S.E.N.T. - Charity Hayden

Day 14

3/10/2016

Before preparing for departure tomorrow we had a day of fun, fellowship, and rest with the Sumner families today! We started out with a delicious breakfast and Honduran coffee, which I have drunk so much of while here and not regretted once.

Before we headed to the lake on the mountain, Bro. Scott Sumner started their little airplane and took whoever wanted up for a flight. It can seat 4 people in it at one time. The first time I went up, I went with Bro. Moody, Bro. Scott Sumner and Elizabeth Sumner. That was a first experience for me in an airplane that small and I loved it! I went once more and rode in the front with Bro. Scott and watched him do everything a pilot does and also saw different landmarks and places he pointed out from above. It was definitely a highlight of the trip! Afterwards it makes you want to forget about saving money to buy a car and just save up and get your own airplane and pilot's license, haha! I loved it so much! :-)

Our day at the lake was relaxing and we made so many memories with the Sumners. It was a beautiful location with the lake, mountains and horses all around. We played corn hole, croquet, and volleyball and had a picnic lunch and just enjoyed the day.
Tonight we are preparing for tomorrow to leave. It's hard to believe 2 weeks is over and we say goodbye tomorrow. It's been an amazing time in Honduras!

Day 13

3/9/2016

Another busy and beautiful day in Honduras! We left early this morning before the sun came up to have 5 services at Academies and Bases. Jeff preached 2 of the services, Jacob preached the last 2 services. Sadly, one service canceled but we were still able to go onto the base and look at the airplanes and helicopters. We had wonderful services, God helped us and was the One who worked!

Kayln and I were given amazing opportunities of also speaking/teaching at 2 of the places. They separated the women from the men at the last 2 services so the male SENT members held service with the men at the bases and the female SENT members held service with the woman at the bases. I spoke at the first place we did that on Overcoming Obstacles of Fear. God really helped me and it was a wonderful experience I'm very thankful and humbled to have been given. Kayln spoke at the last place on Coming Forth as Gold. We saw ladies helped and encouraged both places. To God be the glory!

The Sumners have done excellent on translating and helping us at each place. Definitely thankful for each of them!

Day 12

3/8/2016

Sunday morning started children's crusade that went through Tuesday night. Our theme was the jungle and we enjoyed decorating the sanctuary with safari theme decor and clings. The first service was centered around salvation. Second service was on the Holy Ghost. Third service was on the call of God. And the fourth service was on staying committed and faithful to the call of God.

We had a skit that continued every service on a man named Ricardo who was lost in a jungle and had to find eternal life then the gift of the Holy Ghost that helped him then was called of God to teach the young people about God too and how he had to make decisions along the way to be faithful to God's call upon his life. The SENT members were the characters with Bro Moody playing the main part of Ricardo.

Every night we had songs, offering, memory verses, games and activities, object lessons, the skit, Bible story and an altar call. Kayln Perry did the Bible story on the Lost Coin first night. I did the Bible story on Jesus in the Wilderness second night. Sis Lisa did the Bible story about Amy Carmichael and her mission work on the third night. And I did the Bible story on Joseph staying committed to God on the fourth night. The guys took turns with the altar calls and sharing every night. Ruth Violette and Ruth Sumner did games. Ruth Violette was a mad scientist who tried distracting the other characters and helped with the memory verses. We saw God really move and encourage among the young people and adults. Some of the younger children really got into the altar calls as well, crying their hearts out and praying for long times. The last night, a man who was a backslid youth pastor came back to the Lord and he and his family were together in the altar. It was beautiful to see and so worth it!

Riding home in the back of the truck I was so close to tears dropping children off at their homes. I was not the only SENT member who felt a little emotional after service telling the children and church people goodbye. They are so precious and fell in love with us. My heart melted with them and how some of them genuinely sought after God. Some of them cried saying goodbye which only made it harder saying goodbye for us. I pray that what God did in this children's crusade will stay alive in the children and young people's lives. It has been beautiful being apart of it and seeing God move in so many ways! My heart is full of thanks tonight! I will genuinely miss some of these children and church people.

Tuesday afternoon before service Bro Alan Sumner took some of us to the dump on the mountain. I don't think any previous warning really prepared me for exactly everything I saw. Some things were expected and i already had mental images of some things that we saw. But other things were shocking. There were little shack houses that were in the dump where families lived. In some sections of the dump there were dogs, donkeys, cows, and vultures all eating beside each other from the trash piles. We also saw elderly women and small children leaving with bags of plastic or other things dugout from the dump. There were swarms of flies that literally looked like black spots on the ground when landed and small black clouds in the air. There were leftover cow carcass and horns also. It smelled like death and looked like a horrible tragedy like what you could imagine after hurricanes or tsunamis. It is known that a lot of children who run the streets here eat or make a living from the dump. And people go and rummage through the dump to collect plastics and metals to sell. The Sumners started their Saturday soup kitchens to give the children a place to go and also tell them about Jesus while getting them off the streets. That is one reason the Saturday school and soup kitchen mean so much!

Day 9

3/5/2016

It has been a wonderful day! Its Saturday which meant we had Saturday schools and soup kitchen. We started out at a public school where the SENT team was given the opportunity to do the Bible skit for the children. The children were sweet and the teachers and military leaders were so happy to have us and the captain at the end invited us openly to come back for the next 3 or 4 months every Saturday to be with the children. We opened with prayer and then songs where everyone got involved, especially on Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah Gloria a Dios (praise ye the Lord) with guys against girls! The Bible skit was narrated by Ruth Violette, translated by Bro Scott Sumner, on the story of Moses as the rest of the SENT team acted it out. Salvation was explained at the end of the skit and we closed once again in prayer. We had another skit followed by the soup kitchen where we served hot dogs to those who came. After that we had 2 more locations we went for Saturday school skit and songs.

I cannot get over how welcoming the public school was this morning for us to come. The captain even said himself that one reason he extended open invites for us to come back was because the children needed more knowledge of Jesus. Honduras is in its golden age for Gospel influence and penetration. The Summers have been so blessed to have so many open doors around them. But every time Bro Alan and Bro Scott Sumner are asked about it all glory and recognition goes to God. It's amazing! I wish there were so many open doors for public school Bible lessons and skits in the states. It really is such an opportunity that I am so thankful and humbled to be a small part of. These children are so precious, I pray they will grasp the Gospel at these young ages so Honduras will have the next generation as spiritual leaders.

Day 8

3/4/2016

We had the opportunity of going to the police academy this morning that Bro. Sumner Sr. went to first, 25 years ago. Jacob and I testified before Bro. Pahlman preached. After service, Bro. Alan Sumner took us to have breakfast. Then we helped Grandma Sumner shop for the soup kitchen and house. After grocery shopping, we visited the Friday market to say we've experienced the Honduran market. We stopped for corn that had been roasted over a grill and fire on the street corner. The toppings were salt and lime and you ate it off of the cob. After that snack we tried liche, a sea creature looking fruit that was red on the outside and once popped open had a round white fruit. Most similar to a grape but still distinctly different. It tasted amazing! I wish I could pack a tree up and bring it back to the states with me! We also drank the juice straight out of the coconut! After our adventure through the market we ate at a chicken place where they served it by a whole chicken, half chicken or portion of a chicken. It was great, down here they say its the best in the world.

This evening, we spent with the Sumner families. We celebrated Jacob Vaughn's birthday with a tres leche cake one of the church ladies made. Before calling it a night, the Sumner's set off fireworks and we did fire crackers and poppers. It was my first time seeing Roman candles shot off. Tomorrow is Saturday school again and I'm looking forward to skits and serving the children; another major highlight for me in Honduras is spending time with the children!

Day 7

3/3/2016

Today we returned to the Sumner's house after busy week. It was a wonderful experience and I'm so thankful I had the opportunity to be a part of the South team. We took the morning easy and took our time getting back. Before returning Bro. Alan Sumner dropped us off at the mall and went to pick Bro. Pahlman up from the airport. It's good to have Bro. Pahlman with us and we look forward to the remainder of the time with him.

After returning home we had dinner of African curry and rice. Coming from someone who does not like any kind of curry, I had 2 helpings and loved it! Sis. Sumner did outstanding!

Even though north team isn't back yet, the rest of us went to midweek service tonight and we had a wonderful time. I am so thankful for the sweet presence of God that has been felt in almost every service here. Kayln, myself and Jeff testified, the SENT team sang a song and Bro. Pahlman preached. Once again people were hungry for more of God in the altars and were encouraged. Several young girls really tarried in the altars tonight. I want to see them answer to the call of God for their lives. They are great girls and my heart is burdened to see a greater change in their lives before we leave.

Day 6

3/2/2016

Buenos noche from Honduras! If I had to choose a favorite day of busy week today would be the day. We started out with the Cobras and Tigers police academy. They did formation and roll call before the service started. Jacob Vaughn preached and we sang and testified. I was standing to the side for the majority of the service so I could take pictures and during the end of the message I saw two of these grown police men used to fighting and being strong with tears flowing down their faces. It almost made me cry seeing how the Lord was working amongst them. They were so willing to raise their hands and praise God. And those two I saw weren't ashamed for tears to flow. With hearts tender like that I believe God can really work for them and make them strong. I felt completely at home with them and would have been content to stay longer. After the service they invited us to stay and eat breakfast. We had a traditional Honduras breakfast consisting of eggs, beans, avocado, cheese and tortillas. The ladies serving us said they were never able to come to the services because they cooked but wanted us to pray for them. The one lady said she needed healing and wanted us to pray for that specifically. Thank the Lord for the opportunity to pray. Believing God to heal her today!

We had to stop for the vans brakes to be fixed today. While we waited, Kayln and I went to the mall to find lunch. It was just her and I. We were set on practicing our Spanish and eating. We totally made the mall greeter/guards day though. We walked past him several times and each time he would say, "hello", "nice to meet you", "how are you?", or "friends" in English with the biggest smile on his face. After Kayln and I ate and were leaving for the last time, he smiled again and said "bye bye!" That was all the English he knew. I asked to get a picture with him and he got so excited. He picked out a pretty spot, told the younger guard to take the picture and then arranged us on either side of him. Kayln and I couldn't stop laughing and he couldn't stop smiling. We had a blast practicing our Spanish and him practicing his English!

The last service today was my other favorite. It was the academy where they love the song Father Abraham and will do all the actions with it. We had the service outside with the main pavilion and we were mostly packed. From the very beginning we had freedom and the presence of the Lord was there. The group sang two songs and Jacob and I testified before Jeff preached and shared his testimony. At the end of the preaching 16 men and 3 women came forward and gave their heart to the Lord. It was a beautiful sight with their hands raised or outstretched, some with tears standing there asking Jesus into their hearts. They were extremely happy we came and once again I hated to see it end so soon. I don't think I will forget today's services. It was so rewarding to be a part of it today and such an honor to be here. Thank God for working and answering prayers of the group to see men and women give their hearts to the Lord this week!

Day 5

3/1/2016

Alarm off at 2 a.m., loaded in the van and ready to roll at 3 a.m. for our first 4 hour drive on South team to hold services for police academies and the Military branches/bases for what the Summers call busy week. Those 2 cups of coffee weren't enough today but the excitement for the services is building. South team has Bro. Alan Sumner, Jacob Vaughn, Jacob Hurst, Jeffrey Schneider, Kayln Perry, Ruth Sumner, Sarah Sumner, Rhoda Sumner and myself. The remaining, Bro Anthony Moody, Bro Scott Sumner, Ruth Violette, Lisa Peretic and Elizabeth Sumner went North to do the same thing as our team. After riding awhile, you could see what I assumed was city lights and I was kind of excited about seeing a Honduras city with sky scrapers and skyline view of lights. But it turned out to be lots of street lamps all together, with outside building and house lights of several towns on the hillsides. It was still beautiful.

Our first service was canceled after we got there. But the following 3 services were good. The first place was the 101 Brigade. It was a difficult crowd to start out on, especially for Jeff who preached it. The men were very unmoving and didn't give much of any response. But the Lord still helped the group and afterwards Bro. Sumner told us that group of men are always hard and never show expression even when he is there. But I know they heard the Gospel and I pray it will stay with them today and they will think about it later. The second service went very good. It was starting to get very hot by the second service outside. Temperatures started going up again, definitely a change from PA when we left!

Third service was on Tiger Island at the Navy base. We had to take a little boat over to get to the island. It was so beautiful out on the water going across. If there hadn't been a canopy over the boat I'm sure I would have arrived with a nice sun burn. (: Tiger island navy base was very welcoming and everyone enjoyed being together. Jacob Vaughn preached on weights in life and needing Jesus to make it through this life. He did very good. The Lord really helped and moved. One of the soldiers really stood out to me, he was not from Honduras originally but through the service and prayer his hands would go up and you could see his lips moving in prayer. He sat near the front and paid attention to everything that went on in the service. I know others were encouraged but it was obvious he really needed something today and left with his countenance changed.

After leaving the base, we took these little 3 wheeled taxis around the island before returning to the dock. We stopped at different points to view the ocean, the beach, and the village. The children were sweet and would wave at us as we passed. Driving around it came to mind how poor the majority of the people lived. Some seemed so happy, but others had hollow looks in their eyes with no joy on their countenance. My heart went out to those and I wish I could tell them about Jesus who could deliver and bring joy.

One place we stopped to overlook the ocean was up on some bluffs. I looked over the water as far as I could with the sunset in the background and almost cried thinking of the world with so many who don't even know who Jesus is. They could easily be across that ocean looking under the same sun wondering what else there is to life. Or they could so easily be beside us and next door to us. I want to be a hand extended to reach someone! A hand to give someone else something to live for.

Before calling it a night we ate at a restaurant on the beach. Dinner consisted of a whole fried fish, head and eyes included, banana chips, and a little salad. Believe it or not it was amazing and to me that was the best fish I have ever had! I just couldn't even think of trying the head and eyes. Tiger Island is definitely a favorite location here, I loved it!

Day 4

2/29/2016

Today we slept in some and had a delicious breakfast at Grandma Sumner's house. The Sumner families are so hospitable and happy to host you. I, instantly, felt apart of them and at home. You don't see a lot of families 3 or so generations still working together, living together and in the ministry together. Most families today, ministry or not, can't even stay together and be happy for one generation. They have been beautiful examples to me of a family in the ministry.

We went to a place called Valley of the Angels today for souvenirs and a relaxing afternoon before we get really busy tomorrow. It was a pleasant little tourist town. Several of the people knew conversational English and they enjoyed practicing with us. One guy knew English very well but I had to wonder if he learned it for the bonus of talking to American girls only (haha) because that is about all he talked to or tried talking to.

We also enjoyed ice cream after our meal of pupusas (sausage and cheese stuffed tortillas with cabbage and onions you could put on it.) Sarias ice cream is the best ice cream I have eaten in a long time! You must try the strawberry cheesecake scoop if you ever get the chance.

This evening was relax time and family time before busy week starts tomorrow early morning. Its been a wonderful day filled with memories.

Day 3

2/28/2016

Our first Sunday in Honduras. I had the privilege and experience of helping teach Sunday school this morning with Sis Lisa. We had a blast with the kids and once again my heart melted with some of them. I was impressed by their involvement and overall willingness to learn and memorize. I've made up my mind I'm learning more kid's songs in Spanish; I love them and most of them have some kind of motions!

Service tonight was rewarding to see how much the young people pressed in around the altar call. And not just the young people but the adults and elderly people too. Some earnestly were seeking for the Holy Ghost others dedicating their lives and desiring more of God. A young man named Fernando gave his heart to the Lord! Jeff preached and shared some of his testimony; it couldn't have been more applicable. A lot of people identified with him and the message. There was a young girl that I prayed with who cried and cried the entire altar call with her hand in the air. I don't know who cried more, her or me. Her earnestness in praying and seeking God even at such a young age was so real. I don't know what her name is but I have no doubt God wants to use her in a really special way. At the end of the service, they had testimonial time. Several people stood and thanked God for encouragement and a touch from God. A gentleman named Santos testified of how he had been seeking for the Holy Ghost and even though he didn't receive Him that night he wasn't discouraged, but rather encouraged to seek more and more until he did get filled because he was determined to make it. A lady testified of how God had healed her Friday night of the kid's crusade. She had been experiencing a lot of pain in her shoulder and didn't tell anyone about it but when one of the SENT members laid her hand on her shoulder the lady simply asked God to heal her. She said since that night she hasn't felt anymore pain. Bro. Moody mentioned healing several times Friday night in his message and she in faith asked God for that power in her life. What a wonderful testimony of faith!

I could go on of different things that have stood out to me but I simply don't have time or some things would never make sense to others reading it because you lack the one on one experience. Ending youth revival was just a start to what I feel God wants to do in the crusade we'll be doing later. I feel the young people needed this before the crusade to prepare for what else God will do. Going to bed exhausted but extremely joyful inside.