Celebrate the most precious gift

At this time of year, we take time to celebrate the anticipation of this manger filled with the most precious gift we can imagine. He gave his Son while we sat on earth a mess. Wounded, broken, hurting or self-righteous and not admitting our need for Him. Hard to grasp. I find myself buying gifts out of obligation many years. Buying just a little more to make things even. Ugh. But the most meaningful gifts should be those we consider making to those in need. Matthew 25:36 is the namesake of this blog and in it Jesus says, "I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."  The gifts I am giving this year that are out of THAT place that Jesus has created with that statement mean the most. As Gary and Diane continue to pursue the often forgotten and neglected in the prisons of both Latin America and in our own backyard in this country with the message of TRUE HOPE in Jesus Christ, would you consider a generous gift to their ministry? They won't tell you this but they are leaned into Him in a way they never thought possible because God is moving you to provide where they are not sufficient to do so. Hoping your giving in all areas brings hope to the world, joy to your heart and glory to our amazing God in Heaven. Merry Christmas.

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Reflecting on our time in Medellin, Columbia - Diane

We were so busy when we were in Columbia earlier this fall that there was very little time for writing or even reflecting about what was happening there. Now it has been awhile since we have been home and time has flown. As I look back, I realize what an immense privilege it was for us to be a part of those meetings. There were people from all over the world who are committed to prison ministry in their own countries. We were a part of the group sharing what the Lord is doing in each country to further His ministry. We learned a lot. But one of the special things that happened there was the friends we made in that short time. Naturally, when people of like faiths and like callings come together there was much that drew us together. We especially connected with a Pastor from Costa Rica who also does Kairos! We pray that the Lord allows us to cross paths again some day. Also we became friends with a lady from Puerto Rico who has a huge heart for prison ministry. These friendships are very encouraging to us, since many people do not understand our calling to prison ministry.
   

Another wonderful aspect of our trip was the visit to Pedregal Prison. It is a maximum security prison in Medellin. We had to go through three different security points and a drug sniffing dog! But once we did, it was an amazing visit. We learned about a program that the women of this prison are involved in called APAC. It is a structured program that prepares them for re-entering society. They are free to move around the area of prison where there are no guards. They are trained in things like sewing, that will help them to earn a living upon their release. This area of the prison was painted white and was very cheery and bright. The girls all wore uniforms that were also a cheerful yellow and white. They shared a small part of their stories and we had an interpreter with us so we did not miss a thing! They spoke about how important their faith is in their lives and their return to their families and homes.   They seemed happy and appreciative of the privilege of being in this program.

After the meeting they all came over and gave us hugs! That is the part that surpasses all language barriers! The love of Christ unites us.

As always, with every trip we are so blessed by what God has called us to do. We are humbled each and every time too. We are only able to do this in His strength and power. We thank Him for this calling on our lives.

DANGER!!!!

Usually when we are in Honduras we don't feel like we are in any particular danger. Except when we are on the road with the crazy driving and basically no rules (but we are getting used to that.) This trip, they informed us of another danger that was hidden and we had never thought about. That danger was in the mosquitoes. We have never seen many bugs of any kind there so we did not think of them at all. I had taken a small spray bottle of repellent, just in case! But to our surprise, they informed us when we arrived that there was a very real outbreak of fevers from the mosquitoes. The two fevers are dengue and chicamanga. We had heard of dengue but not the other one. Our wonderful host came prepared with extra repellent for us in case we didn't have any. They always are taking care of us. Not being very familiar with either of the fevers, we did some research. Apparently neither of these are deadly but can cause much discomfort and take many weeks to recover from. So immediately I Facebook messaged Dena, Emily and Carrie for prayers of protection. I hesitated a little not wanting to worry them. But I knew we needed the protection. And as usual, The Lord provided us with protection. We still put the spray on, but were no longer concerned. We knew we were protected.

We know that we are not immune from sickness and troubles, but in this instance we were protected. Much of the time we are in country we can feel the power of your prayers and support. We sleep fine. The aches and pains are minimal and so on. We are so very grateful for your prayers and support for us to participate in the ministry. We love being a part of God's work in the prisons and look forward to many more years of serving Him.

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