A LOOK BACK AT MARCH (through Lorenda's eyes)...
Hello Everyone! I am so excited to update you on this past month here serving in Roatan, Honduras. This month was action packed for sure! The Lord has done so many great things this month, I don't even know where to start.
Three major events happened this month with regards to the Celebrate Recovery ministry and all went AMAZING!
Celebration Place Training --- Early in the month of March I was able to do an online zoom meeting with a missionary friend and her team serving in Tegucigalpa (mainland Honduras) who work with children and want to use the children's Celebrate Recovery materials "Celebration Place" with the kiddos they serve at their community center. It was the first time any of them have heard of Celebrate Recovery and they LOVED it! During the training, you could tell that the topics were reaching the hearts of the leaders that thought they were just there to get trained in a program...little did they know the impact this training would have in their own hearts and lives. The missionary friend that requested the training now wants to go through the adult materials, yay!!! This program is a tool that any local church can use to help people find complete freedom from any hurt, hang-up or habit through the power of Jesus Christ! I am excited to be a part of this journey with them. Looking forward to our next zoom meeting. They will start using this program with their kids at the community center in August, but want to get a head start on the training now. Looking forward to hearing how it goes when they start the program.
I shared my testimony at the Celebrate Recovery we started in February --- I still get nervous before sharing, but the reason I share my testimony is because in Revelation 12:11 it says "And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death." If God can help me, he can help anyone! I choose to share my story for God's glory and be vulnerable so that others can have hope that JESUS CHRIST can help them too. God has done so much in my life for the better and those of you who knew me before I got saved at 27 years old can testify to that. I am eternally gratefully for my salvation and will continue to testify of God's greatness for the rest of my life.
Celebrate Recovery Cookout --- We had our first fellowship event towards the end of March and had 25 people at our first Celebrate Recovery Cookout on the beach. It went great and we look forward to another fellowship event soon.
Picture of the wall they painted at the kids community center in Tegucigalpa, Honduras where they will be starting Celebration Place (the kid's program of Celebrate Recovery) in August 2021....
Picture of the zoom training for Celebration Place...
Picture of Tyler cooking for the Celebrate Recovery Cookout of the beach fellowship event...
Another area of ministry here for us involves teaching the Bible 3 times a week at the only drug and alcohol rehab center on the island "Jesus is the Solution."
This month was super special because Easter week was a part of this month. A lot of the people in the rehab have gone to church their whole lives, yet they believed that Holy Week was a time for vacations and partying. Together we went though the Bible, with a focus on learning what happened in the life of Jesus during Holy Week and it was amazing!!! They all enjoyed the study and said they had never been taught that before. The super special day for me was Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday...where Jesus washed the disciples feet and they had their first Communion/Lord's Supper. We did a foot washing and partook in communion together and it was so special. This was the first foot washing I have ever participated in (and God called us to lead it) and I will never forget it! Such a sweet, special time together! After we washed everyone's feet in the rehab, they then said that they needed to wash our feet. Having a humble, servant heart was not only taught, but it was applied in such an amazing display of love. We LOVE teaching the Bible at the rehab and sharing the Love of Jesus with them. They have become like family. Many lives are being changed by the power of Jesus Christ! All glory to God!
Pictures from the footwashing at the rehab...
As we serve it is so important to keep our physical health up to endure the race set before us. We currently use an online missionary workout through CRASH FITNESS and we love it.
I eat healthy, but I have been convicted to get back working out to honor God with my body and to get strong to serve Him better. A friend of mine who serves on the mainland in Honduras always seems to stay in shape, so I asked her what she does to stay healthy. She mentioned that she does an online workout 3 times a week through Crash Fitness that can be used by anyone, but is used by a lot of missionaries all around the world. The membership is only $10 per month for the whole family (missionary discount) and all you need is internet to watch the videos and dumbbells (thank God we found some of those here). Let me tell you...I LOVE working out through this program. They love Jesus and that is their focus throughout the devotion, dynamic stretch, strength training, and workout. I actually now find working out to be a delight and not a duty, praise God! Fit by 40 is my goal ...that's 20 months away, but I think God is going to help me reach it sooner than that. Stay turned. Might just be by 39 (in 8 months).
Pictures from one of our first workout with Crash Fitness and our dumbbells we found here...
Link to check out Crash Fitness if you're interested...
https://www.crashfitnessco.com/
We serve a lot, but I know how important it is to enjoy each other as a family, so we do not neglect to enjoy family time.
We were able to complete our PADI Open Water Diver course as a family, which was both for the boys homeschool oceanography class and to enjoy time together. For a second there, I thought I wasn't going to be able to pass the "remove your mask underwater" skill because water kept going up my nose and I would panic, choke and rise to the top of the water quickly. With a one on one session with a different instructor, I was able to successfully complete this task. Completing this certification was the last part of Messiah's required work to graduate High School. So I can say we completed 7 years homeschooling together and he is ready for college, yay! Now we are working on getting his college funded through scholarships and grants, and let me tell you...it's a lot of work.
Another neat thing we were able to do as a family this month was go to the sloth/monkey park for Guenther's 14th birthday. It was so fun, but the sloth was not at squishy as I thought they would be and their nails are sharp...it felt like it was puncturing the skin on my shoulder. Then when we visited the monkeys and they thought that it would be a great idea to take out the bun in my hair and rip my hair apart, followed by digging in my pocket to steal my lip gloss and run off quicker than you can blink. Finally came the macaw bird cage, and you can guess what I did...stayed outside the cage and watched the guys have them land on their heads. I was not going for round three of animal adventures. Overall it was super fun and Guenther seemed to really enjoy it for his birthday.
Pictures from our last scuba diving class...
Pictures from Guenther's birthday at the sloth/monkey park...
Prayer Request
I am planning our trip back to the states for end of July-Aug. Prayers as that is a lot of work, but super excited to see everyone.
This is only a tiny portion of what happened in March, but I hope you can see that God is on the move here in Honduras and we are blessed to be used by him to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to the nations. Thank you for your continued support through prayers and financially. You are a crucial part of what is going on here and we couldn't do it without you. Love y'all bunches!! Blessings!!