The Story Continues

The blog has been quiet for the last four months but that has not been for lack of things to write about. In the intervening months, we had the holiday season and my husband and I (blog admin and oldest daughter, Dena Masterino) have been in the process of deciding to move to Ohio, closer to family. So as we planned and explored and now pack and prepare, the blog has suffered some silence. But for whatever reason God has motivated me to make time to get in here and post some of the backlog of stories that my parents have shared over the last four months. I don't know if it even matters that the stories aren't up to the moment. God's work isn't only powerful when it's fresh. It stands the test of time. 



*******Wednesday August 15

Today we visited the women’s prison of Tamara. They had a graduation of about 80 women from The Prisoners Journey Program. This is an evangelism program specifically designed for Prisoners. We have been involved in this prison for about three years. They have graduated many women from The Train and Multiply Program but some have moved to other prisons and some have been released. So it was determined that it was time to reach a new group of women with the Gospel. From our observation today, it was a great success. There was enthusiasm and eagerness on the faces of all of these women. They were mostly young, but there was quite an age range represented.

Herasmo spoke and then each of us said a few words of encouragement. After this the group leader read the names of the women and each one came to the front and was presented with a Bible and her certificate of completion of the program. One of the guards loaned her phone so that pictures could be taken of each of the women as they received their certificate. After everyone was done they took a picture of them all holding up the Certificates! Beautiful! Then after they were dismissed they were excited to get small group pictures together. You could see that many relationships had been built along with coming to faith.

Next they will begin the Train and Multiply Program, which is a discipleship program designed to help them grow in their new faith in Jesus. We are grateful to be a part of this program and to see the fruit of the Gospel in the prisons of Honduras.

Another Episode from November 2017

Diane shares the next two days of their journey as more are changed by Jesus in the prisons and in the neighborhoods of Honduras.

November 8 

Today we returned to the National Prison of Tamara to visit another class. It was held in their library, a very small space for the number of people. There were approximately 40 men in attendance. They were the leaders for the Train and Multiply Class. These leaders will in turn be training the next group of leaders. And this is where the multiplication come in! Herasmo spoke to them and introduced us. 

Then Herasmo interviewed Gary about our role in this program. Gary explained that we simply obeyed God's call on our lives and brought this program from OMS. At the end Herasmo asked if there were questions. Several men expressed their gratitude to us and sent blessings to our family and church. One thing Gary mentioned was how happy we are that the evangelicals and Catholics are working together in this Train and Multiply Program to reach more people with the Gospel. Gary mentioned to them a quote from our pastor. He says The main things are the plain things, and the plain things are the main things. We know that we can agree on the main things and this will reach more people with the Gospel. I got up and told them what a blessing they are to all of us and that we are praying for them. Herasmo also passed out some placemats that our daughter Carrie and her Sunday school class have done for us to bring as gifts. They are just done on plain white paper but they are done with love and contained beautiful artwork and meaningful scriptures. They were very touched at these gifts. There was a lot of handshaking and blessings exchanged. 

As we were leaving, there was an inmate, not part of the program, standing at the door. He had lived in the United States and wanted to speak English with us! It is nice for us to be able to actually speak with someone. Most of the time we speak in our broken Spanish! Again, it was another blessed day seeing what the Lord is doing in the prisons of Honduras!

Thursday Nov 9

Today was our last full day here. Nora, Erasmo and Herasmo took us out to lunch to a beautiful restaurant overlooking the city. We were there before at night and it was beautiful, but even more so in the daytime.

After that they told us we would visit a house church on the outskirts of the city. This church was started by a young couple from their church who also participated in the Coaching Training last weekend. The restaurant was very high up above the city. The neighborhood where the church plant was located was also very high above the city. The roads were not as bad as the ones going into the Prison of Danli, but they were steep and very curvy. We picked some family members up on the way, then we traveled to their house. It was very nice but very remote and on a steep road. Erasmo was able to use his driving skills to get us in and out of that area!

This young couple, who we knew from previous times in their church, are leaders in this new house church and are using the Train and Multiply Program. It turns out that these people were all family and the young couple have been sharing the Gospel with them because that is what we are commanded to do! This in itself was exciting, but even more so when they started sharing testimonies of how Jesus had changed their lives. The young man who was the husband shared his testimony and it was powerful! He was drank alcohol so often and in excess that  he could not hold down a job and lost much in his life. When he came to know the Lord his whole life changed! He began to share his faith with the rest of the family. Now they all have testimony to share! Not everything is perfect for them, but their trust is in Jesus. It was such a blessing to see what God is doing in the neighborhoods of Honduras as well as the prisons! 

Lord willing, someday soon we will have a saturation project here just like the one in Colombia where the goal will be to make sure every ear has heard the name of Jesus.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

As we wrap up the first weekend of the official holiday season, we hope that you had an opportunity to gather with family and friends and share a long long list of gratitudes with one another to celebrate Thanksgiving. Gary and Diane got back from Honduras just  a few weeks ago and here is the first of the updates we will share to get you completely caught up with their ministry in time for the holidays. As we share the movement of God they are seeing, would you begin to pray about how God may be moving you to make an end of year gift to their ministry? Prayers are always topping their list of needs.

Monday, November 6

Today we were excited to visit the new prison of Juticalpa! The program has been there for about 6 months. It is very difficult 3 1/2 hour journey from Tegucigalpa! And the last 40 minutes, there is almost no road! We thought many times that we might get stuck and I was wondering who would push us out!! Herasmo did some very skillful driving to keep that from happening. Pastor Briceno is the one who regularly visits Juticalpa . In the initial stages of the training, he visited weekly. Now he visits twice a month. Since he has trainers inside and nearby the prison to monitor the training. He typically comes by bus, and then after the bus drops him off  he travels by cab or motorcycle over the very rough road to get to the prison. We are all blessed by his dedication.

We will be looking forward to seeing many new prisons beginning T&M by the time we come again in a few months from now. We are so blessed that God has answered prayers for more volunteers. 

He did it more than we could every imagine! Amen!🙏

November 7

Today we went to the city of Tamara to visit the National Men's Prison there. There are about 4,000 men housed there. The day was beautiful and cool. We were taken to a very nice open air worship area. There we would participate in the graduation of about 40 men from the Prisoner's Journey Program. This is is 6-8 week program of evangelism and introduction to Jesus. Then immediately following they will be going on to do the Train & Multiply Program, which will train them in discipleship in the coming year. This will prepare them to be mature followers of Jesus. At the graduation they were given a Bible and diploma. Most had never had a Bible before. It was a treasure to them. We were blessed to shake their hands and witness this wonderful celebration.

All over the rest of the prison, programs were being held at the in Train & Multiply and the Prisoner's Journey. A total of 980 men are actively involved in these programs throughout the prison since the program started approximately one year ago. One thing that is very beautiful is that the Catholic Church there at the prison is holding a class in The Prisoner's Journey! This kind of collaboration does not happen often, but as it happens more frequently we as "the Church,"will be able to help fulfill the One Billion Vision that the Lord has given to OMS. We are so blessed to be a small part of what the Lord and His servants are doing in the prisons of Honduras.🙏🙏

Also after the ceremony we were introduced to another group of volunteers who work in the prison of Tamara. One of them spoke English! He had been in prison in the US when he found Jesus! So now he is working here in Honduras to bring the Gospel to the prisoners. He also wants to work together with Prison Fellowship Honduras! So the Lord orchestrates the meetings of His hands and feet! We see this often! The love of our Savior and The Gospel brings us together.

Another special thing happened at the end of the ceremony. They brought us pop and two small chicken burritos to eat. So sweet. Herasmo said we should try to eat it because they want to share this special time with us. So the two of us and Herasmo drinks burritos 🌯 with them. It was their celebration and we were honored to share in it. Herasmo knows I (Diane) sometimes have problems with the foods here, but I knew the Lord would bless this food that they shared with us. Another blessing to end the wonderful morning.

Another PS to this story! As I was writing this I neglected to tell that Gary was able speak a word of encouragement to the graduates. He told them how much of a blessing the success of this program is to us and to OMS and Prison Fellowship International. And that they are in our hearts and prayers.🙏