Honduras Happenings
Suzanne Snyder and I leave on July 18 to minister in Honduras. We are partnering with an organization called Fishers of Men to reach the blind and others of Honduras. The rest of this newsletter is devoted to an adapted version of their prayer calendar. I encourage you to please pray for our team during your devotions and in your churches. Use this prayer calendar as a guide which will help you follow our activities. Please remember to pray especially for those team members listed on each day. Thanks for your prayers and support.
2008 Fishers of Men Mission Team
Davis Taylor, Melissa Taylor, Tim Taylor, Cole Eslyn, Lance Eslyn,
Suzanne Snyder, Tim Snyder, Chip Phillips, Roxanne Phillips,
Carol Crow, Rose Beavers, Meg Jackson, Sue Phillips,
Sam Wilson, Jeff Cooke, Meg Cooke, Kent Southerland,
Sarah Southerland, Itsy Sloan, Doug Jones, Dale Overman,
Jennifer Sykes
Friday, July 18:
Our team will depart RDU at 6:15 a.m. We will travel to Houston, Texas and then on to Tegucigalpa, Honduras. We should arrive just after lunch. (Honduras is 1 hour behind us) After we leave the airport we will travel by vans to the village of San Ignacio. It is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from the city. This is the community where missionaries Chris and Donna Keeter from Kings Mountain, NC have built a guesthouse. They have done this so that groups like Fishers of Men can minister to the many needy people in the remotest areas of Honduras. Some of these areas are accessed only by 4-wheel drive vehicle or on foot. Please pray for each team member by name as they travel to Honduras. Pray for their safety and for God to use them during this mission trip.
Saturday, July 19:
This morning the mission team will spend the day in the village of Naranjal. The morning will be spent going door to door offering prayers for the people of this village. During the afternoon a Bible School will be held for the children and a time of crafts for the ladies. Dale Overman will be instructing the men of San Ignacio how to turn wood on a lathe. Rev. Tim Snyder will be sharing a cassette tape of Proverbs with the blind and disabled in San Ignacio. Pray that the children and ladies will receive a blessing at Bible School. Pray for the men who are learning the skill of wood turning that they might find joy in Christian fellowship. Pray that Tim might be led to those to whom he needs to minister. Mission team members to focus your prayer on today: Dale Overman and Suzanne Snyder.
Sunday, July 20:
This morning the mission team will worship with the people of San Ignacio. Rev. Tim Snyder will be speaking to our brothers and sisters in Honduras about our “Christian Family.” During the afternoon we will have a “Bible Carnival” for the children of the community. It will be a fun afternoon of crafts, games, Bible Stories, songs and even clowns! Sarah and Melissa will begin our “sewing seeds” ministry by teaching the ladies to sew a simple apron. Please be in prayer for the activities of the day, that God might be glorified in all that the mission team does. Mission team members to focus your prayers on today: Sarah Southerland and Itsy Sloan.
Monday, July 21:
The mission team will travel to the village of Urutia. We will partner with members of this newly formed church to travel door-to-door sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ and inviting everyone we meet to come to church. During the afternoon the children will hear the story of Daniel at Bible School while the ladies will make a craft displaying the Lord’s Prayer. Dale will be in the woodshop teaching the men of San Ignacio how to make cradles and birdhouses. Tim will continue to work with Pastor Alex reaching out to the disabled and blind in San Ignacio. Carol will be teaching the ladies how to make soap. Please pray for the safety of the ladies as they learn this new technique. Pray that both men and women can use their new skills to help support their families and their church. Pray for these young churches that we are visiting that God might use our team to help encourage the dedicated leaders as they try to establish a congregation. Mission Team members to focus your prayers on today: Carol Crow, Meg Cooke, and Lance Eslyn.
Tuesday, July 22:
Please pray for the mission team as they leave San Ignacio and travel back to the capitol of Honduras. Pray for God’s guidance and protection for the Keeters as they continue to serve God in Honduras. After lunch the team will go to Comunion Church to have a reunion with the “sponsor kids.” These are children that receive a scholarship from a family in the US to attend school. The team will be delivering letters and gifts to these special children. Please pray that each child might feel the love that their “adopted families” have for them through Christ. Please pray God’s blessing on the lives of those that have sacrificed to help make the life of a Honduran child better. Please keep Rev. Tim Snyder in your prayers as he begins a five night study of Revelation at the Servants Academy of Comunion Church. (This is a school that trains ministers) Mission Team members to focus your prayers on today: Cole Eslyn, Jennifer Sykes, and Sam Wilson.
Wednesday, July 23:
The men of our team will be traveling to Agua Blanca to construct the last two walls of the church’s sanctuary. Fisher of Men’s first project in 2003 was to begin the block foundation for this church. It is with full and grateful hearts that the team will finally see God’s plan for this house of worship fulfilled. The ladies of our team will be busy ministering to our old friends in the village of Santa Rosa. They will be leading sewing and soap making classes for the ladies. The children will enjoy an old fashion Bible School with crafts, games, songs and of course snacks! Please pray for the safety of the men as they are building. Please pray for the ladies and children the team will come in contact with today, that they might feel that this holy ground is a safe haven for them and that they might return often. Mission Team members to focus your prayers on today: Kent Southerland and Melissa Taylor.
Thursday, July 24:
Today the men of the mission team will continue construction of the sanctuary at Agua Blanca. Sam Wilson will also be teaching self-defense for the teenage girls in this community. Dale Overman will begin a third men’s woodworking ministry for the men of the church at Agua Blanca. The ladies will travel to Sacramento to prayer walk, teach sewing and soap making classes as well as have Bible School for 300 children. Please pray for the people our team will encounter today. Pray that they might have the desire to start coming to church to learn about the love of Jesus Christ. Please pray for Rev. Tim Snyder as he spends the day visiting in the homes of the blind. He will be delivering tape players and cassette tapes of Proverbs. He will also continue his study of Revelation at the the Servants Academy. Mission team members to focus your prayers on today: Davis Taylor, Rev. Tim Snyder, and Doug Jones.
Friday, July 25:
Please be in prayer for the men as they work side by side with Honduran men on their final day of construction at Agua Blanca. Pray that they might complete their project. Pray for the rest of the team that will be prayer walking and holding Bible school at Agua Blanca. Lift up prayers of praise and thanksgiving for what great things God has done in this village of people that were displaced after Hurricane Mitch. (Mitch was a devastating category 5 hurricane that destroyed much of Honduras in 1998) Remember Rev. Tim Snyder as he travels with Pastor Cesar Pena to visit the blind and disabled people that want to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ but are confined to their homes. Mission team members to focus your prayers on today: Rose Beavers and Sue Phillips.
Saturday, July 26:
Today the mission team will embark on a new mission field in the area of Cataluna. This is a very poor community that does not even have access to clean water. We will be taking water bags and beans to help feed these children of God. As we go door to door praying for the families of this village we will also be praying for the new church that is trying to be formed here. Currently they are holding services separately in several homes. Please pray that soon these new Christians might be able to worship together. Pray for Tim as he concludes his study at the Servants Academy. Pray that the participants might have new insight to help them as they “shepherd their flocks.” Mission Team members to focus you prayer on today: Tim Davis and Chip Phillips.
Sunday, July 27:
Today the team will worship at Comunion Church. Rev. Tim Snyder will be sharing a special message from I Timothy at the morning worship. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will fill each person’s heart and that all will feel God’s love. This afternoon the team will wind up their mission trip with a special demonstration by Sam Wilson’s Karate Kids. This week the children of Agua Blanca have been learning about obedience and discipline in Christian Karate classes. Now they will show off their skills as Sam leads them through several drills. The team will spend the evening packing and preparing for their early morning flight back home. Please pray that God might continue to water the seeds that our team has sewn this week. Mission team members to pray for today: Roxanne Phillips, Meg Jackson, and Jeff Cooke.
Monday, July 28:
Please pray that as our mission team leaves Honduras that we be granted safe travel home to our families. Please continue to pray for the many ministries Fishers of Men is affiliated with in Honduras. For the four Feeding Centers that feed 240 children per week a balanced meal--that they might receive nourishment for their souls as well as their bodies. For the Ministry to the Blind and Disabled—that they might be provided the tools to worship and the opportunity to fellowship in corporate worship. For the Sponsor Kids program—that God will continue to provide sponsors to make it possible for the many children of Honduras to attend school. For the Men’s Wood Turning Ministry—that it might reach men that otherwise would not come to church and that they ]might enjoy Christian fellowship as they come to know Christ as their Lord and Savior. For the Ladies Craft Ministry, that they might make items that will bring joy and pleasure to their lives. Please pray that God will continue to make us aware of new opportunities to serve both at home as well as in Honduras.
Traveling On My Knees
Last night I took a journey
To Honduras across the sea;
I did not go by boat or plane,
I traveled on my knees.
I saw so many precious people there
With scars and wounds within,
But God told me I should go,
That there was oil to pour for Him.
But I said, “Lord, I cannot go
And work with such as these.”
He answered quickly, “Yes you can...
By traveling on your knees.”
He said, “You pray;
I’ll meet their need,
You call and I will hear,
Be concerned about their fate,
Of those both far and near.”
And so I tried it, knelt in prayer,
Gave up some hours of ease;
I felt the Lord fight by my side,
While traveling on my knees.
As I prayed on and saw them helped
And the badly wounded healed,
I saw God’s workers’ strength renewed,
While laboring on the field.
While laboring on the field.
I said, “Yes Lord, I have a job,
My desire Thy will to please;
I can go and heed thy call,
By traveling on my knees.”
Adapted from a poem
by Sandra Goodwin
Fishers of Men has a blog set up!
You can go to this address:
http://fishersofmeninc.blogspot.com
and get updates on our mission trip and activities and even leave a message of your own! We will
update each evening when we come in. This went well last year but remember that we are
depending on Honduras technology and we may not always be able to log on and update.
God Did It,
Thanks for Helping!
Once again the Lord has enabled us to reach the goal for the $5000 matching grant from Fore The Lord. By the time you receive this letter, I will have submitted the paperwork necessary to receive the matching funds. Many of you helped us to receive donations from brand new donors which helped us reach our goal. Others exceeded their last year's giving which also helped us to surpass the $5000 mark. Most importantly, you are helping us to provide literature and other ministry services to blind people around the world. Thanks again for your help
Yours in His service,
Tim Snyder
President