Missing You! - from Diane

I've been thinking during my time alone this last week with Gary being gone in Columbia. This is the first time we have been apart for this long since I retired (and even quite awhile before that!) It has been much harder than  I ever thought. When the girls were teenagers Gary traveled all the time. We didnt like it but we were used to it. But it is different now. I have just recently gotten used to spending every day with him. So when he is not here its very lonely. I thought the hardest thing about our calling would be the travel. I NEVER thought that a really hard part would be when I needed to stay home! But I will say one thing. It has made me appreciate him so much more! We can only message each other on facebook and email - thank you God for those tools! We could skype but I am not that tech savvy. But I can tell you before the next solo trip I will learn to skype!   I have decided that it is harder to stay home than it is to travel and be with him. The Lord has taught me not to take my husband for granted. We all need to learn that lesson when it comes to our families. Maybe this was necessary for me to get the mesage!

Family Support - Diane writes!!!!

Since I read Carrie's blog post I have felt motivated to write the story of how all three of our wonderful daughters have encouraged us on this journey. You will quickly see that the writing talent in this family did not come from me, but here goes.....

As Carrie referred to in her story, The Lord brought me along on this journey just slightly behind Gary. I thought prison ministry was Gary's calling and that was fine with me. But when he came home and told me we needed 120 dozen cookies for the four day event, I was NOT fine with that. I remember talking to Carrie and she said she would pray for me, that God would change my heart. And He did, but not all at once. Then Emily said, "We can do this at my house. The kids will help and my friends will come and we will get it done!" And Dena had friends from church baking cookies and she delivered them. All the while the girls were helping and praying for a change of my heart. And God answered their prayers.

Then there were posters  and place mats that we also needed for the four day events. That was also a family project. All the grand kids worked on them and even our daughters! Carrie even had her Sunday school class from Indiana do some and sent them to us in the mail. This is all just to explain the support we got from the very beginning.

Now that we are doing what God has so clearly called us to do, we are still getting the great support that we got in the beginning. Before we left for language school Emily had her breast cancer surgery. Thankfully the Lord allowed me to be there for it, but we had to leave the day she came home from the hospital. To ease my worry about who would help Emily and because they love each other, Dena and Carrie each came for many days to be there for Emily. Even though Emily would have rather had me stay home, she still encouraged me to go saying that she would be fine. Always the encourager.

When we were first trying to begin to tell our story of how God brought us to this place of serving Him, the girls all encouraged us to practice telling our story in front of all of them and their husbands. It helped us so much to share our story with them first.  Dena even had a gathering of friends at her house so we could tell them our story. And I must not forget that Dena watches our dog when we leave the country AND takes us to the airport.

So these are just a few instances ( and I am sure I missed some) of the many ways our daughters have supported us. We feel so blessed that our whole family - son-in-laws, grandchildren and everyone is praying for us and supporting us in many, many ways . We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family!

So how DID they get there? - Part 1

Because Gary and Diane have been telling the story of how God "maneuvered" them into ministry, we thought it might be a fun to tell you how WE, their daughters saw it all happen.  This first installment is from the youngest sister, Carrie.  Carrie and her husband Dan and their two girls, Emma and Hope, live in the great and flat state of Indiana.  Even though they live the furthest away, their consistent trips home to Ohio have afforded all of them a front row seat to what our parents have been doing.

Part One - Carrie

Imagine a 50 foot RV cruising across the country piloted by two retirees. Familiar maybe. Carving out an adventure side by side as they’d lived the ‘daily grind’. That was Gary and Diane’s five year plan probably about five years before retirement.

When the RV purchase came to fruition the intials “EVG” in the license plate seemed to foretell to them that maybe God would give them a purpose (EVanGelism) in their travels. Chance roadside encounters, maybe? Yet God was beginning to prepare a whole new horizon for them. Their speculation and thereby their openness to a newly prepared dream found their way more and more into Gary and Diane’s own dreams of how retirement might look.

This began in probably the most diametrically opposed place to the “open road”. Prison outreach. Gary began working with Crossroads Ministries which gave Bible lessons to inmates and offered personal written feedback. This limited commitment expanded as Gary came to know one of his customer’s involvement in Kairos Ministries. Kairos offers inmates personal connection to the gospel as well, but it is through special intensive weekend visits centered on speaking the message of Christ’s redemption into inmates’ lives with weekly prayer meeting follow-ups.  Gary soon became involved in the training for such an event. Little did he know that this would also envelope Diane’s involvement in one element--the cookie ministry. Each of Kairos’ outside attendees is expected to bring 120 dozen cookies. “Perhaps, I've misunderstood,” Gary told Diane. But, alas, it was the expectation. What seemed overwhelming and burdensome at first--place mats, cookies with dimensions and rules, posters, prayer partners--became a ministry for Diane. Those, with whom she had usually spoken about her kids, grand kids and her dog, over the 2 years and 4 weekend visitations became familiar with the cookie ministry, which expanded to serving in the kitchen one weekend, and Gary’s Thursday prayer circle.

The truth “To whom much is given, much will be expected,” became more and more evident. Obedience showed more opportunities. A short term mission trip to Mexico revealed to Gary and Diane that they were both useful to God. Diane spent several 10-12 hour days cleaning teeth and showing God’s love through broken Spanish. “Escupo!” One of the settings was high in the mountains, but another was, by God’s providence in a prison. God does have His own bold print and italics, doesn't He?

            By this point, God had spoken into both of their lives. And, miracle of note to any of us who are blessed with marriage, they were on the same page, at the same time. They began searching for a missions organization for their post-retirement years. There weren’t many other possibilities that seemed viable until One Mission Society. It took some time for training and assignment to focus, but when it did, the same bold print and italics was evident. Gospel sharing in the context of Prison Ministry--in South and Central America. 

Training in Indiana

Hello, friends and family!  Gary here.  Just a quick update on what I was up to last week.  After only one day home from Honduras, I was back in the car and along with another Church Multiplication Facilitator (CMF) from Middlefield, OH, Roger Cruse, we were on our way to Greenwood, IN to our destination - Henryville, IN. 

Roger is the CMF for a portion of India and all of Indonesia, where he travels 2-3 times each year.  We were invited to attend one of the workshops at the VAN Symposim.  This Symposium brought together the largest and most significant of our ministry partners from around the world to discuss and share how networking together and sharing one another's experience can afford benefits to all members of the ONE MISSION SOCIETY team. 

Above:  Banner honoring the attendees from around the world Those involved were from Colombia, India, Bangladesh, Singapore, Spain, Korea, the Caribbean, Bangladesh and a few other East Asian countries as well.  

The general scope of the discussions was what kind of support services, materials, trainers and training should an organization supply to their direct or 'first wave "train and multiply" partners and how should this support be sustained and maintained with subsequent waves in order to keep the Gospel being spread, expanded and modeled in subsequent waves. 

It was an interesting and active session and led to a lot of good discussion and dialogue between both OMS people and other participating partners as well.  An interesting development is now occurring in that some of these partners are now at the point where they are sending their own missionaries out to develop new areas and new countries using the model from One Mission Society.  Our work in Honduras fits this description quite well, inasmuch as Confraternidad Carcelaria de Colombia is sending trainers to Honduras to begin the development of the Honduran Prison Ministry utilizing Train and Multiply materials and methods.

Photo left:  Prison Fellowship of Columbia Representatives- It is so encouraging to see that the Great Commission is being understood and executed throughout the nations of the earth, in the second, third and subsequent waves into an ever expanding body of Christ.

Above:  Our group photo

"Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost."  Matthew 28:19

Please pardon the timeline jumping with these first posts as we get this blog up to speed!  Following is our update prior to our Honduras trip.  This will give you a pretty good idea of what our outlook on the mission is for the rest of the year.

Greetings to all our prayer partners and supporters!

Our ministry is getting into gear in a serious way right now. 

Diane and I will be facilitating and training 15 Honduran volunteers in Tegucigalpa, Honduras May 28^th-June 6.  These 15 volunteers have already been actively visiting the prisons in their country. We will go with them into these facilities and begin establishment of Train and Multiply Bible studies.  This program results in the identification of leaders and the formation of small groups and then eventually the establishment of churches within the walls of the prisons, directed and led by inmates themselves. 

Diane and I will be looking forward to utilizing our newly learned skills in Spanish assisting in instruction and building relationships with the trainees.  They will use the material and skills we provide to encourage and teach the inmates and develop long term relationships with a foundation in Christ. 

After we return to the US, we will continue to support these trainees by following up with them via Skype and e-mail, offering suggestions, checking on progress, and seeing just how God is working  through their efforts.  We look forward to sharing those stories of hope! 

We will return to Honduras in 8-12 weeks to work with them further and make several visits into each of the facilities in which they are ministering.

It is exciting to see how these trips will be driving our calendar in the next year!  As we make our way, we plan on staying in touch and taking each of you with us as much as possible.  

Please feel free to contact us with any questions or encouragement!  Your participation and prayers mean a great deal!

In Christ,
Gary

Gary and I have been asked to participate in a training event back in Colombia.  They are working throughout the nation of Colombia to take the Gospel to each and every home in the nation!  What an exciting potential for major transformation in a country once so torn by drug trade and violence! This will include to all those incarcerated in the prisons of Colombia, as well.  The plan is to train approximately 100 volunteers from across the country to go back to their “barrios” and start planting the seeds that will multiply into a revival within the nation. 

Since this trip has fallen so soon after our trip to Tegucigalpa, it will be impossible for me to accompany Gary because our support account will just about be emptied out. 

So, can I ask that you pray for increased pledges and gifts to our mission work to Latin America? 

We always appreciate your prayers but would also ask that you prayerfully consider participation as financial partners of our mission work. 

It is VERY SIMPLE to pledge your support.  And EVERY gift makes a difference to us. 

Go to this link:

http://www.onemissionsociety.org/give/TheBarefoots

Thank you all so much for your continued prayers for our effectiveness, protection and responsiveness to God’s call us to serve Him!  It means more than you know!                  

Blessings,

Diane

Herasmos' Gift

This beautiful sketch was a gift from our host's son - Herasmos.  He is a gifted artist and we are so grateful for such a beautiful reminder of this visit.  We are quickly realizing that the relationship we have begun to develop with this family is more than just a ministry partnership; God has gifted us with new friends.  We are already looking to our next visit!

Prison Ministry to Honduras May- June 2014

Hola friends!

Diane and I are just back from our recent trip to Honduras and we wanted to share some of what we experienced.  We plan on sharing some of the story of how we got to this point in the blog later on but wanted to keep you updated as our mission really begins to pick up speed!  Here are a few excerpts/ photos from our travel log.  Please comment and ask any questions you like!!  We welcome it!

Prison Ministry to Honduras

May-June 2014

May 28, 2014 - Wednesday

Our first day in Honduras - arrived about mid-day.  Met our hosts, Nora Reyes and Erasmo Ramirez and their son, Herasmo.  Nora and Erasmo are the leaders of Prison Fellowship in Honduras.  Dollys Galindo, the trainer, arrived about 6:00PM from Medellin, Colombia.   

May 29, 2014 – Thursday

Adjustment and seeing some local color. First went to the local Prison Fellowship Int'l Church.  Worked in the office and set things up for the meeting on Saturday.  Then to two local “pueblos”  or towns to see some colonial type architecture and overlooks of Tegucigalpa.

May 30, 2014 – Friday

Early departure.  Drove 4 hours to get to Mercala to visit the local “state jail” - approximately 150-200 inmates.  We were welcomed by inmates and prison officials, alike.  I gave a brief greeting and told them how much we appreciated being there and and Dollys spoke to their hearts.  Wonderful reception and fellowship with inmates and correctional officers, as well.

May 31-June 1, 2014 – Saturday and Sunday

First day of instruction for the Train & Multiply Program…15 Students, all prison volunteers and part of the Confraternidad Carcealria de Honduras, i.e. Prison Fellowship of Honduras.  Started at 8:00 AM and lasted til 5:00 PM  

Sunday we finished with a prayer walk around the neighborhood of the church.  The people were open and receptive to prayer and listening to the story of Jesus and salvation offered by Him for each of us.

June 2, 2014 – Monday

This day was for going to the Nacionales Parque and seeing one of the most famous sites in Tegucigalpa, the Cristo de el Picacho, a 75 foot statue of Jesus Christ that stands overlooking Tegucigalpa from one of the surrounding mountains.

June 3, 2014 – Tuesday

Today we spent the day getting to and visiting two prisons about 2 hours outside of Tegucigalpa.  The first was a larger central prison, the second was a smaller prison where we were told they might not even allow us in.  We were delivering contributed medicines and sanitary and personal care items to each prison.  The prisons were located in La Paz and Comayagua. 

Unfortunately, we were not permitted to take pictures inside the prison.  We not only were able to get into that second prison, we were able to conduct a church service!  And we had great reception and were invited to come back anytime we liked!  God continues to amaze us!

June 4, 2014 - Wednesday

We had a down day and took Dollys to the airport right after noon and really didn’t do much.  I think we needed it - we were kind of worn down!

June 5, 2014 - Thursday

We were whisked off by Nora’s brother and sister-in-law who had lived in the US for 20 years but spoke only broken English.  They took us to the mountains on the other side of Tegucigalpa where we saw a very real and very old Honduran town with a mission church from 1823 still in use. We had lunch with them, returned to Tegucigalpa and had tea with them at the Mall and returned to Erasmo and Nora’s home about 7:00PM.

June 6, 2013 - Friday

We got ready and went to the airport mid morning and we were in airports and on planes from 10:30AM Friday until almost 2:00AM Saturday.  We stayed the rest of the night with our daughter Dena and then drove back to Aurora, OH and got home about Noon on Saturday.