Today, Monday, March 11, 2013. We did not have any services today, so we went to the soup kitchen and worked the majority of the day. We took the table and the benches and sanded them down and then afterward we painted them. I was on the drill most of the day sanding with a wire-brush head, it was thoroughly enjoyable. By the time I was done my face, hands, and arms were covered in dust. After the sanding was done, the only thing that was lacking was the painting, this was done by several people; but since there was a lack of brushes only so many people could paint, so it did not go as fast as it could have, but we eventually finished the tables; the only thing that was lacking was the benches, and we are planning on doing those tomorrow.

We wrapped things up and I and Bro. Allen went into town to visit a family whose mother had just passed away

                We got up this morning and went to church and the first skit we performed was Noah’s ark, going off of the theme of "judgment upon the wicked." It was pretty comical and the kids really enjoyed it. Bro. Chris was Noah and he had six young children being his son’s and their wives, then I and the rest of the S.E.N.T. Team were the rebellious sinners who rejected the message of Noah. They sang several songs and then they had a memory verse for the children; later on for the last skit we had a shadow skit about the judgment seat. Aaron played a young man, who made right decisions and served God, and then Melissa played Rosa who made the wrong decisions; they were both brought before the judgment seat and judged, one went to heaven and the other went to hell.

                This evening they started service and the first skit we performed was one about a young lady who wanted God in her life and things started off really good, but then things began to come in between her and God’s will for her life, and this caused her to drift further and further away from God; then after a while there was no room for God in her life, and God was effectively ‘booted out.’ Then there were some songs and some other things, and the final skit was dealing with the call of God. This was a skit where a young man was praying about the call of God and seeking to find God’s will in his life, but there was a man who came along and told him that he didn’t need to pray and read his Bible, but instead he needed to use this big phone and just wait. It was a fair portrayal of leaving the ‘old paths’ for a quicker, better way to reach God. Then it was ended with Bro. Pahlman who told the story about Samuel and God calling him. Then the altar call was given and several young people came forward and prayed; there were a few that were really serious in their prayers, they had tears running down their faces and you could tell that they were calling out to God in sincerity.

                Today we woke up to a busy schedule. We ate breakfast at 8:00 A.M. and afterward we began preparing for the day’s skits. We left around 11:00 or so and went to the soup kitchen where they feed young kids every Saturday. We arrived and shortly thereafter we performed the skit and some songs were sung, and then we helped the Sumners feed the young children. But this was only the beginning of the day. After this we left and went to a lady's house and they were having a Bible class of sorts and there we put on the skit as well. We did this at several places and when we finished we had only a few short hours until church that night, which was at 6.

                At church we prepared for the first night of the Children’s church, and the theme was sin. We began and there were some songs sung and then we performed our first skit, which was the sin chair skit. It was challenging as Bro. Pahlman, who was the last man to come alone to the man stuck to the chair, came and offered the gospel of salvation, who could feel the Lord moving as he gave the answer to the problem of sin. The next skit was a skit about a man who is full of sins that he has picked up in his course of life and then he has come to the place where he is desperate for help. The two doctors operate on him and take out the sins and put in Scriptures for each sin. The final skit was the Prodigal son in a modern day setting. Then after all was done the altar call was given and then we prayed for the young children.

                This is such a wonderful work that is going down here, they lack manpower and money. I feel such a compelling burden for them. It would be wonderful to be provided the opportunity to come here and help them. “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” Amen!

We left the hotel this morning around 7:00 A.M., and we went to our first destination which was a police station. Here we had the opportunity to witness and tell the investigative police about the power of the Gospel and Christ Jesus; afterward we ate breakfast at the station. Then we left and went to visit a military hospital. The soldiers that were there were not available at that time so we went to our next destination and later on we returned and visited them. Our second service was at an air force base, we had a good time with the soldiers as we all worshipped God together.

Afterward we were taken on a tour of some of the planes and then we headed back to the military hospital and visited with the two soldiers that were there. We entered the hospital and there was people sitting all over the place, whether they were there for medical attention or whether they were visiting loved ones I cannot tell. However we continued through the building to another building where the military personal were at. After entering the room and Bro. Sumner talking with the first one for a few minutes Bro. Sumner turned to us and explained that the first soldier was here because he had tried to commit suicide a short time before. He had shot himself in the stomach three times with his automatic rifle, but the Lord was surely gracious unto this young man in giving him a second chance. When Bro. Sumner told us this my heart was torn with anguish as I looked upon a young man who was not even in the prime of his life who had come to the place where he thought that he had no hope, no reason for living, no purpose in life; Oh! That God would send men and women into the world to those kind of people with the message of hope and salvation.

 I have peace, joy and security from God, but people who are lost have nothing to look forward to, they have no reason for their existence, no sense of belonging and they think that taking their own life will be better than continuing to live: this kind of philosophy tears my heart into pieces, opens the flood gates of my tears, and touches the innermost essence of my being as I realize the pain, misery, and hopelessness that they are experiencing and going through every single day. They wake up to apply their energy, give of themselves, and face another day for nothing. They have no future, no promise of life, and nothing for which they can enjoy: their lives are taken from them one moment at a time by ‘he who came to kill, steal, and destroy,’ and the sad thing is they do not know that there is someone who ‘came to give them life, and to give it more abundantly.’ Oh, my soul cries in overwhelming agony as I see the condition of those that are around me; I realize with great dismay that I cannot reach everyone, there are some people that will not understand me and the message I am trying to convey for Christ: this is when I cry, oh God, send forth laborers into your field, there are people that you can reach that I cannot, and there will be people that I can reach that you cannot; oh God let me know Your will and follow it completely!

                The last service we went to this afternoon was very wonderful, there was a Colonel who took us to the place where the service was held and he told Bro. Sumner that God had sent us to them that afternoon, I assumed from that moment that he was a Christian. We had a wonderful service; the presence of the Lord was there in a very strong way. After Bro. Brock preached and we prayed for the soldiers the Colonel exhorted his men one of the things that I vaguely remember was the fact that he said something like this: “our amour protects us in our duty, but we have amour on the inside that makes us strong and helps us grow.” This probably is not a direct quote but it is along the same line of thought. As I listened to his speech which Bro. Sumner interpreted for us, I began thinking about how that this high ranking military official was a follower of Jesus and he believed in the Holy Spirit (Which was another thing that he included in his speech to his men), but I thought about the impact that the Gospel was having in Honduras as a man (or to put it more correctly two men: the Sumner Brothers) were simply obeying the command that Jesus gave to His disciples to preach the Gospel to every creature: all we have to do is preach, God will bring the increase.

Where we preach, God will reach,

Where we publish, God will refurbish,

All things for the glory of God.

This morning my alarm went off at 3 am instead of 4 am because my phone did not have service there and it did not automatically switch to central time (of course I do not know if it would have recognized it in Honduras or not), but either way we got another 30 to 40 minutes of sleep. We left at 4:30 and we traveled for about 2 hours and 45 minutes. After parking on the base we immediately set up and went over to a group of soldiers who were going on a training exercise and would not be there for the service. Bro. Scott Sumner talked to them out of Ecclesiastes 12:13 and laid forth a challenge to them about the frailty and the uselessness of this life and its pleasures without God. Then after talking to them we went back to where we had set up the stuff and had service. Bro. Brock preached on “why halt ye between two opinions,” and it was challenging; two young men stepped forward as they confessed that they had questions about whether the God we were preaching was the true God or not, they were prayed for and the service was concluded. We visited four other bases that day, but the most memorable services were the third and the fourth one. The presence of the Lord was there in a very strong way and I believe that something was accomplished for the Lord; whether there was souls saved or whether seeds were planted I know that something was done in these two service especially.