If you are reading this message you are either going on the Mississippi TORCH mission or you are interested in the work. I have named this message URGENT because there is a crisis in many of the areas of Honduras where we will be working.
RAIN TODAY DESTROYED 10 HOUSES IN SAN MIGUEL
RAIN TODAY DESTROYED SEVERAL HOUSES IN LOS PINOS
RAIN TODAY DESTROYED MANY HOMES IN VILLA NUEVA
MANY PEOPLE ARE HOMELESS!
Folks, if you have been working on raising money to build houses - please don't stop.
If you have raised money for your trip but haven't done anything to raise dollars for the cause - get to telling the story and asking for the funds that we'll need to do what God has planned for us to do.
Please pray for the people that are feeling hopeless and helpless right now. Pray that they will be comforted and that God will deliver them a home.
Thank you for your attention and your work on this need.
(possible ways to get people to give - skip a meal and donate the $$, fast for a day / with prayer and save the money, shorten vacation by a day and donate the $$$, sell something that you really like and donate the $$$ - knowing that you will be reminded that it was a real sacrifice)
God is good ... all the time - even in the face of darkness his light will always shine through!
Friday, June 24, 2005
Less Than A Month
Can you believe that in less than 30 days our team will come together in Tegucigalpa for 2 weeks of unbelievable work, praise, and togetherness?
We still have a lot to do but, from my POV, we are going to be very prepared. After all, we couldn't have had a better planner. Our God planned this ministry before time and all we are doing is becoming the tools that he selected for the work. Simple!
As a reminder, next Friday is July 1st and that is when I really need to have your final payment in my mail box. I need to send be able to send money to Honduras to pay for all of our lodging and our transportation. I also need to send money in advance to pay for lumber to build the homes that we have in the plan. That means that if you or your group are planning to sponsor the construction of houses, I need to get the checks for that work as soon as possible. If we don't pay in advance of our departure for wood, there isn't any guarantee that we will have it.
I plan to announce a conference number & time on Monday for all leaders. I can't afford for everyone to call-in but, we will have at least 12 to 15 on the call. We'll make sure that everybody has flight information, and answer any open questions. In the mean time, feel free to give me a call or an email if you need answers.
Best I can tell...we have
28 Days till
Great days in Honduras
We still have a lot to do but, from my POV, we are going to be very prepared. After all, we couldn't have had a better planner. Our God planned this ministry before time and all we are doing is becoming the tools that he selected for the work. Simple!
As a reminder, next Friday is July 1st and that is when I really need to have your final payment in my mail box. I need to send be able to send money to Honduras to pay for all of our lodging and our transportation. I also need to send money in advance to pay for lumber to build the homes that we have in the plan. That means that if you or your group are planning to sponsor the construction of houses, I need to get the checks for that work as soon as possible. If we don't pay in advance of our departure for wood, there isn't any guarantee that we will have it.
I plan to announce a conference number & time on Monday for all leaders. I can't afford for everyone to call-in but, we will have at least 12 to 15 on the call. We'll make sure that everybody has flight information, and answer any open questions. In the mean time, feel free to give me a call or an email if you need answers.
Best I can tell...we have
28 Days till
Great days in Honduras
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Houses, Houses, & More Houses
Since yesterday's post, I have heard about 4 more houses that we will be building in Honduras. WoW!
The church in Borger, Texas had already sent a check to build a house and we now know that there was enough extra money from a special contribution to build another.
Also from Texas, we recieved a check from the church in Shamrock. That is the former church of one of the "Borger Girls" and that means that they have now played a role in funding 6 houses.
This afternoon, we found out that Anne Weaver & her mom want to build a Honduran house. "Atta' girl Anne". Anne is joining our team from Raleigh, NC. Thank's Weaver's, because of you, a family will have a dry place to sleep.
Lastly, I had a call freom my friend Les Ferguson telling me about the Gulfport experience at a WalMart SuperCenter. The team form the south had a bake sale at the SuperCenter and raised almost $1,100.
Hey Gulfport - get ready to pound nails.
Tupelo, MS has a golf tournament and raised over $1,000.........House or Food - y'all decide...
God is good..... All the time!
Marc
The church in Borger, Texas had already sent a check to build a house and we now know that there was enough extra money from a special contribution to build another.
Also from Texas, we recieved a check from the church in Shamrock. That is the former church of one of the "Borger Girls" and that means that they have now played a role in funding 6 houses.
This afternoon, we found out that Anne Weaver & her mom want to build a Honduran house. "Atta' girl Anne". Anne is joining our team from Raleigh, NC. Thank's Weaver's, because of you, a family will have a dry place to sleep.
Lastly, I had a call freom my friend Les Ferguson telling me about the Gulfport experience at a WalMart SuperCenter. The team form the south had a bake sale at the SuperCenter and raised almost $1,100.
Hey Gulfport - get ready to pound nails.
Tupelo, MS has a golf tournament and raised over $1,000.........House or Food - y'all decide...
God is good..... All the time!
Marc
Monday, June 20, 2005
Casa de Esperanza
The House of Hope!
This weekend Terri & I travelled to Belpre, Ohio to meet with the Elders and the Mission Comittee about a project called Casa de Esperanza. This is the name of a children's home that will begin construction on July 23rd. That's right - the construction date is the same as our arrival date. I wonder who is gonna be working on this project?
We went to Belpre because that is the home congregation of my friends Jen Wright and Karen Vaughan. Jen & Karen are comitted to leaving their homes on October 25th, 2005 and moving to Tegucigalpa to run Casa de Esperanza. The Belpre Church is considering the level of support that they will dedicate to this important & life changing work. (Pray about their decision)
Isn't it cool that our team will be setting the corner stone for this project!
Next summer Casa de Esperanza will be the home to 20 or more little girls that really need a place that they can call home. Right now these 20 little girls are probably hungry, probably in a place without much love, probably in a place that is dangerous, and probably cannot even fathom the way that Casa de Esperanza will change their lives.
This is going to be fun!
Marc
ps: In my last post about the "Borger Girls" I accidently left out a key member of the team. Sorry about that Hanna Krug! You can get me back when we get to Honduras.
32 Days till
14 Great Days in Honduras!
This weekend Terri & I travelled to Belpre, Ohio to meet with the Elders and the Mission Comittee about a project called Casa de Esperanza. This is the name of a children's home that will begin construction on July 23rd. That's right - the construction date is the same as our arrival date. I wonder who is gonna be working on this project?
We went to Belpre because that is the home congregation of my friends Jen Wright and Karen Vaughan. Jen & Karen are comitted to leaving their homes on October 25th, 2005 and moving to Tegucigalpa to run Casa de Esperanza. The Belpre Church is considering the level of support that they will dedicate to this important & life changing work. (Pray about their decision)
Isn't it cool that our team will be setting the corner stone for this project!
Next summer Casa de Esperanza will be the home to 20 or more little girls that really need a place that they can call home. Right now these 20 little girls are probably hungry, probably in a place without much love, probably in a place that is dangerous, and probably cannot even fathom the way that Casa de Esperanza will change their lives.
This is going to be fun!
Marc
ps: In my last post about the "Borger Girls" I accidently left out a key member of the team. Sorry about that Hanna Krug! You can get me back when we get to Honduras.
32 Days till
14 Great Days in Honduras!
Friday, June 17, 2005
The Borger Girls
I just gotta let everybody know what is happening in the Texas panhandle town of Borger. That is the place where I grew up and where my folks still live. Last year over the Christmas holidays, I was able to speak to the congregation at the church of my childhood. I told my Borger church family about the work in Honduras and about TORCH. It was a great experience and the church donated enough money to build a house and even more important, one young lady had the courage to say that she wanted to be a part of our team.
Deborah Krug joined our team in 2004 and she is bringing 5 more with her in 2005. On top of just coming, Deborah, Shauna, Naomi, Breanna, & Lanetta (the Borger Team) & their supporters have raised enough money to build more than 4 houses and feed 20 families for a month. All of this has been accomplished by prayer and hard work.
More good things are happining this weekend.
Terri (my wife) & I will be travelling to Belpre, Ohio where I will be meeting with the elders and the mission comittee to discuss their potential support of Casa de Esperanza - our new children's home in Honduras. Our team will be doing some of the initial work on this project and we hope to have the home for little girls open by the end of 2005. On Sunday I will have an opportunity to speak to the congregation in Belpre to encourage their continued support of the work in Honduras and Central America. Please pray for God to open hearts and to guide my words this weekend.
37 DAYS
to 14 Great Days in Honduras!
Deborah Krug joined our team in 2004 and she is bringing 5 more with her in 2005. On top of just coming, Deborah, Shauna, Naomi, Breanna, & Lanetta (the Borger Team) & their supporters have raised enough money to build more than 4 houses and feed 20 families for a month. All of this has been accomplished by prayer and hard work.
More good things are happining this weekend.
Terri (my wife) & I will be travelling to Belpre, Ohio where I will be meeting with the elders and the mission comittee to discuss their potential support of Casa de Esperanza - our new children's home in Honduras. Our team will be doing some of the initial work on this project and we hope to have the home for little girls open by the end of 2005. On Sunday I will have an opportunity to speak to the congregation in Belpre to encourage their continued support of the work in Honduras and Central America. Please pray for God to open hearts and to guide my words this weekend.
37 DAYS
to 14 Great Days in Honduras!
Monday, June 13, 2005
Different Stuff
I have good news on the weight limit per bag - as of right now, the limit has gone back to 70 pounds per piece / two pc. per person. Remember though, whatever you take - you carry. If you can handle 140 pounds of bags & a back pack- go for it. If anything changes, I'll let you know.
By now all of you should have recieved info on your final balance. Please note that this is due in my mailbox on or before July 1 and that due by July 1 doesn't mean that that is the day to start thinking about getting Marc the rest of the money. There are too many people to for Terri & I to go chasing down somebody that is late paying what they owe.
Remember that today - June 13 is 40 days from our departure and plan to join me in the 40 days of prayer - (see the blog below)
Also remember that this site is where all of your friends and family will be reading our trip reports when we are in Honduras. Please pass the address along to anyone that is interested.
All flight plans are complete and I will be passing along your departure info soon. Everything will be e-ticketed and all you will need is a passport.
Please don't be afraid to give me a call or an email if you have any questions at all.
I am looking forward to seeing and working with all of you.
God has Great Days in Honduras planned for us.
Marc
By now all of you should have recieved info on your final balance. Please note that this is due in my mailbox on or before July 1 and that due by July 1 doesn't mean that that is the day to start thinking about getting Marc the rest of the money. There are too many people to for Terri & I to go chasing down somebody that is late paying what they owe.
Remember that today - June 13 is 40 days from our departure and plan to join me in the 40 days of prayer - (see the blog below)
Also remember that this site is where all of your friends and family will be reading our trip reports when we are in Honduras. Please pass the address along to anyone that is interested.
All flight plans are complete and I will be passing along your departure info soon. Everything will be e-ticketed and all you will need is a passport.
Please don't be afraid to give me a call or an email if you have any questions at all.
I am looking forward to seeing and working with all of you.
God has Great Days in Honduras planned for us.
Marc
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Real People
Real people are hurting in San Miguel this morning!
There is a community on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa called San Miguel - some of us have worked there and know & love the people of that community. Last summer a new church was planted there and there are many new Christians worshiping at the building that TORCH built. This morning, there are also several families living in the building. If you have been to San Miguel, you know the landscape and you will remember that it is in the mountains and there is a stream running throug the center of the community. When the rains come, everything runs into the stream and when hard rains come, there is flooding. That is the situation in San Miguel this morning. The rains have been intense and many in the community have lost their homes and their meager possessions.
There are families that live in homes that TORCH built that now have knee deep mud for floors and that is the key reason that we will be adding floors to every home we build this year. Right now there is a TORCH team working in the community and they will do much to ease the pain in the San Miguel community - but, they can only help one family at a time. The needs there are great - just as they are in Los Pinos, Santa Ana, Ojojona, Nuevo Oriental, Nuevo Jerusalem, Mateo, El Magote, Valle de Angeles, La Paz, and all over the Tegucigalpa area. Please don't be afraid to tell everybody that you know about the needs of the people that you are going to serve.
We can build a house - with a floor for $800
We can feed a family - for a month for $15 - 20
We can treat a community in a clinic for $1000
........If we don't ask people to join our team by helping our benevolence fund, we could find ourselves wishing people well - but doing nothing to help them.
I know that many of you are working tirelessly to make sure that we are building, feeding, & helping. Please keep working until the day we leave.
Our fund is the tool that we need to assure us of ...
Another Great Day In Honduras.
Marc
There is a community on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa called San Miguel - some of us have worked there and know & love the people of that community. Last summer a new church was planted there and there are many new Christians worshiping at the building that TORCH built. This morning, there are also several families living in the building. If you have been to San Miguel, you know the landscape and you will remember that it is in the mountains and there is a stream running throug the center of the community. When the rains come, everything runs into the stream and when hard rains come, there is flooding. That is the situation in San Miguel this morning. The rains have been intense and many in the community have lost their homes and their meager possessions.
There are families that live in homes that TORCH built that now have knee deep mud for floors and that is the key reason that we will be adding floors to every home we build this year. Right now there is a TORCH team working in the community and they will do much to ease the pain in the San Miguel community - but, they can only help one family at a time. The needs there are great - just as they are in Los Pinos, Santa Ana, Ojojona, Nuevo Oriental, Nuevo Jerusalem, Mateo, El Magote, Valle de Angeles, La Paz, and all over the Tegucigalpa area. Please don't be afraid to tell everybody that you know about the needs of the people that you are going to serve.
We can build a house - with a floor for $800
We can feed a family - for a month for $15 - 20
We can treat a community in a clinic for $1000
........If we don't ask people to join our team by helping our benevolence fund, we could find ourselves wishing people well - but doing nothing to help them.
I know that many of you are working tirelessly to make sure that we are building, feeding, & helping. Please keep working until the day we leave.
Our fund is the tool that we need to assure us of ...
Another Great Day In Honduras.
Marc
Friday, June 03, 2005
40 Days of Prayer
Today we are exactly 50 days away from our mission and I'd like to offer everyone an invitation to join me in 40 days of prayer for our work. I plan to begin on June 13th - 40 days from our departure and I will be praying for many things relating to our work. Following is a daily reminder of some of the prayer needs in Honduras. Make your own - share it with friends, family, and supporters. Pick a day a week to fast and pray. Whatever you do, please pray for our work -
Day 40 June 13
In 40 days our team will be traveling to one of the poorest countries in the west. Pray that God will open our eyes to the needs of the people of
Day 39, June 14
Pray for our full time workers in
Day 38, June 15
Today there are 12 interns leaving to work for the rest of the summer in
Day 37, June 16
Pray for the children & the workers at the Special Needs Orphanage.
Day 36, June 17
Pray for a widow and her 5 kids in a community called Nuevo Oriental. They probably have no food today.
Day 35, June 18
Pray for the children in the nutrition ward at Hospital Esquela.
Day 34, June 19
Pray for God to deliver the resources that we will need to build houses for the homeless and to provide food for the hungry.
Day 33, June 20
Pray for God to protect the homeless kids on the streets of
Day 32, June 21
Pray that your life will be completely changed by the work that he has planned for you.
Day 31, June 22
Pray that our team will be unified in this work. Pray that everything that we do will be done to glorify our God.
Day 30, June 23
Pray for the Mi Esperanza program. Pray that it will help the ladies in the program to learn a skill and to change their lives.
Day 29, June 24
Pray for the children at the Good Shepherd Orphanage
Day 28, June 25
Pray for a poor man named Trajellio. Pray that he will get the house that he desperately needs.
Day 27, June 26
Pray that we will work tirelessly and that God will protect our team when we are in
Day 26, June 27
Pray for wisdom.
Day 25, June 28
Pray that God will fill the new church building that will be built in Santa Anna with people that need Jesus.
Day 24, June 29
Pray that God will make us fearless and willing to step outside of our comfort zone.
Day 23, June 30
Pray for the children at the School for the Blind.
Day 22, July 1
Pray for the little boys at Jovenes en Camino – a home for boys that need one.
Day 21, July 2
Pray that we will keep our passion for service strong when we return to our homes.
Day 20, July 3
Pray that our message is in our service as much as it is in our words.
Day 19, July 4
Pray for revival in the
Day 18, July 5
Pray for fertile soil and a bountiful harvest.
Day 17, July 6
Pray for Billy Ferguson and Cisco Vega as they prepare to work tirelessly leading our evangelism teams.
Day 16, July 7
Pray for the hungry children in
Day 15, July 8
Pray for everyone that you know that will be on this mission. Pray for them by name and ask God to touch their lives. Ask God to let them see Jesus – face to face in
Day 14, July 9
Pray for my friend Cole – he is coming with his family to work with us. Pray that you will get to know how special he is.
Day 13, July 10
Pray for the mission team working in Los Pinos and preparing to go to
Day 12, July 11
Pray for the Baxter Institute and the students and their teachers.
Day 11, July 12
Pray that God will teach all of us to learn to step out in faith.
Day 10, July 13
Pray for the children in the cancer ward in Hospital Esquela.
Day 9, July 14
Pray for the communities of Santa Anna, Ojojona,
Day 8, July 15
Pray for my little friend Victor. Victor lives in Los Pinos - I see Jesus in him because – just like Jesus, he never forgets my name.
Day 7, July 16
Pray for the new clinic that is being built it Santa Anna.
Day 6, July 17
Pray for Jen Wright & Karen Vaughan. These ladies are stepping out in faith and moving to
Day 5, July 18
Pray for our translators. Pray for God to give them the strength to get the message to the people that need it.
Day 4, July 19
Pray for me. Pray that God will give me the direction and understanding to lead our team where he wants us to be.
Day 3, July 20
Pray that our team will remember why we are in
Day 2, July 21
Pray for Ryan & Janna Beth – they plan to be married while we are in Roatan.
Day 1, July 22
Pray for the safe journey of the 160+ that will be meeting in
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