It's hard to believe that another year has come and gone and the San Pedro Sula church is celebrating it's 17th year of ministry. This was the first church established in Honduras by H.I.M. The services were well attended and the Holy Spirit moved mightily on many hearts.

President Sidney Grant was the guest speaker. God used him as he gave timely and relevant messages on the church and holiness.

 Enjoying some good Honduran food and fellowship!!

On Saturday we went to the new preaching point that the San Pedro church has started. It is in a small rural community called La Esperanza. They are holding services under the metal roof on Tuesdays and Fridays. Many of the people from this community also attended the revival services.

One of the men in the community showing us his Tilapia fish pond.

Two van loads of our people from Tegucigalpa came to the revival for Saturday night and Sunday morning. For some of them it was their first time in San Pedro Sula. They were very excited!!

There was brokenness and seeking after God in the services. It was encouraging to see the altar lined with people wanting to draw closer to God.

 Nahum is from our Tiloarque church. Two years ago while driving his motorcycle he was hit by a dump truck that was being driven by a teenage drunk driver. Nahum was so mutilated in the crash he was unrecognizable. His chances of survival were slim. Doctors removed part of his brain and said that at best he would be a vegetable. But God the Great Physician began to work and Nahum began to recover. He can walk and talk again and is able to for the most part take care of himself. He gave his testimony at the revival and it was a huge blessing!!

Sunday morning everyone went to one of the parishioner's houses for a lunch of rice, chicken and potato salad.

Serving with joy and gladness!

Nothing like chilling with a friend in a hammock!

We thank the Lord for His help during the weekend of services. Thanks to everyone who prayed. The revival served to encourage the church and strengthen the believers. Thank God for His answer to prayer!

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It was a joy to have John Dykes and his grandson Caleb with us for a few days. Bro. Dykes is director of Spanish ministries at Hope International Missions.

Last Friday we took a trip to Nicaragua where we met up with Bro. Dykes. We wanted to see how pastor Julio was doing and also see the new farm project. The mission is endeavoring to get our pastors and churches financially independent, and to do that they are starting projects that will help the pastor become self-supporting. The mission just recently bought about 40 acres of land in Nicaragua. This picture shows some of the crops that they already have planted. They have plans of battle cattle, building an irrigation system and planting more crops and vegetables. With five cows a pastor can support his family. If you would be interested in finding out more information about this project and how you can help contact John Dykes (772) 546-1113.

The farm runs along the edge of the Coco River.

These are the two horses that they have on the farm.

We had to make a rather rugged trek into the mountains to see the farm. They felt sorry for Bro. Dykes so they brought him a horse to ride back out on.

Joseph was dragging his feet on the way back so they gave him a ride too.

It sure is exciting to see what God is doing in Nicaragua. Pastor Julio has also started a new preaching point in the town of Ocotal and God is blessing. The future is bright for the work of God!

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We are excited to announce that we have had our very first lady's retreat!! This has been a desire of Hannah's for quite sometime. She struggled to find the right place for the right price. We called several different retreat centers but they required large groups and had big price tags. We made it a matter of prayer and God came through once again. One of our church ladies is a cook for a wealthy family. She was talking to them about our desire to find a retreat center and they were so kind to offer us their farm. It was the perfect place and better yet, it was free!!!

The farm had a nice big yard, swings, and a guest house that had several bedrooms and bathrooms.

Teams of ladies took turns cooking the meals.

All four churches were represented. Many of the ladies did not know some of the women who came from San Pedro Sula. Hannah did a great job programming activities and ice-breakers. In this particular game the ladies held up a blanket and put a person on either side. They would then drop the blanket and the two ladies would have to say the other person's name first. It was a lot of fun.

The women enjoyed eating breakfast out on the veranda.

They had some very special services. Hannah along with several of the leaders of each church shared testimonies, and messages. God really blessed.

Yolanda shared her testimony how God has changed her life and did miracles. It was very touching.

Mirta shared the story about her son Nahum who was almost killed in a motorcycle accident. He was in a coma for months and the doctors had to remove part of his brain. They said that if he lived he would be a vegetable. God miraculously touched him and he began to recover. Today he is serving in the church, walking and talking on his own. God still heals and can do the impossible!!

 God's presence was real in the services!!

The ladies worshiped the Lord with all of their hearts!

Some delicious grilled meat!!

 Water relay game!

 Bible pictionary! 

 Playing group games.

Drop the clothespin in the jar game.

Making tortillas.

The retreat was a wonderful time for the ladies to get to know each other and to draw closer to God. They hope to make this an annual event. We want to say a big thank you to the Hispanic ladies society in the states who gave money to help us cover the cost for this event as well as the Hobe Sound, Spanish church that also sent an offering to help make this possible. May God bless you for your kindness and your willingness to invest in souls!!

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Anthropology and missiology often go hand-in-hand. It is important to understand the host culture. Getting a grasp on what makes a people who they are does wonders on personal relationships. We were granted the privilege to see first-hand an age old tradition; the making of tamales. A tradition that dates back to pre-historic times even before the Mayan civilization. Our church ladies decided to sell tamales as a fundraiser, they made over 200 and sold them all in a matter of minutes!! I found the whole process very intriguing and wanted to share with our readers some insights into how this food is prepared.

Key to the whole thing is a corn meal based dough (made from dent corn not sweet corn). A local miller ground the corn for us. Certain spices are ground into the corn meal.

Vegetable oil is prepared to be cooked into the corn meal.

The corn meal is then mixed together with the vegetable oil and heated over an open fire. The smoke and heat in this little kitchen hut was an experience all its own. You have to continually stir so none of the corn meal sticks to the bottom and burns. We all took turns stirring the pot.

While the corn meal is heating, other people are washing hundreds of plantain leaves (similar to banana leaves). With wet rags they wipe off a milky substance on both sides of the leaf. Corn and plantain were vital to the Mayas and are still a staple food used by Hondurans today.

All the cleaned leaves ready to be used.

After the corn meal is heated and mixed with the oil, then it is removed off of the fire and another pot is heated. This pot contains the meat the filling that will go inside the tamales. There is a wide range of fillings used depending on the country. In our case they used potatoes, a spice called achiote (annatto), and chicken or pork.

The achiote spice comes from these seeds. The taste is described as "slightly peppery with a hint of nutmeg".

The meat and filling is left to cook on the fire.

After the corn meal is heated, the meat is cooked and the leaves are all washed then it is time to "pack" the tamales. Three or four plantain leaves are laid out on the table and then a good size spoon full of corn meal is placed in the corner.

Then the filling is placed in the center.

Then it is carefully wrapped in the leaves.

The little tamales are then tied up like a Christmas gift using strands of bark from the plantain tree. The strands are first soaked in water to make them more pliable and then cut to length. They are careful to not tie the tamale too tight neither too loose so they don't burst open or spill out while they are being steamed.

Once all the tamales are wrapped and ready, then another large pot is prepared to steam them. They line the bottom of the bottom with some small sticks and more plantain leaves.

Then the pot is filled with the tamales and water is poured over them.

The pot is then covered with plastic and left to steam for about two or so hours.

The kitchen felt like a sauna!

The outside of the little kitchen.

The finished product! Ready to be sold and eaten! Mmmm so good and a great money maker! Another activity is planned for later this month. Hot tamales, hot tamales, get'em while their hot!

 

 

 

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It's time to play catch up. Back in May we saw several new people start attending our services. Wendy and her two children Jennifer and Daniel have started to come to church. The kids are close to Joseph's age and have become good friends. Wendy is a single mom trying to raise her family and serve God. We are thankful that we can be part of the their lives and help them to prepare for eternity.

For Mother's Day we bought a set of glasses for each of the Mother's. The lady on the left in the pink shirt is also new at the church. Her name is Andrea. Just a few weeks ago she came to our house and wanted to talk. She said she felt miserable because she had hatred in her heart towards her daughter's boyfriend. We counseled with her and before leaving she knelt down at our couch and got saved!! God is really helping her to overcome and to grow in grace.

Hannah is teaching both the Sunday school class at Tiloarque and at Las Uvas. She helped the children make a special craft for their mother's. These are some of the children from Tiloarque.

We are pleased to see that our numbers in Las Uvas have been increasing. Presently there are about four new converts who are receiving discipleship for baptism. The work here has been slow but we are beginning to see some growth.

The children from Las Uvas with their Mother's Day craft. Pray for the boy in the front in the middle, his name is Pablo. He has been suffering with seizures, pray that God would heal him.



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