No More Mystery!

“Behold”, “Look”, “Notice”,

“Surprise”, “Know This”,

“Consider”, “Be Sure”,

“Take Note”, “See”

Roughly speaking, it was about 2000 years before the birth of the Christ child when a certain son asked his father on their way up a mountain,

"Father?" "Yes, my son?" Abraham replied. "The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together. (Genesis 22:7b, 8)

Now, as we sit, roughly speaking… 2000 years after the birth of the Christ child, we read the acclamation, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” We have a 4,000 year vantage as we consider this father-son conversation between Abraham and Isaac. God’s direction to Abraham was clear. Abraham knew “what” to do, with “whom”, and “where” to do it. But, God had woven into His instruction “mystery”. The Lord said nothing concerning “when”, “why”, or “how”… leaving a “mystery”. 4,000 years later, our tendency is to minimize the mystery of God’s direction to Abraham, because today we know what happened. However, back then, Abraham exercised great faith and experienced God’s divine “twist”, as Abraham realized that it was all a test. But to us, it is a great foreshadowing of the Messiah, even prophecy about God’s Messianic provision. For nearly 2,000 years the sons of Abraham lived in the mystery, asking, “When would God provide a lamb?” and “Who would the lamb be?” The mystery, like a crescendo, added to a growing anticipation.

This ought to be our backdrop as we read what John the Baptizer (Jesus’ cousin) shouted-out, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” At last… the answer to Isaac’s question from 2,000 years earlier… Mystery revealed! The angels heralded it; the star illuminated it; even the magi unraveled this mystery. But, no better words, than these 5 words from cousin John, could reveal the mystery of the Messiah. And, what a shout it must have been. We’ve all leaped to our feet and shouted to express an emotion. Picture a heated argument, a defending attorney in court, or sports fans at an arena. It is as if John’s chief purpose in life was to express with all his being who the Messiah is, for his expression also started with a leap. John, while in his mother’s womb, leaped when the 2 expectant mothers, Elizabeth and Mary, greeted one another. John leaped, but retained the shout for nearly 30 years. So, when he shouted, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” I imagine it echoed off all the surrounding mountain slopes. It still echoes today and is the mission of YFC: “…to communicate the life-changing message of Jesus Christ to every young person…”

Thank you for your prayers and gifts as we together reveal to the youth of Honduras, and around the world, and as we point to Jesus and acclaim, “Behold the Lamb of God!”

Our Most Recent Mystery

Could Our Honduran Foster Kids Spend The Holiday Season In The USA?

Last year Kim and I announced to our family in Memphis that after 8 years in the foreign mission field we will be home for the 1^st time for Thanksgiving, Christmas and `09 New Year’s Day… and, we’ll try to be here with our Honduran kids for everyone to meet & know. We knew that the process for them to travel with us would be complex. Birth certificates had to be corrected (they had multiple errors). Honduras passports had to be obtained. Then, visas from the US Embassy had to be granted. Our prayer was that if God wanted them to travel with us, then He would make it happen. My 4 Honduran children and I entered the registry of persons in Tegucigalpa in May, as the starting point to this process 7 months before Thanksgiving, so that we would have plenty of time. And, for 7 months we lived in “mystery”, as to whether or not God would make it happen. We prayed faithfully and we asked others to pray with us through this process. As parents, Kim and I “coached” our kids to have faith and to trust God regardless of the outcome. If we can travel together God is good, but if we cannot… God is still good and worthy of our praise. True faith is trusting God during seasons of mystery and trusting Him when He does something different than what we want.

Indeed the process was complex. In a word, our 2 oldest foster daughters (Michelle & Nuri) could not obtain Honduras passports. Being without living mother or father, their maternal grandmother has legal custody of them. But, her last names are different than the last names of the girls, so Honduras immigrations would not let the grandmother sign for their passports. There was no solution to this problem, so they could not travel with us. The 2 younger boys were able to obtain Honduran passports and eventually visas to enter the USA. But, the 7 month mystery continued until 1 day before our travel day when we received in-hand the visas.

The Lord taught me some life-lessons through all this. Allow me to briefly share one with you. Don’t confuse faith in God with optimism. Consider, again, the Abraham/Isaac story (refer to front page). Before Abraham and Isaac headed up the mountain Abraham said to his servants to wait here and the boy and I will return. Hebrews 11 is a commentary for us that Abraham thought that he would kill Isaac and that God would raise him from the dead. That is not what happened. Abraham was optimistic in the midst of a mystery, but God did not “fill-in” the details. There was no “Thus saith the Lord…” Now, faith comes from a Word from God. When God is silent and mysterious we must optimistically trust him. But, just like Abraham’s conversation with his servants keep your optimistic ideas to yourself. They are not to proclaim as “the word of the Lord”. Abraham did not say what was in his mind that they would go up the Mt., he’d kill his son, then God will raise him from the dead. Faith is reserved for the “word of the Lord” because it will come to pass. This is not to be confused with our optimistic thoughts, because we might be wrong.

I was in a similar position for 7 months. I know that God would have Kim and I raise these 4 kids, but to travel to the USA for the holidays… we had no “word from the Lord”. We were tempted to change our optimistic thoughts into the “word of the Lord”, but this would have been wrong. I even had to buy airline tickets based on optimism, based on what I thought would happen, but I could have been wrong and could have wasted our much needed money.

Praise the Lord! Kevin and Jimmy were able to travel with us to the USA and spend Thanksgiving, Christmas, and soon New Year’s Day with us. Thank you all for praying with us and for supporting us as we minister to youth in Honduras (the kids in prison, the youth at the city-dump, the Tolupan Indian youth), but especially to our foster kids during this very exciting time for them.

This Morning's Headlines Were Of More Gang Killings

This Time It Was Our Isabel

Sadly enough we become accustomed to headlines of youth violence and gang killings. But, me and my 4 Honduran kids gathered around the paper today and did no more than just stare at it. It was their sister who was photographed face-down in the street. We had received the news yesterday, but seeing it in the paper today seemed to authenticate the news and opened the emotions that for some reason were dammed-up initially.

Our emotions were of sorrow, of course; we lost someone that we loved. She was one of the first of the girls in the youth prison who placed her faith in Christ when we moved to Honduras nearly 7 years ago. As a new believer in Christ, her request to Kim and me was to visit and help her brothers and sisters, so that they would not follow after the criminal, gang life that she had lived. Kim and I politely refused to go searching around some gang ridden neighborhood with our broken Spanish searching for children that we did not know. The risk would have been too much, but we prayed faithfully with Isabel each week for her little brothers and sisters. And, as the Lord would have it… they came knocking on our front door, begging for food, clothes, or whatever we could give them. Well, to make a God-story short… these 4 little brothers and sisters became a part of our home and our hearts.

Not only did we feel sorrow, upon hearing this news, but we all shared the surprising emotion of anger. It was not anger at the gun men. It was anger that seemed to be directed at Isabel for not taking what was offered to her by the Lord, and by so many others who wanted to help her live right. Shortly after her release from the prison nearly 2 years ago, we all saw a gradual redirection to the life-style that eventually lead to her death.

A pessimist would look-on and doubt our effectiveness… that there was no change and she died tragically like most other gang members. “Tragedy”, yes, it is a tragedy, but I believe that her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ was real and that she was born-again as a daughter of the Lord Most High... the same Lord who gives tragic stories tremendous endings. I believe that just seconds after Isabel closed her eyes on that dusty curb-side path, she opened her eyes to see her heavenly Father, face to face. Not only would the optimist consider this, but would also consider the victory that is won in the lives of her 4 little brothers and sisters who are now my sons and daughters. They each have also placed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They all just finished their school-year strong last week, as they all studied their hearts-out. Because of their history of years on the streets, they are all behind educationally. But, that has just given them each a gratitude for school and a desire to study all the more, and to be whatever the Lord leads them to be.

Regarding Isabel’s prayer from 6 years earlier and her request to Kim and me to help her brothers and sisters, it is being fulfilled. Her little brothers and sisters are not following in the life-style that so entangled her life. Accepting the Lord’s wisdom, Michelle, Nuri, Kevin, and Jimmy see through the lies of the devil and, now, know well the end result of the popular and glamorized gang-life.

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.

Visiting Short-term Missionary Teams

The 1st 4 months of the year have been full of travel. I mentioned in my last newsletter (Jan/Feb issue) about my trip to Haiti, then in late Feb. I traveled to my home town, Memphis, Tennessee. My home church, Bellevue Baptist had their annual mission conference. It is always good to see family and friends. I was able to see old friends and make some new ones as I attended my booth in the church vestibule, and as I visited classes. One of the highlights of the trip home was the missionary banquette where I heard and met Steven Saint and the Indian man who adopted him as a grandson (Photo above).

Shortly after my return to Tegucigalpa, my friend, Eric, with Fellowship of Christian Athletes (Austin, Texas) came with a team of 5 people. I took them to a remote, hard-to-get-to, village in the Mts. of Yoro only accessible via foot or horse back. They hosted a soccer tournament with 4 neighboring villages. They communicated the live-changing message of Jesus Christ to many, as several hundred attended the tournament.

Then, during Easter week, Kim & I hosted a team of 30 from the Boston area. The team was lead by Pastor Nate Hall and church member Michelle Brown from Pacific Union Congregational Church, however 2 other churches were part of the trip. Although several of the team members have been to Honduras for 4 years, now, we did several “new” things this year. We hosted a medical brigade for the first time. And, for the 1st time Kim & I divided the team and headed in 2 different directions. Kim stayed in Tegucigalpa with ½ the team, and I went to the Mts. of Yoro with the other ½ to minister to the Tolupan Indians. Hundreds were benefited by this team’s work. Social needs were met (feeding, medical care, clothing, etc.), demonstrating the love of Christ, demonstrating and communicating the love of Christ.

It is so good to “lock arms” with brothers and sisters from the USA. We feel so encouraged to be with others who pray for us and sacrifice to come be part of our ministry here. Praise the Lord for these short-term missionary teams that help us communicate the live-changing message of Jesus Christ to so many young people in Honduras.

Through The Eyes Of A Visiting Friend

On a recent trip to Honduras, my 13-year-old daughter Megan and I saw personally the impact Rick & Kim have with their various ministries. One of their avenues of outreach is the City Dump. Even though I read the article in the Miami Herald and heard personal testimony from the Beck’s about the dump, the first-hand experience will forever remain etched in my mind and Megan’s. With ragged, torn and dirty clothes, men, women and children ran expectantly towards our vehicle as we drove up. After a brief devotion we handed out plates of food, water and bananas to those gathered. The lesson learned while watching Rick & Kim, along with the volunteers, is that they express a genuine love for these people; it flows from their hearts. Their ministry is Matthew 25:35 in action.

Jack Sedory

When Youth "At Risk" Puts You At Risk

“Winning-Over” The Tough Ones

Kim and Waldina, one of our volunteers, walked into a “hornet’s nest” about a month ago at the juvenile girls’ prison. I was with another volunteer on the side where the juvenile male offenders are. As Kim & Waldina began their Bible study, Estefani and Paula, the 2 older teens in the group of nearly 30 girls, began to act-up. They eventually struck one of the well behaved girls with a blow to the face and Astre began to bleed. Kim tried to maintain control of the group to the benefit of the girls wanting the Bible study. Kim asked the guards to lock-up the 2 rebellious girls, to which they replied that they could do nothing. Now, Estefani is a 17 year-old black youth who towers over the shorter Latina girls, and is bigger than Kim. She climbed to the roof of one of the buildings where she found a broken glass bottle. Back on the ground she began to threaten Kim and the other girls. What do the guards do? They lock-up Kim, Waldina, and the well behaved girls. Go figure. After some time Estefani and Paula settled down enough so that the guards could let Kim and Waldina out from locked doors and the guards escorted them off of the premises to safety.

The weeks that followed lead Kim through a series of mental and emotional circles… from not wanting to ever go back, to wanting to speak to the authorities about the incompetence of the system. But, eventually we discerned God’s Spirit prompting us to return evil with good. Kim and I had planned a trip, which happened to be near the town from where Estefani came. We told Estefani that we’d like to call and meet with her family and maybe take or bring back any items that they wished to exchange. Estefani was dumbfounded as we offered “kindness” to her. The Sunday before our travel she gave us a small crotchet purse with several letters for her grandmother. So, during our stay near Estefani’s home town we called her grandmother. We met her; she was a tall, Garifuna woman. She looked African and her English Caribbean dialect was very distinct. We delivered the small purse; her grandmother visited with us a while and then she gave us a grocery sack of clothes, family photos, and letters for us to deliver to her granddaughter.

Kim, who hadn’t returned to the prison since the incident, personally handed the care-package to Estefani, the first correspondence that she has had with her family in 2 years. This act of kindness was in drastic contrast to their hostile encounter a month earlier. Kim “won her over” with kindness. They embraced and visited; Paula, too, through tears asked Kim to forgive her. I’m sure that Kim and Waldina were prepared a month earlier to teach a great Bible study. But what transpired over the month’s time reminds us that many times in youth ministry… more is “caught” than “taught”.

Rick Beck

One Of Our Favorite Youth Misbehaving

Having To Show "Tough Love" For Her Own Good

Assuredly, you would rather receive “good news” over “bad news. Believe me… I’d rather write you with only the “good news”, the successes, and the victories. But, that would be a skewed report, not a true picture of our missionary life. Recently, we had to ask Isabel to leave our house. The first few months were good; it seemed as though things were going to work-out with the addition of a 19 year-old and her 3 year-old son to our family. It was a joy to see Isabel reunited with her brothers and sisters for the first time since she began the gang-life as a 13-year-old. Five years of prison robbed her of seeing her siblings grow, robbed her of being with her mother during her death and the healing time with family, thereafter. But, we experienced true joy together with Isabel and Jonathan. Through the years she encouraged us as we visited her in prison, and what joy to have her in our home upon her release. Joy was multiplied as Isabel and Jonathan joined our family devotion time before bed and as we went as a family to our regular church services. She told me that she wanted to continue her education, so I enrolled her into a school. She said that she could crochet 2 hand-bags a day and would like to earn an income with this skill, so I bought her an ample supply of the string that she needed and I lined-up venues through which she could sell everything she could make. However, she put forth little or no effort toward school or to her work.

The last several months were quite challenging as she began to go out at nights with friends without communicating with us and not returning until the next day (and on 2 occasions for several days). She stopped going to church with us. She broke trust as she began to lie to us and began to rob from us and her siblings. The joy that she had brought as she was in prison and during those 1^st few months in our own home was turned to disappointment, frustration, and pain. Oh, we tried talking with her; we tried a probationary period, but there were no changes. Her 4 siblings (our foster kids), Kim and I really wanted to see a change for the positive with Isabel and for everything to work-out like it did the first several months with us. Toward the end of her stay with us it appeared as though she was using drugs, although she was a master at keeping this from us. So, finally, we had to ask Isabel to leave, so with many tears from us all… Isabel and her 3 year-old son, Jonathan, left to live with someone else. She left threatening us with evil promises and slanderous words.

So, there I told you… a newsletter that includes “bad news”. And, as I pondered how I would give this report, I considered the Bible, which is a type of “newsletter” from God to us. I considered all the “failures”, all the “bad”, all the “disappointments” that God included in His newsletter to us. I realized 2 things: 1) God is patient and is not finished with Isabel nor with little Jonathan, and 2) I realized that Isabel’s brothers and sisters on the back stage of this drama and are learning great lessons, as are me and Kim, and everyone else looking on this situation. We all have witnessed God’s provisions, forgiveness, His love, grace, and mercy balanced with his justice and intolerance. This challenges me to walk close to our good God. And, may we all be challenged to be one with His purposes, and let us be obedient to His plans for us.

Your brother in Christ,
Rick Beck

Casa De Luz

Casa De Luz offers Christian Child-care to a poor neighborhood in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Heart Of God

I wanted to make this video available for you to see. It is simply quotes from Christian "greats".

By The Grace Of God These 4 Boys Are Not Orphans

The Lord Uses Us

To Help Save Their Mother’s Life

On May 14 a dear Honduran friend who is very poor came to us in tears with the news that her cousin, a young mother of 4 boys, was sent away from the public hospital. The family was advised to prepare for what was imminent, her funeral. I had met this cousin, Suyapa, even hosting her and her family at my house when she traveled to the capital city to “work” the free public medical system. Multiple stones had caused abscesses in one of her kidneys. Over the course of 3 months I had seen her demise as appointments and exams were postponed and rescheduled. During the same time-frame the head lines in the Honduras newspapers told of the strikes in the public hospitals. This young mother, Suyapa, and her family were hopeless. They were ready to do what so many Hondurans do… give-up and let whatever happens… happen.

Suyapa’s near death condition was so preventable. But, by mid-May her bad kidney was 3X its normal size and no more than a dead abscessed organ inside of her. Oh, the hospital set a surgery date to remove her kidney… in October, but that long wait was in essences a death sentence. Again, Kim and I felt like a small drop of “help” in an ocean of “need”, but how urgent and critical was this need. We’ve never helped with a medical need like this; we didn’t have the money personally or in our ministry account. Not to mention, our YFC mission statement isn’t for adult kidney patients. But Kim and I both felt that the Lord would have us to what we could to help. We put her in a private hospital to have the bad kidney removed before she died. We used our personal rent money to pay the admission fee. Then, we simply e-mail friends back home, explained the situation, asked for help, prayed and waited… hoping for her recovery and enough funds to pay for it all.

There were complications along the way, many “ups & downs”. Suyapa is still in the hospital, but, in a word, she has had her kidney removed and is expected to be released soon to join her 4 boys at their humble home in the country-side some 3 hours journey from the capital. It wasn’t until just recently that it “hit me”. This is indeed the purpose of YFC… helping kids! Not only have I been able to share the Good News of Jesus with these boys, but a group of friends, Kim and I, collectively we responded to the Lord’s guidance and kept these boys from being orphaned in a country where the orphan life is not so friendly. My 6 foster kids can attest to this. Many of the friends who helped this cause also receive this newsletter. Let me tell you, “you amaze me!” I’d like to thank you for how you gave above and beyond your on-going missionary support and helped to save the life of this young mother. There were several points along the way where I didn’t think there would be a “happy ending”. But God was gracious… He guided, we followed, and He did it! Thank you.

Hosting 39 Friends From Our Home Town… Memphis, TN

Visitors Come To Honduras This Summer To Help

Our newsletter, The Beckoning, has a corresponding verse, Luke 5:7 (printed above). The scenario for this verse is that a group of disciples were successful at fishing and communicated, “beckoned”, across the water to their partners to come help them. Our newsletter has been communicating for nearly 6 years now our work and “beckoning” our partners to help us. Our partners have so faithfully offered help from “across the water” in the form of prayer, finances, various gifts-in-kind, encouragement, and in so many other ways. But, 2007 has been the first year that we have had the privilege to host short-term missionary teams. Actually, 6 different groups will have come to help by the end of 2007, two of which are families. This summer alone 3 teams, and 2 individuals, a total of 39 persons will have visited us during June, July and August. What a tremendous blessing.

The purposes for the different groups have varied. Some of our visitors’ purpose has been visionary as we seek what the Lord would have us to do in the future, with others the purpose is preparation, as we lay the ground work for others to come. But, most of our visitors have come to us this year with the purpose to “roll-up their sleeves” and help with our mission, which is to communicate the life-changing message of Jesus Christ to every young person in Honduras.

Praise the Lord for those who have been sent here to help this year, but equally important are those of you who send your support. Whether your help is a prayer offered to our Lord, or is in the form of a check. Whether you are placing a stamp on the return envelope or having your passport stamped, God uses both -the sender and the sent- to change lives.

What Joy!… A House Full Of Kids

Providing Family-Care to Six Honduran Children & Youth

You know about our 4 Honduran kids from previous letters and how God has brought them into our family. Your inquires, your support and your prayers for our kids mean so much. Allow me to give an up-date and share the latest news. As you may remember, Isabel was the 15 year-old gang leader who we came to know in 2003 through our prison ministry. You wouldn’t have liked her during her 1^st year in the juvenile detention center… before she came to know the Lord. Her 2^nd year there was quite eventful: she gave birth to her son, Jonathan and shortly thereafter she herself was “born again” as she placed her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But, also, during this year her grandfather died who was the only stable adult male figure in her family, and then her mother died, too. She was not able to say, “Goodbye” to either one nor attend their funerals. She realized the tremendous needs in the lives of her 4 younger siblings; it was that same year that God gave her a burden for them… and she began to pray… and with such fervor that Michelle, Nuris, Kevin and Jimmy miraculously wound-up in our house as our foster kids. Her 3^rd year she was an example to all the other detained girls, as she grew in her faith. When she turned 18 she was moved to the adult women’s section where she spent her 4^th year incarcerated and continued to grow in the Lord.

Recently, in early May Kim and I made our weekly trip to the town where the prison is. There we heard to our surprise that Isabel was being released that very day. Through a course of events that afternoon, Isabel and her 2 ½ year-old son came home with us that very night. As Isabel joined her 4 siblings at our house, little Jonathan was acquainted with his 2 aunts and 2 uncles. And, once again, Kim and I became parents to a needy youth… but for the first time to 6 all at once (including one in diapers!). What joy, to have a house full of kids!

Like her brothers and sisters, Isabel needs a refuge. The life of an ex-gang member newly released from prison is a delicate situation. We’ve known 4 youth in similar situations to be killed shortly after their release. Isabel knows the dangers and is most grateful for our help. She only goes out with us or with a female police captain who helped her much during her years in prison. But, what she enjoys most is a “home”, enjoying time with her brothers and sisters in the house.

We want you to pray for our kids by name. Nuris, Kevin and Jimmy have been attending a private Christian school-after 3 years of not attending school. Michelle and Isabel are in a home school program allowing them to “hopefully” pass 2 grades in one year making-up for several years without school. They enjoy our church, “Koinonia Baptist Church”, which is the same church that started the school this year where the 3 attend. Their report cards this month where all A’s & B’s. We are all enrolled in various classes at the public sports complex just 3 blocks from our house, including: soccer, swimming, tennis, and track. Michelle recently started taking guitar at a music school near our house. So, needless to say… we’re in “full swing” around here.

In closing, please know that we need your help: prayer and financial support. Here is our greatest prayer need; since Isabel has come to live with us… it is for her and our safety. Isabel’s ex-boyfriend is still very much a gang member and in the past wanted very much to see or take his son, Jonathan. He didn’t know when Isabel was to get out (none of us did). But, word travels fast “in the hood” and we are not sure what he’ll do when he knows that she and Jonathan are living in our house. He, too, needs the Lord to change his life, but if he will not change then, prayerfully, he will not come around. We also need financial support as our house hold expands. Please remember that Kim and I have no ministry or program that generates revenue, in other words all of our ministries are given to the mission field without cost to any Honduran. We carry the responsibility to raise our funds… not only for our missionary expenses (salary, health ins., newsletters, etc.), but we have to raise resources for our 5 areas of ministry, including our newest ministry… fostering our 6 kids.

Please pray, lift our kids to the Lord, and give, as the Lord directs. Regarding your gifts, you can direct them to the ministry area that touches your heart the most. For example… if you wish to give specifically to our foster ministry (the newest of our 5 ministry areas with the greatest funding need) you may direct you gift accordingly. Kim & I need help with expenses for groceries, tuition, school supplies & uniforms, added fuel expenses, extra curricular classes, clothes, etc. We’ve formed a budget that covers all these expenses for less than $12 a day per child. Through our 2 decades with YFC, God has met every financial need because our supporters like you pray and give as He leads. You are so appreciated! You know what is so beautiful? We do what we can… that which is possible and God takes it and He does the impossible, the changing of a life or even a family... for generations to come.

Working With The Mountain People Of Honduras

Some Of The Most Needy People In Central America Live In Yoro, Honduras

The country of Honduras is divided into 18 departments; much like a U.S. state is divided into counties. The 531,000 people who live in the department, Yoro, are among the poorest of Honduras. The poorest people that live in Yoro are the Tolupan Indians that inhabit the remote mountain villages. There are around 10,500 Tolupan that have formed a labyrinth of trails that connect there villages across the primitive mountains of Yoro. But, this tribe began long before there were departments, national boarders, or European conquistadors. They are decedents of the Mayan civilization. The Tolupan tribe is the focus of our rural ministry in Honduras.

Our 2007 New Year’s celebration was special this year for 2 reasons: we spent it in the mountain villages of Yoro, and we spent it with our friends from Memphis, Tennessee, who came to work with us. Roy & Linda Campbell brought a team of 14 persons all involved with Eikon Ministries. But, our week long trip to the mountains started long before their December 27^th departure from Memphis. It was during the mid-1990s that Lord fashioned a ministry staff and a board of directors at YFC in Memphis. It was nearly 13 years ago that Roy and I ministered together in the projects and juvenile correctional facilities of Memphis. During this time Dan Medley, owner of Air/Sea International Travel, Inc., was introduced to the Memphis YFC board of directors. Who would have known it back then, that the 3 of us would put together a mission trip to Honduras that would usher in 2007.

Meeting physical needs is always an important part of missions. Need meeting is the platform to earn the right to be heard. Most of the luggage of the visiting team was devoted to clothes, shoes, vitamins, medicines, soccer equipment, toys, etc. The people living in some of the worst poverty that you can imagine truly appreciated such gifts. But, the heart of the mission was to encourage the few Christians who live in these remote villages, and to train them how to be and how to make genuine disciples of Christ. The Memphis group was divided into 2 smaller teams in order to minister to more people. The 2 teams of 7 were able to teach in 2 separate remote villages drawing from all the other neighboring remote villages around them.

Did I mention “remote”? We drove our 2 vans 5 hours from Tegucigalpa into the mountains literally until the vans could not pass any further. There we unloaded the vans and loaded the mules with the luggage, food and water for 5 days and continued on foot. It was 2 hours to the 1^st village, 4 hours to the 2^nd village. We ate military rations and slept in hammocks for our 5 day/4 night trip. Most of those villagers had never seen outsiders before. What a beautiful testimony to them to witness for the first time not only blacks and whites, but black Christians, white Christians and Latino Christians all working together serving the Lord in one accord. I know that this pleases our Lord.

Several goals were accomplished. We trained in “disciple making” around 50 persons who have never had the opportunity for such training (they practically have never received any prior Christian training). Around 25 made first time professions of faith as we shared the Gospel from village to village and from home to home. Also, the physical needs of hundreds were met. Additionally, Roy caught a vision to impact these mountain people, as he began to make plans with the Christian leaders of those villages for his next trip. It’s no surprise that he caught the vision… Roy came seeking God’s direction and seeking how Christ can continue to use him in world missions. He’ll be leading another team this summer; 30 will be coming in July, `07. We are planning to potentially visit 4 villages impacting all of their respective neighboring villages. And, Roy is recruiting medical, dental, and veterinary professionals to minister their skills.

But, you know what encouraged me more than anything? It was seeing my 4 Honduran foster kids grow spiritually. One day as a group of us were returning from a ministry “outing” we approached the center of the village where we came upon my 4 kids. They were in the middle of a group of about 12 youth from the village. As we walked even closer we noticed that they were all in prayer. Michelle and Kevin were praying with some of the villagers who wanted to place their faith in the Lord Jesus. It’s true what they say about missions… more is caught than taught. By my kids going and seeing, they learned so much.

Thanks Roy and Linda for coming to Honduras last month, lacing up your hiking boots and going with me to the mountains. Thanks for leading others, impacting the villages of Yoro, and helping my kids “catch” what it means to be a disciple of Christ. I am praying for our time together in July!