Diane Shares of Hope and Growth in Honduras

Before we left to go to Honduras this last time, we were notified  of the death of Luz and Romero's granddaughter. They were very close even though she lived in Miami with her mother. She was only 20 years old. This was a terrible tragedy for their family. Please be in prayer for their family as they continue to grieve this loss. So needless to say, we stayed with Herasmo and Nora and family. We had stayed there for the first of our trips and we had our same bedroom. Nora had also injured her foot right before we got there. But she attended everything we did for the whole week, limping along happily. This just speaks to the dedication of this family to the prison ministry. Nothing will stop them from serving!

All of the four prison programs are going very well and growing. Most are getting ready to end the training of the persons of peace and begin the small group phase. One visit stands out to me. That was our visit to El Progesso. It is four hours away and so we stayed overnight. Also they took us to the beach (the Caribbean) the day we left to go back to Tegucigalpa. But the prison visit was outstanding in two ways. First at how awful the conditions are in that prison. They took us through dark hallways of concrete that were partially broken down and wet! It looked like they were in the process of construction or destruction! But in spite of these conditions, the Lord is doing an amazing work there. The men are very excited and very organized. Sister Lillian, who is our dedicated volunteer has done an amazing job. The group has outgrown the room they are meeting in! The Lord works His miracles in the most unlikely places!  This prison was the first place that we have seen such poor conditions. There may have been these conditions other places, but we did not see them. Every time we go to Honduras we feel so blessed to be a part of this program.

Another wonderful story is from Tamara. That is the women's prison near Tegucigalpa. You may remember that we related a story from our last trip about the pastora-inmate who was very negative on the very first visit there. Then as a sample of train and multiply was presented later in the week, she realized that this program was an answer to her prayers. The training is going very well and they are about to finish and break into their small groups. What a wonderful program! We are blessed with very dedicated loving volunteers who are there every week without fail.

    We had a wonderful visit, with Lacides Hernandes, to the prison of Marcala. The Train and Multiply program is also going very well there. There was a ceremony lead by our volunteer Dania to present the persons of peace with their certificates. They were very proud of this accomplishment. The high point of the visit for us and for them (we think was the presenting of some posters made from placemats from simple white paper. Carrie, our youngest daughter, teaches Sunday school and the children in her class have been working very hard to look up Bible verses in Spanish and write them with an appropriate picture to go with it. Her class started to do this for the prison ministry Gary is involved in here in Ohio. And Carrie thought it would be a good idea to do some in Spanish for us to take with us. It was a great idea! They made a whole presentation out of giving them to each inmate. Lacides read each verse and then handed them personally to the inmates. You would have thought they were made of gold. The inmates were so thankful that some children from the United States would take the time to do this for them. It meant a great deal to them. These are the things that we get to do that make all the difficult travel worth it.

Steps at a time....

Most of us careen through our lives giving little thought to world missions. It's great to hear about it, read about it. Hear the stories of others. But do you realize that when we support world missions in any way, we are actually following in obedience with the Great Commission? We can't all go. Some of us are called to that and others aren't. But we all "go" when support in prayer and financial encouragement. And this doesn't mean pledging thousands of dollars. Not all of us are blessed in that way. But even small persistent donations are a step of obedience and a way of saying, "I'm in, God." Would you consider taking that small step today and praying and making a contribution to Gary and Diane's fund to show your tangible support?

So!! What's happening in the prisons of Honduras???

Gary writes about what is going on in Honduras as a result of the investment of OMS, Prison Fellowship, the people of Honduras and the mighty work of God. You might recognize this conversation he described for the post from OMS a few weeks back.

What kind of results are you seeing in the Project your are working?

God is truly working in Honduras.  We are blessed to be a part of what he is doing through the group of volunteers and the faithful Christians in Honduras.

Regarding the success or growth of the program, I can tell a story that occurred the last day we were there on a recent trip.    

I asked, ”What do you think this program will look like a year from now?”  At first I got a confused look, so I said, “How many trainers do you now have?”  They answered – “17.”  I followed up, “Then how many do you expect to have in a year?”

Again I at first was met with a blank look and then Nora said, “In three weeks we will have a total of 63 because several training classes for trainers are going to be completed.”

“Ok, how many will you have in a year?”  It was then that it really dawned on them that this program was just about to explode. 

They replied, “Well, we could probably have over 100!”  to which I added, “probably closer to 200-300. Today, with only seventeen trainers, we have about as many groups studying and each of those has 5-7 trainees, but the groups in the prison that are worshiping as a result of the program are already approaching 200-250 in the four prisons we are now active in.”

God is right now in the process of opening all the prisons to our program which will result from meetings held that week with government officials, ministry partners and individuals who will aid, support and lend a supporting hand in the introduction of the Gospel into Honduran Prisons.

Let's add that to the list of things we are thanking Him for today.

#FeelingBlessed

From Diane:

Gary often writes very detailed descriptions of our times in OMS training meetings. I will just give a little added perspective. One thing that we both neglected to mention in our last handful of posts about the meetings is the prayer that covered us while we were there. During and well before every meeting there is a prayer team that is doing only that and nothing else. They pray during all the meetings, walking around or sitting and covering us in prayer. Also we are able to schedule specific prayer times for our individual needs and that of our specific ministries. It is such a blessing to feel the Lord's presence during this time. That is one reason why we are so uplifted at the meeting. There is such a spiritual emphasis placed on all OMS does.

During our visit to the Dominican, I had the privilege of sitting in on two sessions of the individual prayers. It was such a blessing to participate. Since many of the attendees were Spanish speakers, there were translators there too. One of the sessions that I was in required a translator, and that flowed so well. The translator was able to speak almost simultaneously with us as we prayed. It was amazing and beautiful.

We are more grateful every time we attend an OMS function that the Lord directed us to this wonderful organization. #FeelingBlessed

A great update on what is happening in Honduras

Take a moment and read about the big picture that is being painted in Latin America with the help of your prayers and support:

https://onemissionsociety.org/blog/ecc/post/prison-cell-church-explosion

Would you be willing to consider a prayer and a show of support for their mission?

https://onemissionsociety.org/give/TheBarefoots

Sweet Surrender

This is a great question and probably represents the BIGGEST change I have seen in my dad. And in this he is teaching all of us a brand new lesson - his daughters and all of his grandchildren. Absolutely overwhelming to watch this transformation.

How have you seen the way God turns things upside down--strengths are weaknesses and weaknesses are strengths?

GARY: 

I have traditionally been very hesitant to depend on others or even accept help very readily.  Perhaps the way I was raised?  Some of you will know what I mean, - Be your own man - Step up, no one else is responsible for your success, and the like. These are not bad lessons to get from your father, but they do overlook or ignore the help that our Heavenly Father provides.  For whatever reason, my ability or proclivity not to ask for help, which I always considered a strength has been an issue that I am learning to correct.

For example, in raising support for our mission work, I have consistently resisted making the request for support.  The personnel at One Mission Society have tried to explain to me that what I am offering is a way for those who can't go, aren't led to go, or won't go to still be effective in the work for the Lord in the Great Commission of Matthew 28, "Go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit."

Generally, what I have found is that most things I thought were my strengths were in fact areas of weakness that I incorrectly thought I had taken care of. 

Fortunately, as it says in Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."

God is faithful and He has sometimes almost miraculously provided needed funding for trips where we were making reservations and purchasing airline tickets with no clear idea of how or where the money would come from to pay the incurred expense.  Our month end balance has been less than $300.00 far more often than it has been over $2,500.00 which is about the cost for our typical trip to Honduras.  We are just grateful that God is taking care of the books and the accounting

Some Divine Protection

IF you have a single bit of doubt about how or IF your prayers for Gary and Diane are being answered, check out this response from Gary.

How has God shown His protection of you in your travels thus far? 

When we were in Costa Rica last year, we were robbed at gunpoint, so it hasn't been all roses.  Going to dinner at a restaurant with two classmates from Language School, we were stopped by two young men who demanded our money.  I didn't realize we were being robbed, so I refused and kept walking. I had Diane on my arm and I told the other two girls from our class to keep moving.  One young man ran around in front of me again and said "I said give me your money."  I responded that I had said no at which point he showed me his gun.  At the very same instant, his partner had grabbed the purse of one of the girls with us and had thrown her to the ground and she screamed.  I am not sure why, but I responded to her scream rather than the sight of the gun.  What resulted was so much better than it could have been.  The thug saw me running back, he got up and ran, and he had a gun as well.  The guy who pulled the gun on me ran up beside me, grabbed her purse where the other fellow had dropped it and then he ran off as well.  Could have been fatal errors committed here - I am only blessed that God was in control. 

The girl lost about $40.00 in cash, a NJ driver's license, and a VISA card that was cancelled in less than 20 minutes after the robbery.  She was scraped up from being thrown to the ground, but was really only shook up.  God is good, all the time!

These are the two "girls" that were mugged with us.  To the left is Caitlin (in her 30s), She was our classmate and is now making four week trips about every six weeks to Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala etc doing water supply projects, solar panel powered water delivery projects - all as part of and in support of missionary work in Latin America.  She is a civil engineer and has specialized in projects related to providing reliable sanitary drinking water to communities in poverty stricken areas of Latin America.  The other is Cathy who has gone on several mission trips with Caitlin and who is a member of her home church in New Jersey.