School Supplies for 467 Students!

Our team in Honduras is a busy one!  On Saturday, they handed out school supplies to 467 students.  The school year starts in February and without this help the students would not be able to go to school.  So many generous donors from the States made this possible!  We are excited to participate and can't wait to get there!

To see a short video, click HERE

Puerta de Esperanza

This week our team in La Ceiba, Honduras opened a home for moms and their babies. Our teammate, Shannon Innes had a vision to fulfill a serious need in Honduras. Puerta de Esperanza, translated Door of Hope, is a home where these teenage mothers and their children can escape the streets and gain hope, love, and guidance.

Click to see a 2 minute video on the home:

Puerta de Esperanza

Confession: I'm a Hoarder

Does anyone watch A&E's show, Hoarders? I have three shows I religiously watch on Hulu and this is strangely one of them. I am just mesmerized! I have a hard time turning away while totally repulsed. I also have a innate desire to go organize ALL of it. Weird, I know. I may have OCD. So, I bet you are surprised as I am to find out that I too, am a real life hoarder.

I didn't find this out though until we were called to move to Honduras. The night Adam came home and told me (Michelle) that he felt called, I laid in bed (8 months pregnant and awake anyway) mentally cataloging our entire house. What in the world would HAVE TO move with me. I only came up with four things. Dying to know, aren't you? KitchenAid mixer, food processor, pressure cooker and immersion blender. The rest I had mentally sold, given away, or trashed.

And now it has come time to start that process of selling, giving away, storing, or trashing. And that's when I discovered I am a HOARDER! There is sooo much stuff here and I used to pride myself on being a minimalist. "I don't need all the baby gear, don't desire the latest and greatest of technology, don't buy a lot of stuff ." WRONG! Just stepping into my closet causes hyper-ventilation. Looks like Target may have gotten the best of me. And it's not about getting rid of it. It's the sheer amount of stuff.

So I started with the obvious. . .shoes. Donated 18 pairs. Failed to mention I still have about 25 pair. Eek! So I guess along with my confession, I am asking you to consider what in your closets could you purge? What need could you fulfill for a "neighbor"? All that cute girl clothes I bought for Asher? I found a friend who is actually having a girl. What could you do without? What could you stop purchasing to put that money towards someone who could really benefit from it? And I am not pointing the finger, trust me. I am asking myself the same thing!

Check out Matthew 25: 35-37!

Cross-Cultural Training

I am not a soccer fan...yet.  But to effectively relate to people in Honduras, I must become one.  In Honduras, soccer is life.  It is THE sport, THE entertainment & THE social gathering.  I won't be able to avoid the topic so I am learning to love it.

On Saturday, my good friend, Jeff took me to University of Phoenix Stadium to watch USA vs. Venezuela.

For 90+ minutes neither team scored (a typical objection of non-soccer fans).  However, it was actually a very exciting match.  The US team took 19 shots on goal.  Jeff (an avid player and fan) continually fed me soccer strategy, player info, and general enthusiasm for the game.  This all built up considerable suspense.  Then, with regular time expired and nearly 7 minutes of stoppage time played, the US prepares for a corner kick.  Jeff informs me that, "this will probably be the last play of match."  It was.

Check it out:

 

What an ending!  Sure makes it easier to understand and appreciate this game that is the passion of Honduras.

Thank you Jeff!

Big Changes

Last week, Adam resigned from his job and this week we started building our support team!  Here's a random list of the fun things we did this week:

*Purchased many stamps, labels, envelopes, and much paper!
*Prayed a lot
*Michelle showed Adam her mad labeling, envelope stuffing, stamping skills
*Sent out our first 100 letters
*Prayed some more
*Adam filled Michelle's inbox with lots of "to-do" emails
*Michelle prayed for patience
*Added a handful of monthly supporters! (PRAISE GOD!)
*Wrote some thank you notes
*Prayed thanksgiving
*Adam started making phone calls to set up coffee, lunches, dinners to share our passion for Honduras
*Adjusted our home budget
*Prayed, prayed , prayed

Overall, we had a great first week and we feel encouraged and excited!  The Lord is good ALL THE TIME and all the time, GOD IS GOOD!  Please continue to pray for this process as it is a huge change in what we do daily and is definitely stretching our faith (which is such a good thing!)!

Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. 

1 Chronicles 16:³⁴ 

Just for Fun:Tagu

Jacob, our three year old, received these fun blocks for Christmas a couple weeks ago:

They are magnetic so you can build all sorts of crazy, gravity defying pieces of work.  It's possible that Adam and Michelle are having much more fun with these while Jacob develops an unrealistic view of how blocks should behave.  Michelle especially enjoys the clean up as the blocks all come barreling toward each other!  

They have a neat story behind them.  They are manufactured in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, the capital city.  If you are inrterested, below is an article out of Entrepreneur explaining two brothers quest to provide a more stable situation for many in Honduras.  We hope to do the same through providing an opportunity to have physical and spiritual needs met in a place where poverty, murder, and general corruption abound.  But until we step foot there, we will pray for those in Honduras (and keep playing with these fun blocks!).

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220722

Join the Team???

We have decided the hardest thing about moving to Honduras will be leaving our family and friends here. This includes our home church, Covenant Community, and our church family there. We have talked about visiting friends and family before we leave and how fun it will be to come back to the States to visit. And then, we had this really marvelous idea that solved our problem:

EVERYONE SHOULD COME WITH US! Send in your applications, pack your bags, you are coming with our family to Honduras!

Wouldn't that be awesome?? We think so but we know that isn't practical or Biblical. Romans 10:15 says, "And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!'" There are goers and there are senders! The sender is just as vital and important in this ministry as the goer! We need prayerful senders and we need financial senders!

Will you send us?? We need a team that is focused on the spiritual needs as well as the physical needs of the people of Honduras. I can assure you it is not about the Cains. It's about the lives and eternities of the Hondurans. Will you pray the Lord increases our team?

Adam's Last Day on the Job

Today is my last day on the job in shopping center development/management.  I have really enjoyed the work I’ve had the opportunity to do over the past 4 years.  I have learned a lot and met some amazing people through this job.  And I couldn’t ask for better bosses – my dad and uncle.

I am leaving to focus full-time on support-raising for our missions effort.  It is a little scary to leave a job and an income.  However, the Lord is already showing us that He will continue to provide for us.  He has never abandoned us and He isn’t going to start now.

We are excited to take this step towards serving the Lord full-time in Honduras.

Adam

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.  – Colossians 3:23-24

Our Timeline

When Adam and I were engaged, we just wanted to be married.  Engagement was a means to an end.  The time of preparation for the wedding and our marriage was fruitful but we knew engagement wouldn't and shouldn't last forever.  SOOO, we set a date.

Similarly, we are in a time of building our support team but we really just want to be in Honduras.  This was evident the Thursday of our Vision Trip.  Statistics say is takes 22 months on average to raise support. We know this time of building a team will be fruitful but  it too shouldn't last forever. SOOO, we've set a date.  We desire to be in language school by September of this year. Yes, 2012.  8 months from now.

Here's a short timeline:
January to June 2012: Building our support team full time!
June 3-8, 2012: Training in North Carolina (if the funds to go are in our account)
July 1-31, 2012: Cross Cultural Ministry Internship in New York City (must be at 70-85% of our monthly budget)
August 2012: Packing up and having a mad garage sale!!
September 2012: Language school in Costa Rica for 3 trimesters
September 2013: Honduras!

We know this may be an ambitious goal but we know the Lord can do it, if it is His will.

Our First Presentation

We presented our vision to our home church, Covenant Community Church, yesterday. Adam did most of the talking (because Michelle is one of those people that would rather have a root canal than speak in public). He shared our long-time desire to be involved in missions and serve the lost, the poor, and the fatherless. For as long as I (Michelle) have known Adam (10 years), he has always spoken so highly of his own father and how he knows he has been molded by having a great dad around. Because of Adam's relationship with his own dad, he has a huge heart for the fatherless. Below is a snippet of an email he wrote to our team leader that we shared with our church:

As I have thought and prayed about how I might serve in the mission field, I feel drawn to serve fatherless children (especially boys ages 10-17). The impact of a father (or absence of) is immense. The absent father leaves a hole that provides a clear opening for our Heavenly Father. I believe that young men possess a fire kindled by God. However, if that fire is left unattended it can be used by Satan (gangs, drugs, etc). Young men are often the least represented demographic in the church. I wonder how the church would look if more young men fueled it’s growth. Your story about Jorge [dropping out of school] is a perfect example. As boys become men they are faced with a crossroads. I want to help more young men choose the path of Christ.

We currently foresee this passion unfolding in the form of relationship building, discipleship, and evangelism within a impoverished community in La Ceiba. We pray that our church will catch the vision with us! And you as well!

^{Isaiah 68:5-6} A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.

Throwback Thursday: Michelle's First Mission Trip

When Michelle was in youth group at Custer Road UMC, the high school students served the children of Crossville, Tennessee for a week each summer. A quarter of Crossville's 10,000 people live below the poverty line. The median household income is $25,ooo. Michelle's first experience serving and loving on the poor was here. Her youth group held a week long Vacation Bible School in a state park for about 100 kids every year.

The whole group (Crossville kids and CRUMY kids!)

Michelle's "family group" for the week

Louie, Aaron, Michelle, Nancy and Michelle

Michelle and Kendra (who remained her pen pal through the years)

Building Projects in La Ceiba

A generous donor has agreed to a $1 to $1 match for our two ministry centers in La Ceiba.

To read more click HERE