Newsletter – April 2011

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Message From the Missionaries

John 7:38 “Whoever believes in me, as the Scriptures has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”

The common question I always receive is, “How do I grow in my faith?” I have found by working with youth, men and women inside prison, and those I pass in Honduras or back home have asked me this question. How do I grow? I usually ask them what they are focused on. They give me the usual: family, problems, friends, schooling, work, and those that feel they aren’t serving God enough. What I have been teaching here in Honduras is that they shouldn’t be focusing primarily on their problems, but more on Christ himself. Our Lord Jesus knows each of our circumstances, how they stress us out, but if we focus on Him instead of these circumstances we can rise above them and begin to be used. Streams of living water will be flowing from us and we will be much more useful in serving God when our thoughts and attitude of thanks¬giving is toward Him instead towards those who sympathize with us. This last month, I have found that with the problems the youth are facing today, they are looking more for the person to sympathize than someone who wants to show them that they need to focus more on the One who can help them if they only change their focus. We have seen this change in Carolina, in our youth, and in some in the prisons. They are looking to God through His word, prayer, and the support they receive from fellow Christians. Even the prayers we hear within our youth have changed from its all about me to prayers for others. God knows all that we need and He wants us to pray for those who don’t know this – that God is there for all of us. So, is your focus on your circumstances or the One who can walk you through them?

Prison Ministry

Glenda and I reconnected last year with our community of Brothers in the LaPaz prison and found that there was a group of ex-gang members in hiding who needed their tattoos removed. (LaPaz prison is 1½ hours outside of Tegucigalpa.) So the last Friday of April, we went to LaPaz and started removing tattoos at 9:00am. The first ones came and saw a differ¬ence in the color of their tattoos. They left and more came. We handed out Christian pamphlets, vitamins, prayed with the men, and counseled any who wanted help. After four hours we removed tattoos from 15 men and even helped a 60 year old man who didn’t have reading glasses to read his Bible. For some reason that morning before we left for LaPaz the Lord spoke to our hearts to put the bag of reading glasses in the tattoo removal box. The Lord told us that there are some who need these glasses so they can read His word. It was confirmation when this old man was telling us his story that he is a believer and didn’t have glasses. We were moved and I pulled out the bag and said, “Brother, God has listened to your prayers.” He thought we were kidding and said, “I don’t have any money to pay you.” We said, “Know it is from the Lord.” He was so overjoyed that he forgot his creams and pamphlets because he had glasses to read. This prison is so poor that the men only receive the minimum amount of food per day (1 cup of beans and rice, 2 tortillas and 1 liter of water). The men came skinny, tired, and dirty. We recognized that the men we in need of these vitamins that have been given by all of you back home. Unfortunately we ran out by the 12th person who wanted his tattoos removed. He said to us don’t worry just you helping me with removing my tattoos for free is a huge blessing. He asked us to pray for him because Satan was on his back and activating anxiety, fear, and worry that many are out to kill him. He asked for us to rebuke this prob¬lem and we did in the name of Jesus!

Update: Last month we spoke about Israel and his regret about tattooing more tattoos on his chest. We wanted to tell you that he came to the Lord and is now a Christian. He wants all of his tattoos removed. God is in control!

Missions

With our experience with the Venezuela school and our knowledge about Honduran Culture, we decided to arrange a meeting with the parents and school board members to talk about finishing the three classrooms and also about the future with our ministry and their school. We never thought we would see this kind of turnout – a full classroom and about 20 people standing outside wondering what was going to be said. Glenda was with the sewing class in Rincon so I had to take this meeting on my own. I drew a picture of the proposed cafeteria and its dimensions. When I started there wasn’t a sound. I explained the idea about turning the school into a junior high school during the afternoons and then proceeded to explain about the cafeteria, what we would provide (cooking utensils, refrigerator, stove, etc.). Also, I proposed that since this school has well over 400 children in the morning, that if we raised the monthly tuition by $0.50 more they could afford to hire four women and pay them $60 per month to be coordinators and cooks for the lunch program. Also, I suggested that each child would pay $0.01 per week for five hot meals. The meeting took 35 minutes. A record for a Honduran meeting. The parents asked many questions and stated, “We are here to serve in any way we can, to help start the paper work for the junior high school, and to make a better future for our children. Count on us, Michael.” These parents are serious about making a better place for their children. Lord willing, we’ll be serving 400 meals.

Community Work in El Barrio Rincon

One Tuesday night, Glenda was teaching her girls that they need to find a friend that they can confide in. Glenda shared that they needed to start talking about their stories and share their circumstances with this friend so that friend can start praying for them and walk with them through their problems. Glenda was teaching them that if they share these problems, they will not feel they are alone and abandoned, and that God is listening to them. While the Bible study was going on I was with some of the boys who usually come and visit. When the class was over, the girls came out and sat down near me and started to talk. Estefani kept moving closer and closer. I had no idea what the Bible study was about nor why Estefani was moving closer. She started to open up about her abuse, her fears, her feelings that she didn’t feel love from her mom, her family, and that she was all alone. She then showed me her arms and said, “during Holy week I tried twice to commit suicide” as she showed me the knife cuts in her wrists. My mind was captivated and worried because this is very serious. The cuts were fresh and her pain was evident. God spoke to me while she was talking and said, “Michael you don’t need to say anything until she is done and then talk to her about the Love my Son has for her.” I did exactly what He said. I looked into those tearful and pain filled eyes and asked her, “Do you want to be filled with love?” She said yes. As I called all those to come and pray with Estefani to receive Jesus Christ as her Savior, I looked at the group and asked, “Is there anybody else who wants Love?” Christian moved forward from the circle and said, “I do, Michael.” The two are born again. The parents of these two are super happy for their children and are thankful for the change. As for Estefani, she is living with a whole new attitude and outlook on life. Ask her why and she’ll tell you, “I have love.”

School Sponsorship Program

With our new program with the technology school we wanted to take time to visit the boys and meet their teacher. We had a great time as the teacher gave us a tour of the carpentry shop and showed us the projects the boys have been working on and also the ones they will be making in the future. The smell of wood and seeing the tools brought back memories when I used to work with wood. The boys were super happy that we came and they showed off their work as seen in the bottom right photo. They each have a work bench and are assigned a drawer that keeps all their hand tools inside (planes, saws, tape measures, etc.). The teacher spoke well about them and said they are doing very good. There teacher also explained to us that they have been receiving English classes every Saturday and Sunday for four hours. We told the teacher we have been tutoring them and he laughed and said their accents get in the way from pronouncing the words correctly. We are proud of them!

On a side note for all our sponsored children: We have mailed out the majority of packets to all of you who have sponsored children. There is one still on its way to the States and Cheryl Cleveland will get them out to as soon as she receives them. Also, the children have been in first quarter tests. We have been notified that report cards will be out in June. As soon as we receive the report cards, we will scan and send them to you with an explanation of how they are doing by e-mail. For those who don’t have e-mail we will be sending a report by mail. Thank you for your patience and blessing our ministry to be able to bless these children with an opportunity to learn.

BBM Happenings

We as a board can report that our 2010 taxes are done and filed with the government. Thank you Bruce Williams! Also, Bruce, Mark Erway, and Dale Cleveland have been working on our ECFA accountability seal. This is a hard job, but our volunteers know that this will reap major rewards for the ministry.

Our four teams have been meeting and preparing for their time here in Honduras. Team #10, our first for this year, will be arriving May 26th and staying until June 5th. Please keep them in your prayers as they continue to pack and prepare their hearts and minds for the mission field.

On our BBM website, we have a Pay-Pal donation button set up. We now can receive credit card donations through our website. Some of our sponsors do use this service and it has made it much easier for them to donate. The donations are then transferred into our account and Cheryl is notified with the necessary information so you’ll be credited on your quarterly statement. Our board is making preparations spiritually for what God has in store for BBM.

Our board also recognizes that it is by all your prayers and love for Jesus Christ that you make the sacrifice for helping all those in Honduras. They and we are thankful for all our sponsors!

Prayer

Lord, there are so many asking why am I in pain, or why am I lost. Why can’t I hear you, Lord. Why don’t you listen any more. Are you there? Do you really care? So many are confused, Lord, and as I pray this prayer I’m reminded when you convicted me while asking you why all this pain from what I see, and you responded to me by saying, “Look through my eyes and see the pain in the world.” Lord, you have motivated me not to look to the circumstances in my life nor in the lives of others, but to listen and wait upon you oh Lord. We are humbled by the pouring out of your Holy Spirit in healing those who need to know Love. We are thankful for our new brother and sister in the faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen.