Meet Lauren.......

The past three weeks we have had an intern live and help out in the childrens home. Lauren is a student at Bob Jones University in South Carolina. She is a nursing student who came along to assist in the Medical Brigade that we held here in El Progreso. She has such a sweet spirit and a servants heart. She has been a huge blessing to us as she has jumped right in and helped out where needed. She has really taking a liking to our children and she will be greatly missed. While most college students spend their time working  during the summer or even just sleeping in she has given of her time and made the last 3 weeks very enjoyable and special for our ministry. So, I would like for you to see what Lauren has to say about "Life at Esperanza".


Hello,
Like Amy said, I've spent a wonderful 3 weeks at Hope with the kids. I've loved every minute of playing soccer, football, and legos. The chicken-chasing, tree-climbing, and fruit-picking were only an added bonus. I've had so many new experiences that I would have never imagined before I came last month. I've eaten iguana, turtle, chicken liver, and some pretty bizarre fruits. And, I can now say I've had soda in a bag, minuta, and freshly made tortillas (sooooo good--and nothing like the ones on the international isle).
While I've been here, God has taught me so much spiritually. One thing I've learned is the importance of patience. Obviously with a family as big as the Coats have, there will be drama, stress, arguments, and at times chaos. I have seen the Coats handle these situations with patience, kindness, and wisdom that I can only pray to have one day if God blesses me with a family. I've also had so much fun getting to know their family as well as the Honduran kids in the home. God has given me a love for them beyond how I could love them in and of myself. I pray that these kids will one day take what they've learned here and use this to glorify God and give themselves a better life. The spiritual focus here in the home is something that can't be mistaken. I also pray that once they leave the home the kids will only continue to grow in their walk with God. I can't wait until the day I hear that more Christian children's homes have been built in Honduras. The need is so great here. You want to help everyone, but so many factors make that impossible. It's easy to feel insignificant because of the percentage of kids that don't have the gospel or decent food or a loving parent, but one thing the Coats have taught me is how important it is to remember to do what God has called you to. I'm not responsible for the salvation of the whole country or even one person. But when we're faithfully doing what God has given us to do, that's when He does great things--as He has done here.
I will miss everyone I've met these past few weeks so much! The Honduran people are so generous and kind. I pray that I will have an opportunity to return here soon and see the growth God has caused in this place.  I also want to give a shout-out the the Coats and Co.-- Thanks for an amazing 3 weeks! I love you all and will miss you! You'll be in my prayers!
Love,
Lauren

Growing up.......with a Purpose.....

Who would have ever thought that when Mark and I grew up we would be missionaries?  Now, that we are we pray our children will grow up having a desire to serve the Lord as well. Not everyone has to go to a foreign field to serve the Lord. As we watch our children here grow we pray that they will seek God first always in their life. We do not just want this for our personal children but our "adopted" family as well. We pray that they will each grow up and have a desire to serve the Lord whether as a laborer in the church or become a missionary themselves. The seeds start small but boy when they grow with God's help they can turn into something mighty.

Wheeew.....what a week.....

Wow! We were able to work our first medical brigade here in Honduras. I can truly say it was very humbling. I have never seen so many people hurting. This type of hurting was not just physical but spiritual as well. With the help of Medical Missions Outreach and our church here in Progreso we were able to see and help over 4,400 patients this week. They ranged in age from 2 weeks old to 94 years old. (at least that was the oldest age that I personally saw) It was amazing to see how many people would be waiting outside the gate waiting for the doors to open so that they could receive medical care. Many walked long walks to get to us and have been carrying around this pain and sickness for such a long time. It really makes you stop and think how wonderful Heaven will be. We will have no more sickness, no more hurting, no aches nothing but full time rejoicing. A freind of ours from our home church in North Carolina posted something on facebook this morning that went a little something like this: I wonder what all those people who don't like church are going to do when they get to heaven...since heaven is just going to be one big church service?  She made a good point.

Over the years, I have been in churches that did not want to grow....they didn't want to have bus routes because they were afraid of what those children might do to their pretty building. Some just do not want anyone of a different race in their church. Well, let me tell you something my friend.....there is going to be a rainbow of skin colors in heaven. I am so thankful that the churches that have played major roles in our lives have a WELCOME and Open door to anyone who walks in....the hurting, the outcast, the sick, the poor, the many races that are upon our earth. The day we stop welcoming those to Jesus is the day that we need to step back and evaluate our own Christian life.

Sorry, I had that on my heart and just had to share it. But back to the medical brigade. We saw and treated over 4,400 patients and 109 of those accepted Christ as their personal Savior. Please be in prayer for our church family and ministry here as we do follows up to some of the people that we came across this week during this special part of our ministry here in Honduras.

We Celebrate our 200th Posting

Wow! It is so hard to think that we have blogged 200 posts not including emails and newsletter updates. God has been so good to us as we have been on this journey now for 2 1/2 years not counting the year that we lived in Florida for training. What better way to celebrate our 200th post than by announcing that we are ..........Officially Honduran Residents. Praise the Lord. We do not have to keep renewing our visa here and we dont have to worry about leaving every 90 days like some of our fellow missionary friends. We want to tell you a little bit about our residency journey. 

Well, it all started in Costa Rica as we tried to order and gather all the papers needed to complete our process. We then headed to Florida after language school and ran for a week collecting important documents, finger print records, pictures ect. We travelled to literally both ends of Florida in less than 3 days....we had to go to Tallahassee and then to Miami to the embassy.  All the while receiving new information on the papers and things needed to proceed.

We arrive in country in Honduras......started the process again as they needed different papers. We headed to this bank and paid this fee then to this police station to have more back ground checks. We have Micah and wait for his birth certificate and the learn that we must change his name to reflect my maiden name. However, praise the Lord we had all papers in hand and headed off this morning to San Pedro Sula.

We get inside and show the gentleman our paid receipts and all of our papers he nicely smiles and says....."we can not help you here".......(that jaw dropping moment) and continues you will need to go to the capital which is a good 5 hours away from here probably 6 from where we were standing at that moment.  I begin to explain that we have a childrens home here and it would be very hard to get there since all 5 of our family have to be present.  I looked at him and kindly asked if I could speak to the manager and he happily led the way.  We explained our situation and each of us prayed that the Lord would touch her heart to help us. Her assistant came back in and said that he would complete the paperwork because we had already started the process before they made this new rule.  Thank you Lord.....Mark began to pray right away and say thanks at how God had helped us out of having to leave the kids and travel to finish this process.

We walked out with our temperary papers and are now Honduran residents.

Our temp....cards...Yeah!