Your Honduras Mission Team covets your prayers as they prepare to travel to Honduras to minister alongside Betsy Hake to the 52 children (from toddlers to young adults) in Jericho Ministries.  Those going are Dan Wallace and Meredith Kronz, team leaders; Elizabeth and Susan Stephenson; Bill Peace; and Kathie and Bill Phillips.
     The team will leave from St. Luke's at 4:30 AM, on Wednesday morning, February 17 and will return the following Wednesday evening.  Besides working with the children, we are the Fix It and Painting Team....there are several items that need repairing and this year Betsy has asked the women to paint the workrooms on the ground floor of Jericho House.  These rooms are being converted to be used as rooms to teach the women who come off of the streets a skill that will enable them to hold down a job. These skills that they learn will provide income for them and their children to keep them off of the streets and gainfully employed.
     The team asks that  you follow along with them each morning as they gather after breakfast to do their devotions (found under Missions on the St. Luke's web site).  They hope to be able to send posts from Honduras, but internet connections can be a challenge.
     With His love and ours,
     Dan, Meredith, Bill, Elizabeth, Susan, Bill and Kathie 
     

Every day while on the mission trip, the Honduras team does a devotion. You can follow along with them, reading their devotions each day while they're away. 

​CLICK HERE to get the file.

The 2015 Honduras Missions Team trip to Church

Sunday, February 7, 2015 we went to Betsy’s Church in the capital, Tegucigalpa, Honduras. All 50 of us.

The church was built in 1990 and is in excellent condition.  Simple and clean design. No fancy and expensive stuff.

Service began with a 5 piece band with a female lead singer. The music was incredible and very up lifting. The singer was the best. What they do is project the music on a large screen. There were about 250 in attendance. The worship leader handled the opening then turns it over the Pastor Evert Monroy.

He was very high energy and Betsy wrote down for us the sermon as we all are a little slow with Spanish.

The following is his talk, very good and solid stuff.

Jeremiah 2:12 thru 13

Living Satisfied

Satisfaction is something we all want-like when we eat something really good or when we are really thirsty and we drink something refreshing.

The Bible shows we are where we can find satisfaction and where maybe we are looking for it in wrong places. Sometimes a child will bug their father for a toy until the parents give it to him and then he plays with the box and not the toy- there is satisfaction. Sometimes we think our marriage or another child will satisfy us and when we receive it we are still left with a hole, because often we look for satisfaction in the wrong places.  Read Jeremiah 2:12-13

They are looking for water in broken cisterns-instead of looking for satisfaction in god-we look for satisfaction in God. If we look for satisfaction in broken cisterns, we find that only Jesus really satisfies. If you have that written in your heart, it needs to be downloaded into your heart. Only Jesus satisfies. From chapter 2:2, Jeremiah says this what God says-- remember when you loved me as a bride and followed me through the wilderness.

God seeks a relationship with his people that is a love relationship. Remember your first love- how you would do anything to be with her or him but later on when you are married and the passion to be together is less perhaps a beautiful thing as time goes by and causes temptation. If your satisfaction is coming from your marriage it can cave in. But if your true satisfaction comes from your relationship with Jesus, He will always satisfy.   He protects us and is like an Oasis in the desert.  We can always find refreshment for our soul in him.

When I am burdened and feel overwhelmed only Jesus will satisfy. In his Presence is plentitude of fullness of Joy. In this we find our oasis in the desert. God rebukes Israel in Jeremiah when he says don’t look for your life in broken cisterns.

Like a husband or wife says to their spouse don’t look for satisfaction elsewhere. It’s an act of ungratefulness when we look for satisfaction outside of Jesus.

If God has blessed us with satisfaction and an abundant life, if we leave him or put him in a lesser place, it’s an act of ingratitude. If we aren’t worshipping him, praying and seeking him daily, we need to reflect and ask what are we looking to for satisfaction. Only Jesus is the source of real life.

When someone feels abandoned and rejected by someone else, it affects the relationship. God is in charge of allowing us to be frustrated and unsatisfied so that we come back to him if we are seeking satisfaction in other places. He loves us.

If you want to be satisfied, look to God. Only he can satisfy your life like no one else. He is the source of living water.  

The search for abundant life in the world is useless. If we are looking to make our pain go away or reduce our burdens, we can look to stagnant water but it’s nothing like reviving refreshing waters that are flowing and filling. A stagnant place can be an idol in our lives- a person or something that we look to in order to fill our lives…a person or something that we look to in order to fill our lives.

When we look to fill our needs our though others it never works. In our day there are people who are looking to meet their needs through “likes” on Facebook--- we are fried chips (laughter). An addiction can be that idol…the person looks to a certain substance to fill the hole in their lives. Pornography can be another addiction that people become enslaved by. Academia and seeking position through becoming super qualified can be another idol.

Work can become a huge idol but frustration always ensures if we are looking to that for satisfaction. There are many people who are trapped in games (video, gambling) and also when we are over busy we can look to things that will not satisfy. And what about food (you’re probably thinking: “O Pastor please don’t touch ‘food’” , but food can be something we look to for satisfaction.

Sensuality and sexually going off track are other things that can enslave us. A cistern that turns into something we look to for satisfaction becomes a place of slavery for us enslaved. Verse 16.

Our sin becomes our chains--our own chains. We deny it, but it is true. When people join AA their first step is to recognize that they are an enslaver. That’s our first step to becoming free from a broken cistern is recognizing that we are enslaved and to stop justifying it.

Verse 24…  When we dig our own cistern it’s like a mule in heat—we will live unsatisfied lives if we look for satisfaction outside of God.

God says clearly that if we run after that which is not of His, we will live unsatisfied lives.

See Verse 24 &25 in conclusion.     

Church was a wonderful experience. Lastly the children here are the best. They all have traveled through life experiences that would destroy most. This message is a little late as communications up here in the hills is not so great .See you soon.

Love Bill Peace

Here are the pictures sent from the team over the last couple days. They were very busy trying to get all kinds of things finished before their departure. Today (Feb. 12) is their travel day home, so please keep travel mercies for the team in your prayers. 

All Glory to God!

We had a great day.  We installed an oven and a dryer, did stenciling, painting, electrical fixes, put new light bulbs in and tiled in the kitchen. Devotions covered Ephesians 3, one of my top 5 favorites.  We are so blessed!

During the day Meredith had a purity session with the older girls and spoke to them about importance of guarding their hearts. It's very important because some of the girls' purity has been robbed from them.

Dan is going to talk to the kids tonight about the true importance of good stewardship of the land and surrounding areas. They should be proud and fortunate to live in such a great atmosphere chock full of the Holy Spirit. Picking up trash, keeping things tidy, clean and in their place is an excellent place to start.

Tomorrow is our last full day here. It's gone by way too fast. The Lord will bring us back one day,

Until tomorrow.....

Tom for the rest of the Team

To start this off I must say all Glory to God!  

Saturday February 7

One thing I want to say here is this.  We've been blessed by God for St. Luke's Church to cross paths with Betsy Hake, Jericho Ministries, her staff, and the most precious children in the world.  The work of the Holy Spirit is evident every minute of the day!  It truly takes my breath away!  May God bless Jericho Ministries richly beyond comprehension. It's not been a coincidence we found each other!  For it was, and is, and forever shall be God's plan carefully carved out. 

Today we began with some great coffee, followed by Devotions and breakfast.  We had very good discussion on Ephesians 1.  Work then began a bit after 9am.  Some of the boys here have been a huge help to us moving heavy lumber, basically anything we have asked for.  Bill Peace and I put up the wind break, Bill and Dan worked on their projects.  After lunch we were back at it, fixing leaks, lights, cracks in cement floors, and the list goes on and on.

Saturday evening we watched a movie and prayed!

Until next time this is Tom Green signing out! 

Once again I have the opportunity to travel with a team (6 missionaries) from Saint Luke's Church on Hilton Head. We're flying this morning (Feb 5) from Savannah and should be in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, by early afternoon. Then we have a 2 hour drive to the children's home in Danli.  At the home are 47 children -- well fed, clothed, sheltered, home schooled and learning about Jesus.


The home was established by Betsy Hake, a deeply committed Christian who for years walked the streets of Tegucigalpa trying to convert the prostitutes and drug addicted women to take Jesus as their Lord and Savior. The home was a safe place to clean up and learn some skills. Considering that Honduras has the highest murder rate in the world (8 million people -- 20 murders every day) she is a very brave and committed missionary. 

In time she began getting the children from the prostitutes, abandoned children, and children no one wanted.  For many of the children their parents were  dead, mostly murdered or victims of drug overdoses.  In some cases the care giver or grandparent would have the children (boys and girls) provide sex to men. Food for almost all children in Honduras is a real concern. The nation's poverty rate is over 70%.  If you're poor you have nothing. They do not get welfare money or hot school lunches.  Their medical care is almost non-existent.  Cuba has sent over 100 doctors to help in the rural areas, but the shortage is great.

Honduras is just a mess as the most lucrative business is supplying drugs to America. I'm told 40 years ago, before Americans had such a high demand for illegal drugs, Honduras was a good and safe place for children to grow up.  Now illegal drugs and dirty money have destroyed families and the government. The same thing has happened in Guatemala and Mexico and will do the same to America. Sadly the supply and demand for drugs in America is at an all time high.  Just as tragic is the fact that almost every 12 year old knows where to buy drugs, but our police and government pretend to know nothing. 

Three years ago the Peace Corps left Honduras (too dangerous) and have not returned.  What's ironic is at the airport we will cross paths with missionary teams from all across America. They keep coming.  All of the missionaries share the loving healing word of Jesus Christ and do so at some personal risk.

Once again our team will be doing maintenance and construction work.  Saint Luke's and the Church Mouse are providing $5000 for the construction work.  We do whatever we can to help.  We also bring clothing. Tuesday was amazing as we loaded 7 suitcases with almost 350 pounds of clothing. The people at Saint Luke's are incredibly generous, as about 85% of the clothing was new and of excellent quality.

We do spend significant time with the children and the boys work side by side with us.  Most speak English which makes it easy for me, as my 30 words of Spanish really do not go too far.

The children at the home are so happy to see us.  Honduras is a beautiful country.  The climate (80 degrees) is great and so is the food.  Really so much to like.  I value traveling with committed Christians and the work fits my skill sets.  

You may want to visit the Jericho web site Jericho-min.org.  Seems like every year Betsy has more children.  Just 2 weeks ago Betsy took in a 10 year old girl who was begging for food on the streets and a 10 year old girl who was a victim of sexual assault. The need for financial support is large. I know Betsy prays a lot and somehow it works out. If you feel called to help please do. We all are so blessed. 

Take care,
Bill  

As I write, I am sitting on the second floor balcony of the main villa, looking out at the mountains as the sun sets.  The orange glow of the fading sun is beautiful and I am reminded that our time here is also "fading."  That makes me sad because the children (and adults) have truly gotten a piece of my heart.  The children inspire me with their stories of overcoming such tragic young lives and the hope that burns so brightly inside of them because of the love Betsy and her staff give to each child as a member of the Jericho family.  The love of Jesus is all around us.  Today we all worked on different projects -- building cabinets, more painting, making jewelry to sell, making small repairs around the villa, tiling the gazebo roof...and of course, still fighting the Internet to build a new website for Jericho (it will happen...eventually and internet willing).  But mostly we captured moments that will live in our hearts after we return home, and hold us until we return again.  God is good.  -Kyle

In case you are wondering what the WOMEN on the Team have been doing while the men have been pouring concrete, building the ramp to the outdoor kitchen, building the gazebo roof and the steps down to the gazebo………… well, we have been PAINTING!  We painted the boys dormitories inside and out, the guest dormitories inside and out, and we’ve done some painting on the inside and outside of the main villa (OK…Bill and Bob helped with painting in the main villa...and Kyle helped with the concrete).  ALSO, we had a “craft” afternoon with the girls.  We showed them how to make Salvation Bracelets and taught them how to tell the Salvation story by sharing the meaning of each colored bead.  We also made crosses with the girls out of craft sticks and multi-colored yarn.  Our team was in charge of devotions last night and Kyle shared the Godly Play Creation Story.  The children were spellbound!  Bob and June taught the children a song to sing as a meal blessing, and Ron and Kathie shared their testimonies; both of them made strong connections with the children.

I’ve been coming to Honduras to visit Betsy Hake now for ten years.  It has been a blessing to watch her ministry change and grow.  The last three years I have served on Teams that have visited her here at Jericho Villas, outside of Tegucigalpa in the town of Danli.  What a joy it has been to return each year and see the changes that God is working in the lives of these children that she has rescued off the streets.  They each have a story to tell, and it blesses my heart to return each year and hear their stories and testimonies.  Each year I come with an open heart and mind, hoping to share with them some of what God has done in my life.  And, each year I leave filled to overflowing with the love that they have poured out to me!     -Meredith Kronz