MOVING THE PAGE

Dear Friends and Family and Followers:

I am writing this to say that I will no longer be using this page for the ministry updates. I will however, be keeping it but only for personal use and journaling. All related topics about the ministry and children here will now be on our webpage. It will be a lot easier to maintain and you can also view our giving catalog from here as wells our wish lists, urgent needs and donate all on one webpage. Thank you all for understanding. To read the latest update please click now on the link below:

www.hopeofhonduras,org

Have a Blessed day!

What I feel God calling me to be......

the day she entered the home

Belkis is a sweet young lady who actually turns Sweet 16 on the 13th of March. Her and her three siblings have been with us for the last three years. It has been amazing to see her grow not only physically but spiritually as well. She truly longs to serve the Lord. She has been taking piano lessons, she sings in the choir, she helps teach a class at church. She signed up to take a theology class and even plays along with Mrs, Dallita at church. Belkis also attends the hospital outreach ministry with me. She loves going and talking with the people and the children. She surrendered her heart to the Lord and her life and said that she felt God calling her to be a missionary and or a Pastors wife. She has never wavered from these things and keeps saying that she feels called to full-time service. I walk everyday and the last few days she has asked to walk with me. Today, as we were walking I could tell that there was something on her mind. She said to me...."Mrs. Amy, I really love going to the hospital, with you."  We then began to talk about the lack of compassion that some nurses even have. Not once while we were there did a nurse pass to see a patient. We were there for over and 1 and half. How sad, and we were in the childrens ward. As we were talking she said, "I really feel God calling me to be a nurse". I still want to be a in full-time ministry but I think I need to be in the medical field. How AWESOME would that be. Here is a young lady who if they had not been placed here in the home would not be where she is today and now she says  that she feels God calling her to be a nurse maybe on the missionary field. God is awesome and HE is still in the business of using and calling people. It will not be cheap and it will not be easy but we want her to be able to go to college one day. It is highly likely that she will live here with us until she turns 18 at which point yes it will be time to go to college. Please pray and think about maybe starting now to give towards her college needs. It will be time for her to go before we know it. Also please be in prayer for her as she seeks the Lord's will for her life.

Things You Never Really Get Use to.........

We are in our fourth year here in Honduras and a total of five years living outside of the U.S.A.  Sometimes you just never get use to the the things that you see each day. Living in the states you see things and you kind of get use to them. Living here it is the same way. However, sometimes there are things that you see that you just never really get use to seeing. Waiting in line this week to drop Taylor off at the airport we saw at least 5 different homeless people. It is heart breaking watching them walk around begging for food, some half- naked, others with tattered and torn clothes, some that are to big, and they walk about like crazy people, talking to them selves and pointing of in the distance.  I started to think about the man in the Bible in Matthew 8:28-34.   Where all the people were afraid of him and he was naked and possessed with the devil.  Then, I started to think about how Jesus didn't pass this man by. He saved him. He gave him his life back and more abundantly. I never want to get to a place in my life where I can easily pass people by. I never want to forget what Jesus did for me. What kind of life HE saved from. (I'm not saying I had a bad life.....) I am stating that if I had not trusted Christ as my Savior I don't know where I would be today. As I sit here and type I pray that the Lord continues to have mercy on me and give with grace renewed each morning. I pray that I can extend that into compassion and love for others. I don't want to just do that here in Honduras but I hope and pray to be an encouragement to all that I know and meet. So, what about you today....are you going to continue to get use to things.....or pray that God gives you that same desire to see peoples lives changed through Christ.

What does love really mean?

Well, Christmas has come and gone and the new year is already in bloom. However, a sweet story to share is one from our newest little girl Sindy. She has not been with us very long but she has really jumped right into this and we are her family and home. She calls us momma and daddy and she loves Hunter and the boys. We were unsure if she was going to be able to go home for Christmas and really was only thinking it would be for a day at the most. However, her aunt decided to come and pick her up and they all stayed together. She traveled during the four day break back and forth to her aunt and uncles homes and her cousins. Her aunt Marta would explain to her now this is my brother......or this is my sister.....and I just love spending time with them it makes me so happy. Well, Saturday rolled around and Marta was walking Sindy back home as they do not have a car; only a bicycle. As Sindy got to the gate of our property she looked up at Marta and said; "Now I can be happy because these are my brothers and sisters". Marta began to cry. She walked the rest of the way to the house. She began to explain what had just happened. She wasn't crying tears of sadness....she was crying tears of joy because it was the first time that she had seen Sindy express what love really meant and what it meant to have a family like she always wanted. Thank you to those who give to help little girls like Sindy know what love is...not just love from a momma and daddy but the Love of JESUS as well.

Always Amazed....and never disappointed

our needs on our prayer board

Well, today has truly been a day of amazement.  We had a wonderful day at church, and a wonderful lunch. Then, we all watched a Christmas movie. Afterwards, the kids all went outside to play as it was the first dry afternoon we have had. A sweet lady and her son from church brought us some goodies. What is even more amazing is that she brought some of the items we have on our prayer board. She brought us 3 gallons of milk and 60 eggs. WHAT a huge blessing. Then we get a note from our dear friends from our home church Myra and Ronnie that said their sunday School Class took up money for a special Christmas gift for the kids as well as the remainder of the funds to go to the wall. So, that means over $450 for the wall fund.

Then, we have a trial...Escarleth was running and playing outside when she ran in to a concrete ledge and gashed her forehead open. We took her to the clinic and got her all cleaned and stitched up and learned that she also has a tiny fracture in her skull.

But the doctor said that she should heal up just fine in 3 weeks or so as long as she takes it easy. WOW!!! What a day....luckily it was only a $66 bill. Tonight, we learned that Liberty Baptist Church in Hampstead North Carolina took up a special offering for us to day. The took up almost $3,400 to go towards the wall. What a huge blessing that is. Their desire is not for glory or gain....but that others may see the need as well and contribute. Every penny counts and we can not do it without people like you all. We had a situation just two weeks ago that we had not had time to share but feel it is very important. Behind us lives a few different people. Three sets of neighbors that live behind us actually are very faithful to our church. Two of the girls that live behind us had gone out with their mom one evening. In town a man murdered a pharmacist and ran for cover. He ran down the main street in front of our property and headed for the houses behind us. He actually went through the gate of the girls home that attend our church and hid there. Luckily, another neighbor saw him and thought he was robbing the house and called the police. The thing is he could of just as easily ran down our road looking for cover. We desperately need to have the gate put up. If you want to give a gift for Christ this year that will never be forgotten and truly a blessing please consider giving to our wall fund. It is a large project and we just can't do it without the help of our friends and readers. We thank you all and not a day goes by that we are not in awe at how God supplies our needs through others. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas! To know more about how to give you can contact us on Facebook or email us at  mark@teamhonduras.com or amy@teamhonduras.com

Dream Big!

Who would have thought that the little girl that came to us almost two years ago; sick and infested with lice with no education at all and could not even write her own name.........would be picking notes on a piano.  The Lord has big plans for her and when God is involved you can dream big. She can now read and write in English and Spanish. She can write her name and read her Bible. She is also preparing for her very first piano recital. Her mom and two younger sibling however are still living in the dark. Her mom knows that Kathya is much better off for being in the home, but she is content with what she has. The sad thing is that her almost 4 year old brother and soon to be 2 year old sister do not have a choice. Another sad thing is just like Kathya her brother and sister are still non recognized citizens of Honduras because their mom never registered them after they were born. Please continue to pray for Kathya that she can be a light to her unsaved mother. Pray that she can help her to understand that God can change lives. Pray that one day that she will come to understand that life can be different if she just chooses to go down a different road......one in which with the Lords help can have a BIG DREAM at the end.

Security Wall URGENT Update

You know growing up in North Carolina just outside of a tiny town we never worried about leaving things in the yard, whether we were going to be robbed or shot. Even after Mark and I were married and moved to yet another small town we often times left the garage door up or the doors open,bikes in the yard and even keys in the car. However, we are not in the states anymore and life here is different. Many of you know that we sit on 10 acres of property and we have been blessed this year to close in 3/4 of the property. We were feeling a lot safer. Then, we got some very disturbing news.

When two of our girls entered the home they entered for two reasons. The first, was that their grandma could not care for them anymore. The second was because she was afraid of a man that was coming around their house. Well, things do get lost in translation and what she was trying to say was that this guy was threatening her and the lives of the girls. Well, we recently just learned that the man has made his way over here. He is a relative and he is also in a dangerous gang. He has told one of the girls while she was playing outside on the soccer field that "all of the people in that house will pay". What that exactly means we are not sure of. However, we do know that our friend who lives behind us was worried enough to come and talk to us as he saw a car full of gang members on the main entrance dirt road in front of the property. We really need to get the front of the property gated in. This is the last phase and we would feel so much safer. We are asking that you pray about it for one. Then see how you can help keep us all safe here. Maybe you can mention it to your family, your small group, or even your sunday school class or church. Some of you who have businesses can even donate and receive a tax donation receipt. We are in need of $20,000 to get started on this. Until then, please be in prayer for our safety and that they do not come back here to the property.

The pictures are to show you just how open it is in the front and why we so need to get this closed in. Thank you all so much for your continued prayers and support. If you would like to help you can donate online at
www.hopeofhonduras.org
and clarify it is for the wall fund
or mail checks to

Hope Childrens Home (MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO  HOPE OF HONDURAS)
c/o Coats Fund/Wall Fund
11415 Hope International Drive
Tampa, Florida 33625

walking or driving off the property to the right is headed to the main road

the entrance to the property

a link chain that we close each night is all that have to keep people out

the left and right sides have a barbed wire fence 

to the left of the property