What a couple of days! - Update

So we have continued praying for you ever since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you a complete understanding of what he wants to do in your lives, and we ask him to make you wise with spiritual wisdom.

Colossians 1:9

Dear "sending" loved ones back home ... please continue to pray for us! As many of you know, when it comes to going about the Lord's work, the enemy wants to put a stop to it! Although, we like to laugh in thinking that opposition just makes for a better testimony when we get back home! Hehe :D

Yesterday we left Peña Blanca at 6:40ish in the am to go pick up our "troop" of missionaries. It was a quick ride into town where we saw a little boy walking around his town pretending to be Spiderman! That was useless information but nonetheless funny! ... When we got to the airport, we noticed it was on time (see the picture in the blog below). Eulogio went to check on the rental van to find that the company was still closed. No one their yet! ... We weren't too concerned ;) We got to see the group going through customs and were very happy when we saw them! They ALL looked tired! By this time, we were told that the lady from the car rental place would be there soon. .... Hahaha!! Something you must know, Honduran time is a good 30 minutes to 1 hour later than any time that they give. ....  Sooooo, we spent most of the morning in the airport cafeteria (see the picture in the blog below). Things changed SEVERAL times and after what seemed to be a morning of instant testing of our patience .. the Lord provided (as He ALWAYS does)! We had recently prayed. Every time they had a solution for us, it was almost another hour wait too. By the end, we didn't get the van but the Lord had provided us with 2 trucks. A silver SUV and a brand new fancy 4 door pickup truck... both for the price of one van! So, we were finally on our way to eat. Everyone had only been able to consume a few slices of pizza the night before at about 1am (so their story went). They were starving. We wanted to go to Power Chicken (a SUPER yummy place) but it was packed full of people. We went to the mall instead and everyone but a couple of brave ones ate north american food! Hahaha ... I found this funny! :D They were all really ready to go to sleep now seeing as no one slept the night before ... and POOR Rick hadn't slept for 3 days because of his work! Well, we drove on to the grocery store and then on to Peña Blanca.

This is where things got "fun!" Our brand new flashy red truck got pulled over by the police twice!! HAH! We couldn't believe it and we realized today why that was. We didn't have tags on the car because it was a brand new rental. I'm glad it was our truck that was pulloed over so I was able to communicate with the officers. We all did quick prayers and kinda hid our money stash away so they couldn't bribe us. The first time was a breeze ... the second time, the officer was more serious and for a moment presumed we might have had stolen the truck because the name on the title was not ours. He proceeded to check all of our passports. It was crazy and funny all in one! Dalton started journaling right there and then, "Day 1- was pulled over by the police two times" ... We prayed both times and the Lord made it so we got away free! Yay!! By the time we got closer to home, where Eulogio's truck got pulled over! Wow!! Haha .. Thank the Lord AGAIN that he only had to pay the equivalent of 1 american dollar as a "donation". When we were really close to home we were allowed to sit in the back of the truck. The roads were a lot of fun! 

When everyone arrived at the cabins, they couldn't believe how beautiful it was there. They were feeling SUPER blessed. Girls got the left side of the cabins and boys the right side (see the picture in the blog below). After bringing in bags and settling for a little bit, it was off to dinner. God completely provided this place to eat! I had been on my way to get prices on food for the team the week before and had stopped to talk to the mother of the boy pCarlos (Kyle) is tutoring. After a long talk, she had volunteered to cook and everything for a fraction of our other options! Wow!! God came through ... YET AGAIN! :D Before dinner, they all met some of our neighborhood kids we play soccer with and spent a little time with them. After dinner, we all went to the cabins and Eulogio gave a nice and quick orientation. It was an encouragement and a preparation of things to come for them. They were asked to read Colossians chapter 3. It was a nice ending to a long day.

Today they were all up about 5:30am Honduras time (7:30am eastern time). They had a great time of devotionals and worship and came and met us for breakfast. Afterwords, they assisted in preparing for tomorrow's final VBS teaching. It was a day full of "crafts" of sorts and games .. a further reminder that there will be down time .. and a nice walk to the cabins for a good lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We recently returned from youth. It was a GREAT night of worship and teaching. Rick, Michele and Naomi took a walk around town to get some groceries and got to talk to some people. After dinner the group went home to finish the night with some fellowship/devotional guys time.

We ask for prayer for different things tonight:

1. Always keep yourselves united in the Holy Spirit, and bind yourselves together with peace (Eph 4:3)

2. That we die to ourselves/our desires continuously

3. That the Lord opens up doors for everyone to be able to minister in different ways

4. That the doors for different outreaches stay open and won't close if it's the Lord's will for us to do them

5. That everyone adjusts to the different culture. When I say this, I mean food :)

6. For strength through the day (general request)

7. Jesus' guidance through our prayers

8. That we do God's will no matter our cost

9. Oh yeah, VBS tomorrow!! It's our final day! :D

Thank you guys, Hasta Luego!

Catalina

PS. The picture above is of the terminal we were waiting for them to come out of ... the ONLY terminal "arrivals" came out of :)

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Airport Pictures

Pictures of the turn into the airport...

Of flight #825 "on time" ...

The cafeteria at the airport we waited at all morning ...

The teens in the back of the truck ...

The Cabins (one side girls/one side boys) ...

The whole group shortly after arriving to their new temporary home ...

Aren't these pics great?! :D

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Our Picture from tonight!

Here's a picture of Kyle with the kids. They're going to miss "Carlos" & we're all going to miss them. Soooo much! 

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A Quick Update. Please Read! :D

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, 
Nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD. 
" For as the heavens are higher than the earth, 
So are My ways higher than your ways, 
And My thoughts than your thoughts. 

Isaiah 55:8-9

Hi guys ... I realize it's late .. but, as you all know, I see my husband and the team tomorrow, so I'm doing all sorts of things around the house because I can't sleep. :)

I am writing this update to let you know how AWESOME the Lord is and how AWESOME His timing is! Well, if you have read the previous posts, you'll note that our soccer games weren't going so well. This past week has been the hardest of all (opposition). There were lots of new boys and they were rough and used foul language. It wasn't fun anymore and our regulars stopped coming. I thought we were never going to get to read the MOST important part of the book of the bible which we were reading to them. We were hoping to get that done before the team got here. 

Well, the past two days kept having something come up and we were unable to teach them or read to them. I honestly figured we'd just have to see when God would give the chance for it to happen while the team was here. Before I continue in what GREATNESS God works in, I wanted to thank you ALL who prayed for this. I KNOW Jesus is hearing you! ... See, tonight after our VBS meeting, we got home to see that our group of kids were playing soccer with an unknown ball. We always provide the ball. After getting in through our gate, we realized that this was it! It was as if the angels were singing and we KNEW that God ordained this time for us ... Your prayers were coming to pass ... the kids were here to hear, unbeknown to them!! It went AMAZINGLY and they were SOOOOOO open and sweet with us. The two boys were holding onto Kyle (I don't think either of them have legitimate father's) ... The girl's eyes were just staring in a glaze. It was such a sweet moment and they heard the Word. They heard the plan. They repeated the plan. The Lord gave us GREAT picture stories and scripture. They FELT our heart .. and most importantly .. they saw what the Lord did for them by sending Jesus! It was awesome. We told them we wanted to see them again .. if not here, then in Heaven. We urged them about making a choice. We all hugged ... it was just that moment ... I can't explain ... I knew that this was one of those moments we were here for. God gave everyone a role. Naomi was able to take care of my kids and Kyle was there for the kid's emotional support. They were all so excited and wanted to go home and read the gospel of John! Not too many people can read, but they could. We sent them home with a Pocket Testament track (includes the gospel of John). We gave an invitation for salvation and let them know we'd be here when they were ready or if they didn't want to pray alone. This was an AWESOME night ... and it ended with another young lady coming by and getting to discuss with me personally. God is so amazingly good! .... I ask you guys back home, if I ever need encouragement about something in the future, please bring this up. It'll be just what I need! Anyway ... I'm all aglow and grateful that the Lord has His timing, His purposes, His thoughts .. and Grateful that His thoughts are NOT my thoughts!! We love you Lord!!! 

Full of Joy,

Catalina

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The Team is Almost Here! - An Update from Honduras

The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

           Isaiah 58:11

- Have faith in The Lord, wait on Him and He will bring you through your trouble.He is guiding you even though you may not see it,for we walk by faith and not by sight.

(Blue Letter Bible)

Praying for all of the parents this morning who will be having one of their own leaving for a short time to come be in and minister in Peña Blanca, Honduras. Read this most encouraging devotional for all of you today: 

	And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee.
	Exodus 30:6
Upon the golden altar of heaven seen in Revelation 8, the incense speaks not only of the prayers of the Savior on our behalf, but also of our intercessory ministry on behalf of others. Incense was burned on an altar because prayer requires sacrifice. There is nothing harder to do in spiritual life than pray. Why? I believe it's because Satan opposes it so vehemently. Why? He knows that's where the power is. Just as the altar of incense was the piece of furniture closest to the mercy seat, we are never closer to the Father than when we're in prayer.  "Son of David, have mercy on me," cried the Syro-Phoenician woman. Yet Luke tells us Jesus walked by as though He heard her not. "Son of David, have mercy," she cried again. But Jesus kept going. The phrase "Son of David" was a Jewish term used by Jewish people to address the Jewish Messiah. This woman, however, was a Gentile. She had heard stories about what had taken place in Israel, about Jewish people who were blind or leprous crying out to the Son of David to heal them. So she used their formula. But it didn't apply to her. It was religion. It wasn't real. It wasn't until she said, "Lord, help me," that Jesus stopped in His tracks and healed her daughter (Matthew 15:25). Keep your prayer simple. Don't think you have to copy how someone else prays or use the phrases someone else uses. The altar of incense was small. It's not the length of your prayers, but their strength and their sincerity that matters (Ecclesiastes 5:2).

This past week has been one full of meetings! Meetings about VBS and meetings about our team which is to arrive in 2 days. I know it has been very busy for the team who is coming as well. Soon, we will all get to engage in ministry mode together. It will be delightful! We are excited for this last weekend of bible school here for the kids. This Saturday will be the closing and final teaching. It will be based on the creation story. We will discuss the fall and then give a GREAT illustration on the redemption .. a wonderful way of showing the kids what happened and why we need Jesus to tie us back in to that needed perfect relationship with God that leads to everlasting life ... with Him in heaven! Eulogio has decided to allow us, Kyle, Naomi, and I, to put this weekends lesson together so we can get a taste of the "long term missionaries" work. It's exciting!!! The kids will also be playing a game where they'll be facing the bible and then "Satan" (who will be played by none other than our very own Kyle) will be trying to get them to turn around "away from God." We're doing this because our focus through this bible school is not only to teach stories but to teach how to apply the stories to our lives!! We are SUPER excited! We're also excited because we'll be getting help from some of the team who's coming to prepare for Saturday!! This should be an exciting weekend and one we'll never forget thanks to the Lord and all His plans for our lives.

This past Saturday was AMAZING! I have recently posted some pictures of the event. We posted a picture of a "random" homeless person on these pictures. He was outside of the building ... just laying there. As the kids walked back and forth from their activity outside, they glimpsed and stared ... very confused and most likely bothered (based on the looks of their faces). See, this past weekend we spoke about creation with the emphasis placed on humans and them being made in God's image, needing to be kind to one another, loving, and taking care of each other. Our story came out of Luke 10 ... the story of the Good Samaritan. The Samaritan, who would not get along with a Hebrew, was the only one who would help the beat up Hebrew. No Levite or Priest would help! ... Our "homeless" person, you may know him better as Kyle (pCarlos) ... drove this point home by later in the lesson, walking into the room. ALL eyes were on him and they were wondering who this person was. I have it ALL on video and can't wait to finish it for you guys and post it! We taught the kids to have compassion and love .. but also to be cautious with random "homeless" people. ;)  It was a wonderful day!! It was very pleasant also to hear the kids singing along more to the worship songs! It was music to the Lord's ears I know!!!! We do know that not all of the kids are "unchurched" that attend, but most of the kids don't have a Sunday school where they teach specifically geared towards them with their mindset considered. It has been such a blessing to watch them learn.

Sunday school has also been going well and the kids are enjoying their weekly lessons about Jacob and Esau (verse by verse of course). They're starting to memorize music in Sunday school too! It's great because a lot of the songs are bible verses. One little girl was singing the famous, "Come to us" in Spanish! It has been awesome to hear ... pray please that they remain focused and that Leah's lessons and the worship songs stay in their hearts. Please continue to pray for the Honduran families that attend the church. That the enemy keep things away that would hinder them from attending and that they would grow and learn and be disciples themselves. We know that whether it be adult service, children's service, or worship, wherever the Word is being sewn and heard ... faith comes that way and through prayer, as you read above, we have power because Jesus can be at work there.

Our soccer game went SUPER well on the following day after I posted the need for prayer. So, THANK YOU guys for that! Unfortunately this week though, we've had a lot more boys come to play. They have been getting somewhat rougher and unruly. I've needed to send one of them home for foul language. Please pray for discernment. We have not changed any game rules, including the reading of the Word. It just so happens that for the past week, there has been a lot of rain and the kids have had to run home before the reading came out. Well, our next story in the gospel of John is pivotal and speaks of needing to be "born again" (speaking of our spiritual birth). There are only 2 days left in our game play. Pray against anything hindering that! Pretty please!! ... While the team is here, we may be able to play a couple of times but it has to be in a different location because our driveway is not big enough and can't have too many people on it. This is part of the reason the last few times have been rough. We want the kids to know they're loved but we also want to remain wise. It has been fun and we are sad that it's almost at an end. It's the most difficult when they ask us if we're ever coming back to Honduras once we leave. That is "gut wrenching" and "heart wrenching" all in one. We're especially attached to the kids in the above picture. We love them and want to take them home with us! God is so sweet how He lets us meet certain people! I'm sure many of you can relate.

Naomi has been going to the orphanage and tutoring the bilingual students as you know. It has been great! She got to bring some girls home with her to play with Elise since they don't have homework this week. They have some sort of a special week where they celebrate the Indian and the girls have invited Naomi, Kyle, the kids and I over for a celebration today! There will be traditional dances to watch and traditional foods to eat! The little boy Kyle tutors is going to be dressing up like an Indian and will be walking us there in a little while. It should be an exciting day!

Please pray for the people Kyle ministers to. He has met some very interesting individuals and some of them are ripe and love talking and discussing with him, and others are not so much. There is one gentlemen in particular. His name is Raymond ... please consider him in your prayers. I hope it's okay to ask for just general prayer for his health and his lifestyle. Continue also praying for the guys in youth group here. That they continue pursuing the things of God and that they stay focused and live for Him. And finally, please pray for Leah & Eulogio. Keep lifting them up for encouragement in continuing to do all this that the Lord has called them to for this time in their lives. They handle a variety of things and in a different society where people think in different ways. I know we all have things we handle, but it's almost as if they have to translate culture too! 

Well guys, we'll be seeing you at home soon. I don't know what to think right now. I am going to miss this life here tremendously but am also going to be glad to be home. I know if we keep our eyes on Jesus, none of this "world" stuff will stray us from the perfection of eternity we're going to live with when we're with Him forever!

Keeping the hope,

Catalina

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Pictures of VBS Today! :)

We were SO blessed to get this place for free! It was GREAT today!!

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Que Pasa en Honduras?

Then God said ...

       Genesis 1:3

Isn't that AWESOME!? When was the last time any of us said something and it just happened?! This was the very thing that was taught this past Saturday at VBS. It was a HUGE success! Everyone's prayers came to pass!! Thank you! It was beyond our expectations. God is SO good that way :) 

We started out the morning by setting up at the community center and passing out flyers (yes, that very morning). Everyone had a part to play. I met up with some of the kids that play soccer with us and they started taking me to all of their friends houses. It is SOOO great how all you have to do is tell a kid about an event and they just show up. No waiting for lengthy decisions ... just, "This is what we're doing today, want to come? ... Yeah?!, Great! See you soon!" ... No permission slips needed ... hehehe ... it was so neat! They were all excited to have something to do too. We started out with about 10 kids. A lot of them were shy .. to shy to come in .. so we'd have to step outside and go get them. Once in, they just chatted away and waited for the morning to start. We began with some songs ... and a time of teaching. By the end of the first teaching, there were more kids! Leah did a great job in drawing illustrations for each of the "days" and all the activities/crafts/songs tied in really well with the teaching of creation. By the end of this whole thing, we had NO chairs left! The kids who had been wondering what was going on and slowly made their way in. By the end of the event we had 50 kids!! Our hopes was to have at least 10!! IF that!! :D  They really enjoyed it ... older kids wanted to come in too! We reminded them that we would be doing this again the next Saturday and their faces were all aglow!Everyone was pooped by the end of the whole endeavor. The Lord REALLY brought the increase ... and we know that prayer can make anything happen. Thank you Lord for this "miracle" .. (http://www.calvarygreer.org/component/sermonspeaker/singlesermon/10313.html) Please continue to pray ... for this to have an effect on these kids' lives, for the Word to be sewn in their hearts permanently, and for this next week to bring as many kids as last week. It took some work .. but it was well worth it. So, in conclusion, doing this outreach was pure success! Thank you Jesus! Oh, and on another note ... one of the local Honduran women was SO excited because she was telling us that they never do outreaches for kids here! Isn't that incredible? She was so excited and even more so when the day was done!

Some other cool things that have been happening just started this week. Naomi has begun tutoring at the orphanage in the afternoons. She's tutoring the bilingual students (those learning english). Kyle has also begun tutoring another little boy. He is the son of the gentleman who owns the community center. The boy's name is Carlos too ... making it funny since Kyle is known as pCarlos here! (Yes, you read correctly ... "PCarlos", the P is silent! ... inside joke! :D ) 

You don't think of it when you're back home but there is some down time when on the mission field and .. I see it as almost necessary ... at least for this trip. It's been so good to have fellowship here. It reminds me of one of the verses that rings true in our family and I believe it should in all of our families: Hebrews 10:23-25 - Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.  And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,  not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

Please continue to pray for the afternoon "Futbol" games here. We're getting more kids and their beginning to get a little aggressive. We keep reminding them that "it's just a game and we're all here to have fun." On a couple of occasions, we've almost had to stop the game completely. Pray also for their attention spans ... it's kind of hard reading to them when one is distracting the whole bunch! I'll miss playing soccer with them very much! And my kids play with their younger siblings at our house ... We're ALL going to miss that.

Oh yeah, the missions field doesn't go without any adventure ... the other day, Naomi made pins for bowling out of boxes and used the soccer ball. It's what missionaries do when they're bored I guess! It was so much fun! It almost feels like we're in the reality of everyday there in the States ... but, maybe more so with a clear purpose and a focus. To bring the Lord to those who are lost. An encouragement to you missionaries who are coming in one week is this ... don't be like everyone else ... anyone can be like the world. Be like Jesus ... follow His lead and do it! He'll be with you!!

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Buenas, from Honduras ....

The LORD himself watches over you! 

  The LORD stands beside you as your protective shade.

                                          Psalm 121 (nlt)

So grateful for this truth and so grateful to get to see my husband in a few weeks!! Have been needing the Lord while apart from Chris. Can't wait to be reunited again and so blessed that he's my husband!!!

Well, to say that the Lord is doing a lot here is an understatement because He is always working and doing much more than we could know, everywhere! We were blessed last Sunday when we introduced children's worship to the group of kids at church. That particular weekend, Leah had the largest group of children yet! We had 24 little bodies and were kind of worried that they may not be engaged or participate. To our pure surprise, all the kids participated and really liked the music! Thank you Nic Lanphere for all your hard work!!! We got to try the same songs this week and some of the kids were looking forward to getting to sing them again! It was one of those little blessings to see all their faces light up!! Poor Leah was sick yesterday and asked if I could teach for her! An unexpected but exciting thing to do! It went great! The kids are learning about Jacob and Esau and I think really getting it! Leah always has super great crafts that really ties into the stories! 

This week we're looking forward to VBS which will begin on Saturday! Eulogio has been practicing on his guitar and learning the chords for the kids worship songs, Leah will be doing crafts (her specialty), and Naomi will be preparing the activities/games. Oh yeah, we finally have a theme too! Our theme is: God Created Everything ... It was the one thing we weren't sure of. When we had our little meeting, the Lord revealed it to us through a very special friend we made here! We all heard the idea and said, "Yeah! That's it!!" It was very exciting! VBS will consist of 3 weeks. The first week will hit on the subject of, God Created the Earth, the animals (stuff in that arena), and we'll be teaching on taking care of God's creation (it's quite dirty here and the streets are used as garbage cans). I hope to elaborate more on this once we have the class. The second week will be on, God Created Us, and we'll be teaching on loving one another and treating people as is written in the Word. And the last week is, God Has a Plan (since He created everything), and we'll be teaching about what that plan is!!! Isn't it great!?!? One of the lady's that goes to Calvary here will be teaching! I think some of you remember her, her name is Emily! ... So, if anyone has good ideas and can pray about the lesson plan, any input would be a blessing for us!

I'm still playing soccer (Futbol) with this kids here in the afternoons. The picture above is missing about 3 of the kids! My kids play with the little kids too! They have allowed me to read to them from the bible at each of our daily gatherings. It's SO awesome!! We're reading out of the gospel of John right now. I've seen the "movie" (haha) so many times, it's been great to get to act it out for them too (in little bits of course .. short attention spans). Please pray that this stuff remains in their hearts for life and the Lord moves within their lives. They're the SWEETEST kids you can imagine. None of them talk back or are rude ... instead, they're always helping and taking turns. It's so so so nice! One little boy brought me a special treat they make here ... it's called a TopoGigio (yes, like the mouse for those of you who know). It's frozen cornflakes in milk and it comes in a little baggy! Yum! ... Please pray for the kids to continue to be kind to one another too (soccer is aggressive, lol). They're much looking forward to our team getting here so we "can all play soccer together!" There's even another teen girl who comes and hangs out with us ... please pray for our conversation!

Speaking of our team back home in Calvary Greer ... One girl, who I love seeing at church, was there yesterday and asked if Michele (Perdomo) was coming this year because she wanted to see her!!! All this with a smile of glee on her face!! Isn't that awesome how last years team made such an impact?!?! She was SO happy when I told her that Michele was coming!! ... Praying for you team ... praying that you too would remember what you're here for and the kind of impact you can make on just one person! This girl is one who has been rejected by the church in the past because of her past ... How encouraging that the Lord receives us with arms wide open!! May you guys be just like Him when here!! I think you'll also be able to reach out and encourage the few that come to youth here! ... Another blessing that I'm seeing the Lord really work through by the way. ... The few strong men in the Lord here have actually been an encouragement to me! I love God's surprises! They're worth it ... "it" being anything. :)

On a personal ending note ... Naomi has been a God send to me. My daughter has learned to do many things on her own! Tiff would be proud!! ... Kyle has eaten Rat! ... And it's been so encouraging to get to "chat" with some of you back home when I'm homesick! ... Thank you! Please keep praying for VBS and for those of you back home who are sending someone ... I think we forget to pray for those left back home ;) Love you guys!!

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