Forging rivers on caved bridges, dodging rock and landslides, 800 ft hike straight up, and crossing hammock bridges--a true Honduran adventure to dedicate 4 new churches to the Lord! 

 

This past weekend we were in Honduras dedicating 4 new churches to the Lord.  It was an honor and an adventure as we went into very remote places to dedicate these new works. The very first church that we went to dedicate required that we cross the river on a caved in bridge.  It was hard to see if there was even anything under the water as we eased off to the point of no return.  The Lord was faithful and we were able to cross safely through the water.  We continued on up the mountain for almost 2 hours passing rock slides and places where the road had fallen off into the canyon hundreds of feet below.  We drove as far as we could and then hiked for about 10 minutes, we arrived late because of the roads, an hour late and the people were all there waiting to celebrate what the Lord had done!   The first village is called New Spirit, and the wonderful spirit in that place was a real blessing.  They worshipped and praised the Lord "village style"  with an accordion and guitars.  We Preached the word and ministered to the people gathered there.  There was a wonderful move of the Holy Ghost there as so many came forward for prayer.  

 

 

 

 

We left to go on to the next village, we traveled for several hours, once more passing huge boulders and missing roads.  We went as far as our vehicle could travel and then began the 800ft. hike up the mountain to the village called The Swan.  It took every ounce of effort that we had to make that hike, it was straight up with absolutely no level ground.  It took us 1.5 hours to get there.  By now it was dark and the people had been waiting for 3 hours!  But we had a wonderful service.  We had lights by generator because there is no electricity in the village.  We sang and worshipped the Lord, preached the word and ministered to those who came forward for prayer.  There was an elderly lady of 98 years in that congregation who walked to get there and still fasts and prays.  Most believers there are brand new in their faith and ready to take their village for Jesus. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just as the service ended and we thought   that we would have   to go down the mountain in the pitch dark a truck showed up out of nowhere.  It was outfitted to be able to haul the coffee down out of the coffee fields so it could travel roads that even our 4 wheel drive couldn't go.  God is so good, He sent us a ride down the mountain!   It was AM by the time we got back to our hotel room.  We had just a few short hours to try and rest for the next days activities....2 more church dedications!

Up and gone by AM, we headed for the village called New Village.  We headed once more toward the precious mountain villages in Western Honduras.  We drove to a village to meet up with a truck that would then take us the rest of the way, we had damaged the stabilizer bar on our truck and although we had gone through several small rivers we couldn't chance going through the bigger river without a bridge.  There are too many hidden boulders under the water's surface.  We drove as far as we could in that truck and then had to cross another river on a hammock bridge!  But when we arrived the new Christians were waiting with the church all decorated.  We worshipped the Lord and invoked His presence over that place.  The pastor of this village was poisoned while spraying his crops and almost died.  He was a vegetable for months, but now through the prayers of the church has regained consciousness.  But he does not have muscular control  yet, it damaged his nervous system.  We ask that you pray for him please as he faces this very difficult time in his life.  

                                                                                                                                      
  Finally, the 4th church.  The village is called Good Water.  The 3 neighboring village churches came.  They have all pitched in to get walls up around the church.  They still do not have windows or doors but are well on their way.  The service was wonderful!  After we prayed for the sick and laid hands on them.  They in return wanted to pray for us....for our family, and for our church, Grace Christian Fellowship.  It was very moving as 3 villages lifted up their voices to intercede and pray for the brethren who had given the money for their new building!  They prayed for Pastor Hale and the church builders club.  They asked us to tell you thank you.  So, we started our journey back down the mountain, through the rivers, around the landslides with a damaged stabilizer bar!  But as always God held us safe in His mighty hand. 

On Saturday morning the 27th a group of about 30 to 40 on fire believers and I headed up the mountain to the village of Tontoles. They paired off and set out to go door to door through out the village sharing the gospel and inviting them to the service for that morning. The service started out by ministering to the 50 to 60 children  that showed up. They had fun playing games singing songs and hearing the gospel message. About half the children raised their hand to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  Then it was time to minister to the grown ups. We had a time of special music and praise and worship then the pastor of the church asked some of the new Christians to testify of what the Lord had done in their life. There was a young man who had just been saved 10 days or so  and he shared how Jesus has changed his life in just the short time that he has been saved. He was set free of so many things.  There was a woman who had only been saved 22 days. There was another man who had been saved 23 days.  He testified that had been set free from smoking,  drinking, and foul language. Then the service was turned  over to me, Larry, and I began to share with them about how the funds to build the church came about....the testimony of a man of God who was raised from the dead and how the name Cup of Salvation was given. They all rejoiced and praised the Lord. The word was preached and a prayer of dedication was made.

 

We prayed for the needs of the people. One woman came down to the altar and as she was being prayed for she took off her rosary beads and left them at the altar. After that the group of fired up believers that went up that mountain with me went outside and surrounded  the church on the north, south, east and west, together with the local villagers inside the church and they began to do spiritual warfare pulling down strong holds over that area and declaring there to be clean air.   It was an awesome service, in all we had about 200 people attend the service.  There were 10 adults that received Jesus as Lord and Savior. As of our last report, 8 of those 10 are in church and there is a tremendous move of the Holy Ghost in every service.