Tuesday, April 13, 2010

74 People Accept Christ in 8 Days!!

     Camp was a wonderful success! There were about 150 in attendance and, thanks to the generosity of some of God’s people in the U.S., twenty-three of those there were teens from our works! All three of the Lenca teenagers from Ojo de Agua received a special blessing from God. Sandra and Tomas both accepted Christ as their personal Savior and Gustavo has surrendered to preach the Gospel! All three of these young people are relatives of Hermana Enrique, the dear lady that allowed us to have services in her home for several years there in Ojo de Agua. When they gave their testimonies in their church, there were several with tears in their eyes… and that is an unusual thing among the stoic Lenca people. God has truly torn down Satan’s stronghold in that little mountain community and we are seeing His mighty hand build a work there and raise up leaders!








These are a few of our teens that  went to camp






     



      The Evangelistic/Medical team from North Carolina, organized and led by Bob and Karen Weeks, was a tremendous blessing! The sixteen team members came with a heart for God and reaching the lost first and foremost, and secondly, to help the sick and hurting. We went to four communities in four days, two of which have well established works (Ojo de Agua and a place just outside of town), one that is a struggling work (Quebrada de Lajas) and the other in Rodeo, where we hope to open a new work.
      In those four days we saw nearly 1,100 people. At every free clinic, one of the ladies taught Bible classes several times a day for any of the children that were interested. Many children just hung around all day because they didn’t want to miss any of the stories. The children received bracelets with colored beads that represented the plan of salvation (black for sin, red for Jesus’ blood, white for forgiveness and cleansing, green for growing in Christ, and yellow (or gold) for Heaven). It was exciting to see the children showing their bracelets and sharing the story with others. Mike walked around and talked to any and all (adults and children) who wanted to hear the Gospel story and the plan of salvation. In the last eight days, we have seen a total of 74 people come to know Christ!!!! We’re not talking about “blanket salvations” or “group prayers” either. We’re talking about people who were dealt with on a personal level by Mike! How we praise the name of Jesus for this outpouring of His Holy Spirit upon the people of Honduras. Not only were the people here blessed, but also those who came from the United States to minister to them. It was very hard to say good bye to them at the airport. Many of us were crying. But we WILL see each other again!

      On a sad note, we lost a dear friend on April 1. Many of you who keep up with our prayer letters and updates have heard us speak of Bev and Murray, the couple from Surrey, British Colombia, that we met and were privileged to lead to the Lord while Mike was receiving cancer treatment in Del Rio. Murray was also battling prostate cancer and it had also gone into his bones. Well, early in the morning of April 1, he went to sleep and woke up in Heaven. We’re going to miss him, but at the same time, we are thrilled that he is no longer suffering and is AT THIS MOMENT enjoying the sights of Heaven and fellowshipping with the One who loves him most and gave Himself for him!
      We thank God for His divine plan for us to meet them and share with them what Christ has done for us! He took us from Honduras and them from Canada and brought us together at a little clinic in Mexico! What an awesome God we serve. We covet your prayers for Bev and her family during this time. And Murray…

... WE’LL SEE YOU LATER!!!







Saturday, April 3, 2010

Never A Dull Moment!

Just a VERY quick update!
Even as I type this, we have 23 teens that are at Easter Camp. That is the most we have EVER had… thanks to the generosity of Stateside Christians! We would like to send public thank you to Jim and Dovie Lane (Mike’s parents), Russell Orr, Lydia Marsicek, Robbie and Julia Nettles, and Gary and Joyce Page for their contributions to “send a teen to camp”! Teens who would NEVER have been able to go to camp, many of which live without the benefit of electricity or running water, are now enjoying a fun-filled time of spiritual growth and fellowship! Our prayer is that they will catch a vision of what a difference one person, dedicated to Christ, can make in a family or community. GOD BLESS YOU FOR MAKING THIS POSSIBLE!!!
Yesterday I finished painting a sign for our church building in Ojo de Agua. The people there decided on the name Calvary Baptist Church of Ojo de Agua, not only in honor of where our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, paid the price for our sins, but also in honor of our sending church. They said they are so thankful that they sent us to tell them about salvation by grace, but also, in 2008, a mission team from our home church, Calvary in Grand Prairie, TX, came and helped with some work on the building. At that time, our pastor, Bro. Brian Loveless, preached a dedication service for the then new building. They have just recently finished putting a cement floor in and painting the outside of the building. We have picked out mosaic tile and will lay the tile in the next few weeks. 
Yesterday, a medical/evangelistic team arrived from the States. Next week, we will be holding free clinics in several mountain villages among the Lenca Indians. We covet your prayers as we will use this as a means to draw the people in with the goal of treating their physical ailments, but also and more importantly, their sin sick souls with the “Balm of Gilead”.

For the King until the shout,

Mike and Debbie Lane