Long Term!

This morning we were officially accepted by MTW to serve as 'career' missionaries in Honduras!

After a whirlwind of travel in the last few weeks (we put almost 1300 miles on our rental car in just over a week), we have been in Atlanta all of this week. We, along with about 15 other missionaries, are attending a training helps to prepare us to get to the mission field. We have received a ton of information this week in topics such as developing a support team, storytelling, child protection, and more.

We got to see teammates!

One of the fun parts of the week has been reconnecting with some of our teammates! Our team leader, Mike Pettengill, led some of the seminars and has been helping new missionaries in the office all week. On Wednesday, Mandy Marcone came to have lunch with us - she is currently in the US raising support in order to return to Honduras this summer. On Thursday afternoon, Aaron, Rachel, and Ford Halbert stopped by the office as they were passing through the area. They are also raising support to join our team and start a new ministry in the capital of Honduras.

We have learned a lot and are excited to be official long-term missionaries to Honduras! Tomorrow we will fly to Arizona and will be there for about 2 months raising finances in order to return to Honduras!

Training & Travel

This week I attended a 3-day leadership foundations course with Global Training & Development, the training branch of MTW. We have looked into topics such as group dynamics, what it a Christian leader?, listening, setting goals, and much more. We interacted and worked through various situations ministry often face in cross-cultural settings.

I feel blessed to have been able to receive this information and also to have had the time to meet and study alongside other leaders - most of which are currently leading teams in Latin America. This training will help me in our current ministry in Honduras and also in the future as we are a part of other projects and ministries.

While I was sitting in the classroom, Ashley took a trip to Tupelo, Mississippi. During her three days there, she was able to spend a bunch of time with some family, meet with some current supporters, and even share the ministry with a new church body.

While we don't like being apart from each other, we were able to both get things done and build relationships. We are thankful for the opportunities we each had and how the Lord used them to grow us and His kingdom!

Update on La Fe

Just under 5 months ago, we hired a pastor to begin planting a church in La Fe. Pastor Ovidio began to meet with me regularly to discuss thoughts and plans and theology. Three months ago, we left Honduras to come back to the US for a six-month 'home missionary assignment'. Since we left, the church planting process has continued and is seeing growth! Praise the Lord!

Pastor Ovidio with his Bible

 My teammate has been meeting weekly with Ovidio to continue mentoring and discipling and training him on what it means to be a pastor and how to shepherd the Lord's flock. The Lord is growing Ovidio's understanding of who He is and how to love Him and the Lord is using Ovidio to reach the community of La Fe! Ovidio has been leading worship services once or twice a week and just last week there were 40 people at one of the services! (We know that numbers do not mean everything, but we can praise the Lord that at least 40 people in La Fe heard God's truth!)

the new building where the church meets

Since we left, Ovidio and the church body have been able to build this meager shelter so they have a place to meet and be out of the hot sun and heavy rains. Please pray with me for a deepened relationship with the Lord for Ovidio and wisdom as he leads the body of believers in La Fe. Pray also for Ashley and I as we miss this place and the people so much and that we can trust the Lord to build His church in His timing with His truth!

Re-connect

A little over 4 years ago, Ashley and I got accepted by Mission to the World to become missionaries in Honduras. Today we got back to the home office (in Atlanta, GA) for the first time since we were accepted. We are here for a 3-day conference for missionaries who are back on the US after having served somewhere on the field.

There are about 25 others at the conference who have (and mostly are continuing) to serve all over the world - some of them have been missionaries with MTW for more than 25 years. It was great to meet other missionaries and hear about how the Lord has used them and worked in them over the last few years.

Processing kindergarten style

We are together to reconnect with each other and with the people in the home office. Today we talked a little about raising finances and child protection. We also spent time processing our last few years on the field with all kinds of art supplies. Tomorrow we will share our story using what we made today. It will be great to hear about the ups and downs of others and that some of the things we have felt and thought and seen are similar to the experiences of others.