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

Training kids....means including them....

Josiah age 6

We live in a country where we have a bountiful supply of fresh fruits and vegetables at our finger tips.  The big thing is the kids here had never eaten 1/4 of them until they moved in. They either didn't know what they were or how to eat/cook them. Now, that they have been here for awhile almost everyone gets in on helping out in the kitchen. They know how to cook and prepare lots of different types of foods and the great thing is they can get it all right here. It is our hope that when these children leave whenever that might be...they leave healthier and with a better taste of the resources they have available to them. They will be able to teach they families and children one day how to these same things.

Alexandra age 11

Belkis age 15

God ALWAYS Provides.......

more than 100 ant bites

It seems like just yesterday we were dating in the hospital with Oscar. It seems like yesterday that we knew we were going to have a bill that was not budgeted for. It seems like yesterday we were hoping and praying that he would start to feel better so that we could leave. We are so thankful of fall of those who prayed for him and for us during that time. We are just thankful that it was already in the works for them to return to the cottage. we often sit back and think what would have happened to them if when they walked out that day with their mom what state would their little bodies be in right now. We serve a mighty God who answers prayers...I know that for sure. He also provided all of the funds we needed to pay the bill off in full. We had a bill of right at $1,000. We had been given $300. That left $698 left to be paid. I received an emial from an old high school friend....one in which only thanks to FB have we been able to keep in touch for it has been at least 20 years since I have seen her. However, her and her sweet family of 4 had been setting some money aside....and felt she needed to give it to us. Her words were just this...."I know that this will not pay the bill in full but at least it will help out." I began to cry reading those words. She had no idea that the balance was just $698. She strictly followed the Lords leading and provided what they had. God is so good. He is faithful to those that yield to HIS voice. I am thankful that we have friends both near and far that pray for us and even support us monthly, and or when we put out a need. We know it is because of all three of these types of supporters we can keep on keeping on for the Lord. So, when you are feeling down and not sure what to do...just call upon HIM and look up because MY GOD ALWAYS SUPPLIES>>>>>

finally resting in the hospital

last night playing around with a play cookie.....:)

Meet Sindy

October 9, 2014 the day she entered

I know that this is so late on this blog page but we have anew little girl. Here name is Sindy and she is 4 years old. She is even smaller than our three year old Micah. She is just a tiny little "Dora". She is here with us because when she was born her mom basically gave her to her her mom to care for. Her grandmother is in her late 60's. She has health problems and finds it hard to work and care for her at the same time. So, she asked if they could place her with us. We told her that her mother had to consent and give permission. When we said yes......they were here ready to roll so to speak. We had all the paperwork ready and asked her mom what her desires and plans were? All while she was holding her 10 month old son in a soiled cloth diaper( an original cloth diaper). She said that she wanted her to be here for as long as possible. Then, we asked her to sign the paperwork to which she said...."I don't know how to write my name". How said that this young 20 some year old mom of two could not read or write. We had to teach her that day how to write her name. We then explained to her the importance of know how to do that.

So, with that said Sindy has now been in our care for a month today. It is amazing to see the transformation in just a month. She has already learned many words in English and knows just what it means to be part of a complete family. She will continue to grow in knowledge of both Christ and family values and academics. Please continue to pray for her as she changes.

she is fitting in...just wonderfully!

today......all smiles...one happy girl

Using Every Opportunity for the Lord......

Do you ever think about the things you do, the places that you go, the people that you meet? Do you ever think that each one of those is an opportunity for you to share the gospel. Today, I took Micah downtown in El Pregreso, to a Barberia(Barber Shop) that I have never been to before. We walked in and we were the only clients there. We started to talk as the guy began to cut Micah's hair and the Lord just opened up the doors. I was able to share the gospel with them both. The one gentleman Donaldo said that he was in fact saved....but boy did he have questions. He read the tract that I handed him out load and wanted more clarification. It was awesome to see. We were there for probably 1/2 and hour. The last 15 minutes was just sharing about God and how good He is. I am thankful that I have overcome my fear of sharing my faith....due to rejection by others. The fact of the matter is....when others don't listen they are rejecting Christ......I told the man today....I want to be able to share with others the love that my God has for all. I don't want to hold it in in secret as if I am the only one going to Heaven......that would be like throwing a big birthday party and not inviting anyone but yourself. God wants all of us to be there. Some still think they don't need HIM, but just like I told Donaldo today.....we are all born with a missing piece and only God can fill it...(one of those phrases my Pastor Jeff Jones always said) (Everyonwe has a God shaped void in their life). They try to put in everything they can....drugs, money, alcohol and so on....but none of those things bring true contentment and happiness like giving your life to Jesus. So, I challenge you today....to use every opportunity that you have been given to share something about what God has done for you.

Parenting, training and guiding

As I was growing up I learned a lot of things from my momma. There were some things that she out-right taught me and then there were somethings that I learned just by her example. While we were in the states we were sharing the story of Kathya's former life and that her mom and siblings were still living in poverty. A few of the girls in that class gave me a few dollars to buy them some food when we returned home. A few weeks ago my friend Valeria was here for a visit so I thought we would go and buy the things we could and drop them by Kathya's moms house.  When we arrived we saw her little brother Jose sitting in a chair as if he was being punished.....if you ever met him you would know that he doesn't sit still very well. I got out of the car and could immediately tell that there was something wrong with him. He was burning up with a fever. He was dressed in all of his clothes and his mom had wet a shirt and placed it on top of his head. She began to tell me that he had been like this for a few days. I asked her if the had given him any medication and she said that she gave him a pill(and adult pill) around 7 am that morning. It was now 12 o'clock. I ran down the street to where Karla's parents live to see if I could borrow their bathroom to cool him off. I began to explain to Delmi(his mom) that she needed to get his clothes off and try to cool him off. This child had a fever so high that his eyes were rolling back in his head, he wouldn't talk, and he had used the potty in his pants.
It took awhile to cool him off but he started to talk a little bit.  I placed him in the hammock with just a cold wet rag around his neck and head. We ran to the house to get the thermometer and some childrens medicine for him. At that time we learned that he had a fever of almost 106. Mark and I went back to the house and picked him up where they had placed him on a bed and covered him with a blanket. (keep in mind that it was code to 100 that day or hotter.) Mark picked him back up and went over to the faucet outside and began to pour water on him to cool him off. At this point we are explaining to her that he could die from a fever so high that goes untreated. She begins to sob. I giver her a hug and let her know we are here to help her. She hugs my neck.

trying to keep him cool in the hammock

Ada and Jose are Kathya's siblings

I say all of that to say that she never had an example to follow. She had no idea what to do in a situation like that. She thought she needed to keep him covered up. She didn't try to get him to drink and she didn't know that she shouldn't give a three year old adult medicine. This all comes from not being trained when she was little. She had never been parented she just had to survive.

Here at Hope/Esperanza....we are striving to change that. We are hoping that these kids will see godly parents and learn from our example. We pray that they will guide their families and even know what do to in situations just like that above. We desperately need to help the children by training them to be  good children which means that they can grow up to be good parents one day. Please join us in prayer as we help raise, train and guide the next generation. We have started with 15 we want to help more but need your prayers to touch  hearts of a new couple willing to join our ministry. Then we can build a new cottage to help 15 more children.

Jose ran out to tell us thank you as he is feeling better and drinking the gatorade we bought him.

And so the Bell rings..............

Today, we started our third year of schooling here in Honduras. This year we have our largest group yet. We have a total of 15 children out of the 18 in the home in school. We have kindergarten all the way up to 11th grade this year.  Since we are homeschooling here we are really praying about the need of a teacher or teachers to help relieve us from these duties. Please join us in prayer as we pray for a teacher.

Also, please consider sponsoring a child for their school year. It takes funds to buy the schooling materials as well as the necessary items to help them along the way. You can make a monthly pledge or a one time donation.

Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers. Here are the kids and their grade level for the year.

The traveling Boys......

It was rather interesting traveling with two smaller children on long road trips. Even funnier because neither of them have a large memory bank of things, concepts, culture of the states. So here are the top ten funniest things you hear and know you are raising an MK(missionary kid)

10. Can I flush the toilet paper?
9. I don't want to eat any more FOOD!!!
8. OOOOOH.....it flushes by itself!
7. Can I drink this water?
6. ARE WE THERE YET?
5. HEY!!The POWER went out!!!(when you are in church and they dim the lights to show your DVD)
4. What church are we going to today?
3. WOW! This place has LOTS of stuff.....referring to Walmart!
2. But I am a big boy...I don't want to use a carseat!!!
and #1
When you send your child to Sunday School.....and ask him what he learned after class and his response........."I don't know.......why?(I ask)........because they weren't speaking in my language? what language were they speaking son?......English I think?

yep those are true MK's and I am so proud of them.

Furlough, Family and Fun

It seems as if it has been way to long for a post. Truth is we were super busy filling in some much needed family time. We have been from Honduras to Tampa to North Carolina and back home again. We were able to see and do lots of things while on this trip.

One of the most exciting things was to see our daughter walk the stage to receive her diploma for all of her hard work through high school. Not only did she graduate with super grades but she did all of that while helping us serve here in Honduras.

We also were blessed to see Josiah graduate from kindergarten. Hard to believe how our family is changing.  We were able to have a fun time on a mini vacation before heading up to North Carolina to visit churches and see our families. We had a great trip but are thankful we are back home. Thank you for your prayers and support while we were traveling.

Prayers of little children

It is so sweet to hear the prayers of little children. Here is what was heard today. Love prayer time. This was Josiah's prayer. Thank you Jesus for this day. Please be with Taylor Coats and Mrs. Myra Jones. Thank you Jesus that today is Friday cause we can eat popcorn tonight and that means we get pancakes tomorrow. In Jesus name amen. He hears the simplest of our prayers and praises. Have you thanked HIM for something today?

There is an Escape........

Today I took Valeria and Elvin to the dentist. As we were leaving heading to the car we passed a man maybe in his 30's sitting on a small wooden box. Tucked between his hands was a plastic bag with glue in it. He is a huffer. How sad to liv...e such a life as this. In 1 Corinthians 10:13 the Bible says .....there hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are Able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. I think about his life and how he is only going to escape this trap one of only 2 ways ......(1) he will kill himself from the usage or (2) he will run to The Lord, the one that can give him the salvation he needs to overcome this addiction. there are many just like him. It might be you today. It might not be glue it might be drugs it might be alcohol it may even be something else that is holding you in bondage Well my friend I am here to tell you that God can change that He can set you free. You just need to call out to him and ask him to forgive you and ask him to help you overcome what has you trapped. He can change your future He can help you escape.

Have you ever longed for something?

As a parent we desire for our children to grow up and be better than we are. When Taylor and Hunter were little there was never a doubt in our minds about their education and the things that they would learn and the things they would grow to love. Having children in the home that we have not raised from birth has given us a different desire for each of them.

I remember when our kids were very small and even with Josiah and Micah....we would read to them especially at night before they went to bed. Something that I am sure that most of you may do. We would hold things up or point things out and get them to tell us the color. We couldn't wait until they could hold a pencil in their hand so we could teach them to write their own name.

Well, here things are a lot different. Culture is different. I am not saying that is doesn't happen but a I can tell you out of the 15 kids we have in the home....they didn't get bedtime stories read to them each night. Most of them didn't have parents who had time to teach them to write their names or even tell them their birthdates. This rings especially true for Kathya. She came into the home in October of 2012. She has been with us almost 18 months. When she came in she was getting ready to turn 10. She had never been to school, didn't know her letters or numbers. She did not know her birthday or even how to write her on name. We started from the ground up. It is a lot more challenging when kids are older. She has been taught that she didn't need to know those things she could survive like her mother collecting bottles and cans. However, she really wanted to learn. It takes patience that is for sure.........however, after many trials and errors....tears and much laughter.....she finally gets it. This week on Monday we were able to Kathya her very own Bible(full). She had a little new testament but we thought it fitting that she get her own bible because she can now read it by herself. What an honor it was to give it to her. We even wrote in the description that it was because today .....she could read it by herself.  Please continue to pray for her as it is still a little challenging but she is getting there.

What..........3 years already....................

It is so hard to believe that we have been here three years already. This post is actually a little late but we have been super busy and our computer is on the brink. (but that's another story)
When we arrived in April of 2011 we were expecting our fourth baby, jumped into a new culture, a new church, and a building project. It is amazing to see just what the Lord has done in that three years.  We thank you all who have supported us from the very beginning and those that have joined us on the journey along the way. We could not do what we do if it were not for givers, friends and supporters like you.