diasppointed to lose the family that we had hired as house parents for Casa de Esperanza. The Montes' family made the decision to return to work as full time ministers and have moved south to work with a church there. Pray for God to deliver the families we need to help us care for the children here at Casa de Esperanza.
We are continuing our plans to plant churches in 2009. Santa Katerina - south of here has already given us land and we will be going there this weekend to survey and take some gifts to the kids there.
Once again, Terri and I want to thank you for your continued prayers, for your encouragement, and for your amazing support.
We love you,
Marc & Terri
Be a blessing to somebody today!
While in Fairview Heights, I was able to meet with friends that had access to a mobile medical clinic. It is one that is built on the chassis of bus similar to those used for rent car shuttles. It is in excellent condition and we were offered the bus as a gift. Of course we accepted and we will be working to transport the vehicle to Honduras prior to the many groups working here during the summer months. In addition to summer usage, we will partner with Baxter's clinic. The Baxter institute has an ongoing clinic operation that utilizes the resources of doc's from a medical school in VA. They will be able to use the clinic in many of the remote clinics that they tie in with remote churches. It is a perfect partnership.
From IL we travelled back down to Arkansas where our son in law graduated from Harding. As soon as graduation ended we were on our way to Kansas to meet with the Overland Park Church. They had contacted me and asked me to speak to them about short term missions. This is a church of about 800 and their college plus group had been looking for a mission opportunity. This group will be joining the team from Topeka in the summer of 2009 and it looks like they will have about 30 travelling to Honduras for the first time. The total KS Torch team will be about 50 to 60 strong and this is only the second year. Pretty amazing & very exciting!
On the same Sunday we were blessed to be able to speak and meet with the Central Church in Topeka. They are very excited to be coming back to Honduras in 2009 and we are blessed once again with the family there. The Topeka team formed because one of the families there had been coming to Honduras with my large July team - they went back to Kansas and told them that they should ask me to come and speak. I was able to go and speak & preach in September of 2007 and the rest is history.
We left Kansas to spend Christmas with all of our family in Texas. While there, we were able to speak & preach in both Shamrock and Wheeler. Both of these are wonderful churches and we are again blessed because our amazing God has put them in our lives.
We ended our tour of churches in Gulfport, MS and headed back to Honduras on January 8th. We didn't arrive back in country until the 9th because our tickets required a "lay-over" at the Miami airport (landed 1:30 AM departed for Tegucigalpa 10:00 AM).
We had to hit the ground running as there was much to catch up on.
On the day we returned, our AIM'ers told us that they had decided to return to the states. There were some issues within the team that they needed to resolve and they are in Lubbock working to regroup. Please pray for them.
Terri and I are continuing the Tegucigalpa dump ministry. We make about 350 bologna sandwiches a week, we buy about 100 pounds of bananas, and 10 gallons of water to share with the hungry people - men, women, and precious children - every Wednesday. We are blessed when we are able to share this work with others and in January we were able to team up one Wednesday with Karen (director of Casa), her mom and a friend from Ohio. Yesterday we shared the work with a group of ladies from PA as well as a few other folks from here in Tegucigalpa.
In January we were able to build 3 houses for families. A container of medical supplies from Mississipi arrived and is already helping many many people that have needs. The crutches, wheelchairs, walkers, hospital beds, and many other goods were put to immediate use.
In January, we were able to spend time with a friend from California. Mandy works with a group of ladies from Danli. The ladies there assemble gift items for Mandy's business and it is exciting to see her work to get more women able to feed their families.
In January we were able to spend time with new friends from Texas. JB Roberts and Dan Carpenter were here to find out more about the work we do and to meet with a number of folks about the needs of Honduras. These gentlemen work with an organization called Hunger Plus as well as Rotary Clubs International. They have already shipped a container of medical supplies our way (should be in country today) and have plans to help us with many many projects. Once again, our Amazing God introduces us to amazing people.
In January we were diasppointed to lose the family that we had hired as house parents for Casa de Esperanza. The Montes' family made the decision to return to work as full time ministers and have moved south to work with a church there. Pray for God to deliver the families we need to help us care for the children here at Casa de Esperanza.
We are continuing our plans to plant churches in 2009. Santa Katerina - south of here has already given us land and we will be going there this weekend to survey and take some gifts to the kids there.
Once again, Terri and I want to thank you for your continued prayers, for your encouragement, and for your amazing support.
We love you,
Marc & Terri
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Saturday, January 24, 2009
End of the week
It's Saturday night and the week is quickly coming to a close. It was another great week in Honduras - we were able to build a house for Maria and her 3 kids on Wednesday and another for a man named Nelson and his 4 sons. I love building houses and these were great families that needed a place to live. On Wednesday - about the time I drove into the property, I got a call that a container was in town and that they needed help to unload. The container was full - very full - of medical supplies and many people will be helped by the shipment. I went back to Tegucigalpa to help unload the 60,000+ pounds of goods in the shipment.
On friday Pamala was finally able to have the surgery that she needed on her foot. This will hopefully help her to be able to walk and play without the pain that she has had for years. When she was little she was hit by a bus and the surgeon didn't quite replace her heel cushion - the surgery yesterday was designed to correct that. I was able to leave the house sight to be with Karen and Pamala for the surgery - she seems to be doing well and her pain is under control.
Last night - was the one night of the week when we don't have staff sleeping in the house with the kids - Karen usually takes on that task. Since she spent the night at the hospital, I voluntered for the duty. All went well with the kids. Everybody was asleep within a few minutes of bedtime and everybody was up and at it by 6:30 this morning becaue - today was the day that I had promised to take them to lunch and a movie.
We went to lunch at a fried chicken fast food place so that the kids would have a place to play for a few minutes before we went to the theater. As soon as we were in the resturant, Rosita started with the pee dance - she loves to go to the bathroom in any new place - she went in but came out pretty quickly because she couldn't unfasten her belt. Undoing a belt when somebody is doing the pee dance isn't easy and everybody in Popeyes was watching and smiling. The kids love Popeyes because first it is chicken and second, they have free re-fills on drinks. I thought the free re-fills on drinks was a good idea until we left to go and sit through a 2 hour movie. We headed out to the cinema - at one of the local malls. Nobody trusted me to take 12 to the movie by myself so - one of our workers went along to help me out (thank you Lord). We parked and unloaded everybody and grabbed hands so that we could keep up with everybody. Good plans don't always work. About 100 yards into the mall I heard Saundra say - "DORIS!". That was our Oh crap moment. Doris wasn't with us. I quickly made sure that the 11 remaning were close by and Saundra ran to find Doris. Thankfully, she had just stayed behind at the van. Well, we were off to the movies - which didn't start for another 20 minutes. While sitting there, there was a massive attack of free re-fills and everybody needed to GO. I took them 3 at a time and the first to visit the bano was Cindy, Daniela, and Sisi. Everybody was doing the dance so I let Cindy and Daniela go into the ladies room and since nobody was using the mens room - I sent Sisi in. The first 2 came out in a reasonable time and we were waiting on Sisi - I decided it would be a good idea to open the door to check on her. I just about fell over when I opened the door to see her washing her hands in the men's urinal - she said look poppie - they put soap in it for me.
I was able to get everybody else to the restroom - without any other happenings before the start of the movie. That wasn't the end though. After about 30 minutes of the movie, the pee wiggle started and before the end of the movie I had made 9 more trips to the restroom. Of course one was with Rosita. As you may or may not know, Rosita is unable to hear. She always thinks she needs to lock the door - so she did. While she was in the restroom, a line started. We could all hear her - first the flush and then the water and then the hand dryer. The first lady in line was really needing to go and I could see her relief when the hand dryer stopped - I could also see her panic when it immediately started again. She started knocking on the door and I told her that it wouldn't do any good beacuse the person in there couldn't hear - she kept knocking. The hand dryer went off again and started again - 6 times. There were 9 ladies in line when Rosita finally came out.
When the movie was over, I took 9 kids with me out the front door and Saundra took another 3 to the restroom. When Saundra came out of the restroom, they wouldn't let her exit the same way as my group so - we were split up. It took a while but, we both finally figured that the best thing to do would be to go to the van to wait. We finally had a reunion and were able to head home with 12 happy tired kids. Just as we pulled into Santa Ana, Jackson had a bit of car sickness hit and he left all of the chicken, popcorn, sprite, etc on the van floor. I was happy that he waited until we only had a quarter mile to go and not 20 miles.
After everybody was out of the van and it was all clean from the car sickness, I realized that in the rush to get out of the theater, I had left my backpack in under the seat - 25 miles away. My backpack contains much of my life - including my passport, my notebooks, and this week - the money to pay for 2 houses. I didn't believe that I would ever see it again. I just figured that somebody would open it and say "look what the Lord has given to me". More than $2000 in cash and a passport that is worth about $10,000 on the blackmarket. I prayed and then I called my friend Milton Estrada to rush to the mall to see if he could by chance find my backpack. Then Terri and I jumped into the car to head that way. We were barely out of Santa Ana when Milton called and told me that he had my backpack and it looked like everything was there. Our God answers prayers - even for something as simple as a backpack. We met Milton and all is well.
The end of this week was one that I won't soon forget.
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc
On friday Pamala was finally able to have the surgery that she needed on her foot. This will hopefully help her to be able to walk and play without the pain that she has had for years. When she was little she was hit by a bus and the surgeon didn't quite replace her heel cushion - the surgery yesterday was designed to correct that. I was able to leave the house sight to be with Karen and Pamala for the surgery - she seems to be doing well and her pain is under control.
Last night - was the one night of the week when we don't have staff sleeping in the house with the kids - Karen usually takes on that task. Since she spent the night at the hospital, I voluntered for the duty. All went well with the kids. Everybody was asleep within a few minutes of bedtime and everybody was up and at it by 6:30 this morning becaue - today was the day that I had promised to take them to lunch and a movie.
We went to lunch at a fried chicken fast food place so that the kids would have a place to play for a few minutes before we went to the theater. As soon as we were in the resturant, Rosita started with the pee dance - she loves to go to the bathroom in any new place - she went in but came out pretty quickly because she couldn't unfasten her belt. Undoing a belt when somebody is doing the pee dance isn't easy and everybody in Popeyes was watching and smiling. The kids love Popeyes because first it is chicken and second, they have free re-fills on drinks. I thought the free re-fills on drinks was a good idea until we left to go and sit through a 2 hour movie. We headed out to the cinema - at one of the local malls. Nobody trusted me to take 12 to the movie by myself so - one of our workers went along to help me out (thank you Lord). We parked and unloaded everybody and grabbed hands so that we could keep up with everybody. Good plans don't always work. About 100 yards into the mall I heard Saundra say - "DORIS!". That was our Oh crap moment. Doris wasn't with us. I quickly made sure that the 11 remaning were close by and Saundra ran to find Doris. Thankfully, she had just stayed behind at the van. Well, we were off to the movies - which didn't start for another 20 minutes. While sitting there, there was a massive attack of free re-fills and everybody needed to GO. I took them 3 at a time and the first to visit the bano was Cindy, Daniela, and Sisi. Everybody was doing the dance so I let Cindy and Daniela go into the ladies room and since nobody was using the mens room - I sent Sisi in. The first 2 came out in a reasonable time and we were waiting on Sisi - I decided it would be a good idea to open the door to check on her. I just about fell over when I opened the door to see her washing her hands in the men's urinal - she said look poppie - they put soap in it for me.
I was able to get everybody else to the restroom - without any other happenings before the start of the movie. That wasn't the end though. After about 30 minutes of the movie, the pee wiggle started and before the end of the movie I had made 9 more trips to the restroom. Of course one was with Rosita. As you may or may not know, Rosita is unable to hear. She always thinks she needs to lock the door - so she did. While she was in the restroom, a line started. We could all hear her - first the flush and then the water and then the hand dryer. The first lady in line was really needing to go and I could see her relief when the hand dryer stopped - I could also see her panic when it immediately started again. She started knocking on the door and I told her that it wouldn't do any good beacuse the person in there couldn't hear - she kept knocking. The hand dryer went off again and started again - 6 times. There were 9 ladies in line when Rosita finally came out.
When the movie was over, I took 9 kids with me out the front door and Saundra took another 3 to the restroom. When Saundra came out of the restroom, they wouldn't let her exit the same way as my group so - we were split up. It took a while but, we both finally figured that the best thing to do would be to go to the van to wait. We finally had a reunion and were able to head home with 12 happy tired kids. Just as we pulled into Santa Ana, Jackson had a bit of car sickness hit and he left all of the chicken, popcorn, sprite, etc on the van floor. I was happy that he waited until we only had a quarter mile to go and not 20 miles.
After everybody was out of the van and it was all clean from the car sickness, I realized that in the rush to get out of the theater, I had left my backpack in under the seat - 25 miles away. My backpack contains much of my life - including my passport, my notebooks, and this week - the money to pay for 2 houses. I didn't believe that I would ever see it again. I just figured that somebody would open it and say "look what the Lord has given to me". More than $2000 in cash and a passport that is worth about $10,000 on the blackmarket. I prayed and then I called my friend Milton Estrada to rush to the mall to see if he could by chance find my backpack. Then Terri and I jumped into the car to head that way. We were barely out of Santa Ana when Milton called and told me that he had my backpack and it looked like everything was there. Our God answers prayers - even for something as simple as a backpack. We met Milton and all is well.
The end of this week was one that I won't soon forget.
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
A Day In The Life
Monday was pretty busy - at the end of the day I saw my friend Dennis as I drove into the gate. He had been crying and I asked him if there was a problem. He told me that his grandmother had died. In 3rd world countries, death usually results in a pretty quick burial. There isn't much formal funeral home work for the poor so - it's necesary to get some newly departed into the ground before the odor changes too much. Since Dennis' grandmother died in the afternoon on Monday, it meant that the funeral and burial was to happen on Tuesday. I told Dennis that I would drive him and that we would leave at 7:00 AM the following morning.
Early Tuesday Noel - the former minister in Santa Ana - asked if he could go with Dennis and me. Well when it was time to go, I thought that we would have 3 in the truck. Welcome to Honduras - Dennis had his 2 boys and his ex-wife. On the way into Tegucigalpa, Dennis had a call and I heard him say - red truck - double cab. As we turned off the highway toward our destination Dennis said - there is my sister. We stopped to pick her up - along with her daughter. Now we had 8 in the truck. We headed out toward Danli and the road was pretty typical - lots of holes in the road. About 10 KM short of Danli, we truned toward the final destination - a town called Taupasanti - it was listed at 29 km away and initially the road was great. After about 5 min, all that changed and the dirt soon became mud and the straight became curves and the flat became mountains and the edge became steeeeep clifs. It was pretty much a crazy ride going around the hair pin turns on mud. If I didn't believe in God before this ride, I would have still prayed!
On the way into Taupasanti, we picked up another 9 or 10 of the family and finally made it to the house - the palce of the funeral too. Dennis' mom met us at the car and immediately wanted me to "meet" her mother. The meeting was brief and then she insisted that I eat. The family is very poor and the only food was rice and tortillas - there was only 2 plates in the house and they insisted that I use one of them. I didn't realy want to eat - not because of fear of ilness but because of the fact that there wasn't enough food in the house for very many people.
After lunch, I heard Dennis ask Noel if he would preside at the funeral. The service was brief and later we left in the procession - everybody walked and the casket was carried by grandsons - about 2 blocks toward the town square and back to the cemetary for burial. The family was responsible for both digging the grave and filling it in.
Leaving Taupasanti, Dennis asked if I could give a few of his family a ride closer to their houses. The "Few" turned into about 30. Yes - there were 30 people in and out of my truck. We drove up the mountain about 10km so that the family would be closer to their houses. They still had 2 hours to walk to get home - almost all up a mountain. Crazy.
We lightened the load down to 10 back to Teguc.
We finished the day by arriving back at the house at about 6:00 - just in time for our 7:00 Tuesday "midweek" worship.
I am blessed that I was able to share this day with Dennis and his family.
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc
Early Tuesday Noel - the former minister in Santa Ana - asked if he could go with Dennis and me. Well when it was time to go, I thought that we would have 3 in the truck. Welcome to Honduras - Dennis had his 2 boys and his ex-wife. On the way into Tegucigalpa, Dennis had a call and I heard him say - red truck - double cab. As we turned off the highway toward our destination Dennis said - there is my sister. We stopped to pick her up - along with her daughter. Now we had 8 in the truck. We headed out toward Danli and the road was pretty typical - lots of holes in the road. About 10 KM short of Danli, we truned toward the final destination - a town called Taupasanti - it was listed at 29 km away and initially the road was great. After about 5 min, all that changed and the dirt soon became mud and the straight became curves and the flat became mountains and the edge became steeeeep clifs. It was pretty much a crazy ride going around the hair pin turns on mud. If I didn't believe in God before this ride, I would have still prayed!
On the way into Taupasanti, we picked up another 9 or 10 of the family and finally made it to the house - the palce of the funeral too. Dennis' mom met us at the car and immediately wanted me to "meet" her mother. The meeting was brief and then she insisted that I eat. The family is very poor and the only food was rice and tortillas - there was only 2 plates in the house and they insisted that I use one of them. I didn't realy want to eat - not because of fear of ilness but because of the fact that there wasn't enough food in the house for very many people.
After lunch, I heard Dennis ask Noel if he would preside at the funeral. The service was brief and later we left in the procession - everybody walked and the casket was carried by grandsons - about 2 blocks toward the town square and back to the cemetary for burial. The family was responsible for both digging the grave and filling it in.
Leaving Taupasanti, Dennis asked if I could give a few of his family a ride closer to their houses. The "Few" turned into about 30. Yes - there were 30 people in and out of my truck. We drove up the mountain about 10km so that the family would be closer to their houses. They still had 2 hours to walk to get home - almost all up a mountain. Crazy.
We lightened the load down to 10 back to Teguc.
We finished the day by arriving back at the house at about 6:00 - just in time for our 7:00 Tuesday "midweek" worship.
I am blessed that I was able to share this day with Dennis and his family.
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc
Saturday, January 03, 2009
December 2008
2008 waas a flash - it is over!
I plan to post a year end summary within the next week or so - in the mean time, here is a brief summary of the past couple of months.
November was extremely busy and productive. We started the month with construction of a memory house for the aunt of friends in Mississippi and finished the month with the construction of 3 more houses. In between, Terri travelled to the states on what was to be a brief trip to lead a ladies retreat in IL. She ended up in IL for a couple of weeks to take care of some medical issues and some surgery. All is well and Terri made it back home for our Thanksgiving feast. Terri and Karen prepared more than enough food for everyone at the children's home and many guests. We had more than 45 at our lunch and it was amazing. We are blessed.
Prior to thanksgiving week, we welcomed Mike and Kim Miller into our home for a few days. Mike and Kim are from Florida an have been in Honduras for about 2 years. They are working on the development of a children's home in the San Pedro Sula area. They stayed at our house while working on legal issues in Tegucigalpa. About the time that Mike and Kim departed, we were blessed with a small group for Thanksgiving week. In October we put out a call for folks that wanted to come and build - this was the week when we built the 3 houses. On Saturday of the same week, we travelled to Santa Katerina to see the land where the new church / feeding center will be built. The community has already started clearing the land. We plan to do more work there - every month beginning in January 2009.
December began with a group from Mississippi coming to help us take some Christmas joy to the people at the dump. The group brought more than 250 gifts for very needy men, women, and children. We were able to feed everybody and deliver the gifts to just about everybody and it was an amazing day.
The following week we spent time with our friends at Baxter - the ministry school in Tegucigalpa. Graduation week at Baxter is wonderful and we are blessed greatly because of the work that they do. Baxter supplies many many talented preachers to the churches in Latin America.
On the 11th, we travelled to the states to both work and spend some time with our family. We have done both - speaking in 6 churches, driving more than 3000 miles, and spending time with family in Texas and Arkansas.
Our God is faithful 100% of the time. He provides for us and tells us to leave the worrying to Him. He has planned much for us to do and has all of the resources for us to do the work that He has planned. He is awesome!
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc & Terri
I plan to post a year end summary within the next week or so - in the mean time, here is a brief summary of the past couple of months.
November was extremely busy and productive. We started the month with construction of a memory house for the aunt of friends in Mississippi and finished the month with the construction of 3 more houses. In between, Terri travelled to the states on what was to be a brief trip to lead a ladies retreat in IL. She ended up in IL for a couple of weeks to take care of some medical issues and some surgery. All is well and Terri made it back home for our Thanksgiving feast. Terri and Karen prepared more than enough food for everyone at the children's home and many guests. We had more than 45 at our lunch and it was amazing. We are blessed.
Prior to thanksgiving week, we welcomed Mike and Kim Miller into our home for a few days. Mike and Kim are from Florida an have been in Honduras for about 2 years. They are working on the development of a children's home in the San Pedro Sula area. They stayed at our house while working on legal issues in Tegucigalpa. About the time that Mike and Kim departed, we were blessed with a small group for Thanksgiving week. In October we put out a call for folks that wanted to come and build - this was the week when we built the 3 houses. On Saturday of the same week, we travelled to Santa Katerina to see the land where the new church / feeding center will be built. The community has already started clearing the land. We plan to do more work there - every month beginning in January 2009.
December began with a group from Mississippi coming to help us take some Christmas joy to the people at the dump. The group brought more than 250 gifts for very needy men, women, and children. We were able to feed everybody and deliver the gifts to just about everybody and it was an amazing day.
The following week we spent time with our friends at Baxter - the ministry school in Tegucigalpa. Graduation week at Baxter is wonderful and we are blessed greatly because of the work that they do. Baxter supplies many many talented preachers to the churches in Latin America.
On the 11th, we travelled to the states to both work and spend some time with our family. We have done both - speaking in 6 churches, driving more than 3000 miles, and spending time with family in Texas and Arkansas.
Our God is faithful 100% of the time. He provides for us and tells us to leave the worrying to Him. He has planned much for us to do and has all of the resources for us to do the work that He has planned. He is awesome!
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc & Terri
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Thanksgiving
On Tuesday afternoon I met Maria and her two grandchildren - Nancy and Kelly. Maria lives in a village called America and it is a bad neighborhood. Her house was about 12x14 with dirt floors. There was one bed in the house and that is where Maria and the two grandchildren sleep. The mattress on the bed was one that looked like it had been discarded on the side of the road - it likely was somebody elses trash. Inside the house there was pretty much nothing - very few clothes, no toys for the two little girls, no food to speak of. The belongings that were there were what most of us would consider garbage.
Yesterday we were able to build Maria, Nancy, and Kelly a new house. When the wood truck arrived, Maria was singing a song about the strength of God. Maria sang this song most of the morning as she helped carry the wood up the mountain - about 300 yards. The slope wasn't too drastic but it takes a lot of wood to build a house. Maria never stopped the work until all of the wood was at the top of the mountain. (Maria looks to be in her 60's - I didn't ask)
When we finished the house, Maria cried. She was so happy that her little girls would not be stepping out of bed into the mud anymore. She cried when we were able to give her a big "house box" filled with all sorts of things that most of us take for granted. The box had towels, pots and pans, spices, cooking tools, and many other things that Maria could never afford. When we were all standing in the house, Maria spoke - she said, "Before today, I wasn't sure that God was there. Today, I know that he is real. He heard me - he listened to my prayer and now I have a house. He is strong."
I was blessed by Maria - she taught me a lot about thanksgiving - even though she likely doesn't even have a clue that today is when the USA celebrates the day of thanks.
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc
Yesterday we were able to build Maria, Nancy, and Kelly a new house. When the wood truck arrived, Maria was singing a song about the strength of God. Maria sang this song most of the morning as she helped carry the wood up the mountain - about 300 yards. The slope wasn't too drastic but it takes a lot of wood to build a house. Maria never stopped the work until all of the wood was at the top of the mountain. (Maria looks to be in her 60's - I didn't ask)
When we finished the house, Maria cried. She was so happy that her little girls would not be stepping out of bed into the mud anymore. She cried when we were able to give her a big "house box" filled with all sorts of things that most of us take for granted. The box had towels, pots and pans, spices, cooking tools, and many other things that Maria could never afford. When we were all standing in the house, Maria spoke - she said, "Before today, I wasn't sure that God was there. Today, I know that he is real. He heard me - he listened to my prayer and now I have a house. He is strong."
I was blessed by Maria - she taught me a lot about thanksgiving - even though she likely doesn't even have a clue that today is when the USA celebrates the day of thanks.
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Working Together
A couple of weeks ago we built a house in a place called the 17th of September. The house we built was for a family of 8 - mom and 7 kids. It was a special house because it was built in memory of a special lady from Columbus, MS.
While we were on the mountain I met a lady named Saundra. Every time Saundra talked to me she started crying and asking me to come to her house to see if there was anything that we could do to help her out. On the day we built the house, I told Saundra that I would come to her house as soon as we finished the new building. I was hopeful that we would be able to help Saundra's house be more livable with a new roof and maybe a few boards to cover up some of the holes in the wall. When we climed up - and I mean way up - to the house, it became immediately obvious that the only solution to Saundra's house problem would be a new house. The place where Saundra and her little boy live is one of the worst that I have ever seen. I told Saundra "right now, I don't have the money to build you a house. We both need to pray that God will deliver the money so that you and your son can get a house." I prayed right then that God would send money soon for a house for Saundra. That was on a Thursday and on Saturday of the same week, I had an email from a friend that he wanted to help build a house for somebody - that somebody is Saundra. Next Monday we will build that house. As of right now, Saundra still does not know that she will get a new house on Monday. I plan to go up the mountain after church tomorrow to tell her - the tears then will be tears of joy. I can't wait!
We get to build 2 more houses next week - I will share details about the families as soon as I have them.
The following week, we have friends from Mississippi coming. The Trace Crossing Church in Tupelo is bringing 5 or 6 to Honduras so that they can "be Jesus" to the folks at the Tegucigalpa dump. they have assembled 250 Maji boxes - specifically for the folks at the dump. These boxes are for both adults and children and will bring joy to just about everybody that the dump. There are treats, gloves, and small gifts for every body. We will have a special day at the dump - serving a hot meal and a gift of love! This group want's to be able to return to Mississippi with the story of giving that everybody needs to hear - especially during the time of year when we celbrate the "greatest gift".
Exciting things - Happy Thanksgiving,
Be a blessing to somebody TODAY!
Marc
While we were on the mountain I met a lady named Saundra. Every time Saundra talked to me she started crying and asking me to come to her house to see if there was anything that we could do to help her out. On the day we built the house, I told Saundra that I would come to her house as soon as we finished the new building. I was hopeful that we would be able to help Saundra's house be more livable with a new roof and maybe a few boards to cover up some of the holes in the wall. When we climed up - and I mean way up - to the house, it became immediately obvious that the only solution to Saundra's house problem would be a new house. The place where Saundra and her little boy live is one of the worst that I have ever seen. I told Saundra "right now, I don't have the money to build you a house. We both need to pray that God will deliver the money so that you and your son can get a house." I prayed right then that God would send money soon for a house for Saundra. That was on a Thursday and on Saturday of the same week, I had an email from a friend that he wanted to help build a house for somebody - that somebody is Saundra. Next Monday we will build that house. As of right now, Saundra still does not know that she will get a new house on Monday. I plan to go up the mountain after church tomorrow to tell her - the tears then will be tears of joy. I can't wait!
We get to build 2 more houses next week - I will share details about the families as soon as I have them.
The following week, we have friends from Mississippi coming. The Trace Crossing Church in Tupelo is bringing 5 or 6 to Honduras so that they can "be Jesus" to the folks at the Tegucigalpa dump. they have assembled 250 Maji boxes - specifically for the folks at the dump. These boxes are for both adults and children and will bring joy to just about everybody that the dump. There are treats, gloves, and small gifts for every body. We will have a special day at the dump - serving a hot meal and a gift of love! This group want's to be able to return to Mississippi with the story of giving that everybody needs to hear - especially during the time of year when we celbrate the "greatest gift".
Exciting things - Happy Thanksgiving,
Be a blessing to somebody TODAY!
Marc
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Gracias Dios
Thank you Lord for my beautiful wife. Thank you for hearing our prayers and for your answers. Thank you for the great news that we recieved at Terri's doctor appointment this morning. Please help us to never take the blessings that we are given for granted but to always know that everything that we have is from you. Please God help us to learn from you how to be generous.
In Jesus Name!
Amen
Today Terri was given the news that the many many prayers that so many have lifted up were answered. The tissue removed from her breast last week IS NOT CANCER!
She is coming home!
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc
In Jesus Name!
Amen
Today Terri was given the news that the many many prayers that so many have lifted up were answered. The tissue removed from her breast last week IS NOT CANCER!
She is coming home!
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc
Friday, November 14, 2008
I Can't Afford It!
There are lots of times when we use the phrase "I can't afford it!". Especially now in the tougher economic times - we tighten our belts - so to speak, we cut out some vacations, try to not use credit cards, don't eat out as much, etc. We do this because "we can't afford it".
Watching all of the bad news on the ecomomy, seeing the stock market dive, seeing our "portfolio" shrink - makes us all seem poorer. Our houses have declined in value - on paper so we feel like we have lost $1000's. Read the paper, watch the news, talk to friends at work and you could hang your head and really worry about what might be in the future.
Well, if you are in this shape - worry and sleepless because of the economy, think about the words of Jesus in Matthew 6: 25 - Therefore, I tell you do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear.......26: Look at the birds of the air....your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
We as believers are able to sleep at night because our Father has promised that he will take care of us.
Not only is now the time to stop worrying about our "stuff" we may want to consider selling off some of it - simplifying our lives and using more of what we have to help others. Consider the first century church described in Acts 2 - they sold their things and helped any brother that had needs. If we want to be the same type of believers as the first century christians, maybe we should plan a sale of the things that we are too attached to. Maybe we should look to what our God promises to those that don't hold back. In Malachi, the prophet recorded the words of God when he said (3:10) Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this. says the Lord and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have enough room for it.
Our blessing promise may not be more stuff but, our God has promised that He will take care of us and our God is true & faithful. He does what He says He will do. He even tells us to test Him!
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc
Watching all of the bad news on the ecomomy, seeing the stock market dive, seeing our "portfolio" shrink - makes us all seem poorer. Our houses have declined in value - on paper so we feel like we have lost $1000's. Read the paper, watch the news, talk to friends at work and you could hang your head and really worry about what might be in the future.
Well, if you are in this shape - worry and sleepless because of the economy, think about the words of Jesus in Matthew 6: 25 - Therefore, I tell you do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear.......26: Look at the birds of the air....your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
We as believers are able to sleep at night because our Father has promised that he will take care of us.
Not only is now the time to stop worrying about our "stuff" we may want to consider selling off some of it - simplifying our lives and using more of what we have to help others. Consider the first century church described in Acts 2 - they sold their things and helped any brother that had needs. If we want to be the same type of believers as the first century christians, maybe we should plan a sale of the things that we are too attached to. Maybe we should look to what our God promises to those that don't hold back. In Malachi, the prophet recorded the words of God when he said (3:10) Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this. says the Lord and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have enough room for it.
Our blessing promise may not be more stuff but, our God has promised that He will take care of us and our God is true & faithful. He does what He says He will do. He even tells us to test Him!
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc
Monday, November 10, 2008
Happenings
Last week Terri went to the states to speak at a ladies retreat. All went very well with the retreat and Terri was able to speak a couple of other times to friends with the Fairview Heights Church of Christ. We are blessed that we have such amazing friends in IL
While in the states, Terri had her annual check-up and they discovered something that needs more testing - she is having a biopsy surgery on Wednesday of this week and we covet your prayers that all will be 100% okay! Our God is faithful and we know that He is in control of everything.
In Honduras, Karen and Dorian have been visiting family in Nicaragua so - I have been spending a lot of time with the kids at Casa. On Saturday I was blessed to spend the entire day 6:30 AM to 8:00 PM with our beautiful kiddos. What a blessing they are. We have rigged a jump rope to so that one person can spin it so - on Saturday we jumped rope for about 3 hours. That helped everybody to get good and tired for bedtime. They were all up again at 6:30 on Sunday morning for pancakes and getting ready for Sunday School. Rayner - one of the AIM'ers came to help me with crowd control during church - Thank you Rayner!
My dog Skillet was treated to a "date" this weekend. (also and education for the kids). One of my friends here has a Black Lab - same as Skillet. His lab was in heat and he asked if he could bring her to have a "date" with Skillet. My poor dog was the description of "dog tired" by the end of the weekend. All of the kids are already asking "where are the puppies?"
Over the next couple of weeks we are going to be praying that God will send the resources that are so desperatly needed to rebuild some of the houses that were lost in the recent rains. We already have 3 or 4 and are hoping that we can spend or Thanksgiving week building - as many as 10 to 12 houses!. Pray with us please. Come and build with us if you can. I can't think of a better way to say thanks for our blessings than to share what you have been given with someone that has nothing - and I really mean nothing.
Well - it's monday morning and I need to get back to work. I was with the kids for devotional at 6:30 this morning and it is a pure blessing to hear the sincere prayers and the happy singing of these children. What a great way to start a day.
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc
While in the states, Terri had her annual check-up and they discovered something that needs more testing - she is having a biopsy surgery on Wednesday of this week and we covet your prayers that all will be 100% okay! Our God is faithful and we know that He is in control of everything.
In Honduras, Karen and Dorian have been visiting family in Nicaragua so - I have been spending a lot of time with the kids at Casa. On Saturday I was blessed to spend the entire day 6:30 AM to 8:00 PM with our beautiful kiddos. What a blessing they are. We have rigged a jump rope to so that one person can spin it so - on Saturday we jumped rope for about 3 hours. That helped everybody to get good and tired for bedtime. They were all up again at 6:30 on Sunday morning for pancakes and getting ready for Sunday School. Rayner - one of the AIM'ers came to help me with crowd control during church - Thank you Rayner!
My dog Skillet was treated to a "date" this weekend. (also and education for the kids). One of my friends here has a Black Lab - same as Skillet. His lab was in heat and he asked if he could bring her to have a "date" with Skillet. My poor dog was the description of "dog tired" by the end of the weekend. All of the kids are already asking "where are the puppies?"
Over the next couple of weeks we are going to be praying that God will send the resources that are so desperatly needed to rebuild some of the houses that were lost in the recent rains. We already have 3 or 4 and are hoping that we can spend or Thanksgiving week building - as many as 10 to 12 houses!. Pray with us please. Come and build with us if you can. I can't think of a better way to say thanks for our blessings than to share what you have been given with someone that has nothing - and I really mean nothing.
Well - it's monday morning and I need to get back to work. I was with the kids for devotional at 6:30 this morning and it is a pure blessing to hear the sincere prayers and the happy singing of these children. What a great way to start a day.
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
October Monthly Report
October was a very interesting month. I started the month heading to Copan for the annual conference on children's missions and health care missions in Honduras. Terri and I both attended the conference last year and this year she was unable to go along. The conference is a place where you can meet with many many people that are working in similar ministry around the country. It is a place where you can gather tons of helpful information about how to avoid some of the same problems that others have experineced. As a result of the conference, we have learned how to apply for a couple of grants for shipping containers into the country as well as how to utilize the resources of our own military transports to ship goods into the country.
As soon as I returned from Copan, we were blessed to have a couple of friends from Atlanta as our house guests. Our guests were able to see the Mirador Woman's Center on the day that we recieved the first of many truckloads of water from the city. Our Atlanta guests are from the Campus Church of Christ - the sponsors of the woman's center project. A later follow-up on the project was great. I have hired one of the church members to manage the facility and they are making great use of the facility for the community. It takes about 5 hours for a woman to do the family laundry so - only 10 or so ladies per day can use the pilas. The facility is being well used serving about 40 to 50 families a week.
(Other community news regarding Mirador Oriente involves the new block school building that was completed in September. In late October the roof was blown off - in a 70 MPH wind. We have put a temporary fix in place and plan to complete the repairs in November. )
Days after our Atlanta friends left, we were blessed with having friends from California for a week. We were able to take the week and do many many things including - visiting the kids at Hospital Escuela, feeding the poor at the dump, building a house for a person that lost their home in a fire, working at a children's feeding center, and meeting many many people. Additionally we took a road trip to the south. We planned to visit the community of Santa Katerina but, the rains had made the rivers too high to cross. We had purchased enough food for 100 families so we met many of the community at the river edge to distribute the food. The people that came for the food had to cross 3 rivers and walk for more than 2 hours just to get a small bag of food for their family. After we left the area, we found that the whole community had been down to having only tortillas to eat and that the food that we distributed helped them get past the crisis. Our God is amazing and we are blessed that we were His hands in answering the prayers of the hungry.
We are planning to help the community of Santa Katerina on a longer term basis in 2009. Our prayer is that we will be able to construct a community center that will function Monday - Friday as a feeding center for the local children, on Saturday's we would use the facility as a baking co-op for the women of the community to prepare bread for every family. On Sunday's we hope to utilize the facility as a place of worship. Seven days a week - feeding, helping, teaching, and delivering the hope and promise of Jesus! I have applied for a grant that will provide for one year of operations for the feeding center and it looks like we will be in a position to recieve the request. We are still working on the design and construction funding but are confident that our God will provide. After all - He has all the money in the world.
In October we were faced with lots of really bad weather. Rain for about 12 days in a row - followed by 40 to 50 MPH winds for 6 or 7 days. The rains were a dissaster for this country. There are 1000's of homes that have been destroyed and the roads and bridges are falling in or down - everywhere. We are working to try and help rebuild several houses during Thanksgiving week. So far we have comittments for 2 or 3 houses and are praying that we will be able to build as many as 10 to 12.
In the last week of October we were able to build a memory house for the family of friends in Mississippi. The new house is now in use and 8 people are living in a 16'x16' one room house. The appreciation was given to the Lord and the family was so very happy with the new home that was delivered as an answer to prayers.
The AIM Team has completed 2 months of Spanish school and has started working in various ministries. Throughout school, they have continued to feed at the dump every Wednesday. They have been able to start working in evengelism at the dump by securing the help of Richard - the minsiter of the church in Oj0jona - the small town where they live. We are blessed to have this team of young folks working with us for the next year.
We once again want to thank all of you for your prayers, your encouragement, and your support.
Thank You!
Be a blessing to somebody today,
Marc & Terri
As soon as I returned from Copan, we were blessed to have a couple of friends from Atlanta as our house guests. Our guests were able to see the Mirador Woman's Center on the day that we recieved the first of many truckloads of water from the city. Our Atlanta guests are from the Campus Church of Christ - the sponsors of the woman's center project. A later follow-up on the project was great. I have hired one of the church members to manage the facility and they are making great use of the facility for the community. It takes about 5 hours for a woman to do the family laundry so - only 10 or so ladies per day can use the pilas. The facility is being well used serving about 40 to 50 families a week.
(Other community news regarding Mirador Oriente involves the new block school building that was completed in September. In late October the roof was blown off - in a 70 MPH wind. We have put a temporary fix in place and plan to complete the repairs in November. )
Days after our Atlanta friends left, we were blessed with having friends from California for a week. We were able to take the week and do many many things including - visiting the kids at Hospital Escuela, feeding the poor at the dump, building a house for a person that lost their home in a fire, working at a children's feeding center, and meeting many many people. Additionally we took a road trip to the south. We planned to visit the community of Santa Katerina but, the rains had made the rivers too high to cross. We had purchased enough food for 100 families so we met many of the community at the river edge to distribute the food. The people that came for the food had to cross 3 rivers and walk for more than 2 hours just to get a small bag of food for their family. After we left the area, we found that the whole community had been down to having only tortillas to eat and that the food that we distributed helped them get past the crisis. Our God is amazing and we are blessed that we were His hands in answering the prayers of the hungry.
We are planning to help the community of Santa Katerina on a longer term basis in 2009. Our prayer is that we will be able to construct a community center that will function Monday - Friday as a feeding center for the local children, on Saturday's we would use the facility as a baking co-op for the women of the community to prepare bread for every family. On Sunday's we hope to utilize the facility as a place of worship. Seven days a week - feeding, helping, teaching, and delivering the hope and promise of Jesus! I have applied for a grant that will provide for one year of operations for the feeding center and it looks like we will be in a position to recieve the request. We are still working on the design and construction funding but are confident that our God will provide. After all - He has all the money in the world.
In October we were faced with lots of really bad weather. Rain for about 12 days in a row - followed by 40 to 50 MPH winds for 6 or 7 days. The rains were a dissaster for this country. There are 1000's of homes that have been destroyed and the roads and bridges are falling in or down - everywhere. We are working to try and help rebuild several houses during Thanksgiving week. So far we have comittments for 2 or 3 houses and are praying that we will be able to build as many as 10 to 12.
In the last week of October we were able to build a memory house for the family of friends in Mississippi. The new house is now in use and 8 people are living in a 16'x16' one room house. The appreciation was given to the Lord and the family was so very happy with the new home that was delivered as an answer to prayers.
The AIM Team has completed 2 months of Spanish school and has started working in various ministries. Throughout school, they have continued to feed at the dump every Wednesday. They have been able to start working in evengelism at the dump by securing the help of Richard - the minsiter of the church in Oj0jona - the small town where they live. We are blessed to have this team of young folks working with us for the next year.
We once again want to thank all of you for your prayers, your encouragement, and your support.
Thank You!
Be a blessing to somebody today,
Marc & Terri
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