Below is a copy of the latest prayer letter written by my husband and sent to our supporting churches. The ONLY difference is, that I have added photos and a video to give you a better idea of what is going on here. So… here you go!
July 2013
Greetings from the “white unto harvest” fields of Honduras. We arrived in Honduras the first of January
and I can hardly believe we are now already into the month of August. It has been a great year, although
it had a trying and sorrowful beginning for our churches here with the final struggles and home going of
our beloved Leonidas, a deacon in New Hope Baptist in La Esperanza and leader in the mountain church,
Calvary Baptist of Ojo de Agua. The family continues to adapt and remains faithful, and thanks to the
generosity of Liberty Baptist Church, Kingston TN, a home is being built in Ojo de Agua for the family.
It has been a productive year in the winning of souls. I have been privileged to win 15 adults and teens,
some to which we have witnessed for years. Our very traditional Indians in the mountain villages can be
especially tough. Belief and trust in Christ alone for salvation, laying aside Catholic tradition, like works
for salvation, faith in Mary, saints, priests, the church, and the Pope. is very difficult for them. However,
especially in the Calvary Baptist Church in Ojo de Agua, we have seen steady growth, with an average of
50-60 in attendance each week.
Recently, we had a wedding there (the first non-catholic Christian wedding in that county) with over 200 in attendance. I was also able to lead 3 women to Christ after the wedding.
Wedding decorations were streamers, balloons and flowers. The floor was traditionally covered with pine needles and flowers. Our only addition was the unity candles on the front table.
The sign at the front of the church said, "Welcome to the Wedding of the Gómez & Rodriquez Family"
Many who attended the wedding had to stand outside and look in the windows. Some were there more out of curiosity than anything!
Cecilio and Belinda had the VERY FIRST non-catholic wedding EVER performed in the Lenca department (county) of Opalaca.
The following week, five followed in Biblical baptism. At least 23 children and teens have been
saved in the classes in our various works, and recently over 70 received Christ in a Baptist medical-
dental brigade held in Ojo de Agua. They held their services each night in our church building, and since
then, we have seen a change in a number of people.
Another pastor, Florentino, whom we recently helped
in the rebuilding of his motorcycle engine (only $150), has been using it to evangelize in different
communities and has won 17 souls in two village campaigns within the past weeks.
Altogether, in all our
works and evangelism efforts, we have seen at least 125 saved this year. This doesn’t include the other
churches that are now independent or have been turned over to other missionaries. I know the count
would be much higher, to the glory of God!
My husband, Mike, rides his Rokon to Zapotillo for the first time.
In April I had an interesting experience. A “friend of the ministry” (who wishes to remain unnamed) bought two Rokon motorcycles (moto-tractors) for us. They are two-wheeled drive with fat tractor treaded tires on the front and back. We used them to climb to a remote village, Zapotillo, with whom we have worked for 10 years. It physically very hard for me to make the climb. It usually takes about 2 hours of steady climbing. The trail is so steep and the switchbacks are so tight that no vehicle has EVER been able to reach the village, but with the Rokons (and a little help from Salvador and Obdulio), I and my assistant pastor, Hotir, made it.
The result: Four adults and teens accepted Christ and the church was reestablished.
Since then, they have had weekly services, thanks to two of our dedicated young men, Salvador and Obdulio, who walk up there and back each week to hold services, eventually meeting up with us at one of our mountain services to catch a ride back to La Esperanza.
Obdulio and Salvador.
Salvador preaches there every Sunday.
Obdulio leads singing and teaches the children.
The work there has been VERY HARD, with many threats (still going on) and recently, a man with a machete chopped up all the adobe blocks that they were using for seating in the building. Please pray for them and the work in Zapotillo.
Thank you so very much for your faithful prayers and support. We couldn’t do what we do without you.
It seems that, no matter how organized I am, how well I try to plan my time, or even if I get a little ahead of schedule on something, there is always something else that is calling for my attention - something that I should have done yesterday!
Of course, there are some things that can’t wait, like Bible study and lesson planning, as well as developing object lessons, illustrations and competitions to accompany those lessons. Then there is teaching the Sunday School classes, the Youth meetings, church attendance and visitation. These things are essentials and cannot be neglected nor put off. If you are active in your church where you live, you understand the time commitment it takes. However, when you multiply that by four (because that’s how many of our works in which I am involved either teaching or responsible for preparing lessons), it takes a big chunk of your time!
Neither can meal preparation, a clean house and clean clothes be postponed. Even though I have a girl that usually comes 2-3 times a week to dust and mop the tile floors throughout the house, I do everything else. The floors alone take about 3 hours, and we’re talking about someone doing them who is much younger and stronger than I! Washing clothes also takes an extended amount of time. I thank the Lord that I am one of the blessed missionary wives that has a washing machine, but time must be taken to hang them on a clothes line, retrieve them when they are dry, fold them and put them away. (I would imagine that probably 95% of those of you reading this don’t even have a clothes line anymore!).
Food preparation is another time consuming chore. You wouldn’t necessarily think so, but let me share this current observation from someone who recently visited.
This past January, we had a couple of young adults come and spend a month with us. Rachel and Caleb Hamman (brother and sister) come from a family with 11 children. We met their family last year while presenting our ministry at their church in Wasilla, Alaska, where their father was the pastor. We knew that we were to eat lunch with them after church. I had been thinking to myself that, as a pastor’s wife, what a chore it would be to know that when church was over I had to go home and feed 15 people! Having said that, you cannot imagine my shock when, at the conclusion of their service, their father invited the entire church to their home for lunch! Now, grant it, it was not a large church, but I would say there were about 30 or more people there! However, his dear wife and the older girls didn’t seem the least bit concerned. Apparently, this was a regular Sunday occurrence.
Later, Rachel, who likes to cook and, apparently, is usually in the kitchen helping out, informed me that it really wasn’t that big a deal. So, knowing all of this, you can imagine my surprise when, after a couple of weeks with us, she commented to me about the amount of work and time we had to spend in the kitchen to get a meal out for just four people! I guess that, after nearly 16 years here, I really didn’t give much thought anymore to the time consuming things that must be done before eating the food.
We are always telling people who come to visit us on the mission field that they must be flexible! Always expect the unexpected! Things very rarely happen in the timely manner that you would commonly expect, and interruptions to your planned and organized day are the norm; perhaps suddenly you are without electricity for several hours, you have unexpected visitors, you have to go look for a cow that got out of the fence, someone needs a ride to the doctor, etc, etc.
That’s when I have to pull out my “To Do” list and start prioritizing. Usually, the first thing that gets moved to the bottom of the list is correspondence, meaning my email and keeping this site up.
In the last four months there have been SO MANY THINGS that I wanted to write about, but when I finally had time to sit down and DO it, I was so tired I couldn’t even think straight. However … today is the day! I am reclining on the couch and recuperating from the “creeping crud” that I’ve had for nearly a week. My body is weak, but my mind is ... well … it’s about as strong as it’s ever gonna be. (Take that for what it’s worth!) So, I will try to catch you up on a few things.
So, Hang on! Here we go! I’m gonna try to play “Catch Up”!
Our original plan last year had been to be back in Honduras by Christmas, but God gave us an unexpected surprise and blessing. We got to spend Christmas with both our children and all our grandchildren! (It had been seven years since our last Christmas together!) Although the change in schedule jammed some things together and left us huffing and puffing to get things done, it was such a sweet and blessed time that, I would do it again in a heartbeat! So, instead of arriving in Honduras the first week of December, as originally planned, we arrived a month later.
Me with all our grandchildren! Esther, Hannah, Brayden, Dakota Josiah, Abigail and MaKayla
We had just spent nearly six months traveling in the States visiting churches in Alaska and Florida. However, our arrival back home in January did not give us much respite from our hurried schedule because we were immediately in another whirlwind of activity. As a result of our schedule change, we had very little time to get ready for our coming visitors. (Check out my June 11, 2012, article Home Invasion! to see what we always face in our home after spending time in the States.) However, God was gracious, my neighbor was helpful and our guests were forgiving. So, six days after arriving in Honduras, we made the trip to back to the airport in San Pedro Sula to pick up Rachel and Caleb, as well as a pastor and his wife from Canada.
We had met Pastor White and his wife, Monica, a few years back through my very dear friend, Bev. We were privileged to be there when Bev joined their church, Grace Baptist, in Surrey, Canada. We felt an immediate connection with this dear man of God and his precious wife. They were to be with us for four days before going on to the capitol city to be with fellow missionary Jason Tate, and then they would go to El Salvador to visit one other missionary that their church supports. During their time here, I felt our friendship deepen, and who could ever have guessed that they could be such a tremendous blessing in such a short period.
Rachel and Caleb would be staying with us through the month. What fun we had with these young adults! And again, what a blessing they were.
While here, Rachel was a tremendous help to me on several projects. The main one was some mission bulletin boards for our main church. I had been wanting to do this for some time. With her help, that task was finally accomplished!
In their month here, they had such an impact on our young people that, here it is, four months later, and we are still seeing the effects of their visit! Just let me explain.
Both Rachel and Caleb are accomplished musicians and singers. Mike told them that he had a guitar here that Rachel could use, and asked them to be ready to play and sing during their time in Honduras. Before coming though, their sweet church also bought a key board as a gift to our ministry. But it just so happens that the piano is Caleb’s area of expertise, and he was able to make full use of their generous gift while he was here.
Therefore, that first service after their arrival, we had live music and Mike and I joined all our guests singing a special!There was a little twist though.Instead of Rachel playing guitar and Caleb playing keyboard, Pastor White played the keyboard!(Some people can do just about anything!)
Some of our teens admiring the new keyboard.
Our teens were duly impressed by their playing and the instruments, and they had to gather around after church was over.Everyone especially wanted to touch and see the keyboard.It’s not that they had not seen one before, they were just excited that there would be one around permanently!Different ones asked us to find out if Caleb and Rachel would be willing to give guitar and piano lessons while they were here. Both were more than willing to give of their time and talents to our excited young people, although I was a bit dubious as to how much they could really learn in just one month.
Victor and Salvador take guitar lessons from Rachel
Consequently, for several evenings a week during the month January, Mike and I were busy interpreting music classes, usually one of us in the dining room with Caleb and the keyboard students, while the other was busy in the living room with Rachel and the guitar students. The four of us were pleasantly surprised by their eagerness, their commitment and, with several, their natural God-given ability. For Rachel and Caleb’s last Sunday here, our young people did an instrumental special in church. I must tell you, they did surprisingly well, too.
Obdulio with Caleb at the keyboard.
It was a difficult time for all of us when Rachel and Caleb’s time with us was over. Several young people came by the house just to express their gratitude and sorrow at their leaving. They all said that they would miss them and never forget them. Rachel, especially, encouraged them to keep on working and use their talent for God. They promised her that they would.
True to their word, they have continued to practice and work, improving and building upon those things that Rachel and Caleb so patiently and lovingly started with them.This past Sunday, they did a beautiful job on a special!Although I was not there to hear them (for I was at home ill) Mike took the camera and made a video for me.It brought tears to my eyes!What a tribute to, not only the Lord, but to two young people who were willing to spend their money and a month of their lives to make a difference here in Honduras!
- Leonidas -
A real man of God!
On a very sad note, just a short time after the Hammans left, a precious friend and coworker of ours went home to be with the Lord.Leonidas and his wife, Silveria, have been the most faithful of all our families, and Leo has been one of the hardest workers and strongest witnesses we have ever had.Although poor and uneducated, for Leonidas and his sweet wife never learned to read nor write, he was one of the wisest men I have ever known - wise because he loved the Lord with all his heart and did his best to serve God with all that he had and all that he was. He was a bold and outspoken witness, and an encouragement to those struggling in the faith. Often, without embarrassment nor hesitation, and with tears running down his face, he stood up and gave testimony of God’s bountiful blessings and goodness to him and his family. All who have been here to visit remember Leonidas, for this poor, uneducated man had a testimony that touched hearts and made a difference in the lives of all with whom he came in contact.This simple man had a testimony that crossed all borders and language barriers.I cannot tell you how deeply his absence is felt nor how much he is missed.He had no fear of dying, just a fear of leaving his children without his loving, godly guidance.How I praise Jesus for the blessed hope that we have in Him.I ask that you, please, keep in your prayers his dear wife, Silveria, and their children Miguel, Hector, Raul, Cesar, Lillian and Carla.
Raul, Hector, Miguel, Leonidas, Silveria, Carla and Lillian
All the children have accepted Christ, Lillian and Carla doing so within the last month.They know their daddy is in Heaven today walking on streets of gold. Furthermore, they have no doubt that, because they, too, have accepted Christ as their Savior, they will see him again in glory!What a precious comfort it is to know Jesus Christ!
As you can see, since our return from the States, there have been many positive things, as well as several negative and discouraging things. After over 40 years in the ministry, we have certainly learned that, when God is at work, Satan and his cohorts, too, are working!
I will close this article with this one praise item: Since the last of January, we have had 27 souls that have accepted Jesus as their Savior and been born into His family!
This, my dear friend, is the sole reason we live and work in Honduras. What’s more,
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Romans 8:28 (KJV)
I have been struggling with a situation for some time now for which I have been searching God’s Word for answers and have prayed without ceasing for a solution. So far, instead of things getting better, it seems that the problem has become more complex and difficult with which to deal. At this moment, I see no solution and no end in sight. All outside research about this dilemma, leaves very little hope of things ever getting better. To be really honest, I feel very helpless and hopeless at times.
Just because someone is a pastor, pastor’s wife or missionary, does not mean that they do not flounder at times and have a hard time understanding why God would allow certain things to into their lives. I will honestly admit to you that it is sometimes very difficult to comprehend just what it is that God is trying to accomplish in our lives.
Of course, God never promised us a rose garden. In fact, He says in John 15:
“18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you…
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
However, you do realize that if you did live in a rose garden, even that would be a very “prickly” situation- because roses have thorns! Just as I have encouraged others to have faith, to trust the Lord and wait on Him to answer their prayers, I, too, must remind myself at times, that He loves me, He is the blessed Controller of all things, and He does has a plan. Not only does He have a plan, but His plan is always best.
I hope you are not shocked or disappointed that someone in my position (a missionary) would, at times, falter and stumble a bit. But missionaries, pastors and their wives (even those well known in Christendom), if they are honest, have all gone through times of weakness - because we are all frail human beings!
Even those who walked and talked with Jesus Himself struggled, and their faith faltered at times. Yet, the disciples heard His teachings and saw His miracles first hand!
Remember how desperate they felt out on the storm tossed sea? Remember how they doubted when they were told to feed more than 5,000 people? But I think the most difficult time for them must have been when they watched the soldiers take Jesus prisoner in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Can you imagine their astonishment and disbelief as Jesus was was given a mock trial and pronounced guilty? They must have been terrified and felt helpless as they watched from afar as the soldiers scourged, mocked and tortured their beloved Leader.I’m sure that they were heartsick and full of despair as they watched Him struggle tocarry the cross on His painful, bloody back through the streets of Jerusalem and up Golgotha’s hill.As they nailed our Savior to the cross, I believe they felt their hearts sink lower and lower with each resounding blow of the hammer.
Can you imagine the doubts and questions they had in their hearts?“Were we wrong?”“Have we been fools to have left everything in order follow Him?” “If He truly is Messiah, how can He accomplish anything if He is dead?”
I believe that they felt in their hearts that all He had said was true, yet… how could this happen? How could it end like this? It didn’t make sense! They were struggling!
When all the crowds and mockers were gone and all was quiet, not only was Jesus dead, but all of their hopes and dreams were dead, too. The breath had been knocked out of them when He took His last breath. Their “world”, cold and lifeless,had just been carried and laid in a dark tomb. I think that when the soldiers rolled the heavy stone in front of the tomb’s gaping hole, the disciples were wondering if they were sealing off, not only, the forthcoming decay of their slaughtered leader and teacher, but also that of all their dead and lifeless expectations.
If someone had come to them in that moment and told them “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose”, what do you think they would have done? Laughed, scoffed? I’m not sure, but I think they would have shouted that nothing good could come from what had just happened!
You know though, the beautiful thing about our Heavenly Father is that, whether or not we believe what He says, He is always true to His word! Three days later, He proved to them that all things do work together for good!
On that third day, that resurrection morning, Jesus walked away from that tomb and death! You see, all of the previous horrible things that had happened were necessary! They had to happen because that was the only way we could be forgiven for our sins! That was the only way He could make a way for us to go to Heaven! That was the only way He could prove His love for us!
There are a couple of short daily devotional websites to which I subscribe and receive their articles on a regular basis. In addition to my personal devotion time, I also enjoy gleaning from the teachings of other Biblical teachers. So many times, it’s as if the Lord has a special message just for me - that He is using their writings to speak to my own heart and special needs.
Just recently, I read a short devotional submitted by Lamar Duke. In it, he made some pertinent observations about Romans 8:28 that bears repeating. He pointed out that:
1. It is not conjecture, but certainty. "And we know..."
2. Not some things, but ALL things. "...all things..."
3. Not separately, but together. "...all things to work together..."
4. Not inclusive, but exclusive. "...to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."
If you read this verse in it’s context, you will see that the Lord is talking to Christians, Believers, those that are Saved.
I am so glad that we have Someone in Whom we can always depend! Someone who is always there for us, always loving us, and always looking out for our best! Even if we don’t understand what, why or how, we can trust Him! He is always true to His Word!
Just look at what He did for us on the cross!
Better yet, look at what He did for us after the cross!
HE AROSE!...
No, He didn’t promise us a rose garden. But, I ask you, who needs a rose garden when you have the Rose of Sharon?
Sometime back, I received an email from a young woman in Bible college that was doing some research for a thesis. I had never met her, and I really don't even know how she got my name or email address. Anyway, she wondered if I would mind answering some questions for her when the time came. I told her that I would be happy to do so. Only, when that time came, I was without access to internet and did not even read her email until several weeks after the fact.
But, be that as it may, through that contact, I began following her blog atPaper Dove Missions. Although young, (of course, at my age, everyone seems young!) she is an insightful writer and seems to have a real passion for the Lord, His service, and missions in particular.
In the beginning, she would occasionally mention a certain young man. Then I began reading about him more and more. It was quite obvious to me, as I am sure that it was to all of those who followed her blog, that young love was blossoming right before our very eyes! Finally, she announced that they had wedding plans!
Justin and Anna Toews
Well, today, I received notice of a new post on her blog. It was entitled I Married a Missionary!… . Once again, it was a short, but very well written article. In it, Anna spoke of the Holy Spirit being at their wedding and also about their plans of serving the Lord as missionaries. There was also a picture of a beautiful bride and a happy groom.
Now, at times, marriage can be difficult at best. But, if anyone in this world has a chance of making it, it is a young couple like this who has put Jesus Christ at the center of their relationship since the very beginning!
I just had to leave a comment on Anna's blog this time and thought I would share that comment with you. It contains a bit of my own testimony. Here it is:
We've never met, Anna, but I have followed your blog. I too, married a missionary… 41 years ago this June! We were in Bible college and our goal was to be missionaries in Mexico. But, God gave us a few detours on the way. We didn't always understand why, but we knew without a doubt that they were GOD'S detours and not our own, because, the WHOLE TIME, it was in OUR hearts to go to the mission field.
First, it was 6 years in Texas, our home state, with my husband working as assistant pastor and music minister, and the both of us in the capacity of youth directors, printing, cleaning and maintenance, and general flunkies. Then, when we felt the Lord was moving us, (a VERY difficult move because we LOVED the church in which we were working!) we thought we might finally be going to the mission field.
But, GOD had other plans, and He called us to Tacoma, WA, to lead a small struggling church of about 25 people who had been left with thousands of dollars of debt. Of course, by this time, we also had 2 small children, but we packed up everything we had and made the long trip from Dallas to Tacoma.
After a few years, with God's divine help, the church in Tacoma was no longer in debt and their old building had been remodeled. By the time we celebrated our 13th anniversary with the church, we had purchased more property for expansion, we had a thriving bus ministry and youth department and had started a Christian school, which also served as a training center for those churches starting new schools. We had also sent out two missionaries from our church (one to France and the other to Mexico), started a faith promise mission program and added about 20 more missionaries to our mission support program. Before we knew it, we were out of space and having two Sunday morning services and Sunday School classes in the church kitchen and in one of the church buses. We dearly loved our people and they loved us and, after years of struggling, God was blessing us greatly and we were seeing our prayers of many years being answered in that place.
After several years in Tacoma, I thought, "Well, THIS must be the mission field where God wanted us all along! And, even though the people here don't always understand my Texas accent, at least I didn't have to learn a new language!"
Finally, since we were debt free, we decided that the $60,000 in the building fund was enough with which to get started. So, we had blueprints drawn up for a new church building and began to make our plans for expansion.
But, before starting the new building, we were going to take two of our Christian school graduates to Honduras, Central America. They both wanted to work in bi-lingual Christian schools for a year. One of the graduates was our daughter, Kristy, and the other, Jason, was a young man who had surrendered to missions. My husband and I went to check things out first, and were there for only 10 days. But while there, God broke our hearts for the people of Honduras and made it clear that someone else could take our precious church through their next phase of development, and we were to leave it all and go to Honduras! Mike had been the pastor at Faith Baptist Church for 14 years!I believe resigning from our dear church was one of the hardest things we've EVER done!
NO, WAIT! I take that back! Learning a new language at 45 years old was THE hardest thing I've EVER done… BY FAR!!
Well, Anna, we have now been serving in the country Honduras since 1997, and you know what?
I CAN'T IMAGINE LIVING ANYWHERE ELSE! I LOVE IT HERE, I LOVE THESE PRECIOUS PEOPLE and I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!
Yep, it took us a while to get here, but…
I MARRIED A MISSIONARY, TOO! And I thank the Lord every day that I did!
Congratulations on your marriage, Anna! May our sweet Heavenly Father bless you both as you serve Him!
This is the missionary that I married nearly 41 years ago!
I have SO MUCH TO SAY AND SO LITTLE TIME!! I hope to be able to post something soon! Below is a copy of the prayer letter Mike has sent to our supporting churches.
January-February 2013
Dear Co-labourers with God and us,
Greetings from Honduras. We arrived the first week of January after spending 4 months visiting churches and getting my annual exam. Dr. said it was a good report and he wasn’t worried. I’ll hold him to it! We had many great and long overdue visits with supporting churches in Florida and also Alaska. We picked up a new supporting church in Munford, Tennessee, where Dr. Bledsoe pastors, for which we praise the Lord and another in Las Vegas, NV, where a young man, Pastor Andy Cote, who interned with us for 9 months in Honduras has started a Hispanic work. We are Bro. Andy’s first missionary so we feel very honored to represent their church. The works have been going well here and our ministry team members are growing and doing a great job. Hotir, who is 25 years old, has officially become my assistant pastor. It has been obvious for some time how he is growing in the Lord and everyone sees the hand of the Lord upon him. We also have 6 other faithful young adults that have taken positions in the churches as teachers, sound room tech, building supervisor, music director, treasurer, and church secretary. We have raised these young people from “pups” and it is a wonderful feeling to see them as adults taking responsibility in the church. One week after we got back we had visitors arriving. Pastor Callen’s church from St. Cloud, Fl. arrived to visit the In Christ Baptist Church in Narajito that they had helped build in 2011. They were pleased to see the further progress of the church and had a good service with the folks there. We were also blessed with a visit from Pastor White and his wife from Surrey, B.C., Canada. He preached in the mountains on Sunday morning and in our town church on Sunday night. The road was very rough but nothing like the “thrills” we had the next two Sundays. It was horrible and there were places we thought we wouldn’t get through, but praise God we did. We got home about 4:00 P.M. exhausted. Also, two young people, Caleb and Rachel Hamman from a pastor’s home in Wasilla, Ak stayed a month with us and were a huge blessing in many ways, especially in teaching music to our young people and before they left we had a keyboard and guitar specials. Our first! We’ll take visitors like this any time! On a sad note, one of my main men, a deacon, has just passed away from cancer. His name is Leonidas and was very instrumental in helping in the mountain work of Ojo de Agua and also in our main church in La Esperanza. A mighty oak has been removed, but please pray that in this vacancy many more will be encouraged to step up and begin to be used of God. Pray for his family, wife Silveria, four teenage sons and a small daughter and granddaughter who depended upon him. Leo couldn’t read or write, but he always encouraged and exhorted others through his spoken testimony and especially through his faithful life. Heaven and he have gained, but we will miss him. We thank you for your faithfulness and love you all. Pray for us. There is much ground to be taken for God this year.
