Honduras Trip Q and A

What: A mostly-Mexican missions trip to Honduras. We will be broken into three teams at three different church sites. Those sites will be ministering in everything from encouraging the church to grow in discipleship, presenting a missions conference, evangelism and children's Bible clubs.

Who:

This short-term trip will give people from 7 different countries and 14 different churches the opportunity to band together get a taste of what missions is like and hopefully encourage them to pursue it further. Our age range is from 18 to 49 and we are quite the motley crew. Our native languages are Spanish, English and Portuguese. However, it is awesome to see how Christ unites us and we are eagerly awaiting what He will do through us!

When: We will be there over Holy Week. We fly out the 15th, participate in our projects from the 16th to the 25 and then fly back on the 26th.

Where: 3 church and ministry locations in La Ceiba, Honduras.

Why:

--The purpose of the trip is to encourage Mexicans to reach out in missions. The prevailing mindset for years has been that the United States sends missionaries and Mexico is always on the receiving end. A major goal of this trip is to challenge Mexican youth to realize the potential that they have to serve and the call that they have from God to go and make disciples of all nations.

--We also pray that this trip would be an encouragement to the Honduran churches that we are going to support.

--Obviously we also pray that through this trip we would have an opportunity to share the reason for the hope that we have within us.

How:

-->In short, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

How (expanded):

--Our main preparation for these ministries has been practicing skits (both for the church and as an outreach), songs, testimonies and devotionals. We realize that unforeseen changes in plans are par for the course in missions work, but our aim is to be as prepared as possible for any situation.

--This past Saturday in our meeting one of our leaders gave us a brief evangelism training in which she addressed the importance of listening to the other person, asking lots of open questions,

--We are also enthusiastic to meet Honduran brothers and sisters in Christ and be able to share our lives and testimonies with them. (1 Thess. 2:8) We pray that the church there will be blessed and strengthened by our time there, albeit brief.

Please be praying that God would give us unity as we are a group diverse in nationalities, denominations and interests. This could be a point of extreme effectiveness as we use all of our different gifts... or it could be a nightmare with a lot of misunderstandings. Please pray that the first would be the case that we would be able to glorify God and that others would know that we are Christians by our love. (John 13:35)

The Love of God

God is love

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:7-10

God loves us even when we are un-loveable!!

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Rom. 5:8

God loves us so much that He did not spare even His own Son to ransom us:

"He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?"

Rom. 8:32

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

John 3:16

"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved."

Eph. 2:3-5

"At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life."

Titus 3:3-7

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

1 John 3:1

Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;

we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Rom. 8:35-39

As I was finding these references, I was reminded that the whole Bible is the story of God's love for us. I mostly focused on His love demonstrated towards humanity in His redemption, but there are so many aspects of God's goodness throughout the Bible, more of which I hope to highlight later. That being said, I pray that the few passages I highlighted were a good reminder for you of the unfathomable love of God.