A Slow Start and a Strong Finish

It was back to work at the Serve Team sites today. Thursday is always the tired day of the week. Everyone is a little puffy-eyed at morning devotions but we gain steam during breakfast and by the time we arrive at the churches we are ready to go.

That's a good thing because Team A had long lines of people waiting for them when they arrived at the Iglesia Jehovah Nissi. Thankfully the bus ride wasn't as long as the Monday-Tuesday one.  The weather was great and today's church was in the valley instead of atop the mountains so we enjoyed a beautiful warm and sunny day. (Sorry, but we just had to rub it in for all of you who are experiencing something quite different.)

Team B served at the Iglesia Linaje de Abraham, which is one of the places where we served 5 years ago. Some of the church workers even remembered us. But, when we arrived there were hardly any people, which was strange for such a large church. So, after we got organized and had our opening of songs and prayer, we opened the clinic and then some of us walked through the neighborhood with translators to invite people to the clinic. The personal invitation worked and we ended up having a very busy day.

In our evening sharing time many stories were shared about interesting interactions between us and the people we served. In fact, some of the biggest impacts were the ones made on us by the people we served. Who knew that we weren't just going to the mission field, we are the mission field too.

On Friday we will do it all over. Please pray that we finish well. Thank you for your prayer support throughout this week.

The comraderie that has built up throughout the week has made it fun to serve together. Even though we came from many different churches we are most definitely one team at this point. Friday comes fast and the week ends too quickly, so it will be sad to say our goodbyes on Saturday.

Here are some photos of today's experiences.

Hola, Y'all!

We  are coming to you live from the WGO Presidential Suite - the heart of the Mission Central.
Here is the news of the day - Wednesday, January 23, 2019.

The Team took advantage of the spectacular and really warm weather to seek out the real Honduras.
Led by Fred and Tom, first-timers and those with sponsored children journeyed to Rancho Ebenezer for a morning of visiting and playing games with the kids, learning about the coffee process and just having fun.  Yes, having fun is a necessary ingredient of a mission trip!

While they were away at the Rancho, a party of seven liberated their financial resources and unsupervised (or so they thought) made their escape to the Valley of the Angels - the shopping capital of Honduras, where for "gringos" everything was 25% off. And boy do they know what gringos like!!!!!! Much money was added to the Honduran economy in just two hours!

There were those who unselfishly remained behind to count pills and provide cover for the escaping seven.  Oh the sacrifice of so few for so many!

Happily the entire team was reunited for a festive lunch at El Patio. The team enjoyed beverages, appetizers, melted cheese with beans and chips, followed by chicken, beef, sausages and pork portions.

And great conversation!  A good time was had by all - just checkout those smiling faces in the group photo.

A group went to see JESUS - actually a statue of HIM at Picacho Park. That is one tall statue! And another nice view of Tegus, as the residents refer to the capital of Honduras.

So from your hard working reporters at the WGO Presidential Suite, that's our story and we are sticking to it!  

Terrific Tuesday in Tegucigalpa

Buenos dias! The team is back from a long successful day at the brigades. After sharing stories from all the stations, everyone is ready to relax and take part in the nightly festivities of friendly euchre playing. Our second day here was a little warmer than the first. It was great to have everyone here and ready to serve together! It was our second day at both locations and each brigade saw hundreds of eager Honduran people.

Team A was back up in the mountains and saw even more people than they did yesterday! Optical saw about 230 people blessing them with the gift of sight. In evangelism, twenty two people heard God speaking to them and committed their lives to Christ!
One group was able to paint the house of the Pastor of the church we were serving. The pastor said that it was his dream to live in his own house and even more grateful that it was now freshly painted. We were able to gift them a water filter that will serve the congregation and community of the church.

Team B was back in the city where the sun was shining! That being said, the sunglasses were a huge hit with all the little kids who came through the brigade. What a blessing it was that 30 people newly committed their lives to God, calling Him their Savior!
The medical crew was able to see many people providing things as simple as multivitamins and pain medications for people who were so incredibly thankful. The team was even able to make a few house calls!

 The team is looking forward to the Ranch and exploring the valley tomorrow! Here are some beautiful pictures of the day!

Hallelujah Brother, The Gang's All Here

It's a little disorienting when you are all ready to go on a trip on a certain day and then your trip gets pushed back a couple of days. Somehow you lose track of what day it is when instead of flying on Saturday you fly on Monday. You know it's Monday but something in your brain tells you that it must be Saturday. Well those problems are all behind us because the last 14-member installment of the team made it to Tegucigalpa today.

While some of us were in transit today, the rest of us divided up into two teams and carried out our medical mission work in two locations. Team A, led by Fred Steinbach, went to a church in the neighborhood of Arriba de Nueva Capital. It was a long drive up and up and up the hill to the church. But when they got there they were able to provide medical and spiritual help to many people. 160 people were seen at the optical station. And lots of kids enjoyed some singing and heard the Gospel before getting their hair washed. They were shivering from the cold wash water and the cool misty weather. The team also painted the outside of a small wooden house under the sometimes amusing supervision of the owner's father.

Team B, led by Paula Mann, went to a different neighborhood and set up the clinic at Invasion del Espiritu Santo. They too provided medical, dental, optical and spiritual care to the adults and children. They weren't able to do a painting project today, but expect to do one on Tuesday.

Here are a few pictures from today.

Houston We Have Landed

Well, at least some of us landed in Tegucigalpa today. All the team members flying from Buffalo, California, Colorado, Detroit and St. Louis made it to Tegucigalpa. Hooray! Now the rest of us need to catch up with them.

On arrival the team was picked up by World Gospel Outreach personnel and transported by bus to the Mission House, which sits on a mountain called El Hatillo on the north side of the city. Located in a nice neighborhood, the Mission House is a comfortable respite from the hustle and bustle of the city. It is well suited to accommodating large teams of people and there are wonderful views of the city from the veranda.

After settling in, and partaking of some snacks the team had an orientation meeting with Bill Wealthall the Mission House host. After dinner there will be a team meeting to talk about each person's expectations for the week.

Everyone is tired from starting out so early and traveling all day. So we hope everyone can get a good night's sleep and be ready for church tomorrow morning, which will be at one of the churches in which we will be serving this week.

The rest of the team, which includes everyone flying out of Chicago, will be traveling in three separate groups. One group of 13 people will be flying on United on Sunday. One group of 4 people will be flying on Delta on Sunday. And the third group of 10 people will be flying on United on Monday.

Please join us in seeking a good night's rest for everyone and safe travel for each of our groups of team members.

Gracias!

Delayed in Chicago

In anticipation of a significant snow storm United Airlines cancelled our flight out of Chicago. Some of us are rescheduled to fly out on Sunday and others on Monday. Although it is a disruption to the schedule we trust that God is not surprised by any of this and that He will work things out to accomplish His purposes.

The plan is still for our team members coming from Buffalo, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles and St. Louis to make it to Tegucigalpa on Saturday. Assuming the travel plans all work out, we will begin serving the people of Tegucigalpa at our first medical clinic site on Monday.

Please keep it all in your prayers. Thanks!

Packed and Ready To Go!

This weekend team members in Colorado and Illinois packed up the medical supplies that we will take to Honduras on January 19. The generosity of our many supporters and team members has made it possible for us to take a huge amount of supplies. 

This year the team is comprised of 41 people including people from California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and New York. Some of us have been many times and others will be going for the first time. It's always interesting to see how each team is equipped by God to serve Him and support one another while we serve the people of Honduras.

You've helped us get this far, now please help us with your prayers. Please pray for:

• a safe journey for all of us and our baggage
• good health throughout the trip
• protection of our families and friends while we are gone

We are ready to go! It's exciting to think that we will be in Tegucigalpa next Saturday.

We will try to post a team update each day of our trip on this blog. So please check back in to see how things are going.

Bendiciones!