Would You Go To Church?

By trina in Personal Reflections, Stories from Honduras 3 Comments

Here are some of the kids that don't miss a service. Can you pick out the white kid? :)

How many of us can say that when we were between the ages of 6 and 15, we would have  gone to church without our parents, just because we wanted to be there?

There is a group of kids who come every Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to our church services, without their parents. Many of them are siblings and they live in the apartment building next to our church. Some of the kids even have baby siblings that they take care of and bring along with them. Just this past Sunday, I saw a 9 year old girl sitting on the steps in our church, holding her baby sister who was sleeping. And where are the parents? They are in their apartment while their children attend church.

I am reminded of the verse in Luke (18:17), where it says, “Truly I tell you, anyone who  will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” When I think of this verse, I think of these children. They know how to receive the kingdom of God, and we can all learn a thing or two from these precious ones.

These children have taught me so much. They’re not forced to attend church. They could be doing tons of other things during those 4 days a week that we have church service. But they choose to be there. They want to go. They love to come and hear God’s word. So yes, I do believe that receiving the kingdom of God like a little child is the way to go.

A New Year

By trina in Personal Reflections 1 Comment

As it says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “…the old has gone, the new has come.” I look at this in terms of the new year. 2011 is in the past. And while it was a very difficult year, it is gone. But the new is here and we are excited to see what God has in store for us and for the ministry. I know it is 12 days past the start of the new year, but I wanted to share some of the goals that both Chad and I have on our hearts for 2012.

Speaking Spanish

Chad and Carlitos have become best buds and Chad loves practicing his Spanish with him.

We both have one major desire and that is to speak and understand this language fluently. It has been one of our biggest struggles since being here, and we continue to struggle with it daily. It’s true that we have both come a very long way in our communicating with others. But we are definitely not at the level that we so badly desire. We have developed some amazing friendships with people in our church. But what we truly desire is to deepen those relationships by speaking into their lives, and that’s hard to do when you don’t speak the same language! So one goal we both have is to improve our Spanish language skills.

ONE of Trina’s Goals

My small group girls from church, when we threw a baby shower for some ladies in the church.

Since moving here, my passion has been working with troubled teenage girls, mainly those from the Eagle’s Nest. But since we closed down the girls home, God has laid it on my heart to work with the girls in our church, ranging from ages 5-18. They may or may not have been physically or sexually abused, but they all nonetheless come from hard places. I have developed a special bond with these girls and I look forward to receiving their hugs at church. So one goal of mine is to further these relationships and speak into the lives of these young girls.

ONE of Chad’s Goals

Chad continues to pray, plan, and prepare for what has been on his heart the most: Our Boy’s Home. And God is continuing to open doors for this part of our ministry. Chad recently met with a Honduran business man, who God just placed right in front of us, who owns a beautiful piece of property outside of the city. He wants the property to be used for ministry and for farming, which is exactly what we were praying for. There is still a lot that needs to be planned and processed and decided, but we continue to pray and are hopeful that this goal will soon be accomplished.

More Thanks

Thank you for your continued support, thoughts, and prayers. This year wouldn’t be possible without the love and support that you continue to lavish on us. We thank God for you daily. Happy New Year!