April 3nd - What I Learned

We (Claudia and Dave Chafe and myself) have spent the past week on a Short Term Missions Trip to Tegucigalpa, Honduras with our hosts - Derm and Viola Westcott and Ministry to Missionaries (M2M). CLICK HERE to be directed to their web site. We have had our hearts broken by the hunger, poverty and the story behind our visit but we have become the best of friends. Our circle of family and friends has been expanded by the many Missionaries who permitted us to shadow them over the past week. People who have shared their hearts; shared their lives; shared their beliefs; shared their visions and shared their hurts.

From left to right: Val, Dave, Viola, Derm and Claudia.

Friday night I was asked (polite way of saying appointed) to speak in Church on Sunday. Now, I am not a preacher but I did feel to share some of the things the Lord had revealed to me during the week. So, what did I learn this week?????? I learned:

I can’t take all the kids home with me!
I can’t put food on every child’s table!
I can’t put clean running water in every home!
I can’t give every adult a well paid job!
I can’t put supplies in every school!
I can’t get rid of the gangs in the hills!
I can’t stop exploitation of young girls!
I can’t.........

But I can pray and when you pray the Lord can!! 

Alvin and Nellie Anderson pray and the Lord provides food for two feeding centers and support for the shelter/orphanage; time to go to the men’s prison; time to go to the women’s detention center, time to.....they are changing the world one step at a time. Click Here if you would like to review the Manos Extendidas Web Site and their Ministry.

Judy and Randy Lundrigan pray and the Lord provides workers, school materials, desks,...... Some of the children in the three public schools they visit have graduated from the two children feeding centers for preschoolers operated by Alvin and Nellie. They help to keep children in school at least to Grade 6 and feed them the Gospel. Some have been sponsored through their child sponsorship program and gone on to University...they are changing the world one step at a time. Click Here if you would like to review the Schools of Hope Web Site and their Ministry.

Andrea (daughter) and Jim and Francis Martin

Maria

Jim and Francis Martin and Maria Manso pray and a family gets fed while their child is in hospital; a child learns a trade; a child receives school supplies.....they are changing the world, one child at a time. Click Here if you would like to review the Honduras Ministries Web Site and Their Ministry.


These are only glimpses of what goes on in these ministries and the lives of the Missionaries themselves. You really need to see for yourself. So......to go back to my opening statement on the very first day of the Blog..

"Everyone should go on a Mission trip.... not necessarily for what you can do for God or for people but what God will do to you during the trip". As preached by Pastor Tim Ingram of the Crossing Church in Celebration, Florida (http://crossingonline.org/celebration-campus ).

I believe we need to take care of our Missionaries... one step at a time. I believe, the love shared by the Missionaries to the people in Honduras can change the world...one step at a time. Derm and Viola and Ministry to Missionaries (M2M) (www.hissecretplace.ca) have a heart for the hearts and well beings of  Missionaries in the Mission Field. This is part of their Vision Statement taken from their web site:

"The vision of His Secret Place, a Ministry to Missionaries, is to provide an opportunity for God's servants to move out of spiritual turmoil and into recovery and strengthening through Christ's rest (Matthew 11:28 - 29). Our desire is to empower missionaries to continue in their work."

M2M holds an Annual Retreat in Rocky Harbour, Newfoundland, where Missionaries come from all over the world to rest and relax; a time to unplug and recharge their batteries; a time to re-focus and recover.

During the M2M Retreats, all Missionaries in attendance are treated like royalty. The Missionaries are only responsible for their return transportation costs to Deer Lake, Newfoundland. M2M kicks in and then gives them (as we Newfoundlanders would say) "the time of their lives". Derm refers to this as a stepping stone to another part of  His Secret Place which is a Retreat Center to be built in the Codroy Valley of Newfoundland.

So, on our last day in Honduras, we were all sad to leave but realized our work for this trip has been done. On the way to the airport, some workers were clearing trees from the power lines. This picture says so much. The men were using machetes to hack down the branches and limbs of the trees. Some of the branches were about 6 to 8 inches in diameter and the wires were right through the trees.

When I got back home (in Florida) late Monday night into Tuesday morning, I sent my sister an email saying "I back" - even though I was not back in Newfoundland I was back from our excursion to Honduras. When one of my nieces was just learning to talk, she and my brother and his wife were visiting our family home in St. Philips for Christmas. She had gone out for the day with her parents visiting family and shopping. She was so excited to be back with the rest of the family she burst into the living room exclaiming "I back". Since then, it has become a little family tradition between my sister and me to let the other one know when we are back home and to say how glad we are to be back with family.... and family love..... I have to thank each and every Missionary who shared their lives with us this week; for making us part of your family; for each and every Honduran who made us part of theirs; and Derm and Viola for thinking of inviting me to VisionQuest 2012.

There will be some of you who might consider going on a Short Term Missions Trip or some of you might have a heart to fellowship with the Missionaries. Some of you might be called to come alongside a group or organization as a helper, teacher, tutor, minister, pastor, electrician, bricklayer, encourager, donor or whatever. Some of you might be called to email, phone or visit some of your friends in the Mission Field. Pray and seek the Lord what that might be for you. 

Oh, by the way, I hear rumors there might be a VisionQuest 2013!!!