Reflections on VisionQuest 2012 by Jim and Francis, Honduras Ministries

The Canada team arrived on March 28 and went right to work.  Jet lag and a two day adventure traveling made no difference.   First, the team was barricaded because of a local protest.  Wow!  What a way to start a mission.

Our plans were to visit a maternity ward with newborns and older children at a local hospital to pass out much needed blankets, diapers, and supplies newborns need plus give a hot meal to the family... burittas and a cool drink.  Our team permanently in Honduras representing Honduras Ministries and Asociacion Ministerios Pan de Vida waited outside the hotel until the commotion was cleared by local police.  Fortunately no one was injured as there was no violence.

We greeted each other in the hotel lobby and left immediately for the hospital.  The hospital was nearby.  Within a few minutes we had arrived and the teams joined together to pray for God’s direction and to discuss plans about where to visit and what to expect.  We were also joined with a third missionary group (Manos Extendidas) who met up with us on the maternity floor.  Viola, a member of the Canada team, is shown here passing out blankets and lots of love to a mother with a new born.  

Dave form Canada and Maria of Honduras are congratulating a new mom and, of course, giving lots of love and diapers.

We prayed for the moms and their new child at the moms’ request.

Next we visited the children’s ward where many that day had undergone an appendix operation.  It was an awesome experience to see the smiling faces that were suffering from so much pain but were full of joy! 

Some of the children delighted in praying.

We passed out many burritas with drinks to families who were in need.  The hospital we visited is a government ran hospital and is free to the poor.  Many can’t afford to purchase a meal, so often the patient has to share with their family.  The movement is based on love for our Lord blessing those who are in need.

We closed that day with a meal at a local restaurant having made lasting friendships with Christian friends from another part of the world, Canada.  

We thank God for this experience and His demonstration of love by sending these awesome Christians form far away to serve the needs of the less fortunate here in Honduras.  We and the people of Honduras are eternally grateful and richly blessed!

Our thanks to each of you,
May God continue having you pour out your love to the poor,
Jim and Francis Martin

This is a short video (about 3 minutes) on Honduras Ministries.This video will let you see into the hearts of Jim and Francis and the heart of Honduras Ministries!.....Val

A Special Message from Dave and Claudia

A special Message from Dave and Claudia Chafe!

From the time we left home till the time we returned it was an eye opener. We left temperatures of 0 to -4 degrees  celcius and went to 31 degrees. We also left a land of plenty and visited towns that had next to nothing. There was no running water,  very little food, and up in the mountains where we went, people lived in metal shacks. 

But in the midst of all that, it was so loving to visit the feeding centers and the schools that the missionaries are running and have the children run up to us and wrap their arms around us, as if we knew them for a long time. 

Also, to see their smiling faces as if they had the world when they really have so little. Even though we see pictures on TV of places like this, we didn’t get the true impact until we saw it for ourselves. At times it was heartbreaking, and at the end of the day we needed time to process all that we had seen and experienced. Through the heartbreaking times and the happy times we wouldn’t change a thing, because this was the only way to see how these people actually live every day.

Claudia & Dave

Special Message from Judy and Randy Lundrigan from Schools of Hope

As I think back to a week ago when we said "see ya later"to the Vision Quest Team from Newfoundland, our hearts are still warmed by their kindness and compassion for God's work here and the underpriviledge children of Honduras.

It seemed like we had known this team for years, well Derm and Viola we have known for over 30 years as a matter of fact and they are very dear friends of ours. However the other participants stole our hearts almost immediately. Is it true that no matter where a Newfoundlander goes they fit right in? Maybe so, but whatever the case, they will have a good chunk of our hearts for a long time to come!

We were privileged to spend time with this wonderful group showing them Schools of Hope ministries and hearing their hearts as well for why they were here. They were very open to the 3 schools we serve and we felt they were compassionate to the 1000 children we serve. In a very special way, the kids really warmed up to them and they do NOT do that with just anyone.They obviously felt loved and accepted and safe reaching out to our new found "Newfie" friends.

Having come from Newfoundland ourselves we were touched by the kindness of the group bringing us many of our favourite things that we cannot get here and also numerous supplies to help in the schools that are also difficult or costly to get here. Even the puzzles they brought for the grade 1 and 2 classes were seemingly DIVINE. Who would have thought they could find bilingual puzzles and Bible puzzlesas well for the very topics we are teaching in the Public Schools!

We felt their visit was a God thing indeed. I don't know why but I kept filling up with tears the last few days they were here. I think I was feeling their emotion and knowing that God had done a deep work in their hearts. I know when someone comes to Honduras it just tends to grab a hold of you as the needs are so desperate. It has a way of making you wonder, "what can I do?"

So it will be interesting to see how the Vision Quest team goes forward from here and what impact God has made on each of their lives.

For us, their visit was encouraging not only from the blessing they were to us with aids for the ministry but just to have some good natured ENGLISH speaking folks to talk to and hang out with for a while was almost like a mini retreat for us. What apleasure they were to spend time with.

It was also a good opportunity to share what God does in Schools of Hope and help them obtain facts and knowledge about the plight of the children here if no one helps them. The more people we help make aware of the Honduran situation, the more children will receive HOPE that someone cares, someone loves them and there is a plan for the future of the Honduran children.

Thanks Vision Quest for coming to Honduras and thanks for all the goodies and school supplies. Please make sure you thank all the people who contributed to making our day...no our week!

God bless until we meet again!

Judy and Randy Lundrigan

Directors: Schools of Hope and Child Care Plus Sponsorship Program Honduras

For more information on Schools of Hope contact us at rlundrigan@paoc.org or visitschoolofhope.ca

Randy & Judy Lundrigan    Global Workers in Tegucigalpa PAOC/ PAONL Latin America and Caribbean Region Email rlundrigan@paoc.org Telephone in Honduras (Internet Phone)       1-905-581-9702 Telephone in Honduras    011 -504-2239-0365  cell 011-504-3348-4944  Donation Link http://www.paoc.org/donate.aspx The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. For we are both God's workers. And you are God's field.   You are God's building. 1 Corinthians 3:8-9

Message from Derm Westcott, VisionQuest 2012

From surreal to surreal

It was about 7:00 pm when we arrived back in St. Andrews, NL after our long 2-day journey back from VisionQuest 2012, Honduras.  I dropped in to the local corner store near my house and was greeted by the owner, Johnnie MacIsaac, “Did you go to Honduras yet? I have some baby clothes up at the house for you”.  Feeling jet lag and having had only a few hours of sleep at Toronto Pearson Airport on a few lined up restaurant chairs, I responded, “I am just getting back now, bye!  Put them aside for now, Johnnie, and we will bring them next year”.  This seemed all too familiar. Yet, as if I was in a dream state, I still felt I was back in Honduras.

It was so nice to visit old friends and acquaintances during our visit to Tegucigalpa, Honduras.  We enjoyed every moment.  It was like we were returning home. Yet it seemed so surreal. Having lived there for over six years and travelling in and out of the country over these years certainly added to the feeling of returning home.  The one week visit seemed short and we were not able to visit all the wonderful places that bring fond memories, like Cafemania where over the years we had many chats over coffee.  However, the purpose of the trip itself, VisionQuest 2012, was a success.  
It has always been a remarkable experience for both Viola and I to see the reactions of first-time visitors to Honduras as they see the conditions of poverty and how the Honduran people hold up.  This is especially so when they interact with the children’s ministries and see how children can be happy and smiling while having so little. This was evident during our visit to several feeding centers and local schools.  The children were so welcoming and loving it took everything in us to choke back the tears. The missionaries and locals treated us like honorary officials as they explained the vision they have for the various projects they operate as it relates to the children.  Ironically, our purpose was to bring them honor and encouragement. It turned out to be a two-way street.  We all need to be affirmed in the walk we are on with the Lord.  None of us stand alone. We need each other.

I was so delighted and blessed at the same time when the Lord orchestrated a blending of two of the ministries that we were visiting.  On the day that we visited the hospital maternity ward to bless the new Mom’s with baby clothing and food for them and their family members, we joined with the ministry that we had visited with the day before.  This was not planned.  Coincidence or God-Incidence? With open hearts and a sense of purpose both mission organizations worked side by side ministering to the Mom’s…praying for the Mom’s, speaking works of encouragement and giving hope.  It was as if they had been doing this together all along.  One of the attritions that Missionaries have to overcome in the mission field is competition between missionaries and mission organizations.  It was a blessing to see these two mission organizations side by side living out an answer to Jesus’ prayer, “…that they may all be one…”

A question that was asked of me several times in the later part of our visit...”Was VisionQuest 2012 a success; did it meet your objectives?”.  My initial reaction was to consider if the participants on the VisionQuest Team thought it was a success for them individually.  According to the responses I have heard, I believe they have gained a rich experience and an understanding of the life of missionaries and some of the challenges they have to face daily.  Also, they came away from their experience with a sense of questioning “where to from here?” and open to the next step in their own personal journey with the Lord and the call He has on their lives.

On a personal note and response to the question, “Was it a success?”  Yes, yes and yes.  Along with the participants being satisfied, I, too, have been met with satisfied expectation.  On several accounts we witnessed divine appointments that brought confirmation and encouragement to Viola and myself regarding the mission we are on.  Dave, the US Army Engineer who approached me, and after some conversation, confirmed my thinking that there is a wealth of hotel furnishings that can easily be made available for His Secret Place, when the time comes.  Kristie, an energetic missionary we met while we were visiting the Statue of Jesus expressed what a blessing our ministry is to missionaries and the great need for such a ministry as Ministry to Missionaries. Jim and Francis Martin, missionaries that we visited, said that they are doing just fine and can hold their own.  Jim concentrated his conversation on the needs of the mission rather than their own personal needs.  However, he came away from being just fine to realizing that he and his wife needed a break, a getaway, and that they needed to be at this year’s M2M in Rocky Harbour. It appears that is going to happen. For that alone, the trip was a success!


So, here I am back in the saddle again, behind in my email responses and piled-up snail mail. It’s the third day after our return from Honduras and I still feel like my head is in a cloud. Surreal! Some may say, what’s different about that Derm?  LOL

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!!!

April 1st Church in Tegucigalpa

We all went to Church this morning with Randy and Judy at Manos de Abra (Hands at Work) in a community called Comayagua which is just across the bridge from Tegucigalpa. Derm sat in the truck bed as we all piled into the cabs of the truck. It was a rough ride. Over the past few days I discovered muscles connecting parts of my body that I did not know I had before. I am sure Derm found it even more so!

It was such an honor to attend the church which Alvin pastors. Our friend Victor assisted with the worship. 

Victor and his daughter. She did not make it through the service!

Alvin and Nellie with Manos Extendidas and Judy and Randy with Schools of Hope support each other and many of the kids are known to both groups.

 

The kids just love Randy and Judy. A picture is worth a thousand words but being there to see the interaction and smiles is worth 10 thousand pictures. Alvin and Nellie were still inside ministering.  The people from the Church just want to stay after the service and hang out!