Unfortunately, Friday was the last day in Honduras. However, the trip to Honduras has really challenged me and it just showed me what God can do not only with a man but with a family that gives themselves to the work and will of God. The Sumner family have been a blessing to me and to all of the sent team. I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to go. I learned that I need to set my aim higher because God can and wants to use us to our full potential. It amazes me the sacrifice and the dedication and the burden of this family. There is nothing that God doesn’t use them to do. They preach, they Pastor, they have a bus ministry and a soup kitchen and they can fly! God has blessed them richly and it has really challenged my heart to really be used by God no matter how glamorous or unglamorous it may be I just want God to use me for His glory. Thank you so much Sumner family for the challenge you have set before me and thank you Lord for the opportunity to go to Honduras.
Thursday was more of a relaxing day. We started the day off with breakfast at the Sumner’s and then we took off for the Valley of Angels! The Valley of Angels is about 2 to 3 hours away from the Sumner’s but it was a fun trip while in the back of the truck. The Valley of Angels is the place to go to buy merchandise and souvenirs to take back home to supporters, family and friends. The stores were full of people and the shop owners were hungry for Limpidas. Many of us bought knives, machetes, jerseys, and other small trinkets to take back with them. It was a successful day in the Valley of Angels. Then when we got back to the house we enjoyed playing volleyball and cornhole. The mudhens went undefeated in volleyball although some of the games were close they pulled it off! Cornhole was also a lot of fun and Brother Aaron and James won every game of cornhole that night. The food was great! The fellowship was amazing! I hope to be able to go back and minister in Honduras again! I’m so thankful to have had the opportunity to go.
Wednesday was our final day to minister at a few of the military bases. Three people preached that day and many testified. The preachers that day were Daniel, Jacob and myself. It was a blessing to get one more opportunity to share the gospel message with the military men in Honduras. Brother Daniel preached on being prepared for the Lord’s coming, Brother Jacob preached on “While It Was Yet Dark” and I preached on the one lost sheep. The Lord’s presence was felt at every service once again. The one place we went to was an English service so instead of having to have an interpreter we could just preach. That was a great experience to be able to talk to them in our language. Later that night Brother Alan took us all out to eat at meat plates. The food was absolutely amazing! We ate pork and sausage and beans, man, it was gooood!!! Honduran food is amazing. This was the last day of preaching and as I look back on it I am thankful to have the opportunity to have been in Honduras and to help for about 12 days.
Tuesday was the last night of youth revival and the Lord challenged the hearts of the church to press towards the mark. Brother John and Brother Pahlman preached that night. The church was very hungry for the Lord and many people prayed great that night. The girls testified and Brother Hough testified as well. The Lord’s presence was once again really strong there that night. It was a blessing to see the hearts of every church member touched. The Lord even ministered to me and spoke to me that night and it was a blessing not just to be there but to be blessed as well. God is faithful and it was a great way to end the youth revival. At the end of service we had a testimony service and many of the church members testified about what God had done for them! It was amazing to hear the things that God had done and how he used us to minister to the Hondurans. Then right before dismissal we prayed for the Sumner family and the congregation prayed along with us. It was great to be able to see the Lord strengthen them as well as their congregation. Then of course Brother Aaron and I had a blast with the young people on the bus!
Monday was a great day! We started off by working in two different groups. One group stayed at the house and did some welding and the other group went to the soup kitchen and did some cleaning and painted the tables. We also had a blast driving the kids around on the golf cart while we had some down time at the soup kitchen. When the workday was over, we got ready for the night service. Service started that night at 7 pm. Brother Alan started the service off with prayer and you could feel the Lord’s presence very strong that night. Sister Amanda testified that night and the Lord really helped people through her testimony and the testimonies of the other girls that night. The group again sang a song that night. Then Brother Jacob Vaughn preached on the parable of the 10 virgins and challenged everyone there that night to be more filled with God and to be ready and not to be foolish. Then I got up and preached on “The Blood, The Boundary and The Beauty.” The Lord once again proved himself faithful and helped many people around the altar. Some people took the step of faith and came to the altar before the altar call was given. God really helped people and on the way home we got to enjoy the fellowship with the young ones on the bus.
Sunday was an amazing day! We started off at about 8:30 AM and went and picked up the kids for church. We finished up the last skit of the kid’s crusade. The service was very powerful and the message really came across to the people in the church. God really moved that morning and a young boy was filled with the Holy Ghost. Then Sunday night came and the Lord’s presence was very strong. Sister Amanda had some of the girls testify and the group sang a song together. Brother Daniel and Brother Hough preached that night. Daniel preached on “Thank God for Jesus.” After he preached, the Sumner girls got up to sing and the Holy Ghost fell and some people came to the altar then Brother Hough went up and exhorted while God was moving and some got saved that night and the church got a lot of help. The Lord moved in a mighty way and it was a great way to start off the youth revival. It was a blessing to see the people be helped and to pray for them.
Saturday was a very busy day but it was a very productive and the services were amazing! We started off early in the morning and we helped at the soup kitchen. We served food and drink to every person that came to the soup kitchen that morning. No one left hungry. Before they ate, we preformed the Nehemiah skit about building up the walls and allowing God’s Word to help us do that. We prayed and then the children ate. It was an amazing experience to get to help in the soup kitchen. They serve a meal every Saturday and you can tell that the community is so blessed by the work that the Sumner’s are allowing God to do through them to help the people of Honduras. When we left the soup kitchen, we moved on and went and preformed the skit at 3 other places. The services were called Saturday school. There were several children at each of these locations and you could feel the presence of the Lord through the songs, the skit and the closing prayer. Although we may not always see what it is doing in the hearts of the young ones we pray God will give the increase in time to come. After Saturday school was over, we had some free time and went and got on the internet. Then we left and went to the church and prepared for that evenings service. The service went really good! The altar call was so far the best we have seen. There were many older ladies that came up and got prayed for and you could tell God was helping them. They were just weeping and worshiping the Lord. It has been a blessing to be here so far and we are looking forward to the final kid’s crusade service Sunday morning and the youth revival following that.
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AuthorJames Hardy is a Junior at Free Gospel Bible Institute. ArchivesCategories |