Political Crisis in Honduras
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Monday, 29 June 09 - 10:52 PM (GMT -05:00) By Mark Moore in Missions |
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I'm sure most of you have heard about the political crisis in Honduras. I wanted to post a quick update to let you know that we are doing well and are having a great week of ministry. We have two mission teams in Honduras this week. John Sessions is leading a team in Santa Fe, El Paraiso (on the border of Nicaragua) and Amy and I are leading a team to Guinope (a rural village about 1.5 hours east of the capital). Every thing is calm and tranquil here in rural Honduras. People here are talking about it, the Christians are praying and we're certain that other Christians all over the world are praying for the situation.
We have been in touch with our friends in Tegucigalpa daily and they say things are relatively calm there too. As you know, the news reports focus on the sensational and the small pockets of protest are what is getting the most coverage. The rumor mill is also alive and well too so don't believe everything you hear. The truth is, it's not as bad right now as the news is making it out to be. People are still flying into Honduras and the country is operating as normal as possible.
This is a volitile situation because Hugo Chavez is a friend of "former" president Zelaya. With that in mind, please be in prayer for the Christian missionary teams all over Honduras and for those scheduled to come. We have almost 40 North Americans here in Honduras this week and another 10 scheduled to arrive on Friday. We know God is in control and we are trusting Him in this situation.
LTW Summer Staff - Jared Marshall
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Saturday, 06 June 09 - 01:48 PM (GMT -05:00) By Mark Moore in Missions |
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This will be the third year that Jared Marshall has joined us as part of our Honduras summer staff. Jared is a very talented musician and has a servants heart. He helps lead worship for our team and when we are in Tegucigalpa he helps lead worship at Iglesia Renacer. We're excited about Jared joining our summer staff for 2009. Please pray that God will continue to reveal His will to Jared.
LTW Summer Staff - Abby Brack
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Friday, 29 May 09 - 03:59 PM (GMT -05:00) By Mark Moore in Missions |
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Why am I introducing our summer staff to you? So that you will pray for them. You can save their prayer cards to your computer and print them out if you like. That way you will have a visual reminder to pray for them during their time in Honduras.
Today I introduce to you, Abby Brack. This summer Abby will be returning as part of our summer staff. In 2007 she was a mission team member from her church (Calvary Baptist, Gastonia) and a part of our summer staff in 2008. Abby just graduated from Gaston Christian School and will be attending North Greenville University in August. Abby feels like God is calling her into some type of missions ministry. Please pray that God will continue to reveal His will for her life during our time in Honduras this summer. Pray that God will use Abby in a mighty way to impact the lives of our mission team members and to the Honduran people with whom and to whom we'll minister this summer.
Earthquake in Honduras
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Thursday, 28 May 09 - 08:04 PM (GMT -05:00) By Mark Moore in Missions |
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By now most of you have heard that a 7.1 magnitude earthquake rocked Honduras. The epicenter of the quake was off the northern coast but it was felt as far away as Tegucigalpa and even Mexico. At the time of this writing 6 people have been confirmed dead because of the quake and Honduran officials expect the death toll to rise over the next couple days.
I talked with Daniel Gomez and he said he was awakened around 2:30 a.m. with his bed shaking in the middle of the night. Even though they were over 200 miles from the epicenter he said pictures were knocked off their walls. I haven't spoken with my friends in San Pedro Sula, but I have heard they are all well. I'm sure the "shaking" was much worse there due to the fact that they were only 100 miles from the epicenter.
Although the earthquake was a tragic event for the country of Honduras, it will not affect our summer mission trips. The areas where we are ministering were not affected by the quake.
Please, however, pray for those who lost loved ones and for those who will be ministering in those areas this week and in the weeks to come. Our children's pediatrician is going on a mission trip to Honduras tomorrow and would have crossed the bridge pictured above to get to the village where they will be ministering. Because of the quake now they will have to take an alternate route that will add three more hours to their journey. Our prayer is that God will be glorified through yet another natural disaster for this poor country. In the words of Daniel Gomez, "The shaking of the earth reveals how powerful our God is. Maybe those who don't know Him personally will come to know Him through this earthquake."
LTW Summer Staff - Kristen Griffin
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Wednesday, 27 May 09 - 03:44 PM (GMT -05:00) By Mark Moore in Missions |
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Over the next couple days I will be introducing our summer missions staff. I'm starting today with Kristen because she has a specific prayer need before we go to Honduras. I know many of you who read my blog are praying people. I'm asking you to intercede on for Kristen because she has a physical need that may keep her from going to Honduras.
Kristen, like our daughter Mariah, is hearing impaired. She has a cochlear implant and a hearing aid. For the past week or so Kristen has been having trouble with her implant. The worst case scenario is that the internal device is failing. If that is the case it will keep her from being on mission in Honduras this summer. Please pray that the problem with her implant is minor and that her audiologist will be albe to fix the problem before we are scheduled to leave for Honduras (June 10). Thanks in advance for your prayers on Kristen's behalf.
Kristen lives in Swannanoa, NC and this will be her first time in Honduras. She has been on an international mission trip to Bolivia. She is a member of Montreat Presbyterian Church. Kristen is a gymnastics instructor and was our daughter Makenzie's instructor when she was in the 3 year old class. She attends East Carolina University. We are excited about Kristen being a part of the Louder Than Words 2009 summer staff.
Orphan Camps 2009
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Tuesday, 31 March 09 - 01:01 PM (GMT -05:00) By Mark Moore in Missions |
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Words cannot express my excitement as I prepare to leave for Honduras on Saturday. I get the privilege of spending the week with some of my favorite people in the world! I, along with John Sessions, Bobby and Maridith Lane, and a team from Hillside UMC in Woodstock, GA, will be putting on a children's camp for the children of Faith, Hope and Love Orphanage in Tegucigalpa. This will be the second year the kids of FHL have been to camp. As their director told me in January, "From the youngest to the oldest, they all said that the camp was the highlight of their year." Wow, It was one of the highlights of my year too!
If you think about it, or as you read this please say a prayer for us as we minister in the fields of the fatherless next week. Also pray for me as I try to shoot some video for an upcoming promo we'll be doing to raise awareness of our orphan camps and to recruit future teams. I'll try to post some pictures from the camp if I can find an internet cafe in Zambrano, Honduras.
BTW . . . I'll be in Honduras April 4-11 and Amy and Madison will be there April 11 - 18. Pray for us as we will trade off with our kids for those weeks. For those who don't read Spanish our camp logo reads: Camp Hope: Laugh, Learn, Play.
New Year's in Honduras
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Friday, 26 December 08 - 11:58 AM (GMT -05:00) By Mark Moore in Missions |
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All the Christmas gifts have been opened, and the commercial Christmas has come and gone. Because of Christmas the follower of Christ has a reason to celebrate all year long.
I know I've had too much blog silence lately, but it's most likely coming again. Tomorrow I'm leaving with a team from Zebulon, NC on a mission trip to the mountains of Honduras. It's not likely that I will get to update my blog so I'm attaching this photo with a few requests for prayer. If you think of us we would appreciate your prayers during our time in Guinope, Honduras. It will be my first time in Guinope and I'm a little apprehensive, but excited to see what God has planned for this trip.
If I don't get a chance to update from Guinope then to all of you, "Happy New Year from Honduras."
A Dios sea la gloria!
Passport Update . . .
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Saturday, 20 December 08 - 11:39 AM (GMT -05:00) By Mark Moore in Missions |
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Some of you may have read of my passport blunder this week. I said on Wednesday night in my post that I needed a miracle. I'm happy to report the miracle is on it's way. Yesterday I went all the way to Washington, DC to the passport office. It's a story too long for me to write here, but I'm sure many of you will hear me tell it soon. Amy said on Thursday night (before I left for DC), "I guess this is going to be another one of your stories I get to hear 100 times." Yes, I am a storyteller and I'm sure she'll hear it a few times.
Many thanks to those of you who prayed. God cleared the way and I have a passport coming in the mail on Tuesday. I didn't get to see much of DC, but I did get a chance to hang out with a good friend (and former LTW intern), Eric Bebber, who is a minister in the city. It was great to hang out with Eric for a couple hours and to meet his lovely new bride.
Here are a few shots to prove I was in DC. My trip was like this first picture of the Metro . . . a blur.
I Need a Passport . . . QUICK!
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Wednesday, 17 December 08 - 10:19 PM (GMT -05:00) By Mark Moore in Missions |
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Tonight Amy and I were cleaning our bedroom and for some unknown reason she looked at my passport and discovered that it expires in January 2009! That wouldn't be a problem, but I'm supposed to go to Honduras with a team next Saturday. Yes, next Saturday . . . now that's a problem. Why am I putting this out here for all of you to see my stupidity? I need your prayers! I'm going to get on the phone first thing in the morning, but I know it is next to impossible without the prayers of God's people. So, if you're reading this I would appreciate your prayers in the matter. I NEED A MIRACLE! I'll update on any progress . . .
Water . . . Honduras
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Friday, 24 October 08 - 10:10 AM (GMT -05:00) By Mark Moore in Missions |
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Water and Honduras . . . seems like a recurring them lately. Yes, Honduras has been experiencing deadly amounts of rain lately, but there are villages all over Honduras who don't have clean water to their houses.
Several times a year Louder Than Words constructs potable water systems in the rural mountain villages of Honduras. Our Honduras Country Director Arnoldo Alvarez has been constructing water systems for over 20 years and giving short-term missions teams opportunities to be a part of them.
This winter we have a couple spaces available on team working in the El Paraiso region of Eastern Honduras. The dates of the project are January 5-19, 2009. If you are interested or know of someone who might be interested in this project please leave a comment to this post and I will get in touch with you.
Heavy Rains in Honduras . . .
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Tuesday, 21 October 08 - 08:16 PM (GMT -05:00) By Mark Moore in Missions |
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Please continue to pray for the people of Honduras who have been experiencing an extended time of heavy rains. I thought some of you would enjoy reading the following AP article.
Heavy Rains Leave 11 Dead in Honduras
Los Gemelos (The Twins)
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Wednesday, 15 October 08 - 10:46 PM (GMT -05:00) By Mark Moore in Missions |
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Without a doubt you've heard the phrase, "separated at birth". You see someone who looks or acts like someone else you know and you declare, "they must be twins, separated at birth."
Today I found some photos I took this summer from a broken camera. Yes, I broke it in church while in Tegucigalpa. How did I break it? I sat on it. End of that story.
Anyway, I know most of you don't know the man on the left of the picture (Saul Brito of San Pedro Sula, Honduras), but many of you will know the guy on the right (Scott Shields of Gastonia / Asheville, NC). Scott has been one of my best friends for years, but I didn't know he was a twin! You decide . . .
You decide . . . What do you think? Separated at birth or not?
Campamento Bridge Update
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Monday, 13 October 08 - 10:03 PM (GMT -05:00) By Mark Moore in Missions |
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Below are a couple pictures I received from my friend Mark Fittz in Honduras. As you can tell, the bridge columns and cables held, but the rest of the bridge was destroyed. Mark has some engineer friends working on a contingency plan for repair and we have a team ready to help in the spring. As you pray, please pray for wisdom and direction to help the community of Campamento.
Pray for Honduras . . .
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Thursday, 09 October 08 - 09:58 AM (GMT -05:00) By Mark Moore in Missions |
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Weather . . . it's just been weird lately. We're experiencing an extreme drought here in North Carolina while other parts of the world are experiencing severe flooding.
For the past couple weeks I've been following the rain in Honduras. It's the end of the "rainy season", but parts of Honduras have experienced greater amounts of rain than were experienced with Hurricane Mitch.
Much of our ministry is in the eastern part of the country in the department of El Paraiso (The Paradise). In many ways it is like a "paradise". It's a region of incredible environmental beauty, but at the same time an economically poor region of the country.
You may recall from past blog posts that Louder Than Words partnered with Mark Fittz of CAM International to build a bridge in the village of Campamento to help connect two sides of the village. The children of the village had to walk several miles a day just to go to school and in the rainy season many people couldn't go to church because of the dangerous river crossing.
This year the bridge was completed . . . .
. . . and it was an incredible blessing for the village and for all who have been involved throughout the journey. A little over a week ago the El Paraiso region got a tremendous amount of rain. Below are some pictures of the bridge jsut after the rain.
The good news is that the concrete columns and the main cables held, but the walking platforms have major damage. We have a team coming in March to repair the bridge, but pray for the region because many of the roads in and out of villages have been damaged.
I just got word today that the rains have lessened this week. Yet, I can't imagine what it's like to receive that much rain and live in a house with a leaky roof and a dirt floor! Even in the middle of an economic downturn I have so much to be thankful for!!!
Back from Honduras
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Thursday, 21 August 08 - 10:19 PM (GMT -05:00) By Mark Moore in Missions |
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I don't usually take my shirt off in public, but as I sat in church our last night in San Pedro Sula, Honduras I thought, "I wish I could dress like that little boy!" Was it hot? Well, today I drove to the church to pick up the kids and it was 88 degrees and I drove with the windows down! I never drive with the windows down when its 88 degrees outside, but today it felt rather nice.
We had a great week in San Pedro Sula. We had a great team, a great ministry partner and some special times of ministry throughout the week.
Oh, why were the kids dressed like this? On our last night with Iglesia Bautista, Nueva Amanecer we had a "noche tipica". It was a celebration night for the church and the team and several of the church members dressed in "typical" Honduran attire. We shared a meal together, gave testimonies and took lots of pictures. I'm sure I'll share some stories from the week in the days to come. For now, I'm going to watch some of the Olympics.
800 Miles,two days in the hospital, two weddings shot and I'm going to Honduras tomorrow!
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Monday, 11 August 08 - 06:23 PM (GMT -05:00) By Mark Moore in Missions |
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What a week! It all started with Mariah being hospitalized. As you know, she's doing great. When we returned home on Wednesday evening we had to take Mackenzie to the doctor with Strep throat. David was already on amoxicillin for an ear infection that he had. Our refrigerator looks like your local CVS.
This weekend I shot a wedding in Weaverville, NC on Saturday. It was the wedding of Bekah Ludlow and Blake Hart. They both Graduated from Mars Hill College and were on a Louder Than Words mission team to Honduras in 2007. It was a beautiful traditional southern wedding. As the ceremony was going on, I thought, "This is one of those couples that are going to make it." Here are a couple images from their wedding.
a sweet one . . .
a fun one . . .
an "american gothic one . . .
We left Weaverville at 4:30 p.m. and ate dinner with John Sessions and his family in Mars Hill. At 6:30 p.m. we headed out to Andrews, NC. If you don't know where Andrews is, it's just past the Nantahala Gorge and just before Murphy. We spent the night in one of the cabins at Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters (SWO). At SWO I photographed the wedding of Maradith Wade and Bobby Lane. It was a wedding unlike any other that I had photographed. We did the reception first and the wedding followed. It was a beautifully casual wedding. I left thinking, "This one will last too!" Here's a few images from their wedding.
a cool one . . . (notice the guy's head in the foreground - Brody Holloway, Camp Director of SWO)
Their FIRST KISS . . .
My other thought was, "I've had a lot of fun, but I've got 4 hours to drive to get home." We made it back home just in time for me to get ready to leave for Honduras tomorrow morning (8/12). Yes, I will be in San Pedro Sula, Honduras with a mission team from Summerfield First Baptist Church.
Stayed tuned, maybe I'll have time this week to post some stories from Honduras.
Broken arms in Honduras
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Thursday, 31 July 08 - 10:53 PM (GMT -05:00) By Mark Moore in Missions |
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Climbing trees is universal. Broken bones are too! Some of you remember reading the prayer request for little Wendy last week as we took her to the doctor for an x-ray of her wrist. It didn't take a radiologist to figure out that her wrist was broken. From the outside it didn't look that bad and her stoic face didn't give a lot of evidence of a broken bone either. Yet one of the bones was broken in two.
I received an email today saying that she went back to the doctor today and she has to keep the cast for 3 months!
FOOTNOTE: I was amazed that it only cost $16.00 for the x-ray and the prescription medicine. I decided to get something to eat before I took Wendy, Margarita and Marcela back home. Jared was with us, so we had five for lunch. We went to Pizza Hut (Wendy's choice) and it cost us $26.00 to eat lunch. Wow! It was $10.00 more to eat lunch than to get an x-ray, a bone set, a cast put on and prescription medication.
It was a humbling experience to know that we routinely spend more on eating out than it would cost kids in orphanages all over the world to get much needed medical care. At the same time it was a spiritual experience to be involved in helping get Wendy the needed medical care.
As one of my friends said last week, "Its things like helping an orphan get medical care that keep you coming back year after year." My friend Isaac, the orphanage director described it as "God using us like an angel". I don't know if we were like angels, but it did feel God ordained that we visited just to say goodbye before we came back to the States. It's really cool when God works like that. Praise Him who orchestrated our presence with Wendy's need!
The Missionary Dentist and Prayer . . .
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Thursday, 31 July 08 - 09:38 PM (GMT -05:00) By Mark Moore in Missions |
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What does missionary dentistry have to do with prayer? Well, if you are like me you understand the connection with any kind of dentistry and prayer. Because of a bad experience at the dentist, I endured 5 + years with a temporary filling (even replaced the temporary stuff myself once).
Tonight as I was looking through my 1100 photos from our last team I had tons of duplicates. I deleted over 350 photos. I deleted this one and later rescued it from the recycle bin. Why did I rescue it? I rescued it because I noticed Mike in the background (one with the arrow pointing toward him).
What's so special about Mike being in the background? Well, Mike was praying as the "dentists" worked. Why would we need a "prayer person" while the dentists worked. There were several reasons, one being that they weren't really dentists. WHAT? It sounds worse than it is, but it was a general surgeon and a Honduran dental student. The main job was tooth extraction. The surgeon, Dr. Steve, did a great job with his crash course in dentistry. Jessica, the Honduran medical student, did incredible and got a lot of OJT.
Yet, the grimaces on the faces said there was a need for prayer. Several times I caught myself wincing at the sounds of brittle, decayed teeth cracking in the grip of the pliers. When I would hear it or see a grimace, I would begin to pray. So that's why I rescued the picture of Mike in the background praying.
Prayer is the key to all mission work. Without prayer of those who are missionaries and those back "home" are indispensible to kingdom missions efforts around the world. I'm sure some of you got a little tired of checking the blog this summer and seeing all the prayer requests, but I know that many of you prayed for the requests and God answered your prayers in great ways this summer.
Were the grimaces worth it? In the end, yes they were. Sometimes in life we have to deal with a little pain to get long term relief. I finally went back to the dentist myself when the pain became unbearable. Yes, there was a lot of nervousness and a little pain, but the after effects were worth it. My continued prayer is that those who received dental care this summer won't remember the pain, but will remember we did it in Jesus' name. I trust that He was glorified through it.
Honduras Prayer Post #44
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Monday, 28 July 08 - 01:10 AM (GMT -05:00) By Mark Moore in Missions |
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Honduras Prayer Post #43
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Sunday, 27 July 08 - 01:10 AM (GMT -05:00) By Mark Moore in Missions |
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