Hola,

So what did we do today? Well, we started out having an amazing breakfast that Sis. Bonita and Sis. Paula made for us. We then got in our work clothes, and headed to the soup kitchen. Our project was the tables. Our mission was to fix them and make them something special for the kids. We started out sanding. We sanded the tops, the sides, underneath, everywhere possible. This took some elbow grease but Janna had enough for us all so it went well. We then cleaned all the surfaces, getting rid of chewing gum from under the tables. I now understand why doing such was the forbidden sin as a child.

Prepping always seems to take longer than the fun part, which was painting. We painted the  underside and legs of the tables black. There was 10 tables so we painted two tables of each color, orange, blue, red, green, yellow. It is amazing how peoples personalities came out in their painting techniques. Aaron the perfectionist was all about the strokes being even and it being completely straight, he didn’t care how long it took just that it was perfect. Janna got all artistic flinging paint everywhere, she was fast very fast, and she would then go over it again, perfecting it. Bro. Brock was all about speed, he wanted it done and done fast. In the end the soup kitchen was already looking way more cheerful. Some of the neighborhood children stopped by and were already getting excited, talking about what color of table they wanted to sit at. We played a couple of  simple hand clapping games with them which was tons of fun, even though I was a little uncoordinated.

Today we got to see the practical side of the work done here. Often time’s people romanticize the ministry, they view it as only preaching and being in the spotlight. This is not the case, especially with the Sumners. They are some of the hardest working people I have ever met. It was awesome getting to help them with something that will benefit them, even after we leave. God has been so good to us.

Well, I got to go try to get this paint off my hands, so adios.

                Today was the last day for the Kids' Campaign; we did it for the morning service as well as the evening service.  The morning’s theme was "judgment." Bro. Chris, with the help of the kids, did a reenactment of Noah and the ark.  He pulled out kids for all the parts, the funniest part is when he picked out Noah’s sons and their wives. The girls did not want to stand by the guys so they would try to stand as far away as possible. He also had the children do a “Tropical Rainstorm” when the rain began to fall. The children really seemed to get involved in it. I also got to do an object lesson about Jesus taking away all our sin. Katrina and Janna taught the memory verse and then played a game. We ended with a skit about a young man and girl that went down two different paths in life. They both died and went to judgment.

                Tonight was probably the best kids' service we had. Our theme was the "will of God." Bro. Brock and Aaron got several games together and the congregation loved them, they had never seen the games before. We also did a skit about a young lady who replaced God’s will with everything else. I then gave another object lesson. We ended with a skit called “The Call of God.” It was about a young man that had been fooled into believing that he would find God’s will through a telephone; this was Aaron. He ended up missing many ministry opportunities because he wanted to stay near the phone hoping for the call. It never came. Bro. Pahlman then came and talked to him about the call of God. He gave the altar call and many kids came forward, even some adults came. They are so sincere in their prayers. You can tell that they are truly talking to God.

                After service the children will just gather around you and try to talk with you. This is normally when we call for a Sumner- lol. The girls will always give a hug and an air kiss on the cheek. They will often try to speak what phrases they do know in English. It is hilarious watching all the little boys flirting with Janna. Lol. Tonight the little boys would take turns calling us ugly or beautiful; it was hilarious.  You can tell that many of them just need someone to pay them a little attention. There were several new kids that made it sound like they would begin to come. So it was a very full day.

            Today was definitely a full day. We started the day off by going to the soup kitchen. There were 170 to 180 people there. We had song service and then did our skit about Joshua and the walls of Jericho. Bro. Chris was Joshua and the others were his army. Katrina, Lisa and I were the wall holders. This was a hard job but someone had to do it.  Everyone did great. I do have to say that Bro. Pahlman stole the show with the voice of God. Bro. Sumner then spoke about how you can’t do anything in your own strength. We helped serve food and drinks afterward. This was one of the best parts.

            From here we went to three Saturday schools. Several ladies in the church do mini children’s church in their homes, so we went to these and did our Jericho skit. It was exciting to see people begin to gather around outside of their houses to see what was going on.

            After this we had a kids’ campaign at the Sumner’s church. The night theme was about sin. We did several skits. The first was the “sin chair” and then we did a midget skit about a man that was sick of sin and came to the short doctors. We ended with a modern day prodigal son skit. When the altar call was given many children came forward. This one girl in particular I prayed with just cried and cried. I never want to discount what God can do in the hearts of children. I am learning that it is not all about seeing results at the moment but sowing the seed. They may forget our names or even what we look like, but they won’t forget the message or God speaking to their hearts. Whether I am the one sowing, watering, or harvesting; I never want to slack in my job for they are all essential.

Well today we started out by going to a police station for a service. These men and women hold the Sumners in such high regard. Bro. Chris LePelley preached with the anointing. Three men and three ladies came forward to be prayed for. One of the ladies just cried and cried as we prayed with her. You can tell they have lived hard lives, and desire help. From there we got to spend some time in the market, experiencing day to day life. Then we had another service geared toward the youth. Many of us had the opportunity to testify. Then Bro. Daniel preached about being an influence to those around you. Bro. Brock gave the final message about the call of God and preached about Elijah's mantle. He talked about how someone is going to have to pick up the mantle with the Sumners. I saw men young and old come to the altar broken before God, crying out with everything in them. Some ladies came forward as we'll.You could tell God was speaking to hearts in a way they would never forget. God came down to me and spoke some things to my heart about the ministry that lies ahead. We serve a personal God that is no respecter of persons. He only desires a people that will hear His voice and obey.

Today was a more of a travel day; we traveled back to the Danli for a youth service tonight. We made several little stops along the way though. I got to experience coconut milk for the first time. We drank it out of the coconut itself. It was very interesting. We also got to stop and explore a cave. It was different than normal it actually got warmer the farther into the cave you went. We also got to see more of Honduras in our 5 hour trip back.

We then ate and headed to the youth service. It was good to finally to be back together with the other group. They had several testify and then we sang a couple of our Spanish songs.  Bro. Aaron and Bro. Pahlman gave the messages tonight. Bro. Pahlman preached on being a winner or loser. The Lord came down and you could see the anointing on him. The altar service was refreshing. It was a completely different atmosphere from the military services we have been having. It was awesome to get to pray with the young ladies in the altars, I couldn’t understand them and they couldn’t understand me; but the God they were praying to could and that is all that mattered. I saw women weeping and crying out to the Lord in a very open way. They were speaking from their hearts. The children were also amazing to meet; they would just come up and hug you, no words needed. One of the greatest lessons I am learning is that words are not everything. You can’t just preach Christ, you have to live him. I may not be able to vocally preach Christ but my actions are. 

Adios.

Aloha,

  Today was my third day in Honduras,
and I am learning to love it. We started out going to a service for the Special  Service in the police of Honduras. The people here seemed to be a harder group;  they had a roughness about them that we haven’t seen before. One thing I noticed
though was this was not the case with those in higher ranking. You could see the  respect and honor they had for Bro. Sumner. Bro. Daniel gave the message this  morning. They also served us breakfast here, by the Chief Commander. This is  where I got to experience my first bag of water, which you drink by tearing a  whole in the corner. It was fun until they started talking about how many others  had enjoyed touching it as well.

From here we went to an Air force base, to preach to the cadets. Upon arrival I  saw what I thought was a windmill, and exclaimed how we ought to get a  picture  with it. It wasn’t long until Melissa so kindly pointed out that it  was actually  an engine and propeller. Oops. Lol.  I have yet to live that  down It is here  that I also got to sit where the president had sat many times before. The men  here were very receptive and they greeted all of us with smiles. During the services they really seemed to be open. Bro. Chris LePelley preached the final sermon.

    
  Our last stop today was probably my favorite service altogether; it was at the Brigade. This is the men that patrol the streets. There were 99 men there for the service. Bro. Sumner led songs, and then one of the soldiers came up and sang a couple of the songs in his dialect. I felt the Lord so strong during the song service, I felt the Lord speaking to my heart. Then Bro. Brock preached about the 5 foolish and the five wise virgins. He had me, Melissa, Lisa, Sis. Catherine act like we were the foolish virgins, wasting our time. He then went on to tell them how short life is and that one day they will give account to God for it. God was pulling for these men, there is no doubt. When giving the altar call for those that wanted to be saved to come down, all of the men came forward. They were praying with their hands in the air. After a time of prayer, the commander came forward and spoke to the men. This was amazing and inspiring he talked about their jobs, and how it was important but it is God that kept them safe. He also talked about how their bullet-proof vests may protect them outwardly but there was a different kind of armor for inside which was the Word of God. A young man then got up and testified of how he was helped tonight. It was here that the van wouldn’t start, so the men had to help push start it. All in all it was a great day. The longer I am here the more I realize what a great God I truly serve. 

Adios,(see I’m learning a little. lol)

Well, today I was officially introduced to Honduras! We left the house at 4:30am with Bro. Scott Sumner to visit five different military bases in the north. On the way we saw some of the prettiest scenery; the mountains are gorgeous. Our first service went well. This is where I got to testify for the first time with an interpreter; interesting to say the least. God helped me so much. Bro. Brock preached about the prophets of Baal and Elijah on Mt. Carmel. He then told them that God was willing to show that He was the true God. He then asked if there was anyone that doubted that God was real and two came forward and we prayed for them. On a lighter note at this base there were these three sheep. They would wander all around. I am not crazy about them myself, but they sure seemed to like me. They followed us around and then the soldiers would drag them away. It was hilarious.

 We then made our next stop to the artillery academy; we had about 15 soldiers here. Bro. Chris LePelley preached, about repentance with a burden. From here we got to eat lunch. Lisa and I then went to the restroom and in there this woman that kept trying to speak to me in Spanish and I would just stand there and smile. She kept talking and I kept smiling. Eventually she looked at me and said. “No Spanish?”  I shook my head no, and she gave me this look of disbelief. So once again, I just smiled.

 Then from there we went to Agricultural Cedace. I also got the chance to testify here. I felt the Lord in a mighty way. I talked about how even though you may not see God or even believe He is real, He is there. He knows your name and cares about you and wants to visit you.  Bro. Daniel gave a message about God’s love.

The fourth place we stopped was the one that stuck out to me the most. It was at the Naval Academy. Bro. Brock was once again preaching and he preached on deliverance from drugs, alcohol and lust. He spoke his heart and when he was giving the altar call you could feel the conviction. He made sure they realized the seriousness of their decision, before coming to the altar, and yet over 30 came down. I saw them praying with tears running down their face. I felt God so near. It was amazing that even though I could not understand their prayers or Bro. Scott’s exhortation at the end, I felt the presence of God. We hear it said so many times that God is the same everywhere but I have never experienced that fact for myself. It is difficult not being able to communicate with them directly or understand what is going on, yet to know that God does is incredible. I may not know their need but He does.

The final stop was to an Engineering Battalion. Here we sang our Spanish song with them singing along which was awesome. Bro. Chris preached again this time about being potential royalty or possessing your royalty in the family of God. Bro. Scott’s heart is seen at each stop as he takes time to talk with the soldiers and especially through his prayers at the end. He is a man of God that is being used in a mighty way.