Seeing Kids Changed... Forever!

What kind of change is it that we desire to see? Throughout our ministry schedule from week to week we give cool water to thirsty kids, but they’ll soon be thirsty again. We feed hungry kids, but they’ll soon be hungry again. Some we tutor and pay for private school education, we provide guitar and piano lessons, we teach English… but, none of these changes, as good as they are, matter in the scope of eternity, except that they help us earn the right to be heard as we communicate “the life changing message of Jesus Christ”. When a kid bows his head in prayer and yields his life to the Lord Jesus Christ… a change for eternity happens. When we give Bibles to kids who desire to follow Christ and we teach and mentor them, then we see change, a transforming change into the likeness of Christ that is eternal. Kim and I along with our many partners provide need based ministry, helping to change poor nutrition, poor education, aimlessness, But, it is only through a personal encounter with God that a kid’s live can be changed for the rest of forever. This is the kind of change that we desire to see.

Hosting Short-term Missionary Teams

Adding Partners… Multiplying Our Efforts

Living cross-culturally is like living in “the best of times” (international travel, exotic places, new foods, etc.) and also it is like living in “the worst of times” (feeling of isolation, not fitting-in, language barriers, etc.) Going to the airport to meet a missionary team is like a breath of fresh air. The refreshment goes deeper than simply spending a week, or so, with a group of people that talks like me, who eats like me, who plans, works, laughs, interacts, etc… like me. Hosting short-term teams is so exhilarating because we get to partner with other brothers and sisters of the same faith who share a like passion for communicating “the life-changing message of Jesus Christ” to young people. What is so beneficial for the Honduran youth goes deeper than a week of ministry in Honduras… they learn how to pray more fervently, share their finances more faithfully, and return again in the near future more friends. Their involvement is more than “addition”… they “multiply” our missionary effort in Honduras. Praise God for the short-term missionary teams that partner with us in Honduras. We may try to measure our ministry together, but only God knows the true dividends from these short-term teams. Teams that we have hosted have impacted multiplied thousands of youth here in Honduras, and to some families their impact will be felt for generations.

Pouring Into A Few Interns

Who Over-flow Into Many Lives

This was our 4^th summer to host interns here in Honduras, and our experience with college-age young adults keeps getting better and better. This summer for the 1^st time we hosted a group of interns, 5 came to serve in Tegucigalpa alongside us. They actually came though a “sister” mission organization, the Orphanos Foundation. The founder and president of “Orphanos” is Wayne Sneed who worked on staff with Kim & me at Mid-South YFC some 15-20 years ago. Even, then, Wayne’s heart was with international missions and specifically the ministry of short-term mission teams. As the Lord would have it Wayne hired Sandi Langley to head-up their internship program. And, as the Lord would have it, Sandi is a friend from “yester-years” as Kim and I were students together with her at the University of Memphis, also, some 15-20 years ago. Our recent reacquaintance with Wayne and with Sandi lead to a wonderful summer of training their class of 7 interns and the awesome privilege of hosting 5 of them during June and July. Our Honduran interns (A.J., Lora, Hannah, Crystal, and Julia) benefited from our formal classroom time. But, the greater benefit came as they experienced 1^st hand ministry in Honduras, as they experienced several Central American cultures in 3 different countries (from the high Mts. to the Caribbean islands), and as they visited or worked with various mission programs and missionaries, including our family. Together we were able to lead many kids to saving faith in Christ, give away hundreds of Bibles and gospel tracks, provide follow-up and discipleship. They arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica in late May ready to learn and serve; they returned to the USA in early August changed, as were the hundreds of kids with whom they invested their summer.