Summer 2005
Well it has been virtually an unbelievable summer. We have been working everyday since May 15th. We have been involved in so much ministry that I hardly know where to begin. But I will attempt it.
In May, Mark Connell arrived to help with the summer. Mark is a great friend who works for an awesome church that allows Mark to spend as much time as he needs to during the summer in Honduras. He is an incredible asset to the summer groups as he and his lovely wife Lori invest themselves in the work here, out of the boat, on the water, walking with Jesus. They are truly filled with faith and the Spirit.
Terry Reeves’ first group of college students arrived on May 17th and began working right away. I will attempt here to put things into perspective as they overlap, inter twine, and buddy up with each other.
Every trip is unique, every trip is different, but with this common goal of being the reflection of Jesus to a world of poor people that thirst for the ever lasting spring. This spring I have come to understand includes all of us. Our hands, our feet, our minds, our voices, simply put our willingness to surrender to His will not ours. This constant outpouring of the Spirit’s fruit to a world that is hungering for the truth has been overwhelmingly fantastic. To watch as hundreds of Americans laid down their own desires to meet the needs of people that they didn’t even know. How is it that so many people were touched? I will again attempt to explain.
When people come here to serve they are a new creature. They have decided that God is in control. From the moment they step off the plane they take their role seriously. Their whole mindset changes. Their outlook on life, their past no longer haunts them because they are so busy doing ministry that satan has no opportunity to get in the daily mix. Simply put, when you are here you are focused. I believe that this intensive submission is a good thing that helps us to realize what’s important again. It gives us an opportunity to reflect on how we have been living our life, how distracted we might have been and just think. Think about God and where he fits into our lives and into our families and churches and work. How we have kept him out of so many areas and how we rationalize our weaknesses as Christians. How we always have a plan or a mission; we are just waiting for the right moment to make it public. When you are here, it’s like you get in a speed boat, look at the open sea, storm on the horizon, you strap yourself in, grab the wheel and the throttle and you push it to wide open. What a rush, the bouncing over the waves that used to engulf you, the spray in your face, the wind, the excitement of not knowing what the next wave will bring. But in all this, your fear has been replaced by confidence, your anxiety with comfort and peace that the Master is in control. This is living on the edge for Jesus. Listening to his call and getting out of the rut and just going for it. When you don’t even know what it really is. What a rush.
Back to my point. This summer was filled with adventurers, risk takers, warriors that did what ever God called them to do. I will mention some but I will leave out their names for there are so many that answered the call. I remember seeing teenagers hold and cuddle the children, playing with them till both were dead tired. (Luke 18:16, 17) Holding their hands in the hospital and praying for their health to return. Feeding and bathing them and brushing their hair at the special needs home. Singing to and playing with a group of blind children to brighten their day for a short time. Taking the blind to the rain forest and allowing them to hear all the wonderful sounds of nature and hearing the blind offer a prayer of thanks for the Americans that came to see them. Throwing countless carnivals for literally thousands of children, playing games, piñatas, prizes, cotton candy, popcorn, skits, puppet shows and lots of love was just plain awesome to witness. I see why people followed Jesus around, how exciting every day must have been. Never knowing what was going to happen next but your pretty sure that you are about to be amazed again.
I saw a community, called San Miguel get blasted by rains, day after day after day. When the people needed help God put people right in the middle of it. He’s always in the storms of our lives. Matthew 14:22-36, (when Jesus called Peter onto the water), Daniel 6 (when Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den), Daniel 3:19-30 (when Shadrach, Mishack and Abendigo were thrown into the fire) and I Samuel 17 (when David stepped onto the battlefield with all Israel watching). God is there, and people showed up and dug mud out of people’s houses and brought meals not just to a house but to a community, and bulk food was brought in and packed and handed out and the church was used for a shelter until new homes could be built for these people, including a blind lady with two kids that had no hope for help when her home was washed away by the rains. But Jesus brought hope, he sent houses he sent people to build them he sent food and he sent compassion to a small village of people that needed help, He sent Mark and Lori to adopt that community as their own and to rescue from the streets a dozen boys that so desperately were searching for direction, He sent His gospel in a new form to those people and he opened up the floodgates of his bountiful love to cover these people with countless blessings. His word was proclaimed from the pulpit, in the streets and through service to the poor. God is good.
There is another place called Nueva Oriental that is indescribable. It could have been named “The Blessed Poor”. It is literally so picturesque that if we were in the States these lots would be the most desirable of all, thousand dollar houses with million dollar views. It was so eye opening to see God’s hand and Spirit work in this place. The foundation was laid in March when the leaders decided this would be a good place to work. Then came the help. The poor had food, medical attention; a school was built for their children by our teams. The soccer field was fenced so the ball wouldn’t roll down the mountain and many people received the Word of God and were baptized and studied with all summer by all the groups. With the help of a church in Nashville there will soon be a church in this community and a preacher that can share more deeply the Word of God. There are some 30 families that now have awesome houses to sleep in. Many people were fed and their faith was increased by the experiences that were enjoyed.
Santa Ana is the refuge. A small town just outside the city limits where people remind me of the town Mayberry. A sweet environment that will be the future home of our free clinic, that was rewired, replumbed, painted, new ceilings, new tile, some roofing, interior walls, new pump and cistern, retaining wall and extended back porch, a community of duplexes that are for the people who lost everything during the Hurricane, an already active Church that was built in an amazing four days from dirt to roof out of concrete block and steel. Sunday was a great day, 8-21-05, there were twenty two women, four men, twenty five kids, and at the end there was a baptism in our small pond.
A children’s home will be built there that will keep some twenty children. It will be cared for by two young ladies that quit their teaching Jobs in the states and decided on faith to move to Honduras and take care of children. Put your seatbelts on! It just gets better. There is plenty of room for future childrens’ homes so if God is calling you and you are the right person then there is always opportunity to save more kids. There were sidewalks put in all over the property that is about five acres of wooded, old colonial style with timeless stacked rock walls that have been there for seventy five years, aging gracefully in the sun and the rain and the clouds at 4,693 ft above the sea. Land loaded with fruit trees and exotic birds and squirrels and large beautiful shade trees.
We are also going to build an Artisan Training Center that will teach women an art craft that will support their family. This will be sponsored by the Women of My Hope program that is changing life for many women already. Through training in computers, sewing, cosmetology, interpersonal skills, art craft, business management and micro loans. This program will be starting a new level of help that will allow people to live a life with dignity and security. These families will be looked up to in the community and will make a lasting difference in the towns and neighborhoods. Mi Esperanza will empower women to stand tall and succeed in a world that has suppressed them for so long. What an awesome thing. There are plans to open a restaurant to train women and we are looking at other properties that would best suit the Mi Esperanza program and the future of this explosive ministry.
I must pause here for a thought I am reminded of that was mentioned in one of our devotionals done from a guy from Atlanta. He started talking about how it is typical to catch a ride on someone’s coat tails and pretend so that you can feel good about your spiritual life. He then went on to challenge us all to step up and get involved, deeply involved in Kingdom work. Take ownership and find where God intended for you to be. “Get a Ministry” was his quote and it made me think, who am I?
Where am I going? How is God using me? Am I doing His will or mine? “Get a Ministry” that’s what I’m talking about. Get deeper in the work of the Kingdom; make a difference in people’s lives. Look to serve, Look to lead! Be the warrior not a wimp. Stand Firm! Walk Straight. Love one another. Love your families, your Churches, be a part of the solution, not the problem. Feel the flow of the Spirit, Listen to His voice. He has your best interest at heart, after all he loves you. Do good works, do what is right. This is Ministry at its best. Sorry had to get that out while it was on my mind.
Let me get back to ministry that was done. There was the VBS teams that were ready to go at a moments notice, they would roll out on cue and share wonderful bible stories with countless children, doing skits and puppet shows and singing songs, coloring. Way good.
Then there were the hospital teams that went to several hospitals, including the largest hospital in Central America; everyday to cheer up the kids. They would bring them toys to play with; stuffed animals and homemade teddy bears, candy, board games and they would stay most of the day with the children and the parents. Many prayers were offered up and the smiles from the children radiated through out the wards. Many nurses commented that the highlight of the day for these children were when our groups showed up. It truly is a blessing to have access to the hospitals as we do. At night at devos the teams would talk about how moved they were by the courage of these young kids in the hospital, dealing with all kinds of illnesses and not sure if they would ever get well. Bibles were given to the parents that waited and the parents and children were uplifted by the visits. “I was sick and you came to visit me”.
Let’s not forget the wonderful time of being confronted by Jimmy Hughes, a friend of mine that has a powerful rescue and rehabilitation ministry in Zambrano. His Children’s home that only takes children that are victims of violent crime is amazing. These kids truly have escaped the jaws of death. Some being left for dead, but Jimmy and his wife Jessica have given their lives to save these children and grow them up in the Lord. On the opposite side of the street is his rehabilitation center that helps about 35 young people at a time. They are recovering from drug abuse, gangs, violent crime and all kinds of illegal activities that are unique to Jimmy’s style of rehabilitation. Jimmy helps these young people confront the sin in their lives and helps them to beat that which has a hold on them. These young people get four hours of bible a day as part of their treatment and their treatment is six months to a year long. They are not allowed to leave and they are constantly supervised. “I was sick and in prison and you came to visit me”. We were truly moved by the courage of these young people that are getting a fresh start on life, a new beginning, a second chance and that is what God is doing everyday for those who repent and call on His name. Thanks to people like Jimmy and Jessica these kids will have that chance.
Then we must remember all those families and all those kids who had no place to live, children sleeping on the cold dirt floors of a cardboard or plastic wrapped house. Houses, that when it rained the water would pour into the house soaking everything and making sleep impossible.
Earlier this year, the board met and decided that we were going to build great houses. Houses that we ourselves would sleep in at the end of the day. Houses that would last and look good and not leak and have dry floors for the family.
Well that’s exactly what happened. The houses were extremely square, no easy task considering the rocks tend to push you off a few inches. None the less the houses were square, the wooden floors that were put in were tongue and groove floors, interlocked and carefully pieced together to be a wonderful accent to our houses. The houses were finished to perfection and then there were special teams that would go back and install a water filter, give them a class on how to effectively use it and also give them a fifty five gallon drum for water for each house. A lot of the houses got beds as well and more are coming from an organization that gives a bed to every kid in the house. As always our house building teams would give them a bible and pray with the family to dedicate the house and pray for the well being and spiritual walk of the family. This is always an emotional moment. Imagine going from sleeping on dirt to sleeping in a bed. Going from someone being able to walk in the house anytime to having a secure nights sleep, locked safely inside with no fear. These emotions pour out of everybody in the moment. Some houses are built in honor of wonderful people, which makes it all the more special. These are special moments and full of honor and dignity. A special thanks to all those people that helped make it possible for these families with children to live a dignified life. May God bless you richly for your sacrifice and for sharing your blessings with those who are less fortunate. “I was a stranger and you invited me in”.
The medical clinics are always a blessing and we could never do it without all the Doctors and Nurses and EMT’s and all the helpers and pharmacists. You guys are cool. Thousands of people were seen, diagnosed and even given free medicine that was donated by King Pharmaceutical. Clinics were conducted in Los Pinos, San Miguel, Nueva Oriental, Ojohona, Villa Nueva and Choluteca. These people were given a chance to be seen free of charge. Some had never seen a doctor. In Ojojona, some people walked a whole day’s journey to be seen. That’s awesome. Thanks for being there for them. We even had a dentist and a neurologist which came in handy.
The near future holds the completion of the Cucuy Foundation houses, the opening of the full time free clinic, the spiritual growth of the church and the building and opening of the “House of Hope” Children’s Home. We will also be looking for land and building our Artisan Center and get it up and running. We will continue to get shipments of medical equipment into the country as we have been and make sure that it gets installed in locations where it will benefit the poor. We look forward to watching how ministry continues to bloom and take form here in Honduras and we will do our best to represent the cause of Christ.
Thank you for your patience in waiting for our summer update. There are some other exciting things going on but I will write about all that soon. Once again I want to thank everyone for their participation in our program this summer. You helped many people to discover a savior that cares for them and hopefully you were touched as well. Many wonderful relationships were started this summer, I hope that you pray for those relationships and allow God to work through you in the States. Please pray for the ministries that are being realized here and that God will bless the work that is being done in His name.
Tim
In May, Mark Connell arrived to help with the summer. Mark is a great friend who works for an awesome church that allows Mark to spend as much time as he needs to during the summer in Honduras. He is an incredible asset to the summer groups as he and his lovely wife Lori invest themselves in the work here, out of the boat, on the water, walking with Jesus. They are truly filled with faith and the Spirit.
Terry Reeves’ first group of college students arrived on May 17th and began working right away. I will attempt here to put things into perspective as they overlap, inter twine, and buddy up with each other.
Every trip is unique, every trip is different, but with this common goal of being the reflection of Jesus to a world of poor people that thirst for the ever lasting spring. This spring I have come to understand includes all of us. Our hands, our feet, our minds, our voices, simply put our willingness to surrender to His will not ours. This constant outpouring of the Spirit’s fruit to a world that is hungering for the truth has been overwhelmingly fantastic. To watch as hundreds of Americans laid down their own desires to meet the needs of people that they didn’t even know. How is it that so many people were touched? I will again attempt to explain.
When people come here to serve they are a new creature. They have decided that God is in control. From the moment they step off the plane they take their role seriously. Their whole mindset changes. Their outlook on life, their past no longer haunts them because they are so busy doing ministry that satan has no opportunity to get in the daily mix. Simply put, when you are here you are focused. I believe that this intensive submission is a good thing that helps us to realize what’s important again. It gives us an opportunity to reflect on how we have been living our life, how distracted we might have been and just think. Think about God and where he fits into our lives and into our families and churches and work. How we have kept him out of so many areas and how we rationalize our weaknesses as Christians. How we always have a plan or a mission; we are just waiting for the right moment to make it public. When you are here, it’s like you get in a speed boat, look at the open sea, storm on the horizon, you strap yourself in, grab the wheel and the throttle and you push it to wide open. What a rush, the bouncing over the waves that used to engulf you, the spray in your face, the wind, the excitement of not knowing what the next wave will bring. But in all this, your fear has been replaced by confidence, your anxiety with comfort and peace that the Master is in control. This is living on the edge for Jesus. Listening to his call and getting out of the rut and just going for it. When you don’t even know what it really is. What a rush.
Back to my point. This summer was filled with adventurers, risk takers, warriors that did what ever God called them to do. I will mention some but I will leave out their names for there are so many that answered the call. I remember seeing teenagers hold and cuddle the children, playing with them till both were dead tired. (Luke 18:16, 17) Holding their hands in the hospital and praying for their health to return. Feeding and bathing them and brushing their hair at the special needs home. Singing to and playing with a group of blind children to brighten their day for a short time. Taking the blind to the rain forest and allowing them to hear all the wonderful sounds of nature and hearing the blind offer a prayer of thanks for the Americans that came to see them. Throwing countless carnivals for literally thousands of children, playing games, piñatas, prizes, cotton candy, popcorn, skits, puppet shows and lots of love was just plain awesome to witness. I see why people followed Jesus around, how exciting every day must have been. Never knowing what was going to happen next but your pretty sure that you are about to be amazed again.
I saw a community, called San Miguel get blasted by rains, day after day after day. When the people needed help God put people right in the middle of it. He’s always in the storms of our lives. Matthew 14:22-36, (when Jesus called Peter onto the water), Daniel 6 (when Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den), Daniel 3:19-30 (when Shadrach, Mishack and Abendigo were thrown into the fire) and I Samuel 17 (when David stepped onto the battlefield with all Israel watching). God is there, and people showed up and dug mud out of people’s houses and brought meals not just to a house but to a community, and bulk food was brought in and packed and handed out and the church was used for a shelter until new homes could be built for these people, including a blind lady with two kids that had no hope for help when her home was washed away by the rains. But Jesus brought hope, he sent houses he sent people to build them he sent food and he sent compassion to a small village of people that needed help, He sent Mark and Lori to adopt that community as their own and to rescue from the streets a dozen boys that so desperately were searching for direction, He sent His gospel in a new form to those people and he opened up the floodgates of his bountiful love to cover these people with countless blessings. His word was proclaimed from the pulpit, in the streets and through service to the poor. God is good.
There is another place called Nueva Oriental that is indescribable. It could have been named “The Blessed Poor”. It is literally so picturesque that if we were in the States these lots would be the most desirable of all, thousand dollar houses with million dollar views. It was so eye opening to see God’s hand and Spirit work in this place. The foundation was laid in March when the leaders decided this would be a good place to work. Then came the help. The poor had food, medical attention; a school was built for their children by our teams. The soccer field was fenced so the ball wouldn’t roll down the mountain and many people received the Word of God and were baptized and studied with all summer by all the groups. With the help of a church in Nashville there will soon be a church in this community and a preacher that can share more deeply the Word of God. There are some 30 families that now have awesome houses to sleep in. Many people were fed and their faith was increased by the experiences that were enjoyed.
Santa Ana is the refuge. A small town just outside the city limits where people remind me of the town Mayberry. A sweet environment that will be the future home of our free clinic, that was rewired, replumbed, painted, new ceilings, new tile, some roofing, interior walls, new pump and cistern, retaining wall and extended back porch, a community of duplexes that are for the people who lost everything during the Hurricane, an already active Church that was built in an amazing four days from dirt to roof out of concrete block and steel. Sunday was a great day, 8-21-05, there were twenty two women, four men, twenty five kids, and at the end there was a baptism in our small pond.
A children’s home will be built there that will keep some twenty children. It will be cared for by two young ladies that quit their teaching Jobs in the states and decided on faith to move to Honduras and take care of children. Put your seatbelts on! It just gets better. There is plenty of room for future childrens’ homes so if God is calling you and you are the right person then there is always opportunity to save more kids. There were sidewalks put in all over the property that is about five acres of wooded, old colonial style with timeless stacked rock walls that have been there for seventy five years, aging gracefully in the sun and the rain and the clouds at 4,693 ft above the sea. Land loaded with fruit trees and exotic birds and squirrels and large beautiful shade trees.
We are also going to build an Artisan Training Center that will teach women an art craft that will support their family. This will be sponsored by the Women of My Hope program that is changing life for many women already. Through training in computers, sewing, cosmetology, interpersonal skills, art craft, business management and micro loans. This program will be starting a new level of help that will allow people to live a life with dignity and security. These families will be looked up to in the community and will make a lasting difference in the towns and neighborhoods. Mi Esperanza will empower women to stand tall and succeed in a world that has suppressed them for so long. What an awesome thing. There are plans to open a restaurant to train women and we are looking at other properties that would best suit the Mi Esperanza program and the future of this explosive ministry.
I must pause here for a thought I am reminded of that was mentioned in one of our devotionals done from a guy from Atlanta. He started talking about how it is typical to catch a ride on someone’s coat tails and pretend so that you can feel good about your spiritual life. He then went on to challenge us all to step up and get involved, deeply involved in Kingdom work. Take ownership and find where God intended for you to be. “Get a Ministry” was his quote and it made me think, who am I?
Where am I going? How is God using me? Am I doing His will or mine? “Get a Ministry” that’s what I’m talking about. Get deeper in the work of the Kingdom; make a difference in people’s lives. Look to serve, Look to lead! Be the warrior not a wimp. Stand Firm! Walk Straight. Love one another. Love your families, your Churches, be a part of the solution, not the problem. Feel the flow of the Spirit, Listen to His voice. He has your best interest at heart, after all he loves you. Do good works, do what is right. This is Ministry at its best. Sorry had to get that out while it was on my mind.
Let me get back to ministry that was done. There was the VBS teams that were ready to go at a moments notice, they would roll out on cue and share wonderful bible stories with countless children, doing skits and puppet shows and singing songs, coloring. Way good.
Then there were the hospital teams that went to several hospitals, including the largest hospital in Central America; everyday to cheer up the kids. They would bring them toys to play with; stuffed animals and homemade teddy bears, candy, board games and they would stay most of the day with the children and the parents. Many prayers were offered up and the smiles from the children radiated through out the wards. Many nurses commented that the highlight of the day for these children were when our groups showed up. It truly is a blessing to have access to the hospitals as we do. At night at devos the teams would talk about how moved they were by the courage of these young kids in the hospital, dealing with all kinds of illnesses and not sure if they would ever get well. Bibles were given to the parents that waited and the parents and children were uplifted by the visits. “I was sick and you came to visit me”.
Let’s not forget the wonderful time of being confronted by Jimmy Hughes, a friend of mine that has a powerful rescue and rehabilitation ministry in Zambrano. His Children’s home that only takes children that are victims of violent crime is amazing. These kids truly have escaped the jaws of death. Some being left for dead, but Jimmy and his wife Jessica have given their lives to save these children and grow them up in the Lord. On the opposite side of the street is his rehabilitation center that helps about 35 young people at a time. They are recovering from drug abuse, gangs, violent crime and all kinds of illegal activities that are unique to Jimmy’s style of rehabilitation. Jimmy helps these young people confront the sin in their lives and helps them to beat that which has a hold on them. These young people get four hours of bible a day as part of their treatment and their treatment is six months to a year long. They are not allowed to leave and they are constantly supervised. “I was sick and in prison and you came to visit me”. We were truly moved by the courage of these young people that are getting a fresh start on life, a new beginning, a second chance and that is what God is doing everyday for those who repent and call on His name. Thanks to people like Jimmy and Jessica these kids will have that chance.
Then we must remember all those families and all those kids who had no place to live, children sleeping on the cold dirt floors of a cardboard or plastic wrapped house. Houses, that when it rained the water would pour into the house soaking everything and making sleep impossible.
Earlier this year, the board met and decided that we were going to build great houses. Houses that we ourselves would sleep in at the end of the day. Houses that would last and look good and not leak and have dry floors for the family.
Well that’s exactly what happened. The houses were extremely square, no easy task considering the rocks tend to push you off a few inches. None the less the houses were square, the wooden floors that were put in were tongue and groove floors, interlocked and carefully pieced together to be a wonderful accent to our houses. The houses were finished to perfection and then there were special teams that would go back and install a water filter, give them a class on how to effectively use it and also give them a fifty five gallon drum for water for each house. A lot of the houses got beds as well and more are coming from an organization that gives a bed to every kid in the house. As always our house building teams would give them a bible and pray with the family to dedicate the house and pray for the well being and spiritual walk of the family. This is always an emotional moment. Imagine going from sleeping on dirt to sleeping in a bed. Going from someone being able to walk in the house anytime to having a secure nights sleep, locked safely inside with no fear. These emotions pour out of everybody in the moment. Some houses are built in honor of wonderful people, which makes it all the more special. These are special moments and full of honor and dignity. A special thanks to all those people that helped make it possible for these families with children to live a dignified life. May God bless you richly for your sacrifice and for sharing your blessings with those who are less fortunate. “I was a stranger and you invited me in”.
The medical clinics are always a blessing and we could never do it without all the Doctors and Nurses and EMT’s and all the helpers and pharmacists. You guys are cool. Thousands of people were seen, diagnosed and even given free medicine that was donated by King Pharmaceutical. Clinics were conducted in Los Pinos, San Miguel, Nueva Oriental, Ojohona, Villa Nueva and Choluteca. These people were given a chance to be seen free of charge. Some had never seen a doctor. In Ojojona, some people walked a whole day’s journey to be seen. That’s awesome. Thanks for being there for them. We even had a dentist and a neurologist which came in handy.
The near future holds the completion of the Cucuy Foundation houses, the opening of the full time free clinic, the spiritual growth of the church and the building and opening of the “House of Hope” Children’s Home. We will also be looking for land and building our Artisan Center and get it up and running. We will continue to get shipments of medical equipment into the country as we have been and make sure that it gets installed in locations where it will benefit the poor. We look forward to watching how ministry continues to bloom and take form here in Honduras and we will do our best to represent the cause of Christ.
Thank you for your patience in waiting for our summer update. There are some other exciting things going on but I will write about all that soon. Once again I want to thank everyone for their participation in our program this summer. You helped many people to discover a savior that cares for them and hopefully you were touched as well. Many wonderful relationships were started this summer, I hope that you pray for those relationships and allow God to work through you in the States. Please pray for the ministries that are being realized here and that God will bless the work that is being done in His name.
Tim
posted by Hines Family at 9:55 AM
<< Home