Philippians 4:13
Dear Partners in Ministry,
We are so grateful for your prayers while we were in Honduras. We very much felt upheld. Even though traveling with twin toddlers was exhausting, we are glad we said “yes” to the Hoblits’ invitation and the Lord’s nudging to spend a chunk of time at MAG’s base in Honduras this summer. As a quick review, another MAG family that lives in Honduras is in the States for an extended furlough getting their oldest daughter launched, so there was a need for some help at our field program. Our main goals were:
1) Be a support to the Hoblits (the other MAG family who lives full time in Honduras), sharing the work of the base
2) Host a team from our North Carolina church
3) Gather needed insight to help improve understanding and communication at headquarters
By God’s grace and strength, we were able to do those things. Aviation wise, Sean was able to do some of the ministry flying while we were there which freed Brad up to work on the many other tasks he has as Honduras Program Director. We are in the process of converting to a new aircraft maintenance inventory system so Sean was able to help with unglamorous and tedious tasks of data entry, QR code labeling and shelf organizing for aircraft parts. MAG is also working on a new solution for avgas storage on the field so it was good to be in the thick of current practices.
Once our team from Blacknall arrived, Sean and Nathan put their focus on the team tasks of preparing the hospital for painting and then painting the hospital and newly reroofed community center. The team worked so hard and their results show it! We were able to start using the community center the very next day.
We also loved doing some special ministry events while the team was there. The family on furlough usually leads the local youth ministry, so we were able to pick that up for several weeks. MAG’s Director of Pastoral Ministry Esau also came with his family. We have loved doing ministry with Esau since we began working with MAG and have been grateful for his friendship over the years. He has gotten involved with Samaritan’s Purse as well so we had the joy of using the Samaritan’s Purse Greatest Journey children’s curriculum and passing out shoe boxes of gifts to the local kids. It is fun to see the village kids make new connections in Scripture and how eager they are to come together to learn from God’s Word. We also hosted a pancake breakfast for the soldiers stationed at Rus Rus and all 3 accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior!
In addition to helping lead the children’s and youth ministry events, Carmen participated in local women’s Bible Study and preached on our final Sunday in Rus Rus. She also helped Crystal stock the pharmacy shipment and did some pastoral care in the hospital.
On the home front, we knew going into our stay a lot effort goes into everyday life in Rus Rus with different chores than we have in the US. For instance, getting laundry dry in the rainy season can be a bit tricky. By the end of the first week we figured out how to read the approaching clouds to decide whether or not to hang the wet clothes on the line outside. Several days of taking them on and off several times was motivation to get it right! With no landfill service trash has to burned (also a challenge in the rainy season) or composted. Our biggest challenge came at the beginning of the trip while we still were figuring out daily routines. Sean needed to be away for most of the week and several of our kids were sick. The Lord gave Carmen the strength she needed but she was definitely glad to have Sean back. Lilly was unfortunately sick the longest of anyone and on her worst day we got word that her dear bunny that was young and healthy when we had left, died. That was rough!
Even in the midst of the daily challenges, bugs and sweat, there were lots of sweet things to give us joy. The twins were enthralled with all the local animals. All the horses, cats, dogs, parrots, macaws, pigs, goats, chickens and ducks were a constant source of glee (but also generated plenty of poop to try and keep them away from). We always love spending time with the Hoblits, so fellowship and Bible Study with them was always a treat. The twins were so hot we found they did best in just diapers (but who wants to go back to clothes at home?). The twins also loved watching the airplane come and go. Whenever someone was returning to the village if we said the airplane is coming they jumped into the stroller and were ready to go greet it! Lilly enjoyed swims in the creek and making movies with the other missionary kids. It was also sweet that the Honduras Missionary Kids Camp was during our time there so Nathan and Lilly were able to attend. Nathan was an incredible helper. He was a blessing around the house and in the village. He gladly taught children, shared at youth group, painted and power washed, played soccer with the local kids, helped with airplane tasks and was an encouragement in the midst of trials. We are delighted to see the Lord’s work in his life.
Now that we are back in the States we are getting ready for the next round of apprentices. We can hardly believe that we’ve been with MAG for 10 years now. We know that the Lord still has work for us to do with MAG and we are praying for the needed finances to serve another decade. The amount we need to raise to fund our positions at MAG has increased. We are asking the Lord to continue to build up our partnership team so we can keep giving ourselves full-time to this Kingdom work. If you know of someone or a church that would be interested to hear about MAG’s work please let us know.
We are so grateful for each of you!
Blessings in Christ,
Sean & Carmen