A 30,000 foot view of OMS in Honduras

Last week, upon his return from their latest trip to Honduras, Gary sent in a report to his immediate supervisor at OMS. He sent a copy to me as well and it gave such a great description of the scope of the work they have helped foster in that country that I asked him if I could share it with the blog community. He was happy to share. So check out what three years has meant to the sharing of the gospel in this one Latin American nation.

A general summary of the work in Honduras is that it is growing rapidly and in ways that clearly show the hand of the Lord in how, who and where the growth is occurring. 

When we started in Honduras about three years ago, they were really only seeing and working in three prisons, at San Pedro Sula, La Paz and Marcala.  They were working with a small core group of volunteers  who worked very hard, but due to lack of training and material, were really only ministering to the inmates' physical needs and to a much lesser extent, their spiritual condition.  They were in each of these prisons approximately twice each month, and they delivered personal hygiene products, some OTC medicines and preached a short message in the chapel.  The total number of people that they ministered to was probably in the range of 30-40 individuals in each of these prisons.  This was after serving with Prison Fellowship for more than 25-30 years.  It wasn’t lack of desire or effort, but no appreciable direction or materials for growing the participation.

Enter Train & Multiply.  The combination of the material and the funding of their ministry has changed the face of their ministry and isdramatically changing the face of the prison system in Honduras. 

Now their volunteer base consists of pastors from several different denominations, Nazarenes, Church of God, and even Roman Catholic, seeing the people in the prison several times each week. These are people who are graduating multiple classes from Train & Multiply each month and are providing the manpower and follow-up that Herasmo, Erasmo and Nora were unable to do because of the distance and time requirements to travel in Honduras. 

Where three years ago there were three locations, now there are 12-15 including:

La Esperanza, Comayagua, Tamara National Prison for Men, Tamara National Prison for Women, a third Tamara Prison, San Pedro Sula, El Progresso, Marcala, La Paz, Danli, Tela, Choluteca Prison, Nacaome Prison.  The ministry has grown and has made an impact to the point that the ministry has now been involved with Samaritan’s Purse to deliver Shoe Boxes to the children of prisoners.  They have an expanded participation in the PFI Angel Tree Program - again providing gifts for the children of prisoners. 

I have included a map of Honduras for you to get an idea of the scope of where they are working.  The country is about the size of Tennessee, but to go a little over 80 miles as the crow flies, it requires a drive of almost 4 hours even in the non-rainy season, which is better known there as construction season.  The volunteers are currently working in a large number of the departments or states in the country and are already planning on serving more. 

They are still doing all the things they used to with regard to preaching, personal hygiene and medicinal items, distributing gifts for the inmates children, but more importantly, they are developing a core group of 25-40 men and women that are trained as trainers who are spreading the program even when our volunteers are not on site. 

We have found that some of the inmates, primarily the gang members, while making a real change in their lives, still desire to be taught by an outside volunteer rather than by fellow inmates.  I have actually experienced this preference in the prisons I work in here in the states as well.

The program has been somewhat slow to grow outside the prison, but there is some activity in the city of Tegucigalpa with people participating from various barrios in Train & Multiply. Some of the remote pastors serving in the prisons have discovered that the Train & Multiply Program provides great material for developing the discipleship in their own churches and communities.

The program has developed to the point where it could almost be self-sustaining!

If you would like more detail, that is certainly available, but this gives you an idea of what and where things are happening.  On my next visit in November, it will be after the rainy season and before the construction season gets rolling and Herasmo promised that we would once again be running all over the country seeing the growth of the program throughout Honduras!

Colombia, January 2017 - Diane

I love sharing these snippets from my mom's travel journal. If you know Diane at all, you know that traveling is not second nature to her. I suspect most all of you know that if she were deciding, she would be home with her beloved dog, Summer and in close proximity to her kids and grandkids and her typical daily routines. Isn't it just how God works on us to make us uncomfortable to grow closer and more dependent on Him? Please be praying for Diane and Gary and their discomfort and growth - mental, emotional and physical discomfort is hard but it pays in huge dividends when God is the source!

Saturday Jan 21

Today the first day here in Medellin was a very full day! We arrived at the hotel about midnight last night and just unpacked enough to sleep. Then this morning we met Lacides Hernandes, the president of Prison Fellowship - Latin America, and off we went!  Back to the airport an hour away to pick up the board members arriving from an OMS board meeting in Peru. Then we went to visit a part of this ministry that reaches boys through soccer. They built a big sports complex that enables them to practice and play a lot of soccer. But also while they are playing this sport, they are being led to Christ and discipled

in the Christian way of life. And the families are involved in their process also. They are also building a church in the community that has grown from the soccer ministry.

Then we were taken to a facility that manufactures brownies using an American recipe and the proceeds are used to fund the soccer facility!  It is an amazing process that shows Gods  people working together to further His Kingdom.

Sunday January22

We got up and had breakfast with some of the International Board members, including president of OMS, Bob Fetherlin. We got to share our story of how God called us to serve Him in mission work. Many people who are with OMS have been in missions their whole lives and their families were missionaries. So our story fascinates them.

We went to church in Medellin at the first evangelical church established here by IGLECO, a division of OMS. It was a very special day for them to have the president and board members visiting. They gave a plaque to the President with their many thanks. One of the board members is a pastor and he preached a wonderful sermon with Randy Spacht as his translator. It was very powerful for everyone. The title was "At the Feet of Jesus," the story of Mary and how that was where you could always find her. It was very applicable in our busy world to take time to find what we need at the feet of Jesus. 

Bob Fetherlin spoke of the goals of OMS to reach all who have not heard the name of Jesus. He challenged all of us saying we are the ones who will take His name to all the earth. He also challenged the church here in Medellin - they are called to send missionaries to other countries that need Jesus. As always he was very inspiring.

Then after the service of much singing and greetings, we went to a local mall for lunch. The officials of the church hosted us and many were there with their families.

After lunch we went to visit the offices of IGLEICO. They are located very close to our hotel. They shared their organizational plan and plans to expand into other areas of Columbia. They are already in much of the country and even have a church in London.

Tonight for dinner we will hear about other aspects of ministry here. Such as the Satura Columbia project which as the name implies, has the goal of saturating the whole country with the Gospel. It was a special treat to hear from Juan Guillermo Cardona tonight about the saturation project for all of Columbia. He gave a very detailed plan of how this would be accomplished. He and his family work very hard for the Lord. It was such a pleasure to see them all. The last time we saw them his wife was undergoing chemotherapy treatments for breast cancer. Thankfully she is cancer free now and looks wonderful! Their two teenage children, a boy and a girl, are so sweet and welcoming to us. It is wonderful to have such good friends here.

OMS - Counting on a Miracle of God!

One of the things that Gary and Diane do when they aren't traveling to Latin America is participate in conferences and trainings here in the states for OMS. Below, Gary describes one such conference from June of 2016, where they began to tally the numbers to watch God work a miracle.

I know Diane has already shared her impressions of the International Missions Conference and the Worldwide Coordinators Seminar that were held at Ohio Wesleyan University in Marion, IN in June.  I just wanted to give you an overview from my standpoint.

The Missions Conference was primarily focused on sharing the vision of Bob Fetherlin, President of One Mission Society.  Bob explained his desire since being named president to cast a vision for the next decade.  He said he kept coming up with goals, but kept feeling God saying “bigger!”  Bob began a long prayerful negotiation with God and came up with what he said was a GOD SIZED GOAL.

“One Billion – One Opportunity Vision”

“We’re asking God, by his power and grace and for his glory alone, to enable OMS and our partners to give one billion people the opportunity to hear, understand, and believe the Good News of Jesus Christ over the next 10 years.”       

    Robert Fetherlin – President One Mission Society

This first half of the conference was to share the vision and discuss how this God Sized Goal could "reasonably" be achieved.  Not by OMS or other organizations, but by God because, after all - with God all things are possible. 

We were presented with outstanding speakers involved in worldwide mission with reaches spanning throughout the world. The world seems to be primed for receiving the good news.  Attending the conference were prayer supporters, financial supporters, missionaries and ministry partners from approximately 60 countries where OMS has an on-going ministry presence.  This was the inspirational part of the meeting and everyone got really excited for the opportunities that God is opening for us and Christians around the world to spread the Gospel.

The second half dealt with the mechanics of the implementation of the vision, the “feet on the ground” aspect of what God was calling us to do.  This was attended by ministry leaders from all over the world -  Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, South and Central America, the Caribbean, and from North America as well.  Here each group and ministry provided a short update on their activities, successes, setbacks and their plans for the future.  

There were seminars and workshops presented that discussed methods and practical steps to more effectively spread God’s word.  They explored and explained the challenges and creative methods each group had found to overcome obstacles and shared those with others that may currently be encountering similar issues.  

The first three days of the Symposium were packed with good practices that have worked in other areas and how to avoid pitfalls and errors and follow Biblical principles in the spread of the Gospel.  On the last day, each national group met individually with others from their respective countries and together they worked to determine what portion of the One Billion – One Opportunity goal they could manage.  

During the final session, the results of the tally were presented to the assembly.  Now remember this is just what OMS ministries feel they can be reasonably held accountable,  ...….. The number came to approximately 400 million, forty percent of the stated goal, without allowance for the contributions that come from other agencies, organizations and evangelistic-missionary groups.  That is an impressive goal in and of itself, if combined with other partners are able to do, the One Billion – One Vision concept appears reachable. Because indeed with God, all things are possible!

  

The Conference ended on a very positive note and we all headed home - inspired, encouraged and challenged.  When we look at the big picture, we can all see that it has to begin with each and every one of us sharing our faith on a daily basis and letting the power of multiplication work to give the opportunity to billions to know Jesus.