Calling All Recipes!

We are compiling a fundraiser cookbook to benefit our future trips that support the ministries of Rigoberto Reyes throughout Nicaragua. We are working with a company that has a website to enter the recipes to help us save production on costs. Just let me know and I can give you the log-in and password.

We have just passed 200 recipes! This is awesome... BUT we need at least another 100 more recipes to make this venture worthwhile...spread the good news and get everyone you know to send in their 10 best recipes! If you have entered all your recipes... we thank you! Do you have more recipes? You can add another contributor name and add 10 more recipes! If you haven't reached the limit of 10, please dig deeper into Grandma's recipe box for those treasured family favorites! Remember…we are doing this to help our church building projects in Nicaragua!

We will also need to have you work hard to sell these once finished! They will be a great gift for family and friends!

Nicaragua Team Report - Mark Your Calendars

When?

Sunday March 30, 2008

10:30 AM & 6:00 PM Services

Where?

Main Street Baptist Church

333 Main Street, Oneonta, NY 13820

The two Nicaragua church building team will report on their experiences in El Pochote and Bluefields Nicaragua. Come on out and see how they saw God at work!

We look forward to sharing with everyone!

PRAISE Report from Chinandega!

This update is just in from Chinandega where a medical missions team offered their time and talents... Partnership Ministries was asked to offer logistical and translation support. But what resulted was way beyond our wildest dreams! We serve an awesome God!

Last night I got back from Nicaragua from the medical project. Last you heard things were looking really bad for the medicine and medical people to get into the country. The health ministry said that they would hold the meds for a week. I got pretty depressed, thinking the whole thing would fail, that we would lose our relationship with VIMM, the medical missions organization that came with us, and that the Nicaraguan church would have ruined their relationship with the communities where we were to work.

But God decided to show us that we need to continue to have faith even when it seems impossible that things will work out. In our minds, the last option we had to make things work out was using Pastor Marlon's (Chinandega) brother who is director of Radio Sandino to have a meeting with Rafael, Daniel Ortega's son, who with just a word can make almost anything happen in Nicaragua.

The appointment two days before the group's arrival was put off until the next day, but at the exact same hour of when the meeting with Rafael was originally scheduled, Rigo had to go to the health ministry, and believe it or not, they apologized to him (extremely uncommon in Nicaraguan govt., especially with Sandinistas) and gave us the fast track to get everything approved. Not only that, but they didn't send anyone to the airport to inspect the group, nor to the sites, which they normally do with medical teams. In fact, They called Rigo 3 times asking if they could help in any way. Now we can see there was a huge spiritual battle going on, and it ended at 3pm on Feb 28 when the wall at the health ministry crashed to the ground, and everything else fell into place at the same time.

As a result of the medical team, there are now 3 fledgling church groups in three villages. In one they will give the church land to build, in another they want the church to have services in the community center, and in the other a woman has offered her home for church meetings. Thanks for all your prayers for us. Mike

...because we serve an awesome God... that's why!

Back to Bluefields, Part 3!

From Oneonta to El Pochote to Bluefields
It has been 2 months since our first team left Oneonta on December 26th to help build a church in the tiny village of El Pochote, Nicaragua just outside the town of Masaya. We departed there on January 6th with all but the roof completed – but within 2 weeks, the roof was added and we hear reports from Rigoberto Reyes, our missionary contact in Nicaragua ,that new families are worshipping there. We were blessed by the experience and we pray that the congregation becomes a beacon of light in that mountain community.

On February 14th, I met up with the second team from Main Street Baptist – we traveled from Managua by bus to El Rama and stayed overnight (well, sort of… our “stay” was only for 6 hours!). At dawn, we headed down to the docks and traveled east on the Rio Escondido to the town of Bluefields. For some of us, this was our third visit to Bluefields… for others, it was their first… what was common regardless of our individual experiences, we saw God at work in this town! We continue to be impressed with the ministry of Rigoberto and Claudia Reyes… they do not stop all day long… Rigo is constantly meeting with people – sometimes juggling multiple conversations regarding the construction site with cell phone calls with brothers and sisters in Christ throughout Nicaragua. Every morning, before our team arrived on site, Rigo would lead the Nicaraguans in devotions and Bible Study. Claudia directs the women in their ministry in the kitchen – sometimes serving 70+ people – cooking all day long (from dawn to after dark) with smiles on their faces - that truly was a blessing for all of us!

God is Big in Bluefields… Jesus Walks the Streets
I am quoting our very own songwriter, Suzanne Johnson, who penned a heart-felt song about our experience with God on this trip. Suzanne was able to play and sing her song at our “Good-Bye” service with her daughter Devan and fellow team member, Tara Stone singing it in Spanish. We worshipped and shared together in Spanish and English – God was glorified that night for sure!

The church in Bluefields was designed to be a regional church capable of training and sending local pastors into the eastern regions of Nicaragua. Already, two daughter churches have emerged from this church in a little over 2 years since Rigo’s vision trip to the region. One church is closer to the downtown area and another one up the coast. Many new families have joined the congregation since we last visited Bluefields in April 2007… there were at least 200 adults in attendance for our final service on Friday February 22nd not including a very large group of youth and children. It was truly a blessing to sing and worship on the newly poured altar looking up at the near capacity crowd that gathered. Earlier that week, we attended a baptism service for four youth (from the downtown church)that made their public declaration of faith – at the end of the week in Granada, we had a similar blessed event – with four of our team being baptized – praise God!

What’s Next??
The Bible is full of stories about people’s interaction with Jesus – I find most interesting “the rest of the story”, that is, what people did after their interaction with Jesus. For example, after meeting Jesus at the well, the Samaritan woman went back to her town and lives were changed because of her testimony (John 4: 39-42). I pray that these two trips have a similar impact on our lives - we all need to take time to process this trip and ask how God can be glorified. For even the veterans of 5+ trips, God continues to reveal Himself in new and exciting ways, so we all are challenged to seek His wisdom and guidance. Personally, these two trips were my first experience as a team leader for Partnership Ministries and I was humbled by how God’s love was revealed to me.

After saying good-bye to Lee Ann and the rest of the team on January 6th, I headed to Granada for five weeks of one-on-one instruction at language school. It is amazing how much information was poured into me… please pray that I can continue my studies and apply what I have learned. There are local opportunities in Oneonta to audit classes at SUNY Oneonta which I plan to pursue. I realize I need to continue with more full immersion classes in the future… please pray for God’s wisdom as I mull over the options available.

We will spend the next few months touching base with our faithful prayer and financial supporters – without you folks, this all would be an uphill battle with no end in sight. Knowing that we have friends and family praying and offering help when needed (especially while Lee Ann and I were apart for over 7 weeks!) brought us true peace and we thank you for that gift! Lee Ann and I will be visiting new churches in hopes of attracting potential partners for our church building efforts in Central America and also New York City (with my brothers in Christ, Raymond Ramos and Edwin Colon in Brooklyn). This is definitely a wonderful part of my new assignment… to introduce people to experiences like we just had in El Pochote and Bluefields is truly a gift from God!

If your church is interested in investigating short term trips and you are located east of the Mississippi River, contact me and let’s set something up! Right now, we are 30% funded, so, if you are able and desire to financially support our ministry, we would love meet with you! We can share our vision for our ministries for Central American and New York City church planting as well as economic development projects that would support all those endeavors.

God is not only big in Bluefields… he is omnipresent and at work everywhere!

¡Hasta luego! ¡Bendecidos!
Rick & Lee Ann

A Church is Built on a Hill in El Pochote

The team from Main Street Baptist in Oneonta has returned from Nicaragua and by now is back into the swing of their normal routines... the small church community in El Pochote just finished their worship service in their new sanctuary! Boy, did we have an awesome experience in the process!


My last visit to El Pochote was after the team from Oneonta left Bluefields last April… I was able to tag along with Rigoberto Reyes, Aaron Palmatier and Mike Najjar to venture to El Pochote amongst other destinations in that region. The church at that time was a dilapidated structure that needed to be torn down. Not only was it in poor condition, it also would be too small for the potential growth of this church community.

So, after our arrival on site on December 27th, we started working and the church emerged from the flat ground. Slowly but surely we organized into jobs that utilized our skill strengths and progress was immediately noticeable! Digging foundations was necessary to begin the process of wall building, so immediately the team got busy. Columns needed to be made out of rebar and formed metal rods… column manufacturing was one project that never ended throughout the week – both upright vertical columns within the walls and cross beams required the same technology! Concrete had to be made, but first materials had to be moved about the work site… the sand and rock were delivered by larger trucks and sometimes had to be moved twice to a strategic location. The building blocks for the church were large quarried stones… weighing just about 100 lbs. each, so for those with the energy and stamina were enlisted to move these closer to where the masons could use them.











Most noticeable throughout the week were the relationships that were formed between our team and the local folks that volunteered to help build the church. Actually some traveled from as far away as Chinandega… about 2-1/2 hours away… others from nearby Nindiri also contributed their time and skill to accomplish the overall goal – it was awesome to see! Everyone has their sties of how they were impacted… all I can say is that as a first time leader of a team, it was so cool to see how we all cooperated despite the language barrier… Christ’s love was shared… and that is universal!




During the week, our team shared with the local children through puppet dramas depicting Bible stories, singing and craft making. Even the simplest crafts became treasured keepsakes. The children seem to have a natural ability to open up quickly and the teams responded with their creativity. Many times you would see kids playing with team members… sure the building needed to be done, but most importantly, relationships were formed. Jesus taught us about relationships… and that lesson will last a lifetime!



By the time for our departure, just 9 days after we arrived, the church was completed all except for the roof… and that could be finished by local volunteers. One of our team members, Justin Leuttger carved a sign into one for the quarried sytones with the name of the church - it was such an awesome gift from Justin... and it was a gift in return to Justin when the stone was placed on the last wall... God gives gifts to those who freely give of themselves!

All week, we were blessed by the awesome service of our sisters in the kitchen… out of a basic structure cam food for our army of workers… I do not think I noticed any dissatisfied customers all week! What a true blessing this ministry is… the women are up at least 3 hours before the team and spend most of the day preparing and cleaning up after the current and next day’s meals. The women always greeted the tired and hungry workers with a smile or a kind word… I will never forget them!

On the last day, while preaching for the first time in the new sanctuary, the pastor, Gonsolo stood and praised God from the new pulpit area, raising his hands to the open sky… he looked like he felt very comfortable. We worshiped together and after tearful goodbyes, we departed for our hotel in Masaya for the last time.

After all that hard work, we headed off to Granada for well deserved R&R&R… rest, relaxation and reflection. A definite highlihght was the canopy tour at Volcan Mombacho... everyone tried and and survived to tell their story! It may take a few weeks or months for some folks to comprehend how God wants them to use this trip… for some, maybe a career change is in the future… some need to make college choices… some have to ponder post college career choices… some will consider how to serve God more sincerely… the list goes on I am sure!



We praise God for safety during our travel and work… we also praise and thank Him for his desire to befriend us and guide us on our Earthy experiences.

WANTED - For an Adventure of a Lifetime!

We are looking 10-15 young men and women, from 20-30 years old who are seeking to deepen their faith in new ways, and may at times, have questioned themselves as to whether there is more to Christianity than they have seen in the United States.

Upon your arrival, you will receive two weeks of intensive Spanish classes in the beautiful highlands of Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. Then we will take you to live and participate among three dynamic national ministries in Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, under their leadership, for two weeks each. There, you will have the opportunity to help with construction, teach English classes to youth, and help to organize a youth retreat. We aren't looking for expert builders or youth ministers - just people willing to learn from others and give of themselves.

Your leaders and guides will be two bilingual Partnership Ministries’ staff members who know the national leadership that will be with you every step of the way. They will lead the interns in orientation, reflection, and handle all the logistics. You will stay and eat with local families from the churches so that you can learn their lives and immerse in their culture. You will use local transportation to get from one place to another, including between countries.

If this interests you, spots are filling fast – please contact us for details!

Kelly Simmons
Ministry Coordinator, Partnership Ministries
2530 Washington Street
Denver, CO 80205

Email: ksimmons@missionsdoor.org

Rick Myers
East Coast Representative
Partnership Ministries
The short term mission ministry of Missions Door
Website: http://www.missionsdoor.org/
Email: rick@missionink.net
Skype: missionink

1 Corinthians 2:9

Deployment Notification

Prayer & Financial Partner Communication

To: You
From: Partnership Ministries
Subject: Deployment Notification – Rick Myers
Date: 12/18/2007 19:50 PM
cc: The planet

Beginning 05:30 Wednesday December 26, 2007 deployment of Richard (aka Rick) Myers will commence at Main Street Baptist Church’s Big House (aka MSBCBH). Rick will rendezvous with fully trained and equipped squadron of 17 for departure to LGA airport enroute to Managua Nicaragua. ETD from LGA will be approximately 1:00 PM EST via American Airlines flight 637. No pending snowstorms in forecasts to date… repeat… no pending snowstorms in forecasts. Team is taking precautions however due to prior harrowing experiences by leaving said MSBCBG slightly earlier than necessary, but according to regional team leader KZ (aka kzyouthguy), “better to wait in Miami than to repeat Operation Interstate Monster Storm” of February 2007. Anticipated layover in MIA airport is approximately 95 minutes – maybe enough time to call home, freshen up and grab the last American fast food for 12 days. Departure flight from MIA to MGA is American Airlines flight 985 which is scheduled for 5:55 PM EST.

Squadron will arrive in MGA at approximately 7:30 CST and meet up with Nicaraguan National Church Planting Commander Rigoberto Reyes (aka NNCPCRR) and Partnership Ministries Team Leader Mike Najjar (aka PMTLMN) to embark on short expedition via rented fifteen passenger vans (aka RFPV’s) to barracks for one night’s stay in town of Masaya, Nicaragua, approximately 17 miles, or 27.24 kilometers or if we had to go by boat, 14.82 nautical miles. Some secrecy is present about the location of said barracks for the evening. We have been informed by NNCPCRR and PMTLMN that the housing known now as unknown sleeping quarters in Masaya (aka USQM) will be suitable for one night’s stay and that there may even be electricity and running water. The Center of Disease Control and local officials have warned that the squadron will want to rely on your personal fresh bottled water supply (aka PFBWS) and please be advised…DO NOT… repeat DO NOT drink or brush your teeth with local water out of faucets!

Day 2 – Thursday December 27, at 07:00 local time, the squadron will assemble for morning devotions led by PMTLMN, followed by breakfast mess that will be cleaned up by 08:00. Departure from USQM will be approximately 08:15 via said RFPV’s to El Pochote, location of a strategic church planting location just northwest of Masaya. Squadron will arrive and immediately greet all hermanos and hermanas with the traditional Bendecidos and await further instructions form either NNCPCRR or PMTLMN. Once the lay of the land is established and initial greeting formalities are completed, squadron will disperse and begin work as required. Rome was not built in a day, but a local church in El Pochote can be built in a week with teamwork! At approximately 12:00 full team of all on site will assemble for our first community meal which will be followed by a testimony of either local Nicaraguan or one of the squadron from Oneonta. Said testimony presentations will be determined by either NNCPCRR or PMTLMN or as we will be instructed with a change of command, said determination may be under the command of Rick… for more details, read on.

Daily Routines – Day 2 – 9. Squadron will be under the direction of NNCPCRR or PMTLMN until Day 6 when the change of command will be transferred from PMTLMN to Rick. As described in previous communiqués, PMTLMN and his wife Lesly are expecting their baby boy, Jeremy while we are on assignment in Nicaragua. Big Mahoff Team Leader and Founder of Partnership Ministries Steve Reed (aka BMTLFPMSR) from his command post in Sacramento California, USA had determined the best time to transfer duties from PMTLMN to the greenhorn Rick. This will be Rick’s first assignment since being appointed East Coast Team Leader with Partnership Ministries. Prayers directed towards Rick and the squadron at this time of transition is greatly appreciated. So, on Day 5 the squadron will dismiss PMTLMN for his home base in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. Our best wishes to he and Lesly and God’s blessings for their special day! Welcome baby Jeremy! During the week, the squadron will work onsite and share breakfast and lunch mess with local brothers and sisters gathered. Evenings will mostly be spent back at undisclosed USQM with time for small team discussions and reflections as well as R&R (aka rest and relaxation).

Special Note about new duties for Rick – aside from tracking finances for the remainder of the trip, Rick with the aid of kzyouthguy and NNCPCRR will act as site leader for the squadron. Rick will lead daily devotions as well as recruit others to share at breakfast devotions as well as to encourage individuals within the squadron to prepare and share their testimonies. Plans are in place to recruit Rick’s daughter, Lauren to act as his translator when his personal language skills are lacking, which, from scouting reports indicate, will most likely include the remainder of this phase of his deployment!

Day 10 and 11 – Free Days. Although still in planning stages, there is discussion about canopy tours near Vulcan Mombacho just outside of Masaya. The members of this squadron that served in the April 2007 tour are aware of the joys that await them. Time is also allowed for some inner reflection and group sessions to review the impact of the present deployment and how said tour might influence future behaviors.

Day 12 – January 6, 2007 - Departure for Home Base. NNCPCRR and Rick will commandeer the RFPV’s and depart for airport MGA to drop the squadron in time for their departure at approximately 13:30 CST upon American Airlines flight 970. Squadron will arrive on US soil at airport MIA at approximately 17:00 EST and will layover approximately 2 hours… enough time to call home, freshen up and grab the first American fast food in 12 days. American Airlines flight 1876 departs at 19:00 from MIA enroute to LGA which arrives at 22:00 EST. The squadron once through customs and immigration will board Main Street Baptist Church Deployed Mini Vans (aka MSBCMV’s) for a moonlit ride out of the metropolitan NYC region and northbound through the western fringes of the Catskill Mountain Forest Preserve via the Roscoe – Downsville – Walton – Franklin route to their final destination – Oneonta NY… approximately 02:30 AM EST. Cellular devices will be used to communicate ETA for rendezvous with Personal Family Mini Vans (aka PFMV’s) to finals home destinations.

Deployment Phases 2 & 3 – Rick Myers. After squadron is safely released into the hands of kzyouthguy at MGA, Rick will depart with MSBCBH to be released into the tutelage of the School Xpress Language School in Granada (their website is http://nicaspanishschool.com/), where he will spend the next 5 weeks in one to one instruction – 5 hours per day, 5 days per week. At his initial appointment, comments made by BMTLFPMSR included praises for Rick’s abilities to recruit and lead church building teams in Central America but his one fault (OK, he has others, but stay with me!) was that he was unable to communicate effectively with the locals in the native language. This initial tour of duty with School Xpress will begin the process of language acquisition which will be fortified by his continued exposure to the Spanish speaking population. Prayers for this phase of Rick’s deployment are requested – not only for Rick but for Lee Ann his wife who will be stateside for the reminder of his tour. It is said that Rick will have internet access and will be able to update a blog site dedicated to publishing updates of these upcoming tours of duty… stay tuned at http://missionink.blogspot.com/.

February 14, 2008. After 5 weeks of intensive language training, Rick will depart Granada to rendezvous with NNCPCRR to meet up with the second squadron from MSBC – this time 25 fully trained and equipped individuals will report for duty – their departure from MSBCBH slated for February 14, 2007 is still in the planning stages, but be sure of this – it will be early as the desire to avoid another Operation Interstate Monster Storm remains in effect. All communiqués will come from kzyouthguy. Destination this time is back to Bluefields to begin construction on an education wing onto the existing church building that was built by the February and April tours last year.

With PMTLMN, Lesly and Jeremy basking in their first days and weeks of family life together, Rick will again assume a leadership role for this tour as well. By Day 6 or 7, PMTLMN will join our squadron and finish out the week long construction project in Bluefields and to stay with us on our free days and help us get back to the airport to depart for home on February 25th.

So, how can you help the ongoing efforts? Your prayers for the many facets and phases of these operations are well deserved targets! From planning to execution, there will be a lot of opportunities for God’s wisdom and grace to intervene!

Thanks! For those of you that have already expressed the desire to support our ministry financially, we thank you and want to let you know we cannot do this alone… your interest and involvement in our day to day ministry is humbling to us… and for that we will be forever grateful! We still hover just over the 20% level of total financial support, so we welcome any new partners to the family! If you wish to begin supporting us financially, there are a couple ways to designate funds… if you wish to give a one time gift, can we direct to you donate towards Rick’s language school account which is Rick & Lee Ann Myers # 558U.

If you wish to make an ongoing pledge to our ministry, our names are our account number – you can do so by going online to www.missionsdoor.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=8&itemid=30 or by sending your contribution directly to the address below:

Please remember in order to get credit on your 2007 taxes that you must have these contributions postmarked by December 31, 2007.
Missions Door
Attention: Barbara Harrison
2530 Washington Street

Denver, CO 80205-3142

We thank you and ask for God’s blessings on your lives. We serve an awesome God!
Peace,
Rick & Lee Ann

Countdown to El Pochote

We have just crossed the "one month to go" mark for our trip to El Pochote! I have yet to find the village on any maps, but if you follow Highway CA1 south from Managua, you will pass the town of El Crucero... somewhere between there and the town of Diriamba is El Pochote.

Last April, I was able to travel to this region as we checked out a potential work site that was outside of Masaya. Little did I know at that time that we would return to this area! Two men worked with our team in Bluefields in April - Francisco (show here in blue shirt with construction leader, Julio) and his son Junior - we will be blessed to help his village rebuild their church in the area.


The church building that is currently in the village is dilapidated and needs to be torn down - I am not sure if we will be part of the "destruction crew" or not. The church rests on the top of a bluff overlooking the dirt road heading down into the valley towards Masaya. Our team in February went to see Vulcan Masaya (below), which is almost visible from this location.

The area around Masaya is beautiful - we will be in a higher elevation, so the weather will be cooler than in Bluefields or Chinandega. There are many deep blue lakes in the region as well as many other geological features... we may travel over to Vulcan Mombacho (shown partially below), which the April team was able to experience - a totally different volcano than Masaya - plush green and heavily wooded - a perfect place for canopy tours! Yehaw! Coffee grows throughout this region, so bring your USD$ for a real treat!

The Adventure Begins...

Well, actually this adventure started a long, long time ago... I find it amazing that God knew about this before I took my first breath... how patient He has been while I have discovered His purpose for my life! We do serve an awesome God! This will serve as our journal - to describe in writing and show in photos and videos how God is working through the efforts of Partnership Ministries... stay tuned - there's a an awesome "Show & Tell" coming!

On November 3, I flew out of Philadelphia to meet in Houston with Steve Reed, our founder and director - our final destination, Honduras! We arrived in San Pedro Sula and without any issues and were quickly on the road heading towards La Ceiba in our rental car. Our "home away from home" for two nights was the Hotel Iberia - and it was a great place to start! Comfortable beds... air conditioning and free wireless Internet... what more could we ask for?!? Everyone from the front desk to the chamber maids to the waiter at the restaurant next door knew and openly greeted Steve Reed… it was a testament to his desire to create lasting relationships – absolutely the cornerstone of the success of Partnership Ministries.

That evening, we headed out to church - home of the Honduran Extension Bible Institute under the supervision of Pastor Humberto Del Arca. Once again, evidence of the many solid relationships nurtured by Steve Reed showed themselves in the exuberant expressions of "¡Hermano Esteban!" and warm embracing. The worship service was well attended despite the heavy rains. Two men stood out to me that night - a father and son named Hector and Santos Flores. What a living legacy between those two men - it was so cool to just sit and soak in the camaraderie amongst these Christian believers - and for the most part, I could not understand much of what they said!

The next morning, we picked up Humberto and headed out about an hour outside of La Ceiba to see another church under the leadership of Santos Flores. The heavy rain continued but the drive was not so bad in the daylight. We were warmly welcomed and the church service began - many pastors were present as a sign of respect for Humberto and our visit to this rural church. Many shared songs and a brief word and Steve presented a message to the congregation. We stopped briefly on our way at a local family run cantina and enjoyed a fresh cooked meal together. From there we headed back to La Ceiba, taking Santos and Humberto home - a long awaited full night's rest was ahead of us!

On Monday, we headed out in the same direction - this time a little further to the town of Zamora where we met up with Tino Martinez (show left with Steve), another one of the regional directors under Humberto. We spent time with him discussing how we could develop economic projects with his churches to help finance the ministries. Tino was very excited about our interest and also our willingness to listen to his ideas. As a former tailor, his idea of training pastors in the art of clothing manufacturing was very appealing and easy to fund. Interesting how this might relate to the sewing ministry started in Bluefields Nicaragua by Claudia Reyes! One of the neat aspect of my job will be to hear and respond to the many ideas throughout Central America and try to maximize our efforts by opening channels of communication!

From Zamora, we headed to Olanchito and the home of Jorge and Alba Nuñez. Jorge serves under Humberto in this region - many of our former short term folks might remember Jorge as he would have been on site for the church building project in 2000. Jorge brings many years of wisdom to the table - I know he is a valued member of the leadership team. We had fun sharing time and coffee with Jorge and Alma - their son and daughter left while we were there to be on the air with a local radio station - we were mentioned on one of their updates... pretty neat to hear our names in English in the middle of a Spanish broadcast!

Steve, Humberto and I went on to La Ceiba and picked up Aaron Palmetier. Based upon the initial discussions of the day, and the fact Aaron could share with the larger group, a special meeting was called for Tuesday morning to get the regional directors from the North Coast together to discuss economic development opportunities in their region. So after a fruitful day of meetings, we headed back to La Ceiba. The next morning we met at the church once more and it was well worth the extra time - the exchange if ideas was invaluable! After lunch at the restaurant next door, we headed southwest to Siguatepeque.

The 5 hour drive to Siguatepeque was uneventful - the rain still persisted but not as hard as in the previous couple of days. This region was much cooler and higher in elevation, so the geography was something to take in! Our base in the area was the Plaza San Pablo - right in the middle of town, just across the street from a large open plaza. We were surprised at the temperature change - we surely did not need to air conditioning in this town! But good beds and wireless Internet made this triple an awesome deal!

We departed early to head towards La Esperanza - an hour and a half drive from Siguatepeque into the highlands - once again, the magnificent scenery was shrouded in clouds and rain but form the glimpses we had, this area was spectacular! We arrived safely and met up with Erick Sanchez), another regional director. (Shown here with his wife Yoamy and young daughter Ruth) Erick's biography can be found at this location - http://www.missionsdoor.org/images/stories/pplbook_pdf_bio/124862.pdf

We changed vehicles as our rented Toyota would not make this trek - 25 miles out on a mountainous dirt road... in the rain! There were times on our way out to the village in San Nicholas that even low 4WD was challenged to get up some of the hills - we thank God for Erick's skillful driving and for his sure footed vehicle!

About 1/2 way into our drive, we stopped at the home of one of the area directors, Isaías Cantarero to pick him up to take him with us to a recent church building project. In his village, there was a church still under construction - shown here. Out of the mist, came tons of kids... typically curious as to who would be stopping by their village - which is not exactly at the crossroads of Honduras! Pressing onward, after a brief "hola" to Isaías' wife, Olga, we boarded the 4x4 and headed down the muddy road. Isaías' biography can be found at this location: http://www.missionsdoor.org/images/stories/pplbook_pdf_bio/127555.pdf

As we ventured further towards San Nicholas, I was saying to myself, "we have to come back this same way - won't that be fun??" It was an interesting ride to say the least! About 2 kilometers from the end of this road, we stopped in another settlement - pretty decent sized for the area... and in the middle was a church! Barrington Baptist (RI) sent the team that travelled this road (dusty at the time) every day - boy, do I have a renewed sense of what their morning and afternoon trek was like - God bless you guys! We stopped to say hello to the Pastor's family and shared a wonderful cup of Honduran Coffee - a real treat for this cool damp day. I was humbled again by the housing in the area - the pastor's home (Shown here) was larger than some of the others but was still smaller than our combined living room and dining room at home - and he had a family of 6!

The trek back to La Esperanza ended with a meal with Erick and his family - back at their home, we spent some time listening to Erick' ideas about economic projects that could support the ministries of the church plants in his region - one especially promising is a maize grinder - it can be installed with little cost or technology and would benefit just about all the pastor's families. Erick's concise and organized presentations were so good that we will incorporate his template for all future requests - awesome job!

The winding and pothole filled drive back to Siguatepeque as dark settled in was enough to make me want to hang up the keys for another day! That triple room was such a safe harbor for us - just what we needed!

The next morning... Thursday, we met up with Victor and Virgilia Almendarez (Shown here) and Ambrosio and Norma Cordova for breakfast just outside of town. Victor's biography can be foudn at this location - http://www.missionsdoor.org/images/stories/pplbook_pdf_bio/115000.pdf Ambrosio's biography can be found at this location - http://www.missionsdoor.org/images/stories/pplbook_pdf_bio/121413.pdf. We spent much time discussing how we could serve their ministries better and also enlisted their thoughts about economic development programs or projects that could benefit the ministries in their regions. As the lunch crowd started to come into the restaurant, we said our goodbyes to Victor and Virgilia and continued with Ambrosio and Norma to see one of new building sites and meet the pastor's wife. We also were able to stop by their home and meet their family (The entire family is shown here) - it was a treat to hear them share stories about when Steve first came into the area - over 14 years ago.

Regretfully, we had to leave and venture now towards San Pedro Sula... only about 2 hours drive away. Steve was amazed at how much the city had grown and been infiltrated by the typical American chains - Applebee's, Pizza Hut, Pizzeria Uno, TGI Friday's and many more. We managed to find a hotel - pretty good as we didn't have reservations - we stayed at the Hotel Ejecutivo... great rates and in the midst of everything in town - free parking too! We had a wonderful meal at Tre Fratelli - a fantastic finish to a fruitful week! The next morning after breakfast in our hotel, we ventured into the central market where I was able to purchase some Copan region coffee - gotta love it! We were off to the airport so I could get checked in and through security - but not before my last Honduras cafe con leche... and a boot shine - Steve insists it is more of a social activity than an economic transaction... so for less than $ 4.00 US, the Honduran mud was removed from both our shoes - my old reliable hiking boots never looked so good!

My flights back into the US were AOK - I traveled with a Honduran/US Citizen who was bringing and adopted child to New Jersey - I broke out of my shell and started conversation with "yo hablo espanol un poco" and she came back with broken English - we talked almost all the way to Houston - got some practice in Spanish, but better than that, I just started to talk and share! This while trip was capped off by a visit to our former church (Christ Covenant Church in Kulpsville, PA)... what a blast it was - one day I am in Honduras and then next morning I am dining at Tiger's restaurant just outside of Lansdale, PA... a slice of Americana where the regulars mix with world travelers... I had a wonderful time meeting up with brothers and sisters in Christ that I hadn't seen in a long while - some it had been 11 years! My tales from Honduras and beyond amazed some and made others think.... wow, that's where I was a few years back... you never know how God will work!

So, this ends my first blog installment... please pray that God continues to give me the eyes of a child and a dose of His wisdom as we seek to serve Him with Partnership Ministries!