Friday, July 1, 2016

One Life

    


     If you and 75 of your church members dedicated a year of preparing and raising over $175,00 to take a mission trip to Honduras, would it be worth it if 200 people were saved? How about if it was just 100 people? What if it was only 20? What if only one person’s life was changed?

     Gilma had a plan. She and her grown daughters lived in Santa Cruz, a small community in Honduras. She decided to put her plan into action as she told her girls to get ready to go to the church service. A service was held each night by the large team from North America that had been providing medical care, food and clothing for the community. The team was a bright spot in a very dismal situation for this single mother who had become despondent at the turn of events in her life and was suffering from severe depression. With no support, no money, and no hope, she really could not see any way out. Yes, she thought, the church service would be a good place for her daughters to go as she sent them out and proceeded to carry out her plan. She was on the way to her back room where the knife was waiting for her, the knife she would use to take the life she no longer wanted, her own, when there was a knock on the door.

     There before her stood three people, one from Honduras, and two from this team from the U.S. They told her that God loved her and that he had sent his son to die for her because of His great love. They told her that hope could be found in Him and that above all her Heavenly Father wanted her to be His daughter. They told her that her life could change today, right this moment, if she would only trust Him and His love for her. Gilma could feel the burden weighing heavy in her soul as she dropped to her knees and wept, crying out for the Lord to save her. She knew that He had surely sent these people to her to stop her from carrying out her plan and to show her a better way, His way! The team gave her a Bible and prayed with her, and instead of ending her life, she began a new one. They encouraged her to go to the church where she could meet Pastor Luis, who would help her to grow in her new faith. Excitedly Gilma put on her best dress and hurried down to the church service. She could not wait to tell her children and her neighbors what the Lord had done for her!

     Three of Gilma’s neighbors have now been led to the Lord on her doorsteps now as well, and Gilma continues to grow as the local pastor and church disciple her in her new faith. This ministry to “Preach and Heal” reaches untold lives here in Honduras and Gilma’s story is one of many who have experienced God’s amazing grace. We are thankful for the partners who have invested their resources and prayers in this ministry. We truly could not do it without them and we thank them for their investment in God’s kingdom through their support of this ministry, and for loving the Honduran people. As we continue to be short $1,400 in our monthly support, we ask those of you who are not partnered with us to prayerfully consider being a part of our team. Together we seek to lift Him up as we reach Honduras for Christ!



Gilma and her grandson with Mark and Timothy from the Jim Brewer team, which recently saw over 200 people saved in Santa Cruz, Honduras.