#Honduras2012 - Karla's Baptism

Karla sharing her testimony

I praise God for the privilege of calling my friend Karla (in Siguatepeque, Honduras) my SISTER in Christ! What a privilege it was to meet with her this summer to study the Word, pray, and to witness Christ capture her heart. Meeting with her was my favorite part of that trip. And now that she is His, she has joyfully obeyed her Lord by being baptized. Wish I could have been there to praise God with her for His gracious work of salvation! I'm rejoicing just like my Daddy :D (Luke 15:10). Soli Deo Gloria!

Pastor Melvin baptizing Karla

JOY!

Snippet of El Buen Pastor

About a couple weeks ago, we had the opportunity to travel (for my second time ever) to El Buen Pastor (the Good Shepherd), a remote mountain village in Siguatepeque, Honduras. Most of the people there suffer from malnutrition, many are illiterate, and most do not know the gospel of Jesus Christ at all. Last year when Sarah Jo and I got to visit El Buen Pastor, there were about 2 believers in the town. Now, there are about 9 believers who have been baptized and who are meeting on Sundays for service at a believer's house. The Patterson family and a neighboring mountain village, Las Lagunas, have been faithfully visiting El Buen Pastor to spread the good news. The believers have faced some hostility from the Catholic Church (it's typical for these remote villages to be run by one Catholic Church per village), but they have remained faithful to Christ and the true gospel. One believer, an older woman who was formerly a leader in the Catholic Church and used to practice Santería in her home, was recently attacked and threaten by another woman with a machete for having left the Catholic Church. The believer told her, "I am a believer now. I won't go back. You can kill me, but then I'll just be with my Lord." The attacker left when the woman's husband came, but she threw a rock at the believer. So now she walks on crutches. 

By God's grace, I had opportunity to share the gospel with a lady (Carmelina) who is an invalid/handicapped, and whose husband was recently murdered. A few other people were in her house when I shared the good news with them, along with Christy Patterson and our friend Daniela from Miami Bible Church. Carmelina is so sad, but she did listen to the gospel and I pray she will put her trust in Christ as her righteousness and her only hope through her pain. 

I also had the opportunity to share the story of how Christ was crucified with some of the kids of the village on the porch of one of the few believers in that town (Orlando). The Patterson kids and a couple others who came acted out the parts while I narrated from a book. Then I presented the gospel to the kids and a few adults who seemed to be all ears. Then, we gave them each a verse on an index card to memorize: "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit," (1Peter 3:18). The kids are so precious and so are the people. They live HARD lives over there. But Hondurans in general are super nice and easy to talk to, so I praise God for opportunity to share Christ with them. I didn't actually have this lesson prepared prior to visiting El Buen Pastor, so it was another opportunity to see His strength displayed in my weakness. And little did I know, Daniela took some video of it. :) 

The beginning of the presentation

A Video on the Gospel and Missions

All I Have is Christ Video

Visiting El Buen Pastor

Here is just one testimony of our memorable Honduras experience this summer. This is about when we shared the gospel with a handful of ladies in the remote mountain village of El Buen Pastor in Honduras:

… I would be the only one able to speak Spanish to them, so I hesitated…but Sarah-Jo urged me again to go with her and Amber (from California) to speak to the four or five ladies who were watching us from a distance in front of a house. We said hello from a little distance away and asked if we could come closer to the house. They said yes.

When we reached the front of the house we introduced ourselves and asked them their names and ages (all of them within the 14 to early 20 age range: Belinda, Hilma, Adalina, Cintia, and Nolba—the grandmother of Belinda who joined us later in the conversation). I then asked them if they knew what the gospel is and what the Bible is about. They knew neither. So, in Spanish, I shared the gospel with them starting with a brief synopsis that the Bible is about God and His salvation of people through His Son Jesus Christ. I explained that the word “gospel” means “good news,” that God is the Trinity, the eternal Creator of all, the Lord of all, holy, and just. I explained sin beginning with Adam and Eve, and how we are consequently born with evil, corrupt, sinful natures that are opposed to God. I explained that God has to punish us for our sin because He is holy, and that the punishment is hell—the eternal and conscious torment of being underneath God’s righteous wrath for our sin. I shared the good news with them, that Jesus Christ, the Son of God—both God and man—came to earth about 2,000 years ago to live a sinless life and to die to pay the punishment that sinners like us deserve. In love, He took our sin on the cross, and He suffered underneath the wrath of God on the cross on behalf of sinners. He rose from the dead three days later to prove that He is God, the only way to God, and that God the Father was satisfied with the payment Jesus made for sinners on the cross. I explained that God commands all of us to repent (turn from sin) and trust in who Jesus is and what He did to pay for sin. Before explaining each truth within the gospel presentation (i.e. the character of God, creation, sin, hell, Jesus, the cross, the resurrection, repentance, faith), I would first stop to ask them if/what they knew about each truth. They responded almost every time with, “I don’t know.”

I then showed them the Bible in my hand, and told them that I wanted to share some verses with them so they could know that I wasn’t making it all up. That’s when they invited Sarah-Jo, Amber, and I up to sit with them in the shaded area where they were sitting in front of their house. We sat with them and got to know them a little better. I then read and explained Isaiah 53 to them, along with other verses, including Hebrews 9:27, 1Peter 3:18, Romans 6:23. Then, Amber and Sarah-Jo each shared their testimonies with the ladies as I translated. Amber emphasized that we can have true relationship with God through Jesus. Sarah-Jo emphasized that God can truly change our evil hearts to love Him and others, and how incredible the Word of God is. I also shared my testimony. We told them that we wanted to come to their town and tell them about Jesus because of how great the gospel is, and because God has changed our hearts to desire Him and proclaim Him.

A few children came as we continued to speak with the ladies. So now, this time with Nolma and the few children around us, I shared the gospel a second time with the ladies, mainly using Romans 6:23 and an illustration I drew on a notebook paper for them. We asked them if they had any questions for us, but they were still very shy and didn’t ask questions. So I prayed with them and asked God that He would help them understand and believe the gospel. We let them know that since we were just visiting, they can always talk to Mark or Christy Patterson in the future about these things because the Pattersons plan on making more trips to El Buen Pastor. They thanked us for sharing with them…

Join me in praising God for the opportunities and grace given us to share Christ with these ladies and with others in Honduras. Please pray for them, that they would know Jesus, and that a church would develop in El Buen Pastor, where many (most?) are illiterate and do not know the gospel at all.

Missions Quote

Saw this on Gina's Facebook page (she is in Kurdistan teaching English and preaching the gospel)...


"Some want to live within the sound
of church or chapel bell;
I want to run a rescue shop
within a yard of hell."

- C. T. Studd
missionary to China, India, Africa

Honduras Support Update & Trip Details

Support Update!: 

Thank you so much for praying for Sarah Jo Spears (my roommate / fellow GBC church member who will now serve with me in Honduras) and I,  and for the people of Honduras. The Lord has provided what I personally need for the trip through everyone's support. Praise God! And thank you! 

Trip Dates: July 27 - Aug. 10th. 
Trip Details: Sarah-Jo and I will serve with the Patterson family at MEDA seminary, Immanuel Baptist Church, and the Immanuel Children's Day Home in Siguatepeque, Honduras....aaaaaand....

New News!: 
We will ALSO visit the remote mountain town of El Buen Pastor (The Good Shepherd) for 2 days to share the gospel and run a small clinic. Most of the people there suffer from malnutrition, and most (if not all) do not know the gospel of Jesus Christ at all. The Patterson family has made a few trips to El Buen Pastor this year (see pics below). 

In Las Lagunas, a neighboring mountain town to El Buen Pastor, last summer (2010)

If you would still like to give to the trip, you can purchase the following items or give me or Sarah-Jo money so we can purchase them. The Immanuel Baptist Children's Day Home can also use materials for the children if you're able to support them. (SN: Daniel Calder (dpcalder@mail.usf.edu) can sell you these items and he will give a percentage of what he makes to the mission trip as well.)

The people in the town of El Buen Pastor:
• Adult multivitamins
• Children’s multivitamins (NOT the gummy kind as they melt and stick together)
• Pain medication (Advil or ibuprofen),
• Tums
• Neosporin
• De-worming medication
• Tongue depressors
We may also need to purchase a new otoscope for the clinic...
Immanuel Baptist Children’s Day Home:
• children's socks
• children's flip-flops
• children's underwear

Children of El Buen Pastor listening to the Bible on the Mini-Proclaimer. It's the little black box sitting on the rock next to the girls feet.

Mark Patterson teaching a memory verse to the kids of El Buen Pastor. He told them they would be back in 5 days and encouraged them to have the verse memorized by then. Psalm 86:10 "For You are great and perform wonders; You alone are God."

Thank you again and just let me know if you have any questions at all :D

Ouch

This hurt. But it was encouraging too.

Paul Washer on Missions

"Young man, go somewhere and die, that only God and Hell will know your name. God because He loves you and His Spirit is powerful upon you. And Hell because Hell hates you. Go somewhere and preach the gospel."

"If you know the Word really well, and you're just perfect...and your thinking and your logic is just pristine...but you're not a man of prayer, you're not worth two cents in the kingdom of heaven."

Honduras Part 2

“Say among the nations, ‘The Lord reigns!’”

–Psalm 96:10

This summer I have another opportunity to serve the church in Siguatepeque, Honduras for two weeks near the end of July. The Patterson family, missionaries who I served with for three weeks last summer, will host me. I will be serving the children of the Immanuel Baptist Day Home, a free daycare service for single mothers. I will also be helping with any projects at MEDA, the seminary that trains Central American pastors. I’m also excited to help with anything else that is needed in the Immanuel Baptist Church and with the Patterson family.

Please PRAY that the gospel will be proclaimed accurately to the children and anyone else we meet, that I will serve selflessly, and that God will receive every ounce of glory for everything He does this summer in Honduras.

Will you also prayerfully consider financially supporting me to go? I will need about $900 by July 5^th to purchase a plane ticket and to pay for my housing.

Thank you for your prayers and support, and please contact me if you have any questions or encouragements!

You can send checks to me at:

11711 N. 50^th St. Apt. 207A

Tampa, FL 33617 

God's Sovereignty and Japan

Check out this blog post on God's sovereignty and the tsunami in Japan from Pastor John Samson: Click here. 

“Empathy flows not from the causes of pain, but the company of pain.”  – John Samson

Another great post is a prayer for Japan by Pastor John Piper: Click here. 

"We know that if we were treated according to our sins, who could stand? All of it would be gone in a moment. So in this dark hour we turn against our sins, not against you. And we cry for mercy for Japan. Mercy, Father. Not for what they or we deserve. But mercy."   - John Piper

Finally, my sis in Christ, good friend, and roommate, Monica Ziegler, has been planning on going to Utsunomyia, Japan with a team from USF with the Navigators ministry. She is currently selling bracelets for Japan and for her mission trip this summer. Let me know if you're interested in buying a bracelet that will support the Red Cross efforts in Japan as well as Monica's mission trip. You can check out her blog for more info. on her trip here: "Land of the Rising Sun" - Monica's Blog.