Honduras Winter 2011 Summary Report

Four of us made the trip to Honduras: Teresa Birtles, Dan Kerr, Steve Gilstrap, and me. We were there from Saturday to Saturday, February 12-19. We were met at the airport by Marc Tindall and Luis Estrada. They transported us to Julio’s, where we stayed all week. Marc organized our activities and transportation for the week, often participating in them.

While in Honduras we:

• Built 3 houses - two of those were dedicated to Kenny Lee and Butch Parish, men from our church family who died recently.



• Distributed 3000 pounds of food in three different locations: Mateo, Lepaterique, and Guajire. All of the distributions were done at church buildings and overseen by Leopoldo Villacorta or designee.



• Installed a water treatment system at a Christian school located across the road from the dump. This school ministers to children whose parents work at the dump.



• Provided medical care and/or pledged funds to help three individuals who were suffering.



• Saw our future.
  

As we look into the future I’m mindful of a couple of verses from Proverbs (16:3, 9):

Commit to the LORD whatever you do,
and your plans will succeed.

In his heart a man plans his course,
but the LORD determines his steps.

Proverbial wisdom says that the Lord will work with us and help us but it may not turn out exactly like we hoped or planned. We experience that all the time, but it seems to especially apply in Honduras. We simply stay faithful and full of faith.

A long time ago there was a conversation among the long-term Apostles and the former-Christ-hater-turned-Apostle Paul and Barnabas. Paul describes how it ended:

All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.

We should help the poor. We should help them here, and we do. A lot. And we should help them in Honduras, and we are. God sees no boundaries. Perhaps what he sees most clearly is the poorest of the poor. Many of these folks are found in Honduras, and some of poorest folks in Honduras are the Lenca Indians.

Our desire is to work in one area, building relationships by carefully helping to relieve some of the poverty. We plan to work in the Mateo area, which is less than an hour outside the city Tegucigalpa. We are building a good working relationship with a local evangelistic, Leopoldo Villacorta. We trust him and his judgement in how to help people. He mentors several young men who go into the surrounding villages to teach and preach, initially in house churches. We are focusing on one of these villages, Guajire.

Guajire is a small rural village of about 3-4000 people. On the flight home I sat by a man who lived in Honduras for 9 years as a missionary. I told him what we were trying to do, and he told me that the Lenca people are the forgotten ones. They are the poorest of the poor in Honduras.

Why do we do all this?

1 John 3:16-18 — This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

Here’s what we plan to do in the future:

• Ship a container full of all kinds of supplies.



• Send a team of about 30 people, July 30 - August 6
  

I’ll have a lot more to say about both as the (near) future unfolds.

Thanks for stopping by. Your prayers for our/your future work in Honduras is greatly appreciated.