Meet our Tias

Meet our two newest tias (aunts). Their names are both Claudia so it makes it easy for everyone to remember. I call the one on the left Claudia #1 and the other Claudita (small Claudia). They are a blessing from God. We have had 2 other ladies in the house with the Beltrand children and they have not worked out. For the first time, we decided to go ahead and put 2 ladies in the house with them since that is what we will do on the ranch. It has worked beautifully.

They are great at helping the children with their homework and making sure they are doing what they need to be doing. They know how to discipline with love but still make a point of behaving. God has blessed us with these two ladies. Please pray that we will continue to find women like them to serve in our other homes. We will be interviewing some more women for future jobs on Monday. Please pray that that goes well.

Chad

Muchas Fiestas

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NOHELIA!

We had another party Tuesday night for the now 10 year old Nohelia. Her smile on her face when she got her new shoes was priceless! We limited each child to one piece of cake this time since we had a disaster last week. It worked out much better and everyone enjoyed the whole night (even after the party).

Another Birthday Party

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SELVIN!

We had a great birthday party for Selvin Leonel last night. He turned 11 years old. He has been begging for a new back tire on his bike since he wore out the other one. I surprised him with a new seat also which was needing replacing. As you can see, he is smiling from ear to ear. After we gave him the bike, we did not see him again for the rest of the night because he was riding it all over the place. He is one happy rider now!

We did learn one thing last night. Never give children 3 pieces of cake each. They kept asking for more last night and it ended up that half of them were up vomiting because they had eaten so much. Next time, we will only give them one piece that night and they can eat the rest for breakfast the next morning. Oh well, they loved it though! Everyone is fine now.

Chad

Pictures of the BC crew

Shelly and I with Gail and Jerrie Barber

Will Baxter, Jerrie Barber and me

Returning to Honduras

Shelly and I return to Honduras bright and early tomorrow morning. We ask that you pray for our safe flight. We have had a great time while in Tennessee visiting friends, churches and family but look forward to getting back in the "swing of things" in Honduras. I am anxious to see what has happened since we have been gone. I will let you know in the next blog.

I spoke to David Lipscomb Elementary School's 2nd Grade this morning thanks to the infamous Regina Lankford. They are a great group of boys and girls. I had the opportunity to show them our new Mission Lazarus promo video and speak about the wise man building on rock and how that translates into our lives spiritually. Regina is a wonderful woman who does not get enough credit for taking something on and running with it. With her initiative and the other teachers in the 2nd grade, the children and their families have collected all our bed linens and will begin later in the month to collect all our supplies for 2 kitchens on the ranch. Thank you Regina and the 2nd grade at David Lipscomb Elementary. You are making a difference in Honduras!

Adios.
Chad

Happy Holy Week

We are in Tennesse right now until the 11th. We had a Mission Lazarus Board Meeting to attend last Saturday and Jerrie Barber, the preacher I was working with at Berry's Chapel, retired Sunday and we did not want to miss that event for him and BC.

Jerrie Barber is my mentor and someone I deeply admire. He taught me so much over the years I was at BC and I appreciate every minute I had the opportunity to be around him. We had a retirement party for him yesterday at BC which lasted from 8 am until 3 pm. Jerrie said it was the longest party he has ever had and if you know him, you know that he has had a lot of parties. Shelly and I thoroughly enjoyed our time at BC yesterday. Getting to talk to our church family was encouraging. Knowing that there are so many people out there praying for you is such an encouragement and keeps us going. Thank you Jerrie for your example to me and thank you BC for a great party yesterday for everyone.

Do you like your shower at home? I have to drop a line and say that the showers in the States are absolutely GREAT! Having pressure and hot, hot water at the same time is a dream come true. Don't take your shower for granted!

We are enjoying our time with family and friends but look forward to returning to Honduras and getting our hands dirty again. I will post a picture of Jerrie, Gail, Shelly and I soon.

Adios. Chad

PICTURES

#1 - The new house built by the men at Berry's Chapel.

#2 - Doris Corrales, our Director, doing construction at the new house.

#3 - Milk from our ranch being pasturized at the school for the kids to drink for breakfast.
#4 and #5 - Coffee harvesting on our Coffee Plantation in the mountains.

AGUA

I have never been so happy to have water in my entire life. We went 7 days without water in our house. The motor to the pump burned out overnight and it took that long to get a new one. Fixing things in Honduras is not easy. One person tells you one thing, while something else is done. After we took it upon ourselves to buy a motor in Choluteca, our water was turned on. I learned a lesson from all of it. If you want something done, you have to do it yourself. I am thankful for our water though. Life without it is a little more difficult...and smelly!

OCUPADO = BUSY

The word ocupado in Spanish means busy in English. Boy, do we know that meaning of that word. It seems that 2007 has already flown by with this being the last day of February! Where does time go? We had 33 men from TN and TX here last week working around the clock to build our first home at Mission Lazarus Refuge. They completed 75% of the house and it looks great. Thank you men for your GREAT work!

We escorted them to the airport on Friday and came home to find out that we did not have water. Have you ever gone without water for a day? Don't misunderstand me, I mean no water anywhere. It is hard to clean yourself, make food, wash dishes, maintain life without water. We have a man coming to our house at 4 pm today to fix the problem. This will be his 3rd visit. We will see what he comes up with this time. The motor to our pump burned out.

Life in Honduras makes you wonder how people do it around the world. People without anything get by with nothing. Have you ever thought about that? I don't know how they manage. It has been a pain living without water for 5 days, think about for your whole life. Did I mention that you cannot even flush the toilet? I admire those who have nothing. They are truly stronger than I am. I will not be taking water for granted as soon as we have it. Enjoy yours for me for right now. Adios.

Chad

February ML Newsletter

"Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me." Psalm 27:10

Many people have been praying fervently for Mission Lazarus' Children's Home and those prayers are beginning to be answered. It is with much pleasure that Mission Lazarus announces the following...

You may not recognize the name Mission Lazarus Refuge at Las Palmas, but you are familiar with the name Las Palmas Refuge. The name for Mission Lazarus' newest project has been officially established, the Mission Lazarus Refuge at Las Palmas. The clarification in the name gives ownership and identity to the home as a Christian community outreach while maintaining the historical name of the community where the Refuge is located.

The Mission Lazarus Hacienda is a 1,200 acre working ranch and is home to the Mission Lazarus Refuge. The Hacienda is fully functional with crops, cows, horses, pigs, turkeys, chickens. Our goal is for the Hacienda to play a major roll in providing for the children's home. We are excited about the development of Mission Lazarus Refuge at Las Palmas and what God is going to do for the children living there!

It is a thrill to announce that after 3 months of working directly with IHNFA, the Honduran Government’s Child and Family Protective Services, on Thursday, January 11th, we received official notice that Mission Lazarus Refuge at Las Palmas has been approved by the government to operate as a children’s home.

The Director of IHNFA was very impressed with our facilities and our future plans. This approval has taken similar projects many months to obtain but God has blessed Mission Lazarus. We are grateful to all of you who have been praying for this project.

On Wednesday, January 17th, Doris Corrales accepted our offer to be our Honduran Director of Mission Lazarus Refuge at Las Palmas. Doris lives in San Marcos de Colon with her husband Raul and 8 year old son Raul Jr. Doris' education is in Primary Education and she is very excited about joining our Mission Lazarus team.

Doris has a lengthy job description since we are in the beginning phases of building Mission Lazarus Refuge. Please continue to pray for her and her family as they make this transition in their lives and as we work together to make a difference in the lives of children in southern Honduras.

We currently have 2 homes under construction at Mission Lazarus Refuge. The existing house is undergoing extensive remodeling to accommodate 10 children and their care givers with an addition of new bathrooms and kitchen facilities.

On February 16th 33 men from Berry’s Chapel church of Christ in Franklin, Tennessee; Maple Hill church of Christ in Lebanon, Tennessee and First Colony church of Christ in Sugar Land, Texas will be arriving to begin putting the walls and roof on our first new home. This will be the first of ten homes built in a community style setting. Our Honduran masons have been working hard for a month to have the foundation ready for the men in February. These houses will become homes to many of neglected, mistreated, abandoned and orphaned children for years to come.

As soon as we finish the construction of both homes, we will begin to receive children at Mission Lazarus Refuge. We will move the Beltrand family (6 children who Mission Lazarus has been taking care of since their mother died and their father abandoned them late summer last year) into one of the homes and bring 10 more children to the Refuge for the other home. At that point, we will be responsible for the upbringing of the children at Mission Lazarus Refuge. We need your help to accomplish that task!

You can sponsor a child at Mission Lazarus Refuge for $250 a month. Sponsorship is a great blessing for the children of Mission Lazarus Refuge and for you. It is an awesome responsibility not to be entered into lightly, without prayer and thought. Children may be sponsored by individuals, families, groups, classes or congregations. You may also partially support a child for as little as $50 a month. We will group you with others to provide full support for a child. We have been informed by the local director of IHNFA that there are currently 37 children in the nearby city of Choluteca who are waiting to be placed in a home. Will you help us help them? We need child sponsors imediately to ensure that all is taken care of when it's time for the children of Mission Lazarus Refuge to move in.

With your help, Mission Lazarus is empowering local men and women to show God's love, to plant seeds of hope, and to grow their own churches. Your financial support is appreciated and always needed, but it is your prayers that are blessing the work in southern Honduras. On behalf of the Mission Lazarus staff and American missionaries, Muchisimas Gracias!

Chad

The Arm!

My arm is doing better. As you can see from the picture, all the skin has pealed off my forearm and it is as smooth as a baby's bottom! I keep a lot of cream on it to keep off the infection and wrap it when I am at the ranch or in a lot of dust which is hard to stay away from here. I only have a little pain with it from time to time but it is much better than a week ago. Luis' arm and Danilo's leg are improving also. Thank you for your prayers!

Our friend, Gerardo Flores, who we also mentioned in our prayer request, has gone home and is improving significantly. He received 4 bags of blood while in the hospital. We plan to visit him tomorrow in Tegucigalpa.

Oh yes, Tristan is doing well also. He could not stand to be left out of an opportunity for his picture to go out on the internet.

Thank you for your prayers! They mean so much to us. By the way, did Tennessee get snow last night? It definitely did not snow here. Send some our way.

Chad

Chad's Burns

Many of you may already know that Chad and 2 other Mission Lazarus men were burned on Thursday night while unloading a container. Everyone is healing, but still in a lot of pain. Thank you for your kind words through e-mail and mostly for the prayers on their behalf. This is going to be a long recovery, but God is with us and will comfort us through it.

Here are some pictures of Chad's burns. Please try not to get sick.

A birthday party to remember!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DIANA!

Last night, we celebrated Diana's 13th birthday. The beginning of her teenage years. We had cake and ice cream and presents. She received some perfume and a new bike. All right...enough with the details. It sounds like a "normal" birthday, huh?

I have to say that it probably was the best birthday party I have ever been to because of who it was for. Diana is one of the Beltran children who Mission Lazarus has been taking care of since the middle of last year. Their father abandoned them after their mother's death. There are 6 children who God has put into our care. Last night's party was probably the first one Diana and her siblings have ever encountered.

To see the looks on their faces when Ally brought out a homemade chocolate cake with ice cream to go on the side was amazing. Have they ever had cake before? Had they ever celebrated any of their birthdays? You could tell they were a little overwhelmed but really did enjoy the party for Diana.

The Beltran children will be the first family to move to Mission Lazarus Refuge and I was thinking last night that that event will be one of many we have at the Refuge. I don't want a birthday to go by for any of our children at the Refuge without a delicious cake and love. I can only imagine what was going through their minds last night as they ate and ate and ate until their bellies were overwhelmed with sugar. That kind of birthday is what every child deserves and I want to make sure we give that to all of them.

I don't know when the next birthday is, but I am waiting eagerly. I want to see their faces get excited again and watch them slowly enjoy all that cake and ice cream. Nights like last night remind me of why Shelly and I are here.

Chad

Is that Levi or Tristan?

It is coffee harvesting time! The first two pictures are of our new machine at Finca San Lazaro which is the Mission Lazarus coffee plantation. It takes the shell off the coffee bean. Jake Tincher, our Director of Agricultural Development, is taking notes from our coffee foreman, Gregorio, on how to work the machine.

Is that Levi Brown, Jarrod and Ally's son, in Tristan's crate? I believe he has found a new playroom! By the way, Ally celebrated her 29th birthday on Wednesday. Happy Birthday, Ally!

Chad

P.S. If anyone knows how to rotate pictures on Blogger (as above), please advise me. Thanks.

Pictures of the New Year

1: Ben Osborne, our engineer friend.
2 & 3: The Abilene Christian University Marketing and Business students.
4: Picture of the land where we are building the children's homes.
5: Tristan, the fearless Honduran dog.

Happy New Year!

Yes, I know it is a little late, but this is my first interaction with the internet since we arrived back in Honduras December 28th. Things are up and running smoothly for Mission Lazarus in this new year. We have some new employees here in our office that are already hitting the road running. We have a new office manager as well as an accountant, both Hondurans, that have been added to help with organization within the day to day routine of Mission Lazarus.

We had a wonderful time in the states for the holidays. It was great to get to see many of you and catch up what is going on. It has been a little challenging getting back to reality here, but we are doing very well. The time has just flown since we have been back here. Ben Osborne, an engineer friend of ours, came back with us to work on surveying the land we are building the homes. Then the day he left a group from Abilene Christian University flew in to work with us for a few days on marketing and advertisement of Mission Lazarus and now we have David and Janice Goolsby, from Healing Hands International, here working on satellite imaging of the Mission Lazarus Refuge property.

Thank you to all of you who have offered prayers on our behalf. We continue to ask for those prayers for the work we are doing as well as our safety in our every day life here in Honduras. Please pray that our work will be to God's glory and that the people here will be blessed because of the work God is allowing us to do.

God bless you in all you do and again Happy 2007.

Shelly

Where are you?

We have not posted in a while because we have been in the States for Christmas and been very busy. Let me update you on what we have been doing.

I returned home on December 7th only to leave on the 8th with Shelly on an all-expense-paid cruise to the Bahamas which one of our friends generously gave us for Christmas.

We returned on the 11th and I went to Bowling Green, Kentucky for the rest of the week to help my aunt and uncle decorate the church for my cousin's , Amy Lofton, wedding. She married Sam Hartford. They are at Disneyland right now on their honeymoon and I am sure they are enjoying the Christmas spirit there.

I have been running around this week trying to get residency paperwork done and all the other things we need from the States which we cannot get in Honduras. We will be returning to Honduras on December 28th. Ben Osborne, an engineer friend of ours, will be returning with us to get right to work laying out our children's homes in the field which we will build them. He will give us his expert advice on the best places to build them. I am excited to see what he suggests. It is going to be a great place to live for those kids!

Shelly and I have had a whirlwind 2006 and look forward to God's blessings in 2007. We want to wish all of you who continue to read our blog a Very Merry Christmas and a blessed 2007! Let us continue to work together to make a difference in this world. Thank you for all your love and support of our mission. Check back with our blog after the 1st of the year to read what is happening then.

Adios.

Chad

Skype

We have discovered a new way to communicate for FREE! You can't beat that. Go to www.skype.com and register and download the software and be able to talk to anyone in the world who has skype free of charge. Your computer needs to have a microphone and it works just like a telephone except over the internet.

Once you download it, try to reach me at chad.j.hedgepath. If I am at my desk, I will answer and we can talk. Hope it works for some of you! You can use it as an instant messenger device also.

Pictures

December 2006 Report

We have been on the mission field for 4 months now learning Spanish and working with Mission Lazarus and it has been challenging yet rewarding at the same time. We left our comfortable jobs where we knew how everything worked and moved to a country where organization does not exist and started from scratch on learning the ends and outs of Mission Lazarus and the work being done here. It is an honor to be one of God’s servants and help make a difference in Honduras even if it is simply by providing a poor village man a job for a day to provide food for his family that night.

Since this is our first report, we want to start off by thanking each person who is praying for us, giving financially for our support, or writing us an email or personal card. You have allowed us to do this work without wondering what will happen next because we know that God will take care of us. Thank you for supporting us! We want to make sure you are aware of what we are doing since you are investing in us. Even though we cannot put everything in this report, we will make sure to inform you of our specific areas of responsibility.

Shelly has been working closely with Mission Lazarus’ Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) in San Marcos closing the year out and getting prepared for next year. The children are out of school from December until February for “summer break.” There will be a new Director of the school in San Marcos next year which excites Shelly as they both work together on new ideas and strategies to make sure those children are given a quality, Christian education. She has also been sorting through hundreds of boxes of donated school supplies which are desperately needed in all the ECDCs. There has been a resource room established at the Mission Lazarus office in Choluteca and the organization of it has begun to be better utilized next year. Thanks to the cows on Las Palmas Ranch, all the children are receiving at least a glass of milk a day which provides needed protein to their slim diets. What a blessing that has been to those children!

We have given more identification to the Mission Lazarus Children’s Home. We have named it Mission Lazarus Refuge at Las Palmas and I continue to work on our paperwork for IHNFA, the Honduran Child Protective Services, for approval. So far, it is a 22-page packet of information which consists of an overall plan, budget, discipline plan for children and workers, credentials of those who will be working with the children, and much formal information needed for approval. IHNFA is extremely excited about Mission Lazarus Refuge and look forward to allowing us to open the doors as soon as possible. We are in the process of interviewing a lady from San Marcos to be our Honduran Director as she is well qualified for that position. We have put together a list of people within Mission Lazarus who will be working with the children on a regular basis and I am excited about what that holds for each of those children in providing for their spiritual, educational, and medical needs.

As far as the physical home itself, since Honduras has begun the non-rainy season, we have taken off the room of the middle part of the “big house” which existed when Mission Lazarus purchased the land and the roof of the back of the house which allows us to raise the walls to make more headroom for the bunkroom upstairs. We are looking to finish this project in the coming months with a new roof, new bunkroom upstairs, new bathrooms, new staircases, new kitchen and new dining room for the children to move into. What a blessing this house will be for the children! We are eagerly awaiting a group from Berry’s Chapel church of Christ in Franklin, Tennessee to come down in February to build our second home in the location where the rest of the homes will be located. We have an engineer coming the end of December to help us lay out the homes in the field to better utilize our space.

There is so much going on around Southern Honduras that Mission Lazarus is working hard to make a difference in. From building a Children’s Home from scratch, attending the medical needs of Hondurans in Las Pitas, vaccinating cows on Las Palmas Ranch, teaching children the Bible through school to helping Jose, a homeless man on the side of the road near San Marcos, we are thankful to be God’s servants and have an opportunity to be a part of the work of Mission Lazarus. We encourage you to research all the areas of Mission Lazarus by surfing the website at www.missionlazarus.org. Please continue to pray for Mission Lazarus and the team of missionaries (including Ally and Jarrod Brown and Jake Tincher) here as we try to make a difference in Honduras. You are helping us do just that. God bless you!

Chad

They are great when they work...

Computers are great...when they work! Landon Roeder and Jonathan Smith traveled down on Thanksgiving Day from Nashville, Tennessee to spend 5 days working on our computers at our office. They have thrown around words and numbers that I have no idea what they mean but have produced a much better internet and network system for us at Mission Lazarus. They even wired and helped us get ready to make three additional computers available for our preachers and others who need to stop by to use a computer. Landon and Jonathan have put together those 3 additional computers which are on the shipment from Nashville which should leave very soon. I have enjoyed having them stay with me at the apartment. We have been to all the local restaurants which are safe to eat at and they have enjoyed some authentic Honduran food.

Shelly left for the States last Wednesday to be with her family for Thanksgiving and I will join her later for Christmas. If you get a chance, stop by Bath and Body Works at Cool Springs Mall in Franklin, Tennessee to say hello to her while she works. She is working there as holiday help to earn a few extra dollars for Christmas gifts. She was reunited with her baby, Tristan, on Wednesday also and sounds much happier now. Tristan has been in the States for 5 weeks without her.

Thank you Landon and Jonathan for repairing our computers! You have helped us more than imaginable. I think we have the best network in all of Honduras now!

Chad

Pictures of the past 2 weeks

1) Picture of the stage area at our annual area-wide church service where 800 people were in attendance.

2) Shelly made me a birthday cake for my birthday on November 12th. We had a party with our Mission Lazarus Team.

3) New school building built by the men from Indiana for a community near Mission Lazarus Refuge at Las Palmas Ranch.

4) Water heater for the house on our new coffee plantation, Finca San Lazaro, in the mountains.

5) Early Christmas at our Mission Lazarus school in San Marcos de Colon.

The MAGI BOXES have arrived!

A large truck full of Magi boxes pulled up to our warehouse late yesterday afternoon to be unloaded for children who have no idea that a gift is awaiting them. For the many of you who put together a box for these Honduran children, simply saying "Thank You" is not enough but you can know that you will make an impact on them that they will never forget. We are talking about thousands of children who will receive a gift this Christmas because of the caring hearts of so many individuals. Our warehouse is full! Thanks to you.

Christmas time in the States is a time for family for many and a time to give a gift or two to those you care about. Navidad in Honduras can be a day just like any other day, nothing special, but for those children who receive a gift, a simple box, it is not just a normal day. It is a day where those who pass out the boxes get to see the biggest smiles on children's faces because of someone in the States who took time to make a difference in their life. This opportunity for Mission Lazarus is one where relationships are built and the opportunity to share Jesus with others is started.

Thank you for investing in the children of Honduras. Thank you for caring about Mission Lazarus and our outreach. Thank you for sharing Jesus through a simple box!

Chad

It's not just milk. It's not just a cow.

We had a group of 11 men here this week from Indianapolis, Indiana building a school building in a nearby village from Las Palmas Ranch. They did a great job and have really helped us begin to build a relationship with those people. We have not been in the office all week so that is why we have not updated our blog until now. I did want to share the below quote from one of our school directors about the importance of milk for our school children. Our cows on Las Palmas Ranch are producing the milk for the children which many of you have helped purchase. You won't look at milk the same if you read the below.

I do have to say, "GO VANDERBILT. BEAT TENNESSEE!"

"Milk is a powerful nutrient. And it becomes so much more powerful when it comes with all the love with which you have sent it to us.

The way in which you have decided this day to help us, is a blessing that we do not have in our homes. But this blessing is now present in our school!

Each and every day we drink a glass of fresh warm milk. Some days we have extra milk to make caramel, cheese, or cottage cheese, all foods that we could not make before at our school, and are absent in our homes.

You should know that we never want to wake from this dream of always drinking a glass of warm milk each day and sharing homemade caramel with classmates during recess! At the same time, we know there are many children in our community that have the same need for milk as we have.

The Mission Lazarus Refuge at Las Palmas does a great work and we are very thankful to God for these projects and for you for seeing using the eyes of Christ and sending us this cow, knowing as you do that this cow is not just a cow."

Karla Moncada
Director Early Childhood Development Center
San Marcos de Colon

The New Barn

This past weekend we had a group of 10 guys from Lebanon, TN and Houston, TX come down to build the barn that we need for hay, tools and tractor storage. They put the roof on the barn and laid the concrete floor in the storage area. They also laid concrete flooring in the storage shed where all the horse supplies are kept. Here are some pictures of the work they did. Thanks guys for all your hard work!

...Priceless

(Written by Jarrod Brown, our missionary partner.)

Can I get two tickets to Heaven please, oh, first class, window seat please...

Three hundred sixty two thousand four hundred dollars. $362,400.00

In Honduras...

Average family lives on $1.17 per day.
Day laborers average $3.17 per day.
A banana costs $0.01.
Medical consultation with medicine costs $0.53 at the Lazarus Clinic.
$10,000.00 builds a nice church building.
$2500.00 builds a nice wood house.

Three hundred sixty two thousand four hundred dollars. That’s how much money was spent by Americans this year that came with mission teams for short term mission trips to Honduras.

I was born and raised in the church of Christ. I was baptized on July 12, 1987 at the age of 12. I was given a King James Version Bible with my name on it in gold. I read scripture, passed the Lord’s Supper, missed camping trips and ball games to be at church.

I had all of that but I had never let the Holy Spirit touch my heart. Change my life.

On a whelm I went on a mission trip to Honduras in July of 1998. My first mission trip. This was the first trip of the rest of my life. It’s hard to explain what happens, but a change takes place when you go to a third world country on a mission trip. In my case, I was helped much more than I was able to help the people we came to serve.

Now as a missionary living full time in Honduras for almost six years I get to see both sides of the short term mission trip. Let me see if I can explain it.

First from the point of view of the local peasant in Honduras.

The vast majority of the peasants in Honduras proclaim to be Catholics. Not because they go to church, know the creeds, or read their Bibles, but because it’s their culture to be Catholic. To pray to plastic figurines in their houses, and to have a brainwashed concept of what evangelical preachers stand for. But, the one thing that all of these peasants have in common is that America, the Great United, is the Promised Land. On any day in any village I, a Spanish speaking white guy with a four wheel drive truck, can draw a crowd to hear me preach because of their curiosity about Americans and their longing for the Promised Land. So when a group of Christians follows the Holy Spirit’s guidance, the Bible’s teachings, and their heart and they are baptized for forgiveness of their sins there is much persecution. Family members quit talking to them, neighbors criticize them. However when a group of Americans comes to a village to provide medical treatment, perform VBS activities with the children, or builds a house for a widow, the church is encouraged. That even though they live thousands of miles away, speak a different language, and live a different culture, they are brothers. All having been adopted through the blood of Christ.

Where evangelical Christians are not found on every corner but where everyone admires Americans, a visit of Americans to a young church can leave behind a sense of belonging, a sense of we really are doing what’s right, and the church is encouraged.

If you ever visit the humble jungle village of Las Pitas and you stay for church, you will receive the warmest welcome. Farmers who have a 3rd grade education and live entirely off the land will greet you with a big smile, a firm handshake from their leathery hands, and applause as they welcome you to their service, in the open air heat of southern Honduras. They are happy, honored; they feel privileged to have you with them.

Now from the point of view of the visiting American.

How can people be so excited about walking three hours to church, up and down mountains? How can they sing so loud, off key, and not care? How can flip flops be mended to get more miles out of them? How can 3 hours of church in 115 degree heat be enjoyable? How can barefooted children with busted toe nails love Sunday school so much? How can you live in a dirt house with a dirt floor?

How can you live without cable TV, high speed internet, and telephone in one package? How can you live without a blackberry? How can you live without a washer and dryer? How can you live without shoes? How can you live on rice and beans?

How can you love God so much? The answer is simple; they don’t have all the things in their lives that distract us from God. They can’t get it 90 days same as cash. They can’t super size it. They can’t ask Santa for it. All they have is God.

It’s intangible. It can’t be adequately explained with ink. How can you put a price on what’s its worth to finally understand what it means to be a Christian, to belong to a family that spans language and cultural barriers. To be able to experience Christianity in it’s purest form. Not worried about clothes, hair styles, new buildings, praise teams, politics, time limits, or meetings, just worshiping God. Is that worth Three hundred sixty two thousand four hundred dollars? No, no way, not on your life...It’s priceless.

Our mission is two fold, serve the locals with God’s love and minister to Americans who only have a third person relationship with God...No matter the cost.