TORCH Mississippi & All Over

2010 Teams

2010-02-09T15:35:00.002-06:00

Here are our 2010 Team Dates and the origin locations of each of them. There are a few slight timing changes from the past but, not too bad. Please pass this on to friends, churches and anyony that you might think is interested in joining one of the amazing adventures that lie ahead for 2010.
March 20 to 27 Freed Hardeman Team
May 13 to June 8 MTSU Month Long College Team - we will have one week of work in Copan Ruins. This is open to anyone that ever thought that they might like to come and work for a month. Likely to be less than 10 so, a very close "family" work team. Come and be a part of it, it will be amazing.
June 16 to 20 Tupelo team - this is a closed group - sorry.
June 19 to 27 Columbus, MS team. The original team! Awesome people if you are looking for a one week team.
July 1 to 12 South Baton Rouge and "friends" of Kin and Donna. If you have loved coming with Kin and Donna Ellis, they have joined with Blaine and will be coming with the SBR Team. This is an awesome group.
July 4 to 11. "THE OP" Close on the heels of SBR, Overland Park KS is one of our newest teams. They came in late June of last year and are a very powerful and special group. Cannot wait to see what God has planned for this group. They will be joined by several from Topeka.
July 11 to 18 One more brand new team will be the Layfayette, LA team. Can't wait to see what God has planned for this group.
July 12 to 24 MS TORCH! The one that started it all. Come and Join an amazing ministry. Starkville and many others will be a part of this team.
July 18 to 31 MS Mixed - some that cannot come on the 12th will join the group on the 18th and will be in Hondo until the 31st.
July 24 to 31 (possibly 25 to August 1) Childress, TX More "newbee's" a great new Team from the great state of TEXAS. Wanna have an amazing time - come with Trey Morgan's group.
Possible final summer team from OKC. Juily 31 to August 7 or 8.
October - wait on the date - Walnut Creek, CA
Thanksgiving Build week
December 6 to 12 Jesus Banquet week.
So, there you have em. The dates are set. Prices are mostly the same
one week range is $1350 to $1400. 10 days to 2 weeks is $1450 and the one month adventure is $2000. As always, we ask everybody coming to raise $200 above the cost to go to the work funds. Your cost includes all of your air fare, lodging, 2 meals a day, and your exit fee. You are also insured against accidents - so if you get into a major illness or injury, we will be able to ambulance you out of Honduras. You can facebook me or email me with any questions.
Thanks and looking forward to Great Days in Honduras.
Blessed,
Marc

July 2009

2009-07-20T18:06:00.001-05:00

July 2009
Here in Honduras, July is typically one that it is very difficult to get a flight - in or out of the country. Most every flight in a typical July is filled with mission groups and others coming to be a part of helping this nation. The reason that the people keep coming back year after year is that most of the folks here appreciate the work and efforts of the visitors from the USA. There are amazing friendships developed between the villagers and the mission teams from the USA. Personally, July 2009 was going to be an amazing month. I had scheduled teams from the 28th of June all the way to the last of the teams departing on August 9. My teams were coming from all over the USA and all of us had planned to make July 2009 an amazing month of work for our Master. Through the month there would have been close to 250 people coming and going - every week from 50 to 85 people would have been here working, building, feeding, teaching, comforting, and serving. We planned to build something like 60 houses, one and maybe 2 school buildings, a small but much needed foot bridge, work on the Santa Katerina feeding center / church plant, feed more than 4,000 families, treat more than 1500 in med/ dental clinics, teach the gospel to many many people.Most of this didn't happen - obviously something jumped in the way and stopped the plan in it's tracks.Everybody following this blog knows that there is a governmental crisis here and that has sent most folks from the USA and the mission groups that come here scrambling for cover. Bringing people here right now just was not a prudent thing so - I cancelled all of the July groups and had to send the end of June group home early. Needless to say, I am not alone. I was in the airport today and there was not another "gringo" there - not one. The lines for the airlines were empty and nobody is coming or going to Honduras this July.I gotta tell you this is a real problem for many of the mountain villages where we work. I was in Nueva Oriental on Saturday and talked to many many of the people that live there and are friends with many Americans. They are so sad that nobody is coming. The community still needs the 30 to 40 houses that the teams would have built there. They still need the food that is desperatly short in many many of the homes there. Nueva Oriental still needs the medical and dental clinics and the people that would normally come to share the gospel. They will really miss the new school building and the bridge that our teams would have built. It is truly sad that a poliitcal mess can do this to the people that the governments are set up to serve.Makes me so sad!Be a blessing to somebody today!Marc

TORCH 2009 NEWS

2009-07-10T16:44:00.001-05:00

Dear TORCH,
As you know, there is a mess here in Honduras. On June 28th, the situation became volitile as this small nation made the decision to remove their president Mel Zelaya. Mr Zelaya was doing a number of illegal things and both the Supreme Court and the National Congress approved of the ouster - 100%.
The world has not supported this change and there are factions within the country that continue to cause disturbances - some violent. The US State Department has recommended that US Citicizens not travel to Honduras during this crisis. This advisory continues through the 29th of July.
I would love to be able to tell all of you that none of this makes a difference and we need to move ahead with our July 20 mission. At this time, I just can't. We need to cancel the July 20 - August 2 mission to Honduras. The nation remains unstable, the chance of further problems here remain high, and if those happen, we could see Tegucigalpa and the airport shut down for a much longer period than we have already experienced. Additionally, I am not willing to risk your safety.
We are working with the airlines to determine how refunds, flight credits, etc will work. At this time we just don't know.
I know that some of you would love to say, I am coming any way. At this time, I would encourage you to wait and be patient.
We do have some fall and winter mission opportunities planned and we would gladly move you to some of those groups. Email Terri or me for details on those trips.
You cannot imagine my saddness in making this announcement. Our team is a big part of my life and I have waited as long as possible to make this decision. I am truly sorry that it is necessary.
Be a blessing to somebody today,
Marc Tindall
Ps: People here that depend on groups like ours are still in need of homes and food. Please consider allowing us to utilize the portion of your trip that was to be dedicated to this effort. We will build the houses and distribute the food that would have happened anyway. Thanks for considering this.

Disorder and Decisions

2009-07-06T21:01:00.002-05:00

Here I sit in my home in Santa Ana praying for the peace of the day to continue.
As all of you know, there is unrest in Honduras and the result has been the cancellation of many of the TORCH Teams scheduled for Honduras this summer. We are holding the decision on the MS Team until Friday July 10.
We will need to see the country moving toward settlement of the issues that have created the unrest over the past couple of weeks. I believe that there is a 30 to 40% chance of this happening. I wish it were better than that - it just isn't. We are not going to bring a lot of folks here to work if there is any chance that the peace will not remain.
My heart is aching over this and I know that you too are anxious over the unrest here in Honduras. Please pray for the changes that we need to see so that we can make a smart and safe decision.
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc

2009 TORCH Registration

2009-01-27T10:06:00.003-06:00

TORCH 2009
This blog area and will be giving you updates on all you need to know about coming to Honduras in 2009. For those of you coming on the July mission - this post will have a registration for the summer trip. This year's mission will run from July 20 to August 2 and there is an option to add a "BONUS" week. The bonus week will have you departing on August 9th. Feel free to send me a note if you are interested in staying for the entire trip. I will gladly work with those of you that can only come for a week.
The cost of the 2 week mission is $1450, staying only one week will reduce the cost to $1350. The cost increase was necessary because everything has gone up. In the past we only paid $600 to $650 for airfare and now we are paying $800 to 900. This years increase will cover your departure fee - which has just gone up to $34.
2009 Registration
July 20 – August 2 (OR August 9)
Cost of trip is $1450.
TORCH MISSIONS
PO 9222
Columbus, MS 39705
Trip Date____________________________
Email address__________________
Name(As on your Passport____________________________
Date of Birth_____________ Age______
Street Address______________________________________________
Home Phone______________________
Cell Phone_____________________________
Social Security Number_______________________
Passport Number_______________________
City Issued_________________________
Date Issued____________________________
Expiration Date_____________________
Are you a Christian? Yes____ No_____
Name of Church youAddress of Church you attend_______________________________________________
Male____ Female____ Adult____ Teen____ Child____ Single____ Married______
If married are husband and wife on the trip together?? Yes_____ No_____
Adults occupation_______________________________________________
Students academic classification & name of school_____________________
Languages you speak____________________________________________
Foreign Countries you have visited_________________________________
Are you in good physical condition? Yes_____ No______
Are you taking prescription medication on a regular basis? Yes____ No_____
If yes, List medications and conditions being treated_______________________________________________________
Allergies_________________________________________________
Adult T shirt size Small_____ Medium_____ Large_____ X Large ______ XXL_____ Signature & Date_____________________________________________
IMPORTANT Everyone traveling must fill out an applicationThis registration is due ASAP & must be accompanied with a $150 deposit. Airfare of $800 is due by May 1 and the balance is due June 30
Your registration also includes a commitment to raise a minimum of $200 that will be used for benevolence work in Honduras.

Another Great Day in Honduras

2008-08-01T23:20:00.002-05:00

Today was awesome. We were all filled with a kind of excitement to serve the Lord again today and the knowledge that tomorrow most of us would be on our way home. It was a sad and happy day. We started off by sending a small group to put a roof on a house for a family. The other two buses loaded up with Bibles and food bags headed out with one thing in mind, feed the people both spiritually and physically. One group headed up to Ojojona to hand out the Bibles and food and the other bus handed out on the way into Santa Anna and in Santa Anna until all the food had been given. Each family also recieved Bibles as well. It was great. After the food was gone the group converged on Casa de Esperanza to play with the kids until it was their lunch time. After the kids went in for lunch both groups headed to the mall to eat and spend a couple of hours then back to the Mission House. We enjoyed a great supper together and then a super devotional. It was a tearful time as we all said our goodbyes and know that in the morning we will all be up early and headed out for the airport. There are 6 who are staying for another great week in Honduras, so pray for them to stay well, stay safe, and serve the Lord.

Thursday's Adventure

2008-07-31T23:01:00.004-05:00

Well the visit to Villade Morales went so well yesterday a team went back there today to build a house. It was a great house. When we first started it had begun to mist and then cleared off and was very muggy and humid. Marc and Terri showed up and Marc was able to help with the house and even put in the door before he had to leave for other jobs. Terri stayed to the very end and nailed the window frame and hinges on the window. It was a super house. Again the lady was presented with a house kit from the Columbus group. She was very excited. As we were loading up the bus we handed out food bags to those who were around. It was another great day at Villade Morales.
Another group went to do some work with the mayor of Tegu... They were finished fairly quickly and then came out to the house site.
The others went to make sandwiches to take out to the dump and then were off to the Special Needs Orphanage and then to the Blind School. It was a busy day for all and everyone is having mixed feelings because the end of most of ours trip is over. We are sad to not have more time to do things here and anticipating being home at the same time. There will be six staying on for a third week. We have more to do tomorrow as well as some flying home.

Villada Morales/Los Pinos Houses

2008-07-30T22:21:00.004-05:00

Today the group who was working on the Los Pinos' house went back to finish it. They were successful and then went to the hospital to cheer up the children there. They sang songs including the Hokey Pokey and made many smiles happen for the sick children there. One little girl in the cancer ward just loved it and asked for them to do it again and again. What a blessing they were to those in the hospital.
The rest of us went to Villada Morales to build 2 houses. One house was for a lady with seven children. We decided to have a ladies house where only the ladies would build it for them. We had a great time, this was the first time in this community for us to build and they really did not know what exactly would happen or what the wood would build. While we were starting to build the evangelizm team starting studying with the lady and her two older children and a man. They returned back to the house some time later and Cisco said, "We have news.." We didn't even have to hear the rest because of the wet hair and clothes we knew that the Lord had added these to the church. Later they also studied with others and one more was added.
When the children entered the house for the first time their eyes were wide and they were very excited. What they had been living in before was not very good at all. They loved the window that they could look out of and see the beautiful mountain. The family was given a house kit that was sent by the Columbus group and she kept saying thank you, thank you. It was a great house and the team worked hard to build a great house for this family. The others went and built a house for a couple with five children. It was also a great house and they got a house kit that was sent by the Colombus group. We also delivered some food bags while we were in this community. Marc is hopeful that with the assistance of the Baxter Institute that a church can be planted there. Pray for this effort and the people in this community who seem to be receptive to the Word. It was a great day!

Organized Chaos in Action

2008-07-29T22:01:00.002-05:00

Some from Starkville went to visit the children at Para Los Ninos today. This is a place that many people from there have close ties to. One said they were surprised that so many of the children remembered them and that they asked about others from Starkville several years ago.
One group went to Los Pinos to build a house and the site they built on was very challenging with a lot of rock to bust through. They perservered and will finish the house tomorrow.
More evangalizm was going on at Los Pinos and another soul was added to the church.
A large group went to do a clothing give away in the Valley... we had never done a give away there and they did not have a church building to work out of so we set up on the soccer field. The bus was on one side and we set up the boxes around and managed the group and gave away to about 200 people. This was a place where most of the children did not have shoes and they were really grateful for the shoes. This is a place where 200 more pairs of shoes would have been appreciated. More people were coming down the hill and we had given all of the stuff we had brought. The people also got Bibles and the people in line who didn't get any clothing still got a Bible and they were very happy. Some of the older children got Bibles too and they seemed very excited.

Stuff happening all over

2008-07-28T22:22:00.002-05:00

Today was an awesome day. A devo this morning we found out that another one of our group was baptized last night. A group went to Los Pinos to finish a house, build a house and evangelize. The Lord added another brother in Christ. Several other studies were done and the seed was planted.
One group several of whom were from Starkville went to the dump today and handed out 350 sandwiches and water. The people at the dump seem to have no reason for hope, but the smiles as they received the sandwiches seems to offer some hope. They stay under umbrellas or lean-tos made out of cardboard boxes. Pray for a way for the dump ministry to continue throughout the year and how to be able to meet their spiritual needs as well as their physical. The group also went to the Special Needs Orphange to play with the children there. These children live there and very few of their parents even visit with them and they really enjoy visitors. They got to help feed them lunch. A prayer was said before lunch and after each child said something they were thankful for. A bowl of rice, green beans, potatoes, roast and bananas. Some played catch and just enjoyed hugs. They really enjoyed the visitors. After they visited for a while they went out to Casa de Esperanza to play with the children. They played soccer and around on the equipment and trampoline. And just showed Jesus' love to them.
A third group went to Sector Ocho to do a clothes give away. This was the first time a clothes give away was done there and it went very well. Around 600 people got clothes today. It was a blessing in this area. This is the same area where the bridge was built. It is amazing to see how much that bridge is used.
It was another great day in Honduras.

The church in Los Pinos

2008-07-27T22:13:00.003-05:00

This morning the whole group attended church services in Los Pinos. It is amazing to think back to 5 years ago today and know that the very first service was held there with brand new Christians. The church there has grown incredibly during that time and has become a center for the community. The Sunday school classrooms are filled with children that are growing up knowing who Jesus is and singing praises to God. The church is growing in knowledge and are evangalizing on their own and not just waiting for mission teams to appear to evangalize. This morning the Lord working through Wesley and Cisco enabled His message to rain down with fire and passion. Four more Christians were added to the church this morning. Behind me I could hear encouraging words and when I looked over my shoulder I saw a lady writing down all of the scriptures and the lady next to her whispering about the scriptures. She was one of those who accepted Jesus today and was baptized. God is amazing the way He is using all of us for His glory. Seeing the now familiar faces of the church there is a blessing each and every time I go.
After worship the group went to the Valley of the Angels and shopped and enjoyed a day of rest and team building. Today really was a great day in Honduras.

A Great Week in Honduras

2008-07-27T08:36:00.002-05:00

Saturday the evangalism was happening again at Los Pinos. Two groups were going out and spreading the good news. As a result the Lord added another 6 to the church. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Others went to the The Market and bought food to put into bags. They took the produce back to the Bodega and sorted it into around 200 bags of food. Each bag had cucumbers, carrots, cabbage, potatoes, and oranges. They took them to a place where we had not given food away before and also took Bibles to give away as well. They gave away 5 cases of Bibles. One lady laid her food bag down when she received her Bible, hugged the Bible tightly to her chest and kept saying, "Que linda" "Que linda" (How beautiful). They were all grateful for the food, but were overcome with excitement to be given a Bible. Imagine if you had no Bible and all of your money had to be used for your family's survival and no way to purchase a Bible. One lady came and asked for a Bible, when they told her there were no more on the bus she said she would wait. She said she had 5 children and needed a Bible for the family. They said maybe the red truck had a Bible, so she waited. When the red truck came they had one and she was so grateful to have a Bible.
This week had been amazing! Twenty-three new Christians, 600 meals went to the
dump, 8 houses were built, 1 bridge was built and has been a great blessing for the people at Sector Ocho. We visited there and saw several people walking across the bridge when just a week ago we saw several walking through the water and getting their feet and clothes week. Also, 2 school building were finished in Nuevo Oriental and 400 bags of fresh food was given away in two communities. God is very good!

Great Da;ys in Honduras

2008-07-25T22:27:00.002-05:00

On Thursday the Evangalism teams were spreading the good news in Ojojona while others were doing the clothes distribution. The Lord added seven to the church that day. Some were baptized in their own pilas and others went down the road a few miles to Santa Anna to the church building.
Friday a crew went to Los Pinos to build a house for a family of six. The family was blessed with a house and will be sleeping in that house this very night. We even moved their bunk bed, full size mattress and small refrigerator (which had almost no food in it) into the house. This was actually done before the fourth wall was put on. Others went back to Nueva Oriental to work on the classrooms. One Bible study was conducted there which resulted in a baptism. One of our very own was baptized as well. Another study on Los Pinos added another sister. The granddaughters were baptized 4 years ago then the mother later and now the grandmother is a Christian as well. God is Good! A trip to the market to buy fresh fruits and vegetables had everyone going out in groups of 5 to buy the assigned fruit or veggie. As a result over 350 families in Los Pinos were taken food boxes of fresh food. This is a rare luxury for most living in this community.
Tonight the group was able to go to the Jesus Statue for a devotional and enjoyed the singing, watching a plane land, and just enjoying the cool weather.

Tuesday and Wednesday

2008-07-24T12:49:00.002-05:00

Tuesday groups went to the feeding center, to continue building on the school buildings, a group went to the bodega (storage room) to sort clothes and make up more baby bags and home kits, another group went to the hospital. Two groups went up to near The Good Shepherd nursing home to build houses for some of the people that work there so they can now live closer to work. One house was the Jinkerson memorial house. His wife, children and grandchildren were here to go out with Marc and build this house in his memory. Two families were blessed to have a new roof over their head. One lady met a child at Nuevo Oriental Mon. and went back and found him on Tues. She is going to sponsor him to help him get school clothes and supplies, and help to feed him as well. She was greatly encouraged by this because she just lost her son to leukemia. She is now able to help another son. God is at work here. Another group had an opportunity to go to Via Nueva Sector Ocho and build a bridge there across the river. This is the place we went to church last Sunday. They used to have a bridge, but it had been ruined during a flood. The group put in the footers, steps and telephone poles and are returning Wed. to drill, put in rebar and put slats on to complete the bridge. This bridge was much needed as some children had to cross the river there to go to school and the water would be about waist deep for them and sometimes they would not be able to go to school at all if the water was too high. Also, some people have to cross the river to go to church as the church building sets next to the river. I know I saw one lady come into the church building Sun. morning carrying a towel. Apparently she had walked across the river, dried her legs and came on up the hill to attend church services. I wonder if we had to walk up a mountain, wade through a river, and arrive not looking our best if we would make it to services or just make an excuse. Something to think about. The whole community will be blessed by this bridge.
Wednesday morning the groups left to continue working on the school buildings, a group went to the dump to do the feeding there and another group went to Ojojona to do a clothes give away to about 200 there. Tonight plans are for an early supper and a trip to Santa Lucia to have devotional at the old church building there. This building is one of the very first buildings built in Central America. More tomorrow.

Great News

2008-07-22T22:44:00.002-05:00

We got great news about 2 little girls that were living on a mountain. SiSi and Rosita's mother had left them several years ago with their grandmother. SiSi is 6 and Rosita is 8 and their grandmother was hit crossing the road and killed sometime last year. They were living with their aunt and she had to leave for work around 7 in the morning and didn't return until 8 or 9 at night. THey were pretty much on their own and others were trying to take care of them. Tonight they are now at the Casa de Esperanza and will be safe and well taken care of. Today the groups took off in many directions. One group went to the hospital and got to take time and see the children and encourage them, some even painted fingernails. One boy just didn't think he wanted to do that although they tried to talk him into it. One group went to the feeding center to help feed the 230 children who came their today to eat. Others worked on the cement school buildings. We built 2 houses in Los Pinos today, had a VBS and did evangalism on the mountain. As a result 2 were baptized. One lady was one who they had studied with last year and she just wasn't sure and this year she was glad to see them and was ready to be baptized. Another was a husband of a lady who was baptized last summer. She was so glad they came back and studied with him. We also had a group go to the dump to feed the people living there. One comment made tonight about that experience was that "I have never seen something so awful but beautiful at the same time." One said the smell was so bad it just took her aback. We will be ready to go out again tomorrow.

Showing God's Love

2008-07-22T08:37:00.003-05:00

Monday a group went to Hospital Esquela and visited all of the floors to uplift all of the children. A group went to Nueva Oriental and worked on the cement block high school and the foundation for the new cement block elementary classroom that is being built. Others were on the mountain evangalizing. The Lord added two souls to the church. Praise God! Others helped in the feeding center that is working Mon. through Friday. They helped the two women who generally cook the food. They made tortillas, vegetable stew, small bits of ham, and rice. They feed usually between 175 to 250 children daily. Those who served were amazed by these women because the work is hard. They have a stone stove which is fueled by wood. Amazing to think of feeding that many on a wood stove. Another group was off to Santa Anna for house building. A group from Chenal Valley group along with a few extras to help went to build a special house right up on the hilltop. They carried the wood straight up the mountain, worked through some rain, and didn't stop until the lighting stike hit a tree about 50 yards from the house. Looking at the smoking and split tree they knew it was time to quit and leave the mountain. God kept everyone safe and they are returning Tuesday to finish the house for mary Williams. The view is awesome and they are eager to drive back, hike up and finish. God's love was shown in all of the places we were. God is Good.

Sunday's Adventures

2008-07-20T20:36:00.002-05:00

Today was a great day in Honduras. We went to church in a little place called Via Nueva Sector Ocho. The bus can only take you part way and a little hike up a hill was what was needed to get our blood pumping. We walked over the last little hill and the low water crossing indeed had water crossing over it. Marc loaded up 10 in his truck at a time and backed over the flowing water, let those out and crossed over again until he had everyone over and we all were able to walk 30 feet and into the church building. The worship service was tremendous. They were all so happy to have us worshipping with them. You could see their excitement in each and every face. After worship we again took the trip over the low water crossing in the truck. Several of us were willing to walk through the water after all everyone else (the natives) was walking over. Marc reminded us of the parasites in the water and we all crawled in the back of the truck to be driven over. Off to lunch we went. We left about 10 to eat at the fast food area and the rest of us went to a little Honduran resturant and enjoyed Honduran food. It was great and the 6 person staff took care of our group as quickly as possible. When we got everyone back on the bus it was off to the bodega (the storage place) to pick up some toys and things to give away during a quick trip to Hospital Esquela. As we were picking up toys Marc bought 200 hamburgers and we took the toys and burgers to the hospital, fed the children and their families and did our very best to cheer them up. Then back to the Mission House. We are all waiting for our final bedding arrangements and then praying that the group driving up from San Pedro Sulu indeed make it here by 10:00.

Please Be Prepared

2008-05-15T09:26:00.002-05:00

As you all know, the price of everything has been like a "skyrocket". We have been able to hold the cost of the 2008 mission the same for the past 3 years however, this year you will need to be prepared to pay your own exit fee. This is not terrible - the current cost is $34. I just wanted to give everybody a heads-up as soon as I could. The main reason is that our airfare has risen to more than $900 per person this year. In the past we have been able to get tickets for around $750 to $800 per ticket.
The cost increases may cut the number of houses we build by 2 or 3 (we will still build more than 13 or 14). I can promise you that we will all be as busy as ever.
Thanks for all that everybody is doing to get ready for TORCH 2008. Don't be afraid to encourage friends, family, and people that you don't even know to participate in your mission. Tell them about your work and see if they would like to build a house or send some food to a hungry family.
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc Tindall

Summer 2008

2008-04-26T19:48:00.002-05:00

I have been spending a lot of time on the mountains where we will be working. The people here are very excited that you are coming. Even if you have never been here, there are prayers for you and prayers for what our God has planned for you while you are here in Honduras.
If you have never heard me say it before, you will when you are here - you are coming here to be an answer to many prayers. Right now, people are praying for help with a house, help with food, for hope, for something better than they have right now. You - along with the others in our team are going to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Others will be the voice of Jesus as they take the good news of the gospel to people that need a little bit of good news.
We will be working in many different communities - some of them are Los Pinos, Santa Ana & Ojojona, Nueva Oriental, and several others. All of these places are unique. If you have been here before, you will already have a favorite and if you are coming for the first time, you will be amazed at how loving the people are....especially the kids.
I am counting the days till you come. Terri and I are both excited that all of you are coming.
Be a blessing to somebody today.
Marc

TORCH 2008

2008-02-10T21:56:00.000-06:00

As we approach the middle of February, we are well on our way to making TORCH's 2008 mission to Honduras a reality. I don't know who our God has planned to be a part of this years mission but, I am anxious to find out. I do know this, in the many years that we have been putting teams together, we have never been disappointed with the mission that our God sent us on.
As you may have noticed, there are 3 weeks of mission opportunity this year. We have already had several that have indicated that they would like to stay for the entire 3 weeks. That will be great - the only increase in the cost would be the cost of an extra week at the mission house and a few dollars to help us off-set the cost of the buses. I haven't calculated the total extra cost but it will be somewhere around $125 to $135. Send me an email or list your interest when you send your registration.
Please feel free to post a question, send me an email, or let me know if you need to talk and I will give you a call.
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc

TORCH 2008

2008-01-15T15:43:00.000-06:00

I am back on this blog area and will be giving you updates on all you need to know about coming to Honduras in 2008. For those of you coming on the July mission - this post will have a registration for the summer trip. You will note that this year we are going to have 2 trips - one running from July 20 to August 2 and an overlaping trip that will run from July 27 to August 9. I expect the first group to be about 75 strong and the second group to be about 25. Feel free to send me a note if you are interested in staying for the entire trip.
2008 Registration
July 20 – August 2 OR
July 27 to August 9
Cost of trip is $1350.
TORCH MISSIONS
PO 9222Columbus, MS 39705
Trip Date____________________________
Email address__________________
Name(As on your Passport____________________________
Date of Birth_____________ Age______
Street Address______________________________________________
Home Phone______________________
Cell Phone_____________________________
Social Security Number_______________________
Passport Number_______________________
City Issued_________________________
Date Issued____________________________
Expiration Date_____________________
Are you a Christian? Yes____ No_____
Name of Church youAddress of Church you attend_______________________________________________
Male____ Female____ Adult____ Teen____ Child____ Single____ Married______If married are husband and wife on the trip together?? Yes_____ No_____
Adults occupation_______________________________________________
Students academic classification & name of school_____________________
Languages you speak____________________________________________
Foreign Countries you have visited_________________________________
Are you in good physical condition? Yes_____ No______
Are you taking prescription medication on a regular basis? Yes____ No_____
If yes, List medications and conditions being treated_______________________________________________________
Allergies_________________________________________________
Adult T shirt size Small_____ Medium_____ Large_____ X Large ______ XXL_____
Signature & Date_____________________________________________
IMPORTANT Everyone traveling must fill out an applicationThis registration is due ASAP & must be accompanied with a $150 deposit. Airfare of $650 is due by May 1 and the balance is due June 30
Your registration also includes a commitment to raise a minimum of $200 that will be used for benevolence work in Honduras.

Heading Home

2007-08-06T13:11:00.001-05:00

The last TORCH work day for the summer was Saturday the 4th. A house was built in a place that most of us that have built many houses would call a "house of death". Please don't think we would take our teams to places of danger - the site would be called this because the workers would be thinking that they might die from the work needed just to go up the mountain to get to the site. Anyway, this site required the team to climb and to go through three houses just to get the wood onto the place where the house would be built. It was needless to say a challenge. The great thing here is that the house was finished and in spite of the tremendous efforts necessary for the team - everybody ended their work in Honduras with a smile on their face.
The really cool thing about Saturday was that one more of our team made a decision to follow Jesus into the water. Demi Lane confessed the name of Jesus and his good friend Rom was blessed to be able to baptize him. What a way to finish our work. We celebrated the end at Baskin Robins and everybody slept well before the trip home on Sunday.
Our God is AWESOME and this was truly another great day in Honduras.
I plan to post a summary of the summer this week so - stay tuned.
Blessings,
Marc

Santa Ana

2007-08-04T07:29:00.000-05:00

About two years ago this week, we broke ground on a place called Casa de Esperanza. The "House of Hope" is a beautiful place and there are now 16 children there that our God has rescued from places that are very difficult for me to even think about. The oldest child that we care for is 10 and almost al of our kids have been beaten, starved, raped, prostituted, ignored, hurt, wounded, or abused in other ways. Looking at them now - you might never suspect any of this. They are happy, love to play, learn, and be around people. They are very trusting of the people that come to Casa. God has made this place a refuge for the hurting.
Casa de Esperanza is where we worked on Friday. Casa is on a beautiful property in a community called Santa Ana. Our work included assisting in the construction of new Sunday School classrooms for the church in Santa Ana, working to restock our pharmacy in the clinic, we also worked on the playground at the children's home - our job was to add wood shavings to the area below the equipment so that the kids would not be hurt as often when they fall from the swings and slides. We also had a small clinic where all of the children from the children's home were examined by Kim and several of the children from the area around the children's home were also treated for various needs.
We finished our day by sharing a great meal and celebrating the 50th birthday of our bro - Dennis Carter.
It was truly Another Great Day in Honduras!
Blessings,
Marc

Hospital Esquala

2007-08-02T22:32:00.001-05:00

Today was a unique experience for a lot of our group. This morning we all went to Hospital Esquala - the teaching hospital of Honduras. The group split into three teams and set out to meet and visit with the children in the many areas of the hospital. These included the nutrition ward where there are many kids that are near death from not having anything to eat in their homes. There was visits made to the baby area and many smiles were a part of that portion of the ministry. Others of the team were visiting the children of the burn ward and the cancer ward. All of the team shared smiles, hugs, prayers, and time with the children. Prayers for God's will were lifted up and there were changed lives today.
Sasha Lane was one changed life that was evident. Sasha was baptized by her dad tonight and I was blessed to be a witness. God is good... all the time.
After leaving the hospital, we went to Jovenes en Camino - a home for homeless boys. The visit there was great and the boys are so happy. The home is in a community called Zomorano and there are about 90 boys that call it home.
We ended the day by seeing the baptism of Sasha and a time of prayer, singing, and sharing of thoughts.
It was another great day in Honduras.
Blessings,
Marc

A New Ministry

2007-08-02T07:03:00.000-05:00

Today we worked in a mountain area that was at one time called Israel - they changed the name and I just cannot remember the new "official" name. Israel is the first community where TORCH built a building and planted a church. The church is going strong with over 130 adults and more than 80 children. The building is very good and is a center of the community.
Today we used the building to try out "Photo Ministry". The idea was thought up by Mrs. Lane from Columbia, SC and it is so simple. The group from SC brought a photo printer and some simple paper frames. They took pictures of the children, printed & framed them, and then worked with the kids to decorate the frame and add a verse so that everytime someone looked at the picture they would be reminded of this day and the verse that they were taught. The children loved having their picture made and being able to take it home to their mother.
Later in the day, we made cotton candy - raspberry of course - and every kid in the village (plus our workers) were smurf blue.
While the team was working in the area of the church building, there was a house being built for a family that had lost everything they owned in a fire. The house crew did an amazing job and took care to deliver the best house possible for this family. Speaking of family, ours grew by three yesterday. Cisco was on the mountain yesterday talking about Jesus. While all the activity was going on, Cisco participated in the harvest of three new sisters in Jesus.
Our God is GOOD... All the time!
Wednesday was truly a great day in Honduras.
Blessings,
Marc

Tuesday In Honduras

2007-08-01T07:08:00.001-05:00

This morning about 72 of the group that arrived on July 19th departed for home. That left us with 18 from Columbia, SC - along with a few others, our team is down to a "one bus team". That didn't however stop the work. This morning there was a load of about 5,000 pounds of food that was packed into 240 bags - about a week of food for a family. This team did the pack out in about 3 hours and was anxious to deliver it to hungry familes. After lunch, that is exactly what we did. We first went to a community that is visable from one of the main highways - one that we have never delivered food into - we went house to house and delivered about 100 bags of food. From there we went to Nueva Suyapa to help families there. The families were so thankful - to our God for answering their prayers.
It is always refreshing in Honduras to hear people praise God when they recieve a house or much needed food. This is almost always the case - the folks have been praying for help and when we are able to help them, they see us as the way that God intended to answer their prayers. This is really cool because it is all we want to be. Our work is all about Jesus and we are only here to bring glory to his name.
Today was a great day in Honduras.
Blessings,
Marc

Monday

2007-07-30T23:36:00.000-05:00

Today was the last day on the mountain for over 80 of us. We were originally heading to Nueva Oriental to do a clothing give-away but when the bus pulled up, there was a group from the Nashville area already doing the same thing. We changed plans quickly and were able to move up to Los Pinos. Well over 200 families were served by the event and Maria Phillips was an amazing organizer for this event.
While the team was working in with clothing, there was another group on the Los Pinos mountain completing the construction of a house that was started last week. In addition to the completion of the house, there was tin and lumber delivered so that 3 additional houses could recieve new a new roof. Leaving Los Pinos was hard because our team has renewed many relationships and made many other new ones. Los Pinos has made it's way into the hearts of many many people on our team.
Today we sent our last team to Hospital Esquela and the Mi Esperanza house. Later, everybody made their way to the School For The Blind to meet the 45 or so students and to hear them sing and to sing to them.
We finished the day at the Jesus Statue for our devotional - Tomorrow, we will slim down to a group of about 20. Still lots of work ahead.
It has been another Great Day in Honduras!
Blessings,
Marc

What A Weekend

2007-07-29T23:28:00.000-05:00

On Saturday we went to a new (for TORCH) community to work. Our drive to Rio Hondo was about an hour NE of Tegucigalpa. There were 3 mountain ranges between us and the community and the village was really nice.
Our group divided into three aread of work - medical, construction, and evangelism. It was an amazing day as we were able to complete 3 houses before 4 in the afternoon, we treated over 250 in the clinic, and many heard the gospel and there were 3 new Christians as a result of the bible studies. The team was unified in all of the work and God blessed everybody with a great day in Honduras.
Today we went to church in Los Pinos and worshiped.Wesley preached and Cisco translated. Their words were powerful and 6 ladies responded to the invitation seeking to become Christians. We were able to be witnesses to their new birth. There were 250 adults and over 200 children in attendence for this 4th anniversary of a congregation meeting in Los Pinos.
After church we went a quick lunch and were off to the Valley of Angels for shopping & relaxation. We finished our day with a great meal at Los Tejas and a wonderful devotional at the Santa Lucia church - a favorite of many.
This has been a Great weekend in Honduras.
Blessings,
Marc

Friday- Another Great Day

2007-07-27T23:07:00.001-05:00

We were scattered around today. There were teams at Hospital Esquala, in El Hitillo, working at the misson house, in Los Pinos, and other places. All were working together and working for a common goal. When this happens, people around our team recognize that it is Jesus working through his followers and they begin to ask questions about the reason that we are "different".
Today the team building houses in the lower El Hitillo community attracted many people that were interested in what was happening and why a bunch of people from North America would come to their conutry to work and build. In Los Pinos many seeds were planted. the harvest was one but, when this crop is harvested, I'm confident that there will be many many more. Our teams on the mountain work hard to deliver the message and I am blessed everyday with the many stories about the work that happened.
A team of 10 stayed behind today to organize the " stuff"for a day of giving that is scheduled for Monday. After working here, they rode to the IRC Warehouse in Tegucigalpa to complete their job. We are now ready for the job ahead.
While all the work on different mountains was going on, there was a small group that loaded and delivered 150 food bags to the church in Los Pinos. The plan is for the members of the churh to deliver the food to the community where they live. We are working with the local churches because they will still be there when the TORCH groups leave.
This afternoon we were joined by a group from SC and they are very excired bout the work ahead and many other things that are planned. Pray for them.
Today was truly another great day in Honduras.
Blessings & Love
marc
Saturday - another day filled with new adventure!

Amazing Day

2007-07-27T07:25:00.000-05:00

Thursday was started in an amazing way and finished with a beautiful devotional praising our God with song and prayer.
One of the guards at the mission house – Pedro had been asking a lot of questions about what we do and why. Wesley and Cisco told him that they only use scripture to help people understand what is needed to meet Jesus. After study and prayer, Pedro decided that he wanted to dedicate his life to Jesus and he was baptized in the fountain. That’s not all! Our evangelism team continued their work on the mountain and studied with several folks. Four more people were moved to dedicate their lives to Jesus and came to him in the water. Our God is Amazing. This was the first time that we had ever worked in this new community and the fields there were ready for a harvest. Our team on the mountain worked with the local minister showing them people that he believed would be willing to study and the Lord did the rest.
While the evangelism team was working, there was a clinic in the church building and over 150 were treated for various illnesses. Two houses were built in the same community and the folks there could see Jesus in action.
We also sent about 18 people to Comayagua – about 60 miles away to build a block house for the mother of one of the workers at a children’s home sponsored by the church in Starkville. Moving and working with block and concrete is one of the hardest jobs you can do – add in the heat and it was a tough but rewarding day for that team.
Summary – 5 new Christians, 3 new houses, 150+ treated in a clinic, 85 tired workers for Jesus!
Another Great Day in Honduras!
Blessings,
marc

Jesus Everywhere

2007-07-25T23:44:00.001-05:00

Today our teams were everywhere. We sent two teams to Los Pinos to finish the undone houses from Tuesday. There were two other teams that built today too. One was a birthday house for a young lady in her 90's from the Fairview Heights Church of Christ in Illinois - what a great birthday present! The house was in a community called Suipa and there will be 6 people living in the new house. This community is one of the poorest that I have seen and that makes it one of the poorest in the world! The other house was built for the Griffin Road Church of Christ in Ft Lauderdale, FL. This church is responsible for 5 of our houses this year. The Griffin Road house was built for a lady and her 7 children and it is in Villa Nueva Sector Cinco.
There was a medical team in another area of Villa Nueva called sector ocho. The team treated more than 150 people in need. On the way to the mountain, there was a food distribution where 150 families recieved a bag of food, a smile from one of our team, and the love of Jesus. The team that went to Hospital Esquala was also part of the food distribution team. The food delivered will last a family of 5 about a week.
Back on Los Pinos, Cisco and Wesley led and evangelism team while Maria Phillips and Maria Garcia taught a womans class. Tonight there are 5 new Christians in Los Pinos. On top of that, there are others that are very close to making a decision to follow Jesus. Pray for them.
We have also continued to send workers daily to Casa de Esperanza - the house of hope. Last night Cody (Baton Rouge) & AJ (Hot Springs) were workers at Casa and they reported having a great night. Three others are there tonight.
A lot of things are going on in Honduras to make every day a great day.
Blessings,
Marc

Half Way Home

2007-07-25T06:39:00.000-05:00

We are about the half way point of our work as a team and last night I sensed a few tired folks. This work here is very different from most of the day to day things that we experience in the USA. The mountains are steep and the work is very tough. The people on the mountain don't speak our language, they don't have cars or TV's or anything to eat. They are also receptive to hearing good news and many of them believe when they hear a message of hope. Yesterday there were 3 people that heard, believed, repented, and put on a new life by being baptized. Our God is good... all the time.
Our goal of finishing 4 houses in a day was not met - 2 houses were finished and 2 need work. The houses wil be finished early today and these families will be in their new homes before noon. The construction teams were faced with challenges like building on mountain sides and having hugh rocks in the exact place where a corner post needed to be set. One of the finished houses was built by many of the women on our team and it turned out to be an excellent example of what a TORCH house should be. The women added touches like curtains and shelves. They also put the added touch of writting a favorite verse of scripture on the bottom board below the floor.
The day was complete when we all gathered to sing praises, hear a few thoughts from one of the young men, and sharing where we saw Jesus today.
Tuesday was truly another great day in Honduras.
Blessings,
Marc

Monday Houses

2007-07-24T07:11:00.000-05:00

Monday was truly a great day in Honduras.
Our team worked in Los Pinos. There were 3 houses built, a VBS team led by Vickie from Charlotte, a ministry for women led by Maria Phillips, bible studies led by Wesley & Cisco, a team at the hospital led by Amanda Phillips, a food pack team led by Terri, and with all of this - lives were touched.
The end of the day on the mountain was exciting as one man chose to become a Christian and many of the group were witnesses to the baptism of Philipe.
God is good, all the time.
Our evening devotional was full of heart felt praise and worship and we were able to share many thoughts on where we saw Jesus - in each other and in the many people on the mountain. Learning to see Jesus in our daily lives is one of the big benefits of working in a place like Honduras. We have removed most all of the distractions of the world around us and that allows us to take the time we need to see the Lord in the people around us.
So far we have built 7 houses, packed 500 bags of food (about 10,000 pounds), treated over 200 in clinics, talked to dozens about Jesus, and witnessed the birth of 2 new Christians.
Today we will work to build 4 houses in the same day - this hasn't been done since we started building floors - Pray for this work. Of course, we will have many other ministries going on at the same time.
Ending this morning, I'd like to ask all of you to remember Clare Carter in your prayers. She had a construction mishap yesterday (big bar on a small foot) and recieved 6 stitches. She will be fine but, just pray that she will be back in action very quickly.
Blessings &
Another Great Day in Honduras
marc

Saturday & Sunday

2007-07-22T19:17:00.000-05:00

Great Days!
There were 3 houses built in Los Pinos on Saturday and - tough building locations but our teams were tougher and the houses are excellent. There were over 40 people working on the house teams - the brand new crew from Baton Rouge was able to build their first "from scratch" house and they loved it.
There was a medical clinic in Los Pinos where over 200 were treated for a variety of illnesses. Communities like Los Pinos are always happy to have a team of medical workers because there are so few opportunities. Our medical team was led by Jim Lup and they were awesome. Every person in the community that needed care recieved it.
We closed out our day with a welcome for the balance of our team and a great devotional. There were a large number of our team that shared "where they saw Jesus".
This morning we attended church at Santa Ana. The 86 of us added to the 60 or so local members made today one of the largest since the church was planted there - 2 years ago today.
For the new week before us, we are planning to knock out 3 houses every day - that should get is to over 20 by the end of the week. Right now, wood os our biggest concern - we however have the secret weapon - Timoteo Estrada - Timo is the expert in getting our team wood - even when there are tons of other groups trying to buy materials. Thanks Timo!
We are sending teams to Hospital Esquala every day this week and there are guys and gals that will be staying at Casa de Esperanza to help care for our 16 children.
Our evangelism teams will be working the mountain tomorrow and we look forward to reporting the wonderful results that our God will deliver.
Thanks for reading, praying, and tinking about our team.
Our God is good...all the time.
Another Great Day in Honduras!
Marc

Bad Day? No Way

2007-07-21T07:17:00.001-05:00

Yesterday started like almost everyone that we have while working here....early breakfast, short devotional, work plans and off to the buses.
Well, we didn't know it but the day was one that was set to be full of "welcome to Honduras" moments. We planned to build 3 total houses ( one for the group that was already here and 2 for our team - our suppliers only delivered the wood for 2 - "Welcome to Honduras", our hardware supplier was out of roofing material and nails - "Welcome to Honduras", when we found a place that had the hardware and roofing that we needed - it took an hour for the truck to get there because there was a wreck on the highway - "Welcome to Honduras", the flight from Memphis was here on time but nobody from the flight got off because all 25 were stuck in Houston - "Welcome to Honduras" (we did get 14 here and the others will be here at 11:30 today). I could go on about the "Welcome to Honduras" moments of the day but - I'm guessing that you get the point.
Well, the day ended much differently.
We all went to the Jesus Statue for our evening devotional and it was awesome to stand above the city where we will be working to sing praises to our God and to talk about the great things that he has done for us. After returning to the mission house, we were blessed that one of our bus drivers - a new one this year - chose to be a Christian and was baptized in the fountain.
Not such a bad day after all.
Thank you God for reminding us why we are here!
Blessings,
Marc
Today will be another great day in Honduras.

Hit The Road

2007-07-20T07:07:00.000-05:00

The travellers from Thursday arrived - all three flights were actually a little early! Everyone hopefully had a great night of sleep and will be ready to Hit the Road Running because that is what we'll do today. We will be a complete team when the 11:30 AM flight from Memphis arrives and there will be 85 of us working to serve Jesus.
The Thursday team will be working in a community called Santa Ana. That is the location of Casa de Esperanza. Casa is a children's home that is part of our permanent ministry in Honduras. There are 16 children there and they are all beautiful and crave love. Our team will be there do deliver on that. While in Santa Ana, we will be working with the local church to help the community - building 2 houses and preparing for a clinic. There is a clinic on our property in Santa Ana and we have access to all of the meds and equipment for our clinic work. This afternoon, we will have a ladies ministry at the church building that will be taught by one of our team members from Illinois.
Thanks for sending your messages to the team. We expect that today will be -
Another Great Day in Honduras
Blessings,
Marc

IT's HERE!

2007-07-19T07:13:00.000-05:00

Today I am on my way to the airport to pick up the first 60 of the Mississippi (and all over) team.
WOW! It's gonna be a great day in Honduras.
We have the first load of food arriving at the mission house at about 5 this afternoon. We also have 2 houses of wood arriving in Santa Ana scheduled for tomorrow morning. Tomorrow while the last 25 are flying from Memphis, we'll be building 2 houses, preparing for a clinic, teaching women about Jesus, and playing with the children at Casa de Esperanza. Our God is GOOD all the time.
Dios es bien, todo tiempo.
Please pray every day for our team. You can feel free to post comments to your favorite TORCH member and we will make sure that they get the message.
Pray for the work and that lives will be changed.
Blessings,
Marc

Next Week

2007-07-11T20:11:00.000-05:00

Can't believe that we are only a week away from having the team here in Honduras. A bunch of you will arrive on the 19th - my birthday while the remaining 25 will be here on the 20th. everybody here is very excited that all of you are coming. This group is the favorite of almost everybody that works with TORCH. Why - that's because our team ROCKS!
This team rocks because all of you come ready to work and serve the needs of many of the people that you have come ot know and love.
We are going to be a gathering of folks from all over the country - 85 strong. Our team will be building 24 or 25 house, we'll be packing out at least 10 tons of food and we'll have medical clinics that will treat 100's in a single day. All of this while people are on the mountain talking about the good things that Jesus has done for them and helping them learn how much he will do for them.
Get ready! It's going to be a great year in Honduras.
Blessings,
Marc

Phone Revised

2007-06-27T00:02:00.000-05:00

Well, if you have ever been to an orientaion of mine, you have heard me say that you can't leave anything that you want to keep laying around on one of the mountains of Honduras. I guess I didn't listen to myself and today I "gave" my cell phone away.
My new number for your relatives and interested parties is
011-504-3313-7826
Please share this with people that need to know.
Blessings,
Marc

Houses

2007-06-21T07:29:00.000-05:00

Since coming to a Honduras on the 11th, I have been in several communities and have witnessed some of the worst living conditions that I have ever seen. One story stands out -
In Santa Ana, there is an old man living on a mountain top. His house is literally made of sticks and his floor is dirt. On Sunday afternoon, I slammed my truck into low 4 and headed up his mountain. I met him listening to his transister (pre-digital age) radio - (Sunday was Honduras football). It was close to becoming dark and the house doesn't have electricity. A friend from Tupelo was with me and I told him to do a "food patrol" while I talked to the old guy. We didn't see any evidence of food in the house but, the old man with a thoothless grin pulled out a small bag and inside was 2 small cakes that he told us he had been given at church that morning. He wanted to give the cakes to us - his only food and he offered them as a gift to people that he didn't even know.
I guess that this is what Jesus was talking about when he said "I was hungry and you gave me something to eat" or when he told the apostles about the old woman that gave away her last two copper coins.
We are planning to build this house soon!
Marc

HONDO CELL

2007-05-17T18:15:00.000-05:00

Write this down and share it with anyone that might need it.
My Honduras cell number - as dialed from a US phone is
011-504-33-19-9778
This will be for use in an emergency and you will NOT be able to have your mom call it to tell you that they miss you.
WOW! Can you believe that we are only 2 months from our Mission! Plans are coming together and I just know that everyone that is on our team will be blessed and will be a blessing. Start praying every day for our work and for our team. If you are new this year - get ready for the best 2 weeks of your life. If you are returning this year - I know that it is hard to believe but, every year builds on the previous and the work and experience gets better and better.
I'm excited and am really looking forward to seeing what our AWESOME God has planned for TORCH 2007.
Great days in Honduras wll be here soon!
Blessings,
Marc

MAY DAY

2007-05-01T19:15:00.000-05:00

In many parts of the world, May Day is a celebration - mostly in places like Cuba and other less than friendly nations - I think.
Here at my house - May Day means that the due date for airfare has arrived. Sort of a "deal or no deal" moment. Either you send the airfare - quickly (deal) or you don't (no deal). I sorta like the show that goes by the same name and for the life of me I don't understand how so many of the folks give up big bucks to take a chance on a "better deal". The situation here is different because if you think that by waiting to send your airfare is going to make you get a better deal - guess again. You snooze - you lose. Don't pay, don't play. All of these little sayings are going to be true and you will be home in July when all of us are in Honduras.
SEND THE AIRFARE PLEASE!
Thanks,
Marc
Ps: for the few of you that have already sent your airfare - get ready for Great DAys in Honduras.

Summer Plans

2007-04-19T10:23:00.000-05:00

I was in Honduras for the past week and saw so many of the things that keep me going back. It is amazing that - just like here in the states - we can drive past areas of suffering and never take the time to open our eyes to see what is happening. That was the case for me on Sunday morning. I had to leave Santa Ana early Sunday morning to take a friend to the airport so I decided to go on over to Los Pinos to attend worship. On the way to Los Pinos, I noticed an exit sign into a community called Colonia La Canada. It is in easy view from the highway and I had never noticed it. In Colonia La Canada, there are probably 50 houses and there isn't one of them that doesn't need to be torn down and replaced. Likely there are about 350 to 400 people living in these 50 houses and they need to be noticed. If they are living in places like I saw, then it is obvious that they are hungry and need to be fed too. If they are hungry, then they are probably in need of some "Good News!" too. We have all of the tools that these people are praying for - we can deliver houses, food, & the hope and promise of a better time. All in the name of Jesus.
If you are not praying every day for our mission, it is time to start. Pray today for the people of Colonia La Canada.
We all need to be praying that our God will pour out blessings on the people of Honduras through our team. Please pray that we will have all the resourses that we can use to build, feed, and deliver the good news to people in need.
I am ready for 13 great days in Honduras!
Blessings,
Marc

Notice For MAY

2007-04-05T12:24:00.000-05:00

With May 1 coming fast, I just wanted to remind all of you that your AIRFARE will need to be coming my way!
By now you should have completed your application and sent a deposit. If you are behind on that, then go ahead and send your application NOW. We cannot get everything that we need to get done without an application. Even if you don't yet have a passport in hand, send an application and leave the passport number blank. We use the info on your application to secure your short term missionary insurance. This is important because we don't let anyone on a TORCH Team unless they have it.
Now - for those of you that haven't yet done what you need to do to get a passport - WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Don't think you can wait till June to get this done. There are more applications for passports going through the process right now than ever. That means that it is going to take you 8 to 10 weeks to get your little blue book back in the mail. DON'T WAIT.
How are you doing on raising money to build houses and buy food?
Ask your rich friends and the parents of your rich friends if they would like to build a house for a family that doesn't have one. For $1,000 a family can have a warm & dry place to live.
Don't be afraid to tell people about what you are doing on your summer vacation. You will be amazed at the number of people that will support the work if you just tell them about the needs of the poor.
Have a blessed Easter.
Marc

Get Ready

2007-03-22T11:20:00.000-05:00

Can you believe that April 1 is almost here - that means that we are moving fast toward our annual time together. I can't wait.
As you know, we will all be arriving on either the 19th or 20th of July and you can be assured that you will be put to work as soon as you get off of the bus. I just want each of you to make sure that you are able to make the trip because we are going to need every one of you to finish the work that our God has planned for us. That means that you need to be holding a USA Passport. Passports are very easy to get - as long as you plan in advance. Right now it is taking passport offices about 10 weeks to deliver - and that is only if you get all the paperwork that they need - the first time! Even expidited passports are 4 weeks in process. DON'T WAIT!
Next- you gotta get your application to me! We use the info on this form to get your missionary insurance and order your T-Shirt (which you are gonna love) If you don't send the application, don't expect your shirt to fit!
Our work this year is going to be amazing - and as usual, full of different things that none of us expected.
Well, from hear on out, I'll be posting new info about every week - stay tuned for more and more details about TORCH 2007.
Love & Blessings,
Marc
Ps: my new cell is 618-520-0589 - feel free to call if you need anything.

2007 Application

2007-01-17T15:09:00.000-06:00

2007 Application
TORCH APPLICATION FORM ’07
Memphis - July 20-31
Others July 19-31
Cost of trip is $1325.
TORCH MISSIONS
124 Spyglass Ct
O’Fallon, IL 62269
Email address___________________Name_________________________________
Date of Birth_____________ Age______
Street Address______________________________________________
Home Phone______________________
Cell Phone_____________________________
Social Security Number_______________________
PassportNumber_______________________
City Issued_________________________Date Issued____________________________
Expiration Date_____________________
Are you a Christian? Yes____ No_____
Name of Church you
Address of Church you attend_______________________________________________
Male____ Female____ Adult____ Teen____ Child____ Single____ Married______
If married are husband and wife on the trip together?? Yes_____ No_____
Adults occupation_______________________________________________
Students academic classification & name of school____________________________
Languages you speak___________________________________________________
Foreign Countries you have visited______________________________________
Are you in good physical condition? Yes_____ No______
Are you taking prescription medication on a regular basis? Yes____ No_____
If yes, List medications and conditions being treated _______________________________________________________
Allergies_________________________________________________
Adult T shirt size Small_____ Medium_____ Large_____ XLarge ______ XXL_____
I have read and accept the conditions listed in the information section of the TORCH Program AND I commit to raising a minimum of $200 over and above the cost of the trip to support the benevolent work of my team.___________________________ _______________________Signature Date
IMPORTANT Everyone traveling must fill out an application
This application is due February 15 & must be accompanied by:$150 deposit
Spanish Parent consent form - signed and notorized
Copy of your passport One Passport sized photo
Letter of recommendation for TORCH trip (if it is your first trip)
Essay: Why do you want to participate in this trip

The Latest & Greatest!

2006-11-28T21:05:00.000-06:00

Well, here I sit in a hotel in beautiful Sherman, TX thinking about the short 7 months that separate us from TORCH 2007.
Our new year promises to go fast and that means that all of us have a great deal of planning that needs to take place before we board planes and head south. The first thing that comes to my mind is a passport check. I'd suggest that everyone that hasn't seen their passport since they returned from Honduras last summer - find it, look at it to make sure it isn't going to expire anytime soon, and then put it in a safe place and tell others in your family exactly where it is. Last summer, we had a young lady that was certain that she knwe exactly where her passport was and when it came time to depart - the passport was lost and the young lady stayed home. You can't go to Hondo without a valid passport.
If you know of perple that are new to our group, encourage them to go now to apply for their passport.
I plan to post an application here in the next week or so and you'll all need to complete it and get it in with a $150 per person deposit. I have already paid about $100 per ticket deposit for 60+ airline tickets and I'm going to need to pay a deposit to the mission house in early 2007 so, I'm going to need your deposits by February. Since we are going to hold our group to about 80, you would be best advised to get in early rather than waiting. When we are full, we will be full. I'm not taking a monster team - 80 is the number.
Once again in 2007, we'll be asking everyone that signs an application to committ to raising an extra $200 (more is okay) for our benevolent work. Those dollars are our working fund and they allow us to buy food and build houses, hold clinics, and other good works. Tell your friends you'll build a house for them and you'd be surprised at how many people will be willing to help out.
Watch for the aplication soon.
I love y'all!
Marc

TORCH 2007

2006-09-27T08:54:00.000-05:00

I have already started working with Cont. & American to secure our seats for next year and so far things are going well. We will have a small - $75 increase over 2006 but, we are going to have 12 days!
Where in the world can you get 12 days like we have for about $100 a day? You can't!
Here is where we are with our team -
Texas has estimated 25, Starkville - 15, Hot Springs - 10, St Louis/ IL - 15, Florida - 10, NC - 5. As you can see, we are nearing our FILLED status and it isn't even October 1. Of course, nothing is firm until we get a deposit and an application. I'll get those posted within the next couple of weeks.
If y'all haven't seen the new website for Casa de Esperanza, you need too. You can get there by going to www.cde-hopehouse.org Check it out and share it with your friends. When you go to the "about us" section, give the video a couple of seconds to load and enjoy!
I love all y'all and look forward to seeing you soon. Terri & I will be travelling to Hondo on December 1 for a few days and if you have an interest in a long weekend in Hondo, let me know.
Marc

TORCH 2007

2006-09-09T08:03:00.000-05:00

Here we are folks - already getting ready for 2007!
The group size has the potential of getting full fast so, I need everybody that heads up an area to get to me with your "forecast" of people. We are going to hold fast to 80.
That will be IT!
The dates are July 20 to 31.
Price will be as similar to last year as possible - most likely a $75 price increase to $1325. We will also hold to our benevolent fund raising comittment of $200 per person.
This is still the best bargain in missions that I can find. Most mission groups are at this price for ground only and air fare is extra.
Let me know ASAP or you may be Left Behind.
Marc

Truck & Other Stuff

2006-08-28T08:35:00.000-05:00

Less than a month ago, 65 of us were in Honduras - working shoulder to shoulder together.
I hope that the time that we've been home hasn't dampened your fire for service - I know that personally, I'm more fired up than ever about the work that our God has planned for us to do together.
I just wanted to give everybody an update on good things that are happening - first a Josue update. As we all eagerly anticipated, Josue & Karen are parents - the surprise is that they have a son and not the daughter that they were certain was coming. His name is Josue. Please pray for the new family.
Also wanted you all to know some of the good that you helped make happen. A new "Bodega" is about to be under construction at Casa de Esperanza and it is because of you that this can happen. In December we will begin construction on 2 Sunday School class rooms at the church in Santa Ana - again because of your hard work. Also, we were able to buy a truck for use in Santa Ana and at the children's home. Now, Noel will be able to pick-up a number of Christians that until now have lived too far from the church building to get there every Sunday. I'm pickng up the truck today and will get it shipped to Honduras as soon as possible.
I hope to have dates for next year as soon as this week. Keep watching here for news.
Marc

That's What It's All About

2006-08-10T15:19:00.000-05:00

The "Hokey Pokey Boys" sang a little ditty that ended with "That's What It's All About". The song goes - you put your right foot in, you put your left foot in, you put your whole self in...
Since I've been home for a week now, I can easily see that they were correct! Putting your whole self in really is "what it's all about".
Well, I have now led teams to Honduras for several years and you can be assured that the 2006 team and mission was all about putting their whole self in. They put their whole self into the work needed to make the mission one that would answer many prayers and because of that, there are now 18 families with new homes. This morning I'm certain that many of them woke to praise our God for their dry floor and for a place that is safe for their families. I don't have an exact count, but 18 houses means that more than 100 people have a house today and that wasn't true a short 3 weeks ago. Our work allowed us to deliver much needed dental care to over 100 people. Our dental team was organized and worked so well with the kids and the adults. I'm confident that the people that were treated felt that Jesus himself had worked on their teeth.
Food is always an issue in most of the areas that we work. Our food teams packed more than two full truck-loads of food - each truck is more than 5000 pounds! That translated into about 600 food packages that were delivered directly to the families that really needed them. All of this was done in the name of Jesus. Some of the same folks that packed food also worked in our warehouse to organize, sort, and plan for our big give-away in Los Pinos. These sisters packed up more than a container of goods and we were able to assist more than 1000 people in the community of Los Pinos with clothing and shoes. All in the name of Jesus. This community was so appreciative of the work and the new clothes that were given in His name.
With all the work going on in the many ministries that we are blessed to be a part of, it would be easy to miss the point of "What It's All About". Of course, the Hokey Pokey Boys got it right - put your whole self in - that is exactly what so many on our evangelism teams did. Their work of planting seeds led to a harvest of 34 souls while we were in Honduras and even more since we returned home. Last weekend in Santa Ana there were three more that gave their lives to our Lord and it looks like there may be four more to follow this weekend. There were also 3 baptisms in Borger - all from that team going home and sharing the good news.
Our God is GOOD all the time!
There is even more -
Our team was able to help the little old lady on the mountain in Los Pinos with special food and a new bed. We were able to help the kids at Casa de Esperanza with a month of food! We were able to help another group with some emergency food. We were able to help the minister in Santa Ana with transportation for members that are too far from the building to get there on Sunday mornings - hopefully, that vehicle will be delivered this fall. Our team will be able to have some Sunday School classrooms built in Santa Ana and you will be able to see them in use next summer. There are over 100 kids that will be in classes there already!
Our God is Good All The Time!
and - That Is What It's All About!
Marc

Ten Days In Honduras

2006-08-01T17:22:00.000-05:00

Ten days in Honduras isn’t enough!
Every year until 2006 we have worked for two weeks and because of a number of things, we had a 10 day mission this year....next year we will go to 12 days.
I didn’t get a chance to post a summary of our Sunday in Honduras and it was again – Another Great Day in Honduras. We started off by heading to church in Los Pinos where there were over 300 in attendance at the morning services. Three years ago there wasn’t even a church in Los Pinos and now this congregation serves the community in many ways.
Just prior to heading off to Los Pinos, a young lady that is a friend of Cisco (one of our interpreters) chose to become a Christian and was baptized. After our church service in Los Pinos, there were two more new Christians and later on Sunday evening there was one more. Can you believe that we leave Honduras with 34 new brothers and sisters? Our God is awesome!
In the afternoon, we traveled out to Santa Ana to spend a little more time with Casa de Esperanza & the children there. The five little guys there are very happy and it is such a beautiful place. We were all gathered around the front of the house talking about how far Casa has come in just one year and the needs of the future. We also discussed the need for volunteer workers and how important it is to the project. After the formal presentation, my friend Deborah Krug from Borger, TX told me that she wanted to stay in Honduras and work for a few months in Honduras. Later in the day we found a phone and called her parents to let them know what Deborah wanted to do and they both offered their support – we left Deborah at Casa on Monday to begin her work. Sorta’ reminds me of the way that Jesus called some of the Apostles – he said come follow me and they didn’t say okay, I’ll see you in a few days, they just dropped what they were doing and left. Pray for Deborah!
The group from St Louis left Sunday morning so, we were down to about 50 on Sunday night. We were all tired by the end of the day.
Ours was a Great 10 days in Honduras!
Marc
Ps: Can’t wait till 2007.

A Good Tired

2006-07-30T07:01:00.000-05:00

Saturday was work day in Los Pinos. Several of our ladies had spent days planning and organizing, sorting clothes & shoes, and packing all of the things from several containers. I have never been involved in a clothing give away that was so well planned and organized. There were 1015 people that were served with new clothes and most of them went away giving the praise to our God. At the end of the day, there was on older man that came to me as everyone was getting on the bus – he said thanks to God that we were there in Los Pinos today.
While there was tons of activity going on at the church building, our teams of evangelist were back on the mountain teaching and telling the good news. There were four more souls added to the Lamb’s Book of Life yesterday. That means that there have been 29 new Christians this week....more to come.
Still more good things were happening on Saturday – as the workers were at the Los Pinos Church, the Mi Esperanza – Women of My Hope – program was shuttling our women to the training center to have manicures done by the women that have graduated from the cosmetology course. Mi Esperanza is a program that teaches the women of Honduras the skills they need to provide for their families – they also teach the word so that it is truly a program that offers hope.
Josué’s house was finished yesterday and everybody was pretty tired by the time of last nights devotional. A really good tired!
Saturday was “Another Great Day in Honduras”.
Marc

No hey problema

2006-07-29T07:47:00.000-05:00

Friday in Honduras was again “another great day in Honduras”. We sent building crews to San Miguel to build three houses and others to talk to the people about Jesus. In Honduras, everything doesn’t always go as planned and you just gotta go with the flow or the frustrations would allow Satan to take your focus off of the mission. Yesterday was one of those days for one of our house crews. The crew went to the building site that they were given and as usual started measuring and digging corner holes. This is one part of construction that takes the most precision and time – because as we all know, a good foundation is what keeps a house standing. Anyway, our house team had unloaded all the materials, measured the site for corner posts, dug the holes, and began to set the posts. About this time, another person came up to the site claiming that the lot was his and that we couldn’t build there. Well, rather than take any chances, the crew reloaded the wood on the truck (a lot of wood too! Somehow it seems that the pile grew after it was unloaded the first time), they un-planted the corner posts, and went to another site. It was really cool that nobody complained and that this crew was able to get the wood moved and another house almost completed even though they didn’t get to get going until almost 2 PM.
One other crew went about 40 miles from the mission house and began construction on a house for Josué and his new wife. This house is unusual because it is 20 feet wide by 10 feet deep. It is also – when finished going to be much taller than a usual TORCH house because it is going to have a loft on each end. That house was about 75% completed yesterday and will be finished on Saturday.
There were 3 more new Christians that the Angels celebrated yesterday too. That – I think brings the total to 25. Our God is good! All the time.
Pray that we will have “another great day in Honduras”
Marc

Josue

2006-07-28T07:06:00.000-05:00

Thursday in Honduras was truly “another great day in Honduras”!
There are now 4 new Christians in the community of Santa Ana, another family has a new house, there are over 200 families that have food in their houses, and my friend Josué is married.
Several years ago, six to be exact, I met a 15 year old kid that worked at the airport as a luggage hustler – (one of the people that grabs your bags out of your hands and wants to take it to your car or bus to get a tip.) That year we at TORCH hired Josué to work summers for us. He is a great worker and was always willing to do anything we needed. Even without much education, Josué was learning English and is now fluent. The second year that he worked with us, Josué became a Christian. Just like all of us, he has struggled with his walk with Jesus. Earlier this year, I saw Josué and he told me that he was going to be a dad and I asked him about his wife – he told me that it was just a girlfriend and as a friend, I told Josué that this young lady and his baby needed a commitment beyond that of a girlfriend/ boyfriend relationship. Josué was very hesitant to make this type of commitment and after a lot of talking it all came down to the fact that his grandmother was totally against this marriage. A little more digging and I found out that grandmother was afraid that Josué wouldn’t taker care of her anymore if he was married. Well, several of us made the trip out to Josué’s village to meet with his grandmother and to seek her blessing for a marriage. On Wednesday she gave the blessing and last night we threw a wedding for Josué and Caryn. Please pray for them as they will be parents within just a few days.
With only a couple of work days to go, we are all realizing that we still have much to do!
There have been 22 people that have made a commitment to Jesus and have been baptized but, there are so many more that need to know Him. We have distributed tons of food but, there are still too many hungry people. There are bad houses everywhere. All of this is why this ministry will continue and we will work just like Jesus – helping one person at a time.
Marc

Great Days in Honduras

2006-07-27T06:47:00.000-05:00

Tuesday & Wednesday have been wonderful – best described as two great days in Honduras. We worked both days in Los Pinos and the results have been amazing to say the least. In the past two days, we’ve built 6 houses, passed out over 100 bags of food in a very poor community, held a ladies class, sent about 20 people to spend time with children in Hospital Esquala, sent several teams into the community to tell the good news, and have seen 10 people become Christians. Simply amazing what our God can do and we are blessed to be a part of his plan.
In Los Pinos, the people that have new houses are so grateful for the chance to have a dry place to live with their families. One new house was built for a very young single mother, another for a family of 10, another for an elderly lady in a wheel chair, another for a lady that was going to lose her rental house on Monday the 31st. We can all tell you so many stories about people we have met that have had their prayers answered by the team that you sent to Honduras. When we finish a house, the people always know where the credit goes, they give the thanks and the credit to our God.
It is now early Thursday morning and we are all dreading the end of our mission. Sorry folks, we all just want to stay and continue to serve.
Over the next few days, we’ll continue to build, feed, love, and teach. All in the name of Jesus. Please continue to pray for our team. So far we have been very blessed with no major cases of Hondo Revenge, nothing more than a few scratches and mosquito bites. Pray for our evangelism team and for our safety.
We are all set for “Another Great Day in Honduras”
Marc

Sunday & Monday

2006-07-24T18:39:00.000-05:00

Sunday started with a bus ride to Santa Ana where we attended worship in the building that our team build last summer. It was amazing to see the 200+ people worshiping in a place that was a bare plot of land only a year ago. Our worship finished with the baptism of the brother of the young man that chose Jesus on Saturday.
From Santa Ana, we travelled into Tegucigalpa to eat in an area that we like to call the "Campero's Area". All good food from chicken to pizza to burgers. From Campero's we were off to the Valley of Angels for shopping and relaxation. We then went to Santa Lucia for our evening devotional. That was in the oldest standing church building in the America's. Built in 1531 with no nails, it is a beautiful building and the singing there was incredible. While we were in the devotional, a couple of folks were studying with one of our bus drivers and the study was well. After the devoyional, we found out that Franklin wanted to become a Christian and plans were made to baptize him. What a great finish to a wonderful day.
On Monday we sent three building teams to Los Pinos. This is a community where a church was planted 3 years ago and it is great to report that the congregation is doing very well. The building teams built while groups went up on the mountain to invite the ladies of the community to a women's bible study an the children were invited to VBS. The bible study resulted in a new Christian in Los Pinos. All in all it was a Great day in Los Pinos.
While the Los Pinos crews were making things happen there, there were a few that went to conduct a bible study with Mario and his family. This is the same MArio that I wrote about a few weeks ago. Turns out that MArio and the mother of his children had never been married and wanted to do that before they became Christians. We were able to pull together a wedding in about 30 minutes and smiles were everywhere. Immediately after the wedding, Mario and his wife confessed the name of Jesus and entered the waters of baptism. God is good! All the time!.
There were also teams that worked on packing food and some that went to Hospital Esquala to be Jesus to the children there. The food team packed over 5000 pounds of food and the hospital team came back emotionally drained. Please pray for everyone that goes to work in this hospital ministry. It is a very emotional day but, the smiles of the children tell me that they see Jesus in the people that are spending time with them.
Sorry for the shortage of blogs so far. Getting the internet to cooporate is sometimes a "welcome to Honduras" thing.
Pray for our team while we " have another great day in Honduras"
Marc

saturday

2006-07-23T06:43:00.000-05:00

What a day! Our team started as usual with breakfast & morning devotional and we were out the gate by 8:40. We made it all of 1/4 mile before one of our buses broke down and we had to have the other bus return to help out. Al ended well and we repaired the bus and travelled on out to Santa Ana where our teams worked throughout the community. The dental clinic went as smoothly as any clinic as I've ever seen. We had new people - that had never gone into a community to tell people about Jesus - doing just that. There were over 50 at the 2:00 PM bible study and there were 2 new Christians at the end of the day.
The two houses were beautiful works and two new families are now dry and warm - all because God provided the resources for his work to be done. There were teams that worked with the childrens home - some people painted and others were just being Jesus to the children in Santa Ana. You had to be there to see just how awesome it really was. You can be proud of the work that the people that you have sent to work - this is a wonderful group of people!
Last night we tried to get in to "El Picacho" the statue of Jesus that looks out over Tegucigalpa. Normally, our teams are able to easily get in at night but - "welcome to Honduras" the gates were locked so we ended up having our evening devotional behind the statue- nevertheless - it was a great close to the first day that the whole team was able to work together.
Saturday was a "Great Day in Honduras".
Marc

Everyone is Here

2006-07-22T10:34:00.000-05:00

This is Nicole posting again for my dad. Sorry to have kept all of you anxious moms waiting so long to know that your babies mede it safely. The group from St. Louis arrived on Thursday, and only one bag was missing. It was so good to see everyone. We enjoyed a lunch Church's Chicken. Fried Chicken seems to be a staple of the eating out diet here. wherever there is a Church's, there is also a Popeye's, a KFC, and a Honduran place called Campero's all on the same road. On thursday night my dad talked about what faith is and how we will see faith in people of HOnduras that we won't even imagine. We will see people with no food and no money to buy food, but they have such a strong faith that God will provide for them. It was a great day.

On Friday, the group went to Santa Ana, a town about 45 minutes outside of Tegucigalpa. Last year a piece of property was bought here. There is now a clinic, a church, and a children's home with five precious little boy (the children's home just opened) A few of the ladies and Ben from Ft. Laderdale worked in a dental clinic. Most of the people got their bad teeth removed. It was neat to see the kids smiling even after teeth had been yanked out of their head. The rest of the group from St. Louis went with Mark Connell, a youth minister from Birmingham that spends his summers down here working for the Lord, to build a house. This was a house site that the preacher at the local church picked out. If I understand correctly, the family that had lived there had lost their house to a fire. They had a roof over their head last night which is awesome because it rained pretty hard for part of the night.

While the group was working hard and serving the Lord, my dad and I went to the airport to pick up everyone that came in from everywhere else. As soon as they were off the plane and through security, they loaded the buses and went to Santa Ana to meet the rest of the group. Many of this group came last summer and saw what the land here looked like. All were amazed to see how their hard work had paid off and that those sidewalks they built really did go somewhere. They spent their time entertaining the kids that just wanted to hang around the clinic as well as playing outside with the boys at Casa de Esperanza, the children's home.

Back at the Mission House, everyone found their way to their room before dinner. The lovely staff at the Mission House served us with delicious Honduran cuisine. At devo we talked about taking care of the poor and needy both here and at home. We also shared where we found Jesus. Many people see Jesus in the eyes of the kids. It is so easy to see Jesus in these children. They are so willing to love complete strangers, and they have no reason at all to trust and love us but they do. That is a lesson that we can all learn from them: Love whether you know the person or not. Well it was another great day in Honduras.

Today we will be building 2 houses, having another day of a dental clinic, and Wesley Thompson and his crew will be going into the community to tell the pepole about Jesus. I will write more on that when the day ends.

Ready

2006-07-19T22:11:00.000-05:00

FYI this is Nicole, Marc's daugher, posting. I have been here since the end of May. Everyone is so excited about "Don Marco's" group coming. It is going to be a great trip. I am excited for each person that has never been here before. Your eyes will be opened and your hearts will be broken. For those who have come before, I gauruntee that it will be better this year than last. If you got to work in Santa Ana, you will be able to see where all of your labor went. This property is beautiful. We will even go to the church there on Sunday. I can't wait for all of you to get here. I will be waiting at the airport to give each of you a big hug.

Work Plans

2006-07-11T16:33:00.000-05:00

Here is a daily summary of our work plans - just know that Honduras has a way of making plans change.
20 Group from St Louis Arrives. Food Packing & Clinic Prep
21 St Louis group in clinic & work at Casa de Esperanza All others arrive- Food Packing & House building clinic.
22 Dental Clinic Evangelism House Building Food Distribution Children’s Hm
23 Worship at Santa Ana Valley of Angels
24 Evangelism VBS House Building Food Distribution Children’s Hm Hospital Esq
25 Evangelism VBS House Building Food Distribution Children’s Hm Hospital Women’s - Ministry
26 Evangelism VBS House Building Food Distribution Children’s Hm Hospital Women’s - Ministry
27 Evangelism VBS House Building Food Distribution Children’s HmBlind School Jimmy Hughes
28 Evangelism VBS House Building Food Distribution Children’s Hm Hospital
29 Evangelism VBS House Building Food Distribution Children’s Hm Hospital Women’s - Ministry
30 Worship TBD St Louis departs Group to work at Santa Ana
31 All others depart.

Next Week

2006-07-10T17:25:00.000-05:00

Next Week –
Wow! All of us can officially say that we’ll be heading to Hondo NEXT WEEK.
For all of you that are new to this, I won’t even begin to try to describe what this is going to do to you, for you, and throw at you. You are going to experience a wide range of emotions and at the end, joy will prevail.
For those of you heading to your second trip to Honduras, well, all i can tell you is that this year will be better than last year....same thing for those of you that have been on many missions – every one is better than the one before. Funny how God works that way, it’s what keeps us coming back – time and time again and loving every minute of it.
Mom’s & Dad’s that are worried about their kiddos – don’t! We will take care of them and deliver them back to you – better than before. God is going to turn their lives upside down. Some of you are going to have your kids come home telling you that they want to change majors and become missionaries.
While I’m on the subject of worried folks, here is my cell number in Honduras –
011 504 351 8214
If you call it from your home phone, dial the number exactly as it is listed above. You will get a big surprise on your next phone bill – about $3.00 or more per minute. This is an emergency number and you shouldn’t expect to call it and get connected to your child. I will deliver the message. Phones are scarce in Honduras and it is expensive to call back to the states. There may be one or two occasions that your child will have access to an internet phone – anyway, we’re only gone for 10 days and you can keep up with everything we are doing on this web site. You can also attach a message and we will print them and make sure that your favorite person gets your message.
Okay everybody, lets get lots of rest, lots of prayer time, and keep up the excitement for next week. Our God has big plans for this team and great things are bout to happen.
Let’s go have a great day in Honduras,
Marc

Mario

2006-06-28T12:08:00.000-05:00

In Honduras over the weekend I saw our God in action!
Imagine if you can living on a rock......not rocky soil but, a mountainside that is solid rock. If you were in a house (American style) then, it wouldn’t be too bad, but this was in Honduras and the living conditions were not anything like we are accustomed to.
Living on the rock was a little family – The family of Mario, his wife & their three beautiful children. The Mario family had a shelter that was three sided – it had a stick frame and was covered in plastic sheeting. The cover for the front of the “house” was a blanket. Inside was the rock floor, an old thin mattress, a couple of extra pieces of clothing, not much else. The obvious missing element for life was food – this family had absolutely no food.
I was able to see all of this because I was there on the day that Mario and his family were getting a new house. Mario had somehow met someone from the Tupelo, MS TORCH team and told them about his current bad situation. Mario needed a house NOW because if he couldn’t improve the living situation for his children, the government was going to come and take them away. I think that it was on Thursday that he told the Mississippi folks about his situation and he only had until Tuesday to get a new house. Mario had been making adobe blocks for about two months with plans to build his own place. Since Mario owned basically nothing, he was able to only make one or two adobe blocks a day and at that rate, it might be a year for him to get the one room house built. Mario’s situation became desperate when he was told that he didn’t have a year to provide shelter for his kids – he was down to days.
Well, Mario prayed and our God delivered! He used the arms and legs of the TORCH team form Tupelo to answer Mario’s prayers. Mario got a house and his kids can stay with the family.
The really cool thing about this is that Mario knew exactly who delivered his house and he gave credit to our God for bringing he & his family a new place to live.

A Month Away

2006-06-20T07:45:00.000-05:00

This morning we are waking to a hot day - at least here in Memphis. The predicted high temp in Memphis is 97 and I gotta tell you, that isn't a dry heat! 97 degrees in Memphis, TN is as hot as you ever want to be. I'm just happy that I'm able to adjust the a/c setting down to 72 and stay comfortable - because comfort is what it's all about isn't it? Well.....isn't it?
I guess it really depends on how you choose to look at it. If making others comfortable is what you are thinking - then you are on the right track.
As we spend this last month preparing our hearts to serve the people of Honduras, I'd like to tell you a story of what happened a few years ago. A story that still makes me tear up every time that I think about it.......
My first experience with TORCH was in 2001. My group was about 17 and we joined another 21 or 22 people from Florida and the experience was awesome. The next year, my group had grown to about 45 and that was the first year I really led a TORCH team. If you have been with me from the beginning, you all know that I place a very heavy emphasis on raising money for benevolence - my experience in 2002 is the reason why.
In 2002, we were not any different than any other TORCH team, we built houses, packed food, taught VBS, worked in hospitals & orphanages, and took the good news of Jesus to people on the mountain. One thing that was different though was the fact that we used all of our house building money in about 6 days. Our little team had built a record number of houses but, that didn't change the fact that we had no mas dinero por nuevo casas (no more money for new houses). Well, it seems that everybody on our team wanted to go back into an area where we had built a lot of houses that year - to say good-by to the friends that they had made on the mountain. While we were on the mountain, a young woman came to me and she was holding her 8 or 10 day old baby. She asked me to help her buy milk for the baby - I agreed and we walked together to the pulperia (a neighborhood market). I bought milk and some food for her and told her that I would help her carry the load to her house. When we arrived at her house, I saw that it was built on the slope of the mountain - because of that, there was an open space under the house. I noticed a mattress and other things in the area under the house and that is when this young woman told me that her home was the space under the house. She lived there with her 10 day old baby and her 2 year old.
I cried. There was nothing that I could do because I was out of money for a house. I left the mountain that day haunted by the fact that a mother and her 10 day old baby and her 2 year old were left to live in conditions that we wouldn't allow a dog to live in. I made a promise to myself that I would never be on the mountain without the resources to build a house.
We have remained true to that promise!
Remember, this mission isn't about you. It isn't about making yourself feel good - because you went out to help somebody. It is about serving Jesus through serving others. It is about being his hands and his feet. It is about bringing glory to the God we serve.
Get ready for a great day in Honduras!

Pray!

2006-06-12T17:41:00.000-05:00

Many of you are going to be so far out of your element in Honduras that it would be impossible to describe the sights, smells, and the atmosphere of the extremes that you will encounter. Even if you have been to other third world countries, you won’t understand what you are about to encounter until you are there. You will be blessed more than you can imagine as you work for Jesus in a land that doesn’t seem to have much hope. You will discover that even in this land, there is much hope, but the hopes are different that those that we’ve become accustomed to. You will meet a people that are happy with simple things and that don’t have an attitude that life owes them something. They will be very grateful for the work that you are doing – even if it is for their neighbor. They will recognize that the service that you are doing is form God and they will give God praise for what you are doing. We need to remember that everything we do is for the glory of our Savior and every person we serve is really Jesus himself. He said so in Matthew 25.
It is very important in the weeks leading up to our work together that we focus daily on a period of prayer – specifically for our work. Following is a daily prayer list that is certainly not the totality of what we should be praying for – but, just a starting point. Share this list with your friends & family so that they can pray for our work with us.
June 13 – The rainy season is in full force right now. Pray that the poor people living on the mountain can find a dry place to sleep.
June 14 – There are hungry children in Nuevo Oriental that will wake up with nothing for their stomachs today. Pray that they will be filled.
June 15 – There is a sick child in the poor hospital – Hospital Esquala. This baby is hurting and alone because the mom has many other children to care for and no one to care for them. Pray that Jesus will comfort this child.
June 16 – Karen & Jen are missionaries working at Casa de Esperanza – the House of Hope – a new children’s home. Thank God for them and pray that He will uplift them.
June 17 – Pray for God to soften hearts for hearing his word.
June 18 – Noel Aragon & his wife live & work in Santa Ana. Noel is the preacher in a new church there. Pray that the seeds that he sows will be on fertile soil.
June 19 – Pray for the Tupelo group traveling to Honduras today.
June 20 – We are 30 days from leaving. Pray that God will pour out blessing on us and provide the resources that we will need to do the work that he has planned for us.
June 21 - Pray for Mark & Joe as they provide assistance to our teams.
June 22 – Today there are people in areas that we will work that are praying for a new house. Pray that we will be God’s tools in answering their prayers.
June 23 – Pray for the Mi Esperanza program that trains women in the skills they need to get a job and support their kids.
June 24 – Pray for the children that are left alone on the mountain while their parents work or look for food.
June 25 – Pray that there will be clean water for the people on the mountain.
June 26 – Pray that our eyes will be opened to the needs of the world around us.
June 27 – Pray that God will be glorified by the work of our team.
June 28 – Pray that our evangelical team will be ready.
June 29 – Pray for the children at the Special Needs Orphanage.
June 30 – This morning there are more than 50 people going through the garbage at the Tegucigalpa dump looking for food. Pray that they will be fed.
July 1 – Pray that water trucks can get into the community of Los Pinos. Sometimes the roads are washed out and the people have no water for weeks.
July 2 – Pray that Casa de Esperanza will be a place of refuge for children.
July 3 – Pray that God will send workers year round and that we will learn to become year-round servants.
July 4 – Pray for the USA. Pray that we will be a Godly nation.
July 5 – Pray specifically for everyone you know that is going to be on our team. Pray for them by name.
July 6 – Ask our God to help all of us to get “out of our comfort zone”.
July 7 – Pray for the churches in Mololoa, Los Pinos, Santa Ana, Nuevo Oriental, Valle de Angels – all are plants that are less than 5 years old.
July 8 – Pray for the kids on the mountain that are infected with some sort of parasite. (FYI, every kid on the mountain has some sort of parasite – it comes from bad water)
July 9 – Pray for unity on our team.
July 10 – Pray for the students at Baxter Institute in Tegucigalpa. They are dedicating their lives to becoming ministers.
July 11 - Pray for the children at Good Shepherd & Jimmy Hughes children’s homes.
July 12 – Pray for the Baxter students that are teaching in the prison ministry program.
July 13 – Pray that we will follow when God reveals his will for us.
July 14 – Ask God to provide food for the hungry of Honduras.
July 15 – Thank our God for using us to answer prayers. Ask him to help us remember who our Father is as we work.
July 16 – Ask our God for strength to do more than we can imagine.
July 17 – Ask God to help us to all remember the feelings of the people that we are going to serve. Help us to be the hands & the feet of Jesus.
July 18 – Ask God to help us to leave our worries behind and to focus entirely on the work before us.
July 19 – Today I thank God for mom & dad Tindall. They were new parents 50 years ago today (me). I will pray for them as they prepare to travel & work with our team in Honduras.
July 20 – Pray for the safety of our team.
Feel free to add your own prayer request to the comment section of this report.
I’m looking forward to great days in Honduras!
Marc

June Planning

2006-06-07T19:45:00.000-05:00

Everything is shaping up for an outstanding mission. Here we are - just a little over a month away from our departure. We will be a little over 60 strong and our plans will include working with children's homes in several areas. We will be working on the completion of a playground at the Jimmy Hughes home, painting at the new Casa de Esperanza home, and having a pizza party at another home. We'll be working with the new church in Santa Ana - where we will also build some houses. There will be a couple of days of dental clinics and daily teams at Hospital Esquala. There are plans to build at least 15 houses and more if we can. There will be great periods of devotion, and smiles & tears of joy. You will meet some of the best people that you can imagine and it is likely that your heart will be broken by what you see and from thinking about the conditions of the people that you are going to serve.
Get your stuff together and start stashing away a few goods that will be well used by the families that we will be working with. Go to the dollar store and buy aspirin, generic tylenol, and generic advil. We need children's chewable vitamins, antibiotic cream, anti-itch cream. You can get all of this at dollar tree and the people on the mountain will really appreciate it.
Pray every day for our mission and ask your friends and family to do that too.
Remember to ask God to bless us with the resources that we'll need to serve the people that have incredible needs. A house will cost $1,000 to build, we can box up food for 100 families for the same $1,000, we can buy a truck load of food for a children's home for about the same $1,000. You will be amazed at how people will welcome the opportunity to help others - all you gotta do is ask.
As always, please feel free to call or email any questions.
I am looking forward to seeing all of you.

LIst Of STUFF

2006-05-05T14:16:00.000-05:00

List of Stuff
TORCH 2006

Following are a few of the things that everyone needs to bring.

· MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE YOUR PASSPORT! (Do not pack your passport in luggage to be checked)
· Make a photocopy of your passport and keep it separate from the original.
· Bring a minimum of $75 to $100 spending money. Also, you’ll need to budget $30 for departure tax from Honduras. BRING YOUR MONEY IN $20 INCREMENTS!
· Church clothes - guys need slacks and a collared shirt, gals need a dress.
· Work gloves, hammer, hat(s), sunscreen, & shoes or boots for work.
· Snacks for lunches. Peanut butter, granola bars, & power bars all work well. Think portable & think about sharing.
· Be sure to bring your Bible & a notebook to keep a daily journal.
· Canteen, backpack, and knee length shorts, (no tank tops)
· Tylenol, Pepto Bismol, Imedoium, & small first aid kit. Insect repellant , & (personal hygiene – ladies)
· pillow, toilet paper, hand sanitizer, soap, & toiletries.
· Bags of hard candy to give to kids
· Camera & Film – digital is at your own risk!
· Maximum of 2 checked bags (50 pounds each) and 1 carry-on.
· NO WALKMAN/ CD PLAYERS / MP3/ I-Pod/ etc.
· No expensive jewelry & no hoop earrings.

BORGER, Texas

2006-05-02T16:50:00.000-05:00

Last year the “Borger Girls” showed the rest of us how to get things done. (See the reports form July & August of 2005)
Well, I am happy to report that 4 of the 6 Borger Girls are returning and they are bringing another 8 people with them. I am excited about this because this is the church where I grew up. Borger, Texas is excited about missions and especially what TORCH is doing in Honduras.
I was able to be with my friends in Borger over the weekend as the church where I grew up was having an 80th anniversary reunion. It was really special to be with people that I haven’t seen in a very long time. I haven’t seen many of these folks in more than 20 years.
While I was in Borger I was able to meet with the team to talk about what to expect and to answer a few questions. The excitement there is contagious.
One more thing about the Borger Team that is going to make this year one of the best ever for me and my family – my mom & dad are going with us. Yep, Ma & Pa Tindall are gonna hop the plane to Hondo to build houses, feed the hungry, and to do the work that God planned for them before time began (Ephesians 2:10). This is awesome because both of my parents have been wonderful supporters and encouragers for this work and ministry for a long time. My mom is a champion of missions in Honduras and she is going to be amazed when she and dad get to see that their investment of time and money in a land that they have never seen is paying bigger dividends than they could have ever imagined. It is always a blast to go to Honduras to work with people that have never been there before but, working side by side with my parents, my wife, and my daughter will be the best ever. I can’t wait!
Looking forward to a great day (or 10) in Honduras!
Marc

Tic Toc

2006-04-24T15:28:00.000-05:00

If you read the title of this post and think of a clock, well, you are pretty perceptive! The clock is ticking and time is running down to our Summer 2006 Mission.
Next Monday is May 1 and that is the due date for your airfare. As you all know, gas prices are through the roof and that means that the airlines are also looking for any way they can find to increase revenue - even if it means raising prices on a bunch of people going to Honduras to help others. If we are late in submitting our airfare to the airlines, they will gladly ask for and expect to get more money for our tickets.
I need everyone to understand this. You need to be putting a check for $650 in the mail to our TORCH address ...about NOW!
Have you forgotten the address? Not to worry your happy little self - here it is -
TORCH MISSIONS
7948 Winchester Rd
#308
Memphis, TN 38125-2311
There you have it. Airfare needs to be in the mail this week.
Thanks,
Marc

Early Reminders

2006-04-10T15:41:00.000-05:00

Early Planning will make your Honduras experience much better. Today I’d like to give you a few tips on what to expect and what you should be doing to get ready for a great mission to Honduras.
1) We don’t run the airlines and that means we can’t guarantee that your luggage will follow you from the point where you check it to the airport in Honduras. Luggage almost always shows up on time but, I’d recommend that you bring a few essentials in your carry-on...just in case.
2) Speaking of carry-on luggage, a back-pack is an almost essential piece of equipment. If you don’t have a good one, I highly recommend getting one. I have seen some that are monsters with wheels and those just don’t work as well as the traditional ones designed to be carried on your back.
3) You still have plenty of time to learn a few words of Spanish before you leave. We will have interpreters but, the Hondurans would like to hear you stumble a few words in their own language......especially if you are from the south. There is nothing that can describe how funny it is to hear “donde esta el bano” with a southern accent.
4) While you are out and about, pick up some of the trial size Purel at the dollar store. This is really good stuff that can keep you from getting sick. Remember what your mama always told you about keeping your hands clean and away from your mouth and you are about 98% there on keeping the bad bugs away.
5) I’ll send a list of all the things that you’ll need so don’t worry too much about that. Just make sure that you are able to travel by keeping up with your passport and making sure it has at least 90 days of validity after our scheduled return of July 30th. You will not be allowed to leave if you don’t have the required days of a valid passport. This isn’t my rule, it is the airlines interpretation.
6) Are you working to raise some of the benevolent funds that we’ll need?
7) Try to find a English / Spanish version of the Bible.
8) Don’t plan to bring an I-Pod, a CD Player, a portable DVD, or any other distractions. We will sing together and I promise you won’t miss any of these things.
9) We will open a bank and keep your money safe while you are in Honduras.

As always, feel free to give me a call or an email any time that you have questions.
My email is marclt2003@yahoo.com and my cell is 901-598-0356.
Thanks,
Marc

Noel Aragon Update

2006-03-28T15:16:00.000-06:00

Last week I posted this -
Noel Aragon
If you were in Honduras last summer - with this TORCH Team, you would have met my friend Noel Aragon. Noel was the guy in Santa Ana that was always smiling. He is the preacher in the new church that was planted in that community.Noel is married and has two beautiful children.This past week, Noel emailed to let me know of some difficulties that he and his family have encountered. They have a 2 year old daughter and over the Christmas holidays, she fell down a flight of stairs at the apartment complex where they live. She landed hard on her face and the initial consultation with Dr's made them think she would be okay - no eye or brain damage. Now, after almost 3 months, there appears to be continuing problems and the Dr's are thinking that little Karina has broken 3 bones in her face and will require surgery. We won't know till she is able to secure more scans and see's a couple more Doctor types.Noel doesn't have the money to pay for surgery and our TORCH Team is going to do whatever it takes to take care of this child. I will keep everyone posted on what is happening and will post some pictures of little Karina as soon as possible. In the mean time, pray for her healing.I am travelling to Honduras this week and will be scouting areas for our work this summer. Please keep me in your prayers as we are planning for our mission this summer.
Marc
Here is the update -
Karina was able to go to the Doctor on Monday of this week. I will hear back from Noel shortly and know if she is going to have surgery. It appears from seeing Karina this weekend that she has recovered well from her injury and we all need to pray that she will get a great report.

March Is Here

2006-03-02T09:26:00.000-06:00

Well, March 1 has come and gone and that means two things - first, if you haven't sent an application, you are late. Let's get 'em in as soon as you can. If you plan to be a part of the July group and you haven't contacted me - DO IT NOW. The second thing that March means is that we are only 41/2 months away from our mission. WOW - this year is rapid!
Planning for this year is well under way and we - as usual are going to be right in the middle of some pretty amazing work. Our group will be a little smaller - about 75 or so - so we won't be going to 3 mountains at the same time but, that doesn't mean that the work will be any less rewarding. Our plans are to build - several houses as well as a Sunday School building in Santa Ana, we'll pack tons of food and distribute it to very hungry people, we'll be working in several days of medical clinics, the children's home- Casa de Esperanza will be open and we will have teams working there every day, Hospital Esquala will be part of our ministry, and every day we will send teams of people out to teach the Good News to the people in the communities where we are working.
I have had several questions about our work and how everything will be done - well, the best way to describe it is to outline a typical day -
We'll all get up to a beautiful morning- some of us have coffee about 6:00 and talk till breakfast at 7:00. At about 7:45 we meet for devotional and following that I make announcements about the ministry opportunities for the day. Most days we will have a construction crew that will be working on the Sunday School building and one person will be in charge of that. We'll probably average 2 houses per day and there will be crew leaders for those teams. We will have a VBS program and one or more evangelism teams. We'll send people to the hospital for ministry with the kids and we'll send a small team to Casa de Esperanza to work. There will be a food distribution team as well as medical teams. Once you know all the opportunities, you choose your work, meet up with your team leader and we all leave the mission house about 9:00 for our work. After a day of service, we all return to the mission house at about 6:00 for showers & dinner. At about 7:30 we have devotional and then we are off to bed so we can go & do it again the next day.
It always seems to come together.
If you are wondering about what shots to get - here is my answer - the most important shot is tetnis - make sure that you are up to date. Some folks get Hep A&B all good - if you plan to travel in your life, it wouldn't hurt to get those anyway. We have never encountered Maleria so I wouldn't go out and pay for those pills unless you just want to go and blow away extra money.
Please feel free to call or email anytime you have a question - and send your stuff to me ASAP.
(Pics of work from last year- the church in Santa Ana where we will build classrooms.)
Now that we are getting close, I will be updating this BLOG more often. Feel free to post comments and let everyone know about your plans, etc. Let's challenge each other to raise the bar. We all need to work together to raise the dollars that we will need to do the work that God has planned for our team. Never be afraid to ask people to join the team by supplying the funds to build a house, buy food, or send out a missionary.
Get ready for a great day in Honduras!
Marc

TORCH 2006

2006-01-04T15:39:00.000-06:00

The time is here for moving beyond planning and taking action to be a part of TORCH 2006. As you know, we are big enough that we are taking 2 teams this summer. The first team will depart on June 20th and return on July 1 and the second team will be in Tegucigalpa from July 20 till July 30.
Each mission will continue the work of previous summers – building, feeding, healing, teaching, caring, loving, and growing. Jesus said to “Go and make disciples” and that is exactly what happens. You can find an application right here – on the December 1 post – it’s easy to cut & past to a word document and fill in the blanks. Attach your check and mail it as soon as possible. There are only going to be about 75 slots on the June trip so you will need to get your application to me as soon as you possibly can if you are going to go in June. The July trip will probably be more like 100 however, you can’t wait too long or you will be faced with the uncertainty of rising airfares. Get me an application before the end of February (with a deposit) and you can lock your trip in at $1250. Wait till March and I can’t promise you a fixed price.
Here is the payment timeline for June –
Applications & deposits due in my hands by February 28th.
Airfare of $650 due in my hands by May 1.
Balance due by June 1 – (including the $200 pledge for benevolent work)
The deadlines for July are the same except for the final payment & benevolent dollars – the July trip deadline for those are on July 1st.
All checks need to be made out to TORCH and mailed to the address on the application. Please understand that all payments are non-refundable – if you change your mind at the last moment – tough! The money is spent and we can’t get it back.
Get ready for “another great day in Honduras”
Marc

2006 Application

2005-12-01T16:25:00.000-06:00

TORCH APPLICATION FORM ’06 Cost of trip is $1250.
TORCH MISSIONS
7949 Winchester #308
Memphis, TN 38125-2311
Choice TORCH trip Dates June 21-30____ OR July 21 – 30_____
Email address___________________
Name_________________________________ Date of Birth_____________ Age______
Street Address______________________________________________
Home Phone______________________
Cell Phone_____________________________
Social Security Number_______________________
Passport Number_______________________
City Issued_________________________
Date Issued____________________________
Expiration Date_____________________
Are you a Christian? Yes____ No_____
Name of Church you attend_________________________________________________
Address of Church you attend_______________________________________________
Male____ Female____ Adult____ Teen____ Child____ Single____ Married______
If married are husband and wife on the trip together?? Yes_____ No_____
Do you prefer staying with your spouse on the trip? Yes_____ Will Chaperone______
Adults occupation__________________________________________________
Students academic classification & name of school____________________________
Languages you speak__________________________________________________________
Foreign Countries you have visited______________________________________
Are you in good physical condition? Yes_____ No______
Are you taking prescription medication on a regular basis? Yes____ No_____
If yes, List medications and conditions being treated _________________________________________________________
Allergies___________________________________________________
Adult T shirt size Small_____ Medium_____ Large_____ XLarge ______ XXL_____
I have read and accept the conditions listed in the information section of the TORCH Program AND I commit to raising a minimum of $200 over and above the cost of the trip to support the benevolent work of my team.

___________________________ _______________________
Signature Date
IMPORTANT
Everyone traveling must fill out an application
This application is due February 1st & must be accompanied by:
$150 deposit
Spanish Parent consent form, signed and notorized
Copy of your passport
One Passport sized photo
Letter of recommendation for TORCH trip (if it is your first trip)
Essay: Why do you want to participate in this trip

November News

2005-11-28T20:50:00.000-06:00

TORCH 2006 -
WOW , in a month we will be in 2006 and we will be counting down to the annual team(s) travels to Honduras. This year we will be travelling in two groups - one in late June and the other in late July. This part is pretty much a done deal and I will be getting applications out as soon as this week. I plan to post an applicaiton right here but, you can email me and I will attach a copy to your response - marclt2003@yahoo.com
Some of the details for 2006 -
Airfares are WAY up and that means that we do some things differently or make the price go way up. I have chosen the - do things differently side of the fence and that means that we can still have a very effective mission for about the same price as last year - about $1250. That will include all of your travel & most meals but, new for this year, it will not include Roatan. The time working in Tegucigalpa will be about 10 days. Going to Roatan would add at least $350 to that total and the needs are so great in Tegucigalpa that I (and I am sure that you too) would prefer to see those dollars spent on helping people with food and housing. s
So -
Another difference that you will see on your application is a comittment for raising money above the cost of just going to Honduras. I am asking 2006 applicants to committ to raising an additional $200 per person for the benevolent work that we will be doing. If you are part of a team or a group, your team will be making the committment together.
And -
Your application will need to be complete and in my hands by the end of February 2006. (an application won't be considered complete without a $125 non-refundable deposit)
If you are past the end of February with an application, you will be subject to the ever increasing airfare proce increases.
Right now I have the following reservations for the July group -
Memphis, TN - 40 seats
Dallas, TX - 25 Seats
St Louis, MO - 15 seats
Houston, TX - 10 Seats
Miami - 15 seats
I need to hear from Charlotte and to confirm that they want to be part of this team. Please let me know.
Please email or call me with any questions.
Thanks & Love,
marc

Construction Progress

2005-11-08T09:23:00.000-06:00

One week makes a lot of difference! The walls are up and we are well on the way to really becoming the House of Hope for a bunch of kids that need some hope in their lives!
This photo was take on Saturday the 5th of November - big change from the previous picture.
Please continue to pray about the construction funds. We have made big strides in the past two weeks but, the fund is still about $17,000 short of the target.
Please consider becoming one of the team that has comitted to raising $1,000 or more.
(or just send a check)
marc
ps: TORCH applications will be out before the end of November!

Casa de Esperanza

2005-10-31T12:06:00.000-06:00

Progress is rapid on Casa construction.
Please pray for the dollars to complete this project.
Here are construction pictures from Saturday the 29th -

An Open Letter

2005-10-24T12:08:00.000-05:00

This is an open letter to everyone and anyone that has an interest in TORCH and the ongoing work that we all love.
Dear TORCH’ers,
I have been involved in TORCH for more than 5 years now and am more excited than ever about the work that God has planned for us. TORCH 2006 will be here before we know and we will be able to continue our work.
As we end 2005 and look ahead to 2006, I would ask all of you to examine where we have been and what we can personally do to make our work better. One area where I am convinced that we all need to apply more focus is really answered with a question – What happens in the communities where we work – after we leave?
Our whole team and our supporters focus hard to make our 2 weeks in Honduras one of the most incredibly productive 14 days of the year. Our productivity is blessed with an amazing harvest and we leave feeling great about what we were able to be a part of. Here is the dilemma that being so productive creates. We plant churches and we find preachers to work in those areas. We need missionaries on the ground in Honduras and we get wonderful people like Tim & Gena Hines and Joe Merrilat to devote their lives to this ministry. We build clinics and church buildings, we build children’s homes and all sorts of other great works – and all of this is wonderful and we are blessed to have been a part of it. We come home and we give reports to our sponsors and our home churches and we start planning for the next years work. On the surface all of this is great however, we need to think about what it takes to keep all of the work that we do in our 14 days – working for the other 351 that we are not in Honduras.
Quite frankly, we need your financial help every month.
We planted a church in Los Pinos 2 years ago and there are 4 men that are Baxter graduates working full time in that community. The Los Pinos church is now one of the strongest in all of Central America and we are not helping any of these men with their living expenses.
We planted a church in Santa Ana this summer and asked Noel from the Los Pinos team to move out to the community to work there and so far, we have only 50% of his needs covered. We still need another $200 per month for Noel.
Joe Merrilat needs a raise and we are short by about $300 per month on his support.
Tim & Gena could probably use a raise.
We are still not 100% funded for the construction of the children’s home and we are going to need monthly support for the kids that will live there.
We need you and your support.
Here is what I am asking everyone that reads this to do – pray & sacrifice.
Thanks & Love
marc

TORCH Update

2005-09-19T17:32:00.000-05:00

Planning for 2006 is slightly stalled. Almost all of the TORCH and IRC leaders are involved in hurricane relief and there will be time to plan for TORCH when the clean-up from Katrina is in a little better shape.
There are teams of people heading to both New Orleans and to Gulfport almost every week and weekend and that will continue for the next couple of months. The needs are changing almost daily but, one thing will be constant for the next few months – help is needed! If anyone is interested in making the trip to either area, we can help you find work. Just give me a call or an email and I will make sure that you get a place to stay and a job to do.
I do not have any firm dates for our team – but, you can count on the last week of July as one of our times. He other team – yes, we will have 2 teams in 2006 will be in June or perhaps directly prior to the last trip. Either way, the trips will be about 9 days each and the cost should be in the $1150 to $1200 range – depending on where you will be coming from.
I will get applications posted to the blog before the end of October and we can go from there.
We have a group going down to the opening of Casa de Esperanza – opening on December 10th and you are welcome to join us – let me know and I’ll help you with reservations.
Keep on praying for the people hurt by Katrina and for our team members that are working for them.
marc

Casa de Esperanza Needs

2005-09-01T05:35:00.000-05:00

List of Needs
Here is a list of needs for Casa de Esperanza. The plan is to load a container in mid November for shipment to Honduras.
We all need to encourage our donors to follow the “No Junk For Jesus” policy.
Washer & Dryer – This pretty much looks done
Deep Freeze (2)
Refrigerator (2)
Ice Maker
Twin Mattresses – tops only (20)
Baby Beds (2)
Computer Desk
Office Chair (2)
Twin Sheet Sets (20 to 30)
Towels & Wash Cloths (lots)
Tricycles (3 or 4)
Small Bicycles (3 or 4)
Microwave Oven (2)
It would be nice to have a Big Screen TV (anybody upgrading?)
Stereo
DVD Player
Cookware (Big pots & pans)
Deep Fryer
Sofas (good condition 2)
Room Size Rugs (2 or 3)
Blankets (20 to 30)
Dishes & Eating Ware

I will be adding to the list as we see needs.

TORCH 2006

2005-08-23T06:30:00.000-05:00

It is really hard for my fingers to type 2006. That seems like it should be years away but, the simple fact is, we will be in 2006 in a short 125 or so days. That means that it is already time to begin thinking and planning for TORCH 2006!
We don’t yet have the trip dates for TORCH 2006 but, you can be assured that planning is already in full swing. The MS TORCH family has grown so much that one of two things must happen – we can stop the growth where we are and fix the number at somewhere between 150 and 170 or, we can divide and conquer. Personally, I like the idea of dividing.
SO –
My current plan is something like this –
I will plan to lead two 9 day trips in 2006. The trips will be sometime in June and we will keep our place for the second trip in late July. We will plan our arrivals in Honduras on a Friday and our departures on the second Sunday. The Roatan retreat will be an optional addition and will no longer be included in the cost of the trip.
Our 2006 cost will not be finalized until sometime in October however, I expect the total of the 9 day mission to be in the neighborhood of $1150 to $1200 per person. (It looks like airfares will be 4100 to $150 per person more than in 2005) In addition to airfares, we all see what the rapid rise in fuel cost has meant to our own budgets – our team alone spent almost $10,000 for bus and truck fuel when we were in Honduras.
Please feel free to share your comments here or email them to me at marclt2003@yahoo.com

PRAY!

2005-08-15T14:44:00.000-05:00

I just had a call from my friend Les Ferguson. Les is the dad of my other good friend Cole and Les called to let me know of some of the difficulties that Cole has experienced since he returned home ffom Honduras.
Cole developed what was thought to be a case of the revenge in Honduras however, even with meds, the problem didn't go away so, he has been through several tests and now knows that he has contracted E-Coli. He is pretty sick and could use our prayers and our encouragenment.
Please feel free to use the comment section of the blog to send Cole messages of encouragement. I know that he will get every message and will like hearing from everyone.
Also, If you have a CD or DVD of all of your pictures and video, would you please burn a copy for me?
Please send copies to me at 124 Spyglass Ct., O'Fallon, IL 62269
Thanks & don't forget Cole!
Marc

Robin White's Comments

2005-08-11T08:18:00.000-05:00

**** Reflections from Robin****

Hello Team!
Wow! We did it - we went to Honduras and are back and it almost seems like a dream to me!
I know there is so much that happened - oodles of fantastic memories were made; so many people were helped - physically and spiritually. We built houses! We played with lonely babies and children at orphanages. We prayed for and brought smiles to those children who were really sick at Hospital Escuela. We were a part of Bible studies that brought people to the Lord, not only in baptism but then also to a changed life of hope - of walking in the Light and then of Eternal Salvation!! How rich!! We got to witness weddings!! I loved making the cross necklaces with the children - boys and girls alike and well, women too, because each time it was telling a Bible story - The Story of Christ's Love! Thanks, Lowell, for once again buying those special gifts! And Jacob gave out lotsa cars - what a hit! And he made friends and friends and more friends!! And all you girlies -- what nice necklaces and bracelets you made for/with the children and beautiful pictures you colored, 'juntos' with the little ones. Kyrystal, you were so tough! Thanks for putting up with 'pee-pee' on the pant legs - not once but several times. Cuddling those babies was worth it, huh? And "my girls" thanks for looking out for 14 year old pregnant Jaimi and buying her groceries and just for loving her - you made a difference!! (you know that song "Let the Beauty of Jesus be seen in Me." ? well, you did! I saw Jesus and you were beautiful!) Ethan -- do I have it right? you have been a part of building 25 houses in Honduras?? You're the Man!! Also, Laurie fell down the steps in the rainy dark but, talk about attitude!! - bless your heart, girl, for being tough - those bruises were bad but you just kept on going and going, like that everready bunny! even with that rotten headcold! Jessi W., in spite of downright yuckiness with being sick, you were a leader and helper, thanks - again and again and again. Jessi Y., you're a 'roofer' girl! is that your new chosen profession? Honestly, isn't it soooo cool that you're helping keep the rain off those babies in the cold, dark nights? David, I saw you help nail down that floor, and you made some Honduran friends - great going!! Nancy, among other stuff, helping with that food assembly - what an awesome chore! (and it wasn't easy!) Allison tried to stay well and smiled even when she felt rotten - you done good, girl! Russ McC actually turned into a builder by the end of the 2 weeks - and before that, stayed soooo busy with evangelism! and my Lowell - forever the humble, hard-worker - was busy with whatever was given him to do...making kids smile, hammering, putting up lofts, fellowshipping with Hondurans and team members wherever he went...
I actually wouldn't change anything - even though I never knew from day to day how I would be used, I let God just kind of lead me and He always surprised me. At first I sometimes had to work on my attitude if it was something I wasn't expecting (which like was almost everyday) but then, after "sucking it up" and getting over my selfishness, I let God have His way and it was great! I am soooo glad I had exercised beforehand and been on vitamins and was ready because we never stopped! Yeah, echinecea and zinc! And I praise God for giving me the health and fortitude I had...
We had some "not so good happenings" too - so sorry for the several who got sick - Jessi White, Laurie, Allison and Nancy -- but Praise God! we had doctors with medicines available and that we had a comfortable campus if we had to stay out for a day (like about 20 + did various days, including our Allison) - but hey guys, you were in a safe place, there were real beds, water, showers, food, a roof over the heads, and plenty of people coming back within hours, includung 3 doctors with more meds if needed so, even staying behind you all were blessed... while allowing others to be out serving those who did not have doctors available normally, or their own roofs over their heads, or ever, ever water enough for showers, much less hot showers, or electricity, or beds - just pallets on the floor and the beds we built - they were wooden platforms! -- and never, ever enough food and some who had never been taught the gospel...Praise to God that there were those still able to go out and Praise God that they did!!
Well, everything wasn't perfect but it was Perfectly Amazing!!
My challenge to each of you is this: if you have to remember anything negative about our trip, write it down, take it to the Lord, and then tear up that paper in put it in the trash with the devil and his workings - don't give satan a stronghold in your hearts to ruin this trip - we had lessons on this already, but I challenge you to apply it!
There were so many Great things that we were privileged to be a part of and that is what should be coming out of our mouths and hearts - We saw so many terrific examples of servanthood during our time in Honduras. Now that we are home we need to bring the lessons home and bring them to life. Give up selfishness, crucify pride, allow yourself to be a servant where ever and whenever you are needed. Look for opportunities here in the states and allow God to use you up for Him!! We are soooo rich materially and spirtually, there is no room for "oh, woe is me!" Practice living positively - talk positive, walk positive, and treat others with honor. Work on being a part of those who make a choice to make a difference - that's what YOU have been a part of for the last two weeks and it was a God- thing!
I am soooo glad each of you were a part of the time there. I am moved and honored for having been a part of your team. Thanks!
I remain joyful
- Robin

Amazing

2005-08-07T13:45:00.000-05:00

It is difficult to decsribe the amazing events of the past two weeks without becoming somewhat emotional. This family of workers was united in everything and the results can only be described as AMAZING....
CONSTRUCTION
Our God assembled a group of builders and....build they did! The final count of 35 houses included 31 from scratch and 4 that were completed for another mission team that was unable to finish the job before thay left the country. Our builders worked in Nuevo Oriental, Santa Ana, Valle de Angels, San Miguel, Via Nueva, & 21 de Octobre. Every home built was completed with lots of love in in the name of Jesus.
Our crews were led by many excellent & dedicated builders including Jim Kelly & his son Austin, Kyle Ferguson, Andrew Kurgenivitch, Mark Halbert, John Rogers, Paul Bennett, Caleb Yates, Ryan & Kirt Hunt, & others that I am sure that I have missed. Everyone agrees that the addition of floors is the best thing on the mountain since outhouses.
Our construction story wouldn't be complete without thanking my friend and brother Mark Connell. Mark's amazing love for putting roofs over the heads and floors under the feet of families that need them is just like mine. He worked tirelessly to make sure that we coule build every home that was humanly possible. Mark, I see Jesus in you every day (except for possibly the hair thing)
More Construction
The community of Santa Ana has a new church building and it was completed - from start to finish in a week. Simply amazing!
We celebrated communion on Sunday the 24th of July on a plot of land that was almost untouched and one week later we worshiped together in a new block building.
This amazing work was led by Don White and he was assisted by Aaron Hill, Andy Hill, Wally Sweedenburg, & Larry Allen. The family of builders looked at what appeared to be an impossible task and said that "With God, All things are possible"...and it was. The work was non stop and it was hard. It included moving 1000's of block, mixing 100's of loads of concrete, moving dirt, and sweat....lots of sweat.
Even more Construction!
The builders also moved dirt in the area of the new children's home and build sidewalks. They worked on rock walls and on block houses that are being build in the area of the new church building.
Food Distribution
Terri Tindall and her team of food packers did amazing work. This team packed more than 10 tons of food for the hungry. Probably closer to 25,000 poubnds of food was packed and distributed to hungry families.
There were a couple of people that turned out to be "professional" packers and they deserve to be thanked and recognized - Mary Sharky was a packing machine and she was joined by Nancy McCullough, Gayla Kenser, Sharen & Jenny Seldomridge, & many others.
Because of the hard work of the food team, we were able to feed about 1500 families.
Clinics & Medical Ministry
This year we were blessed to have Dr's Jason Kelly & Dan Kellum as well as Jim Lup a P.A.
This medical team completed 3 medical clinics and two dental clinisc and were able to treat over 900 people with medical needed ranging from surgery to remove a bullet that was lodged in a mans arm for more than a couple of years to a lady with elephantitus, to having to remove every tooth from the head of a woman. These men were joined by Esperanza Massana, Michelle Rachl, and several other translators that made communication work. Additionally, there were many clinic volunteers that mad the process work for the docs and the people being treated.
On a personal note, I'd like to thank our medical team for always being there for our team - especially for those that fell ill while serving in Honduras.
Evangelism
Amazing, the harvest was simply amazing!
Billy Ferguson & Cisco Vega have established a simple way to deliver the gospel to the people of Honduras and have been joined by several others including Les Ferguson, Wesley Thompson, Jeremy Stewart, David Kenser, John Palmer, Russ McCullough, Lowell White, and many others. Because these and others were willing to step out onto the mountai, there are now 54 new Christians and 2 new churches have been planted.
More than 30 in the community of Nuevo Oriental alone!
UPDATE on Los Pinos - we were able to visit the community of Los Pinos a couple of times and we are happy to report that the church that was planted in Los Pinos two years ago is continuing to grow. More than 120 adults and 12o children meet there every Sunday.
We are praying to see the same sort of results in Santa Ana and Nuevo Oriental.
Other Ministries -
We sent teams of workers to the public hospital every day to spend time playing and praying with the many children with needs. We also sent these teams of servents to several childrens homes and places like the Special Needs Orphanage. Our workers were blessed as much as any of the children that they came into contact with.
Gayla Kenser spent 3 days in Nuevo Oriental teaching a manacure class to 7 ladies from that community. On graduation day many of our ladies allowed the newly trained ladies to test their skills on them for a total of 30 Limpera (about 1.80 US). Each of the ladies earned close to $20 that day and many are going to be able to apply for jobs that they previously were not qualified to do.

As usual, our morning and evening times of devotional were amazing. The singing was the best ever and the thoughts that were shared were inspiring. Most of us weren't quite ready to come home and re-join the routines that we didn't miss.
I'd be remiss in closing this summary without letting all of you know how much we need to thank Tim & Gena & Joe for their unending work and love for making things happen. Nobody knows the amount of time that they put in to making TORCH Missions work. Tim, Gena, Joe, Dalton, & Dylan - We love you with the love of the Lord & we see Jesus in you every day!
Interns - you were all great and we love you too! Thanks!
Team.... Family, If you would like to share your thoughts on the blog, please email them to me at
marclt2003@yahoo.com and I'll post them. I will continue to post at least weekly on this spot as this is the best communication tool for letting you know about TORCH 2006.
It has been a Great Year In Honduras
Love all of ya'
Marc

Thursday

2005-08-05T08:06:00.000-05:00

Our Teguc team was smaller today as we sent about 110 to Roatan. There were 35 of us that chose to stay and work. We spent most of our day in Nuevo Oriental working on houses and taking care of the many needs that were in front of us. We finished a new house for a new Christian named Noae and helped he and his family move in. He was so thankful for his new home - he gave all the credit to our God.
Our doc's were busy following up on people that they had seen earlier and also performed surgery on the mountain. There was a man that had a bullet lodged in his arm for several years and our doc's took the time to remove it.
The day closed with a young man in Nueva Oriental choosing to become a Christian. It was awesome!
God continues to bless us and we will send a summary by the end of the weekend.
Marc

Tuesday / Wednesday

2005-08-04T07:42:00.000-05:00

First let me start by thanning my daughter Nicole for keeping all of you updated on the blog. There isn´t any way that I would have had the time to¨get er done¨these past two weeks.
Really cool stuff has been happening...Gayla Kenser has been teaching a class of 7 women the skill of manicure and they all graduated on Wednesday. They were all very excited to be a part of the class and we finished the class with the graduates offering manicures to our ladies for 30 limpera ... about 1.80 US. The ladies were way excited to earn dollars fo their own.
We have continued to build and over the past 2 days there have been about 7 new homes completed. We also built 2 new classroms for the school in Nueva Oriental.
There was a clinic in Los Pinos on Tuesday and over 200 were treated. Our Doc´s have been great and have worked hard.... both in the villages and here on the mission house campus. Thanks Jason Kelly and Jim Lup... you are both great.
Every day we have continued to send a team to Hospital Esquela and various childrens homes. We all see how blessed we are with the health care system in the USA and how much the new childrens home is needed.
This morning we sent a group of about 110 to Roatan for a retreat and we have about 35 here in Tegucigalpa that will continue to build and work. Those that are staying are making a big contribution to the work of building Casa de Esperanza... the new children´s home in Santa Ana. The money that would have gone to Roatan is now going to be used to help children.
We will update tomorrow and then have a summary on Sunday.
Thanks for reading and praying for our work.
We are continuing to have ¨great days in Honduras¨
Marc

Sunday and Monday

2005-08-01T23:20:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was beuatiful. We were able to worship in three different places. A group went to worship in Los Pinos which has grown so much in the last two years since this church started. An old friend, Verjillio greeted us when we got there. He now lives in Copan, so this was a big surprise. The other groups worshiped in Nueva Oriental with the new Christians. Finally, a group worshiped at Santa Anna. This was neat because only one week ago, we worshiped here in the rain and had communion, but yesterday we worshiped in the building that the group built. About 65 people from the community joined us in worship. God is amazing.

Nueva Oriental... Today we had the opportunity to work on four houses that God had already sent groups to start on. Tomorrow we will finish these. One house was started and finished today. Everywhere we looked around we saw groups of people studying the Bible with small groups of Honduras. We now have 46 new family members in our Christian family. Praise God!! Many of the new Christians are so excited; they are telling everyone they know.

Also today in Nueva Oriental, we had a Mi Esperanza class that will last thru Wednesday to teach women of the community to give manacures and pedicures. This class was a great success today. There were 7 women in the class today, and they all were very eagar to learn.

The hospital crew had a very good day. They spent the morning at the hospital. Many of the kids enjoyed singing with the children. When they finished at the hospital, the group came to the Mi Esperanza. I'm sure everyone loved seeing first hand what this ministry is about.

Lastly, a group went to Santa Anna to work on the land. This land is going to be so important to so many people in Honduras. when we are all here next year, this place will not even resemble the same place that it is now. It will be so full of life. God is going to use this place in so many ways.

Its been another great day in Hoduras. Please pray for us.

2005-07-31T07:18:00.000-05:00

This morning our devotional went a little longer tha planned because we had a prayer with thosegoing home today. Also, some of the people going home wanted to say a few words to the group. As soon as devotional ended, each of the five busses went to a different place.

The first bus went to the airport to take a group of about fifteen to go home today. This group included the Chaffin family who everyone hated to see leave because they were all such an asset this year to our evangelism program, Deborah and Jessica Pyle, Caitlyn Grimes, Dr. Dan the dentist from Tupelo, Nikki, Beverly, Earl, and Sarah Ardnt, Sarah's boyfriend Kenny, Denny Madux, Mark McCain, and Jen and Karen that will run the children's home that will open in December. Each of these people were an important asset to our team in their own way. We hate to see each these people have to leave, but I am confident that they will each find their way back here next year. Also, I am confidant that each of these people's lives have been touched immensely from the time that they did spend here.

After this bus dropped the group off at the airport, another group went to Santa Anna to work on the land. Amazingly the building that peopl will use to worship God in was built in one week. The most amazing thing is that last Sunday, the land still was not cleared for this area. There were still three trees in the area where the building is now.

Another bus went to a village that Torch groups have not worked in for several years. This was the village of San Mateo, and the group did a medical clinic there today. As we were telling people about the clinic, we came across a woman who was very ill and could not get up. The only way she could get the help she needed was to go to the hospital, but she and the family refused for her to go; therefore, she likely will die. Here in Mateo, Emily Mathes dressed as a circus clown as entertainment for the children in line for the clinic. I must say that she makes a very bonita clown.

A third bus went to a village called 21 de Octubre or in English it is October 21st. Here we built three houses, one of which was for our truck driver's mom. The house built for Will's mom was bjuilt in memory of Mary Beth Willis' grandmother and Rick Willis' mom. She died only 4 days before the group came, so we are all very thankful that Rick still came.

All of the houses were finished by 3:00, and so Mark Connell aided each group in building beds that are attached to the walls of the house. When we are able to build beds, it is a wonderful addition to the house.

A fourth bus went to Nueva Oriental to deliver food. The delivered about 200 boxes of food in this village. While they were there Billy and Cisco were busy evangelizing, and we had two more baptisms here. Unexpectedly, when our group got to this village, another group was already working there. It was Steve Davidson's group from Nashville, TN who is staying at Baxter Institute of preaching. They were building three houses there, so part of our group decided to help them and swing a few nails. God's family is so huge; it is amazing that no matter where we go, we can always come into contact with people that are in God's family. This bus later met up with the group in October 21.

The fifth bus left to go to the hospital and the blind school. Today we decided to go to a different state hospital, Hospital San Felipe, which is the oldest Hospital in Honduras. After the hospital we went to the blind school, which is one of my favorite parts of coming to Honduras. It is so amazing to watch the children who can't see anything play soccer or to help each other find their way around. One of the most wonderful parts about this place is when we are able to here them sing. It is like God has sent little angels down to earth so that we can enjoy some of his music. The day we visit the blind school is always very emotional. Very rarely does anyone leave here with dry eyes.

Finally, a small group met together at 2:30 for a graduation ceremony in Los Pinos. It was unexpected, so we all ended up being very underdressed. We were all dressed for work, and they were all dressed in their best. It was so good to see many of the people that we have gotten close to over the last three years. It was also neat to see that the church is such a part of the community that it's building held a high school graduation ceremony, and there was even a short sermon in it. What a blessing!

It has been another great day in Honduras. We only have three work days before the group goes to Roatan on Thursday, August 4. Pray for us for strength in the last lfew days.

Friday's Work

2005-07-30T07:11:00.000-05:00

This day was at times trying on the emotions, and even a little frustrating, but as usual it was another great day!

This morning we sent a group to a village that has never seen gringos called Ciudad Espana. This is an area that the government paid about 1500 houses. The houses are nicer than many that we see in Honduras, but the people are equally poor. This appearence is very deceptive. There are many children that if they have shoes, they are mismatched. Many of the people have no food and no money to get food.

Yesterday, the group we sent to Ciudad Espana went for the purpose of surveying the work that needs to be reached. This community badly needs God in their life. Most of the people were very unreceptive to the evangelism of Billy and Cisco, but I pray that we will be able to reach this community in a big way. I hope that we can do more work in the community so that they can see what we are preaching in action. I think it would be absolutely amazing if a family moved into this community full time to reach this community. Also, in an effort to r each this community, we think that this would be a great opportunity for another Mi Esperanza training center so that we can help the women of this community.

After the group went to the community of Ciudad Espana, they went to Jimmy Hughe's children's home. One of the reasons that this is a children's home not an orphanage is because Jimmy does not want these kids to feel like they are abandoned, and that is the connotation that the word orphanage gives. Jimmy treats each person there equally, and they all love him and consider him a dad. This was one of the most emotional days that many people experienced. Jimmy is an ex-hitman that has become a Christian and has the love of Jesus and wants to give it to everyone else. He reminds all of the groups that it is their responsibility to tell everyone they ever come in contact with to tell about Jesus because we may be the only opportunity they ever have to hear about Jesus.

A different group today worked in a village that our TORCH group has not been to in many years. It is the village of Villa Nueva. Here they built two houses, and with the help and encouragement from Mark Connel, the entire group was finished with both houses and were on the bus by 4:00. This is a neat community because it is one of the only churches here where the preacher is not supported by anyone in the states. The church is growing all of the time, and it is not because of missionary groups that have come in; this happens because the people in their community are going and telling people about the love of God.

Yet another group spent the day in Santa Anna. No one who saw the land last Saturday would believe what this place looks like now. The building is almost finished, and after today, it will be ready to hold God's people. Also, there is now level land where Casa de Esperanza, the children's home will be.

A fourth group visited the children at the hospital. This team was led by Esperanza Massana, one of our translators. She has the most beuatiful heart of anyone I have ever met. She has been coming here to work with Torch groups for several years, and now she wants this to be part of her life forever. Praise God for what this ministry does to people's lives.

To this date, God has used this group in many ways. There are now 34 new Christian family members all over the city of Tegucigalpa. Many of this group of new Christians are the first in the communities, and this Sunday, they will have their first coorprate worship together. Many people have gotten houses this week, and many familys now have food. God is GREAT!! All the time!!!

It's been another great day!

2005-07-29T00:41:00.000-05:00

One thing I forgot to mention in yesterday's post was that two couples in Nueva Oriental got married. Both couples had been living together for years, but never married. All of the people had become Christians this week and came to an understanding that not being married was wrong. Wesley Thompson performed his first wedding ceremony ever.

Today was wonderful. Every day this week, all five of the busses that it takes to transport our large group have left the gates of the Mission House before 9:00. We have so much to do every day, and there is no need to burn any more day light than we have to. I would love it if we could start work everyday by 7:00 every morning.

This morning we sent groups to Nueva Oriental, San Miguel, Santa Anna, the hospital, and a small group to the hospital.

Nueva Oriental... Today we sent only a small group of God's workers to Nueva Oriental. No houses were built here today; the group that went was there only for the reason of telling people about Jesus. This group included Billy Ferguson, Cisco Vega, Wesley Thompson, Michelle Rachjl, and David Kenser. Michelle has such a beautiful heart. She never wants anyone to go away without talking to them about the love of God. In the five years that I have known Michelle, I have seen her compassion not just for the people of Honduras, but for everyone she comes in contact with. She truly yearns that all people hear God's word. Five people were baptised today in a river about 20- 30 minutes away from tegucigalpa. Yesterday, a women decided be baptized, but was very scared to to get into one of the barrels to be baptized. When it was time to go to the river, 4 other people wanted to go to the river to be baptized as well, so they also went to the river. Josue, a Honduran that was baptized last year studied with several of these people, and was blessed with the experience of baptizing some of his friends. Two or three other people became Christians in Nueva Oriental. God is good, and he is really using his tools to bring people to know him.

San Miguel... We worked toaday in a village that has had a lot of damage from the rain. It has rained there every day this summer. At least 4 times this summer, the rain has forced the rocks to move and to change the landscape everytime.

Three houses were started and completed here today, and two of these three houses were destroyed completely by the heavy rains from this summer. The houses are up, and they are some of the most square house I have ever seen.

The evangelism team in San Miguel worked very hard today. It takes a lot of work to walk through the mountain of SanMiguel; it is very steep and very dangerous terrain. Rudy from Costa Rica and Claudia from Gulf Port, MS worked today as translat0rs with the evangelism team. There were no phisical results today, but I know that many seeds were planted.

Also today in San Miguel, a truckload of food was dellivered. It is always a blessing o see how a family is when they have received a small box of food. the church building just needs a floor and roof. Their group went to Santa Anna. the alls of the home, jusg gouns and voog.

At the hospital... Esperaza Mansana led a small grou to the hospital. After the group spent a couple houras at kids, they should go they went to the orphanage dirty. Everyone that spent their day up there toaday, and we are very blast by the things we ahve seen.

Tonight we were priviliged einough to have the women of Mi Esperanza over to present the progrem to the women. We also had a store for Mi Esperanza. This was a perfect way to end a day. Another great day.

Alive and Well

2005-07-28T00:21:00.000-05:00

For all that heard about the bus wreck involving a group fromo Tupelo and New Albany, MS, please know that this was not anyone who is part of our group. Also know that all over Tegucigalpa as serparate groups found out about this cotastrophy, the various groups stopped whatever they were doiong to pray for those who are hurt and for the families of those that have died.

We accomplished a lot today, and God is definatetly using this group and making things into what he wants them to be.

Villa Gracia... A small group stayed here to assemble water filters that will be distributed around the communities in which we work.

Nueva Oriental... Three houses were finisthed, and the wood for the fourth house did not come today. Andrew Kurganevitch was a team leader for one f the housesm and he did an excelent job. Up the mountain, the group was hosting a carnival with tickets, prizes and games. We even had a cotton candy machine and they also made popcorn. Today, Billy left his tag team partner all alone today, but we people came to the realization that Billy has discipled others on how to give his Spanish lesson. 7 people in this village were baptized today, one of which (one was a gringo, and he was friends with her.

In Santa Anna... the crew working on the land did an awesome job on working on the house today. Nowi ti has three . There were one or two baptisms there as wel. The church site has about three walls up at the church site.

The hospital... This is always an emotional day. After the hospital,the group went to an orphanage. Tthey remember them as a great friend.
Its been another great day in HOnduras. Keep us in your prayers.

Another Day's work

2005-07-27T00:22:00.000-05:00

Wow! was a lot accomplished for the Lord today. I don't even know where to begin writing about the wonderful events that happened today. There are so many stories that have affected each individual personally; it is absolutely impossible to write all of these stories. I hope that those stories are all shared with friends and family when the group goes home.

I will start with the fantastic eight. These eight stayed at the mission house and yet again packed food. They entertained each other today, and I had more fun than ever packing food. Oftentimes, people choose to pack food because they believe that it will be an easy or light day, but it as equally as hard as any other thing that one could choose to take part in. The group was entertained by the Wheelbarrow lady and her sidekick as well as Bouyon Boy. There are now 700 boxes of food ready to be delivered to the hungry people here. Today the food packaging group had a blast serving the Lord and getting to know one another better.

Nueva Oriental... Mark Connell led the team to victory as they accomplished the three houses that were left unfinished yesterday because we never got our wood. (Actually these were the three houses where the teams had only dug postholes for the corner posts.) God used Billy and Cisco today to do great things for him. Some other preachers from the states worked with them also. By God using these men, 3 people in Nueva Oriental are now our sisters in Christ.

Santa Anna... Lots of work happened here today. The foundation at the church is ready to be laid; there are footers and level ground today. We will need Cynthia White here to show those men how it is done. Also the land for the orphanage is cleared and ready for work. Can't you imagine how cute those precious children will be? Also on the land today, was another day of VBS. Everyone saw the love that Phyllis Chaffin and Marylin Hunt gave to the children. They spent much one-on-one time coloring with children. They even missed the water balloon fight that has become a highlight of the VBS. Everyone involved with all of the VBS teams has done a great job and spent much time planning.

The VBS crew had to move some cement tiles sometime during the day, and they were all touched by a little Honduran girl Estephania who spent the time helping. She could only move one tile at a time, but is was one tile at a time that the group did not have to move. She did this the whole time with a big smile on her face.

In a remote area near Santa Anna, 4 houses were worked on. They are all almost complete. Two of them are finished, and the others will not take very long to finish. Praise God that 7 families who didn't have a place to live in this morning do now.

In Ojojona... Ojojona is a neat community directly up the hill from our land in Santa Anna. Today we had our first clinic of the trip. Doctor Jason Kelly from O'fallon, IL and Dan the dentist manned this project. They saw about two hundred people in about 5 hours. This group probably saw things that they have not seen before. Many of the children have worms and diareah.

There also was a VBS and Bible study with the adults here today. No one showed up for the meeting at 1:00 or even at 1:30 today, but that is ok; the group did not let Satan get them discouraged. They studied with people that were in line for the clinic, and we have three new familie members in Christ now in Ojojona. That means today we recieved 6 familiy members. What an amazing reason to celebrate!!! In just two days we have 17 new Christian family members.

Les Ferguson told a story of Daisy Gonzoles. She asked him to put her in his prayers. She is a married mother of 5 who became a Christian today. She asked for prayers that God would help her not do things that are wrong, that she would flee from evil ways, and that her husband woul accept God when he hears about him on Wednesday.

Food distribution... The Krug girls, Claire Chessir, and Russel Shaw had more fun riding around in Marc's truck delivering food. They found out that Torch's delivery truck runs like a HumV when it went up to places that even Marc was unsure about. This group was Jesus to many people today as they delivered 125 boxes of food. One lady even told them that all of her thanks was to God for the food. She said that she knew it was from him because she prayed for it. Praise God that she knew the work we are doing is not from us.

The hospital team... This morning Anibal Tamacas otherwise known as AB led a team to the hospital of about 15 people. There were two girls in our group who spent the day playing with a girl with Tiburculosus. They had no worries of catching this; and when asked about why they were doing it, they said that the little girl needed God's love too. Also some of our younger crew members experienced the burn unit. This is always a heart-wrenching experience. The crew saw a baby with a hernia. Also there was a little girl there with a pole through her leg. The entire group had a very emotional day.

AB told me that the most heart warming fulfilling part of his day was the part of the day when this group went to the special needs orphanage. This is a place where kids that are severely retarded can be taken care of and loved. The group spent about 3 hours with the kids. He said that they were able to play soccer with them, and it was much fun watching them try. They also spent time on the new playground built for them in the spring by a Torch group. Everyone was very uplifted after spending time with these special people.

Much happened today. God is awesome! It was another great day.

Things don't always go as planned... welcome to honduras

2005-07-25T23:42:00.000-05:00

I would like to begin with a side not to Cynthia White: I read your comments to your family, and Don, Andy, your dad, and Larry were able to go to Los Pinos on Sunday via truck. Also know that block laying is definately not the same without you here.

This morning we began at devo by presenting pink toolbelts to the six ladies from Borger, TX because of their hard work throughout the year for a mission that only one had ever experienced. These ladies were able to raise almost $10,000 to go towards benevolence. They also earned all of their money to pay for their expenses to get here. Great work ladies!

This morning we sent several groups in many directions. One group led by Terri Tindall stayed at the Mission House to spend the day packing food. Althogh this at first sounds like a very easy task, it is not. When food is packs beans, rice, sugar, and flour are carefully packaged from the huge bags that they are bought in into gallon sized ziplocks. Also in the food boxes things of spaghetti, tomato sauce, lard, some coffee, and most importantly, a Spanish bible. The contents of this box can typically feed a family here from anywhere between two weeks and a month. Tomorrow, several hundred families will have their prayers answered when Jesus sends people to them with a box of food.

At Nueva Oriental... Here all of the construction crews experienced one of those "Welcome to Honduras" kind of days. This expression is often stated when things don't go exactly as planned. The plan was to build four houses in this village today. Mark Connell and some of his interns arrived in the village early to find the sites that needed to be built. None of them were very easy to get to, and none of them were very close to the road in which the wood is delivered. Some people were surprised at where the sites were chosen, but if we didn't make the trek across the mountain to build these people's houses, then who would? The first load of wood arrived shortly after the group, so one group was able to move the wood and then get to work on this house. The people at the other three sites were all promised that a semi carrying enough wood to construct the other three houses. Sometime between 12:30 and 1:00 we found out that the man driving the truck drove the wood to the place where houses are supposed to be built tomorrow. In many circumstances, most people would become impatient and frusterated at the 2 and 1/2 hours they waited, but instead, we saw people on each house site getting to know others better, and taking time to play with and love on the children. Over the years I have learned here that losing my cool on a day like this does no good; I end up yelling at things that I cannot control, and nothing changes. It sure is nice to no that God is in control of everything. When we found out that the woo was not coming today, the three teams that had no wood loaded up on a bus to go to Santa Anna. So that they could get started on the houses that were supposed to be built tomorrow. Guess what? That did not happen.

While the construction, or should I say lack of construction, was happening, evangelim teams were all over the mountain. These groups scaled the mountain for hours telling people about the afternoon Bible study and also to tell peoplle about the VBS that was going to happen the same tie as the group study. The evangelism crew is led by Billy Ferguson and Cisco Vega. The VBS team is led by Paul Bennett. Paul was told that probably only 40 or so kids would be joining the VBS; however, closer to 140 kids showed up today. Fortuneatley, Paul and his crew rolled with the punches and handled the many extra chil . Throuout the day, 7 ladies in Nueva Orientasl decided to became Christians today.

Santa Anna... Here Don White headed up the crew to build the church building. This morning there was no back hoe, nor were there footers dug for the building. Yet again, welcome to Honduras. People here still found plenty of work to take part of today. All of the block needed for the church was moved to the church site. The side walk here was extended more. (Sidewalks here are going to wind through everything.) It looks absolutely beautiful. Dirt was hauled all day long, and cement was mixed for various projects.

In Santa Anna, a Bible study and a VBS also took place here today. I wish that everyone could have seen how intently the children were listening to the team toing the VBS; it was wonerful. Another group held a Bible study here too with a group of women. Three people were added into our family in Santa Anna today. Praise God!!!

Hospital Escuala... This group was led by Oscar Mansana, one of our translators from El Salvador. Here, many people were shared God through smiles, hugs, small gifts, and prayers. Days of visiting the hospital are always very emotional and heart breaking.

Everyone arrived back to the Mission House both exhausted and pumped for God. Tonight's devotional was led by Ray Wood, who gave testimony about his life and how he became a Christian. We all were touched by this and moved to tears.

As soon as devo ended, our own Holly from Vicksburg, MS told Kirt Hunt that the time had come. She was ready to be baptized into Christ. We all immediately gathered around the fountain in front of the girl's dorm What a perfect way to end the night. It's been another great day here in Honduras. Keep praying for us.

2005-07-24T23:36:00.000-05:00

This morning we were able to get some much needed rest, and we did not have worship until 10:00. We were unable to worship with congregations in villages that we work in because the rains this summer have destroyed the roads and made it nearly impossible for our busses to pass. Instead, we worshiped with each other this morning at a beautiful overlook of a valley the mission house. David Kenser from Hot Springs, AR and Wesley Thompson from Starkville, MS each delivered a message. Soon after our time of praise ended, we piled up in the busses to go eat at an area with several American fast food restaurants.

While we were eating, Kirt Hunt, Oscar Masana, and Andrew Kurganevitch siezed an opportunity to wittness to a couple Honuran men. At the same time, several people in the group entertained some poor Honduran street kids by taking them in to the restaurants to get some food and spending time with them while they ate. Come to find out for of the boys (Suel, Danial, Josue, and Oscar) are from Los Pinos, a village that many Torch groups have worked in over the past two or three years.

After lunch, it was time for work. We headed to the village of Santa Anna. Here a large piece of land was bought in April. On this land there will be: sixteen families with new homes, a place for the church to worship, a full time free clinic, a police post, a Mi Esperanza Artisan center, a children's home that will be full of children who today are dirty, hungry and unloved. Within months, the walls of the chilren's home will be full of laughter and love.

We needed to get quite a bit of work done here today to prepare for the work that will happen over the next two weeks. We cleared the land for the the church building. Also, an assembly line was formed to move concrete blocks up to the church site. While this was happening, a group was moving wheel barrows of dirt down the hill so that cement can be made tomorrow.

While we were working, the last part of our group showed up (the ones that didn't come yesterday) When they joined us, we took a time for everyone to celebrate communion with each other and to celebrate our risen savior.

After we spent time in communion, the entire group headed to sthe area where the children's home will be built. Here the entire group gathered around Jen and Karen to pray. They have given up everything they know and all that is familiar to them to do a work here that they are in love with. They will work with the children's home and give an abundance of love to the children and teach them about Jesus. this was very heart-touching, and many eyes were tear-filled.

Tonight we planned to go to the Jesus Statue for our devotional, but as usual, things in Honduras change. Because of the rain today, we couldn't go to the Jesus statue. Instead we had worship at the mission house. Imagine our group of 171 along with plus about 20 others singing to God with everything they have. It was indeed another great day

commenting

2005-07-24T00:51:00.000-05:00

If anyone would like to send a message to anyone in the group, post a comment by clicking in the post comment section, and put the first and last name of the person receiving the message in the first line of the comment space.

Here at last

2005-07-23T23:14:00.000-05:00

The time many people thought would nnever get here is here at last. About 115 of the 175 people arrived safely in Tegucigalpa today. Unfortunately, two people from Hot Springs, AR did not make it in today like they planned. Gabriella and Steve Hogue were unable to make it in today, because they came into some problems with their visas. Pray that God works these problems out and that no one allows the many distractions satan is throwing around to not get them down. Also the group from Hot Springs did not make it with al of their baggage, so pray that all of it gets here soon.

After everyone arrived we went across the street from the airport to grab lunch. The whole group worked hard to make sure that they received no enslada (salad) on their hamburgers and no heilo (ice) in their drinks. If only they knew and understood that everything was ok to eat... Oh well! Better safe than sorry.

As soon as the food was gone and faces were wiped off the group packed like sardines into two of the busses in the TORCH fleet. At least we were only going up to Villa Garcia or what we call the Mission House. All of the newbies that had never experienced riding in Honduras were definately in for a treat unless they dislike rollercoasters. As soon as we arrived and settled in Billy Ferguson led a seminar for anyone interested in doing one-on-one evagelism while working here. At least very eager people attended this meeting. During the same time of the evangelism meeting, Paul Bennet had a time of planning with all of those that want to be involved in Vacation Bible School.

While the meetings were happening, a small group met Mark Connell and some TORCH interns in the village of Nueva Oriental so that they could learn how to put in a floor and how to make the house as square as possible. NO JUNK FOR JESUS!!! The floors are such an improvevment and immensely improve the quality of the TORCH houses. I hope that each person on this trip has the opportunity to put in a floor.

After the meetings were over and the construction crew had finished building, everyone was oriented to the rules and regulations of the trip. They also were told of some of the amazing things that God has in store for this trip.

Devotional tonight was exciting and inspiring. I always am encouraged when I hear so many people singing with everything they have to the one we love and serve. As usual we ended the day with the question "Where did you see Jesus today?" This is a question that causes people to think. Through the trip pray that our eyes are open and that we all meet Jesus face to face.

It was another great day in Honduras!!

The Time Has Arrived

2005-07-19T15:04:00.000-05:00

Honduras Agenda

July 23 – August 6^th

July 23 – Arrivals 11:00 to 12:30
Clear customs / lunch and arrive at Mission House between 2:00 & 2:30
Work / Training
House Building – leaders travel to house site to learn how to install floors.
Food Distribution – pack out 2 loads of food
Evangelism Training – Billy to conduct class
Evangelism Training – VBS Planning
IRC Warehouse – Crew to straighten & clean up

Orientation

Devotional

Lights out 10:30

July 24^th – Arrivals 12:18
Breakfast 7:00 to 8:15

Two locations for worship – Los Pinos & San Miguel – depart at 9:15

Lunch – Campero’s area

Work planned at Santa Ana location

Join up with new arrivals at Santa Ana

Ground Breaking for Casa de Esperanza

Communion at church site

Devotional at Jesus Statue
Return to mission house and orientation for Sunday arrivals

Lights out at 10:30

July 25^th – August 3 for most & August 5^th for others.

The work begins – daily schedule except Sunday

Breakfast 6:30 to 7:30

Devotional 7:45

Buses depart to work sites at 8:45

Work Opportunities -
House Crews – 4 – average per day
Church Construction in Santa Ana, San Miguel, & La Paz
Block House Construction
Children’s Home – visits and work almost daily
Hospital Esquela - daily

Evangelism – Teaching - daily

Evangelism – VBS - daily

Food Assembly & Food Distribution - daily

IRC Warehouse – assembly of clinic, distribution, clothing, etc

Clinics will be the end of week one and beginning of week two.

August 6^th – We go back to our homes and plan another year!

Feet

2005-07-18T11:08:00.000-05:00

The feet in this picture belong to two little girls that I met in April in a village called Cuidad Espania. Both of these beautiful children had smiles and were as happy as any children that you might meet here in the states - the difference is, that they have always been poor and they don't know anything different. One day soon, they will realize that everyone isn't always hungry, that their clothes are dirty and that the shoes that the wear don't match - if they even have shoes.
Next week we will operate the TORCH Shoe Store and we'll wash a lot of feet like this - then we'll make sure that they have new shoes - that match.
That will be.....Another Great Day in Honduras.........
(see you this weekend)

ROATAN

2005-07-13T11:07:00.000-05:00

As most of you know, we have a tradition of ending our mission in Roatan. That tradition will continue this year however, there will be another option.

Our group size prevents us all from travelling to Roatan at the same time. Since we all can't go at the same time, we are offering the first 40 volunteers the option of staying in Tegucigalpa and working on a few more projects, building a couple of houses, feeding a few more people, playing with a few more kids, and doing what we love to do for a couple more days.
Please call my cell or email me if you want to be one of the lucky group that stay's in Tegucigalpa for 2 more great days in Honduras.

Get Ready To Build

2005-07-12T13:14:00.000-05:00

When the groups travelling on the 23rd arrive in Tegucigalpa, they will go from the airport to lunch and then straight to work. Well have teams going to pack food, learn how to build a 2005 style house, preparing for VBS, & preparing for evangelism.
Here is a sample of what we will see when we go up the mountain to the House Building 101 class.
Floors are one of the most exciting additions to Hondo Houses that we have ever done. I can't wait to pound the first nails.
We are also adding other additions like bunk beds and even some houses with two rooms!
Get ready to build! We are gonna have a great time and 14 GREAT DAYS IN HONDURAS.