June 9, 2009

This may be our last blog for awhile.

We would like to thank you for the opportunity to be a part of what God is doing in Honduras and Central America through General Baptist International Missions. At this time, and for a variety of reasons, we believe it best to resign our position in church planting in Honduras. Our resignation will be effective July 4, 2009.

It has been a privilege to serve God here and we will continue praying that God’s Name be made great through His work in Honduras.

We ask that you channel any funds designated for us to other missionaries and ministries working to take the gospel to those who have not yet heard.

We want to thank you guys so much for your support, your prayers, your words of encouragement, and your listening ears. It’s because of you that we have been able to serve here in Honduras. We can’t express to you enough our appreciation for ALL that you’ve done for us.

Until All Hear,

Brad & Cindy Taylor

May 24, 2009 Mercedes

We just learned that the son of one of our pastors (Mercedes) was killed last night. They live in the capital city Tegucigalpa. Please pray for Mercedes and her family.

May 22, 2009

An amazing event occurred this morning. We left the house about 7:40 this morning with Saul and headed to the Transito office in San Pedro Sula to try and get our Honduran Driver's License. You can't get the license until you have your residency card. Today was the first opportunity we've had since we received our residency cards while in the States.

We arrived at the Transito office at 8:00 am. After 3,000 limpira, showing them a lot of forms, being photographed and fingerprinted we walked out one hour later with our Driver's License. We are both now authorized to drive cars, trucks, semi-trucks, buses, and just about any other type of vehicle on the roads in any Central American country. Makes you feel safer doesn't it.

We had the option of going to three days of driver training classes all in Spanish, taking a written exam in Spanish, having to get a physical by a doctor, and then doing the driving test on the road OR we could pay 1,500 limpira each instead of the 480 limpira and get our license today. We opted for the extra money option. By 9:30 we were back at our house.

Rarely does something go as smoothly as this here in Honduras.

May 21, 2009

Today we went to re-visit all the orphanages we had visited in February and arranged for the med/den team to work in next week. The team arrives on Saturday and will be working next week. None of the orphanages seem to remember we had talked with them in February and made the arrangements. So much for trying to plan ahead. We think we are on their schedule. We say think but somethings you just can't be sure of until you show up and see what happens.

May 8, 2009

We got on a plane early this morning in Evansville. Had a little surprise when we got to the airport. There to greet us were John and Stella Bennett and Ken Parkman. It was nice to have good friends take time out of their early morning to see us off.

We boarded the plane and away we went. Our normally one hour or less flight to Atlanta took two hours because they routed us around some storms. No problem except it made our connection in Atlanta very tight. As is in, when we got to our terminal they told us they were re-opening the door for us to be able to get on the plane.

Three hours later we were in Honduras and being screened for the swine flu before they would allow us to enter the country. Or as the kids around here call it "Gripe Pig".

The truth is we were not excited to be returning to Honduras. Good or bad, right or wrong, strong or weak, our honest feeling was we would have preferred not to return. We would have preferred to have remained in the States with family, friends, a familiar culture, and not return. But, we also knew God wanted us in Honduras. So we got on the plane and here we are.

May 8, 2009 Back in Honduras

(l to r) Glenda, Luisa, and Kency hanging out in our house after we got back. Watching movies, eating hot tamales and smarties (thanks Mark), talking, and just having a good time together.

May 8, 2009 Back in Honduras

Ah, back in Honduras. Today we returned to Honduras after two months in the States. Heat, humidity, men urinating on the side of the highway, police check points, and kids. Yep, we had been in our house maybe 30 minutes after arriving from the airport when there was a knock a the door. We opened the door to find Glenda (one of the girls at Faith Home). She was all smiles and happy to see us - well especially happy to see Cindy. She came in the house and hung out with us for maybe 45 minutes when there was another knock at he door. Luisa and Kency were at the door. Once again smiles and hugs all around. Boy, it sure felt good. We have missed the kids.

Maybe another 45 minutes and Saul, Marcos, Jose Luis, and Pastor (some of the pastors) were at the door. Otra vez, hugs and smiles all around. We then all proceeded to sit down and watch a kids movie for a few minutes while we joked around a caught up a little.

After another short period of time Erika and Doris show up at the house. Once again smiles and hugs all around. The girls really like Cindy and Cindy is crazy about these girls. We do have some good kids here at Hogar de Fe.

February 18, 2009 - Fútbol a Hogar de Fe

Pics of both teams from the end of the game and a pic of Rodney and Brad bowing down to the winners. Their punishment for all the trash talking they had been doing leading up to the game.

February 18, 2009 - Fútbol a Hogar de Fe

Pics of the game. Yes Brad almost scored a goal. It took a great save by their keeper - se llama Victor (the enemy). Brad also was not afraid to resort to some "questionable" tactics when it became obvious the old guys couldn't keep up with young ones.

February 18, 2009 - Fútbol a Hogar de Fe

Today was the day of the big game. The Tios (house dads) and the gringos against the teenage boys. All of Faith Home was out to watch as we destroyed the jovenes (teenagers) by a score of 8 - 3. Oh, wait, maybe they had 8 and we had 3. Yea, I think that's the way it was. Sorry for the initial bad report on the score. Here are pics of both teams before the war begin.

February 18, 2009 - Firewood

Today our teammate (Sid) tells us about an incident that occurred earlier in the day. Sid was over at Saul's house and had parked his truck in front of the gate leading up the road to the Bible Institute - blocking the road to up to the Institute. While he is talking with Saul a white truck pulls up behind his truck and begins honking for Sid to move his truck. Sid didn't think they were honking at him because he didn't recognize the truck and therefore didn't think they would be wanting to drive up the road on our property.

A neighbor comes over a tells them that the guys in the truck are wanting to go up the road to the Bible Institute to get some firewood. Sid tells Saul he doesn't have a problem with them getting firewood. Saul says he doesn't think that would be a good idea because the guys in the white truck are SAME guys that stole the doors from some of our houses last December. The same guys the police arrested. Now that's some confidence. Coming back to place you got arrested for stealing from and just going to drive up the road as if you own it. !Muy interesante!

February 17, 2009 - Police Checkpoint

When you leave El Progreso to return to Faith Home they have a police checkpoint that you must pass through. They set up cones in the road and make you weave around the cones to get through. They seem to change the setup from day to day. This forces the vehicles to slow down and the police can flag the ones down they want to check to pull over to the side of the road. The other night as were passing through the obstacle course set up by the police David Willis (our teammate) and Brad decided the obstacle course is really the police's way of efficiently checking for drunk drivers. If you knock one of the cones over you have had too much to drink. No need for them to give you a breath test or walk the line. You've already been busted. Maybe the police in the States could look into this. It sure takes a lot less man power.

February 17, 2009 - Dolls

Today we went to El Progreso to check on some medicines that we will need for the medical clinic. The farmacia is owned by the doctor who we joined on the medical clinic a couple of weeks ago. It's in business district and when we FINALLY found a parking spot it was right in front of a place selling used baby dolls. Cindy loves baby dolls and has been wanting some for the house so when the girls come to the house they can play with them. We wound up paying 240 limpiras for two dolls. That's about $6.50 for used dolls. As we got in the truck we were commenting on the price being a little more than we expected. Then Cindy says "Well, at least were supporting the local rip-off economy." Probably had to be there to appreciate the comment. Sometimes, we wonder, who can afford to pay some of the prices we see? How can these stores sell enough stuff at some of these prices to survive? We weren't shopping where the gringos normally go to shop.

February 16, 2009 - Thoughts

Jesus said in Matthew 16:24-26 “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”

He also said in Matthew 10:37-39 “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Man, so easy to read. So easy to say “yea, that’s what it’s about.” Then why are we hurting - missing our children, missing our granddaughter? Concerned about how they are doing. Concerned about missing their lives. Not being there for them.

How does this work with Jesus also saying in Matthew 11:29-30 “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” At the moment, can’t say that we’re experiencing the easy yoke and the light burden. Seems to be just he opposite at the moment.

Denying yourself, taking up your cross, losing your life for His sake, loving Him more than your family, children, and grandchildren is not always easy. Perhaps that’s where these other verses come in:
Isaiah 26:8 - God's Name and Renown are to be the desire of our hearts
1 Corinthians 1:19-20 - As a Christian, we don’t belong to ourselves anymore but to God
2 Corinthians 5:15 - As Christians we are to live our lives for the one who gave His life for us and not live for ourselves anymore

Can’t say these verses are making it any easier, but they do make it more understandable.

February 15, 2009 - Results of Food Distribution

Tonight, at the service at the church in Tacamiche, a man was at the church who has only been there a couple of times before. He came to the food distribution at the church this past Friday and came back for the church service tonight. By the end of the service he became a new believer in Christ.

February 16, 2009 - Gate Duty

Ahhh. Life at Faith Home. This is Jose Pacheco (another of our teenagers) working as the guard at the front gate. It’s a tough life for them here - as you can see by the strenuous working environment our kids must endure here at Faith Home. He is also known as “Michael Jackson” to us because he likes to sing and one day was wearing a glove - only on one hand.

February 13, 2009 - Technical Assistance

Honduras or the States, it’s the same, the young kids teaching us older people how to use technology. Here is Jose Ricardo helping Cindy (and Brad but he was taking the pic so he couldn’t be “in” the pic) use bluetooth to transfer some pics from the computer to his cellphone.

Here is a short video of the food distribution at the church in Tacamiche. We had the people come to the church instead of going house to house. We did this because those who really needed the help were scattered throughout the community and going house to house would have been difficult.

February 13, 2009 - Food Distribution

Today we took the team to hand out some beans and rice in the communities around two of our churches. The pic with the group standing is actually at our church in Villa Italia with Pastor Raul (second from the left). The team went house to house giving each house 4 lbs of beans and 4 lbs of rice.

The other pics are from our church in Tacamiche. We did this a little different. The people came to the church where the gospel was presented and then the team handed out beans and rice to each family that was there.

February 12, 2009 - Movie Day

Another movie afternoon at the house. Today we had casa 5 over for a movie and snacks. They have never been to our house for a movie and one of the girls asked Cindy earlier this week when they could come over. Today was the day.

In the boys pic they are, sitting on the truck, from left to right: Javier, Dago, Christian (looking between the heads), Dixon, Victor(in the back), Carlos, Franklin, and Rahim (standing in front making the peace sign)

In the girls pic from left to right: Estefanie, Isabel, and Vanesa

February 12, 2009 - Jose Ricardo

This is Jose Ricardo. He is one of our transition kids (teenagers). We have a team here and they are short of help in the kitchen so Jose helped them one day. He thinks he wants to be a chef and really enjoyed helping prepare some meals for the team. Here he is with one of the desserts he made. Yes, we tried it, and it was very good.

February 11, 2009 - Med/Den Site

This is the pastor of the church on the left (Pastor Jorge Luis Trejo) and Dr. Reyes on the right.

February 11, 2009 - Med/Den Site

The church also has a school close by and they feed the kids (and some family members) who need help at this kitchen. They really seem to have a heart to help others. They told us they stopped feeding the kids for awhile because they didn't have enough money. But they felt they should be feeding them and so they began asking others to help support them and are now feeding them again.

February 11, 2009 - Med/Den Site

This the door to Dr. Reyes' clinic.

February 11, 2009 - Med/Den Site

This pic is Cindy and Saul negotiating for the use of the building. We got the price down to $5,000 and we can use the building for up to four days. Might need to increase the med/den team budget. (ok, maybe they weren't really negotiating - more discussing how the clinic will work best).

February 11, 2009 - Med/Den Site

The bottom pic is a separate room where we will probably have the children's church. The rest of the pics are the large room where the rest of us will be except for adult church which will most likely be held outside the building.

February 11, 2009 - Med/Den Site

Today we went to look at a the site for the Spring Medical team. It's at a local ministry in El Progreso. It is the place where one of the doctors from the medical clinic we went to last Sunday has his own clinic. It's a little different from what we normally do but we are excited to be establishing a relationship with and helping support a local ministry who has a heart to reach those who need help.

We are going to be one big happy family because it will be held in the church. The church is in a building that used to be a bakery and the church has moved in and torn down all the dividing walls in the church.

February 10, 2009

Pics from the birthday celebration in casa 3. Sorry didn't have the camera for the activities during the church service. The two girls in the pic being goofy are Luisa (on the left) and Suyapa (on the right). Two of our teenagers.

February 10, 2009

Today was Brad's birthday which he was trying to keep low-key. We have a team here so last night the team and the rest of the gringos went to the church service with the kids at Faith Home. Somehow the Tios (house parents) found out it was Brad's birthday. They made him come up front while they sang happy birthday to him. While they were singing happy birthday to him all the children and the house parents came up front and each one gave Brad a hug. It was really special.

After the service, house #3 with house parents Javier and Maria Jesus had us over for a little fiesta (celebration) for Brad's birthday. They had a small table set up with a table cloth, a plate of cookies, pepsi, and music. It was so nice. We celebrated with all the girls and the house parent's son Jessel. Once again, it was so special.

Here is a short video of the festivities.

February 8, 2009 - Medical Clinic

Sorry, forgot. Here is a short video of the clinic. All the sights and sounds.

February 9, 2009 Pastors Trip

They had to navigate some very muddy and difficult roads to reach one area. The other is just a pic of the beautiful scenery in parts of Honduras.

February 9, 2009 Pastors Trip

Arnaldo had never seen the ocean. So they took about a 45 minute detour to show him the ocean. He loved it. Miguel is on the left and Arnaldo is the right. Miguel also had the opportunity to show off his horse handling skills.

February 9, 2009 Pastors Trip

The pastors had a great trip visiting and encouraging the pastors in other areas of Honduras. Here are some pics. The church services and distribution of clothes, Sunday School materials, and candy.

February 8, 2009 - Medical Clinic

The people then went to the next available doctor. The gentleman in the red shirt with his back to the camera is Dr. Reyes. In the other pic the gentlemen in the white shirt seated on the left of the table is the another doctor (didn't get his name). And then Cindy with Dr. Galo.

February 8, 2009 - Medical Clinic

The lady with the microphone would call the next name on the list they along with their family members would pass through the curtain into the waiting area with the chairs.

February 8, 2009 - Medical Clinic

When we arrived at the church the church was already full of people and they were signing in by giving the man seated at the table their name and age.

February 8, 2009 - Medical Clinic

Cindy had made contact with a local Honduran doctor through Juan Bendect at the wood factory (for those who have been here you will know what we are talking about). Juan also owns the television station in El Progreso and the doctor has a show on the station. We had watched the doctor's program and on the show he seemed to be very nice and wanting to help people in the community. Cindy contacted him and he came to Faith Home and picked up some stuff we wanted to donate to someone who could use the stuff to help the community.

The doctor, Dr. Galo, invited us to come with him on the medical clinic he was holding in a local community on Sunday - which is today. So, we were excited to go and see what they do.

We arrived at his house about 9:00 am and waited for him to return from a local clinic where he was picking up supplies. While we were waiting two other doctors arrived along with a nurse (we think she was a nurse). A little later Dr. Galo arrived and a few minutes later another doctor arrived.

We loaded up in four vehicles (every doctor had their own vehicle because they each had to leave at different times) and off we went. We rode with Dr Galo and his body guard who was carrying both a rifle and a pistol. Another of the doctors had a body guard also. This is the life of people here who are successful financially. They are targets of kidnapping to be held for ransom. So, many have personal bodyguards that go with them everywhere they go.

We were curious to see how they ran their clinics and compare it to the way we do our clinics. It was interesting. It was held in a church. The church had a curtain hanging in the middle of the church to divide it into two sections. One section where the people would wait and the other section where the people would be seen by the doctors and receive any medicine the doctors prescribed.

Dr. Galo was in an area enclosed with sheets and the other three doctors just sat at tables in the middle of the room. The people sat at the tables with the doctors and the doctors tore off pieces of blank paper to write prescriptions. The people than took the paper to the table with the medicine. Got their stuff and left. The women were also able to see Dr. Galo as he is a gynecologist.

Cindy spent the day working with Dr. Galo and Brad observed how they did it and played with the kids.

February 5, 2009 - Preaching

Tonight, Cindy preached for the first time since we've been in Honduras. She did some in Spanish and some in English. Last Saturday one of the local Pastors asked Cindy if she would speak to the women in his church. Cindy wasn't real excited about speaking in public in English or Spanish, but agreed to do it. Later she realized the night he had asked her to preach was the a night when they have regular services. She would be speaking at a regular service. Now, she really wasn't happy.

The pastor and his family had us over for supper before the service - beans (frijolitos), eggs, crema, and fried chicken. It was good. Then we went to the service where Cindy did a great job. Saul was there to help interpret when Cindy was speaking in English.

January 26, 2009

While we were updating the blog our little gecko friend was hanging out on the converter on the desk beside the computer. You can see his tail on the backside of the converter. He accompanies us many times while we are working on the computer. He was too bashful when we tried to get a picture of his entire body.

January 23, 2009 - Food Distribution

After the food was passed out the team along with church members and many from the community gathered to pray on the spot where they want to build a roof for the church to meet under. Also, a short video of the event. The guys on the right is Saul (superintendent of the Bible Institute) and Beto (the pastor of the church)

January 23, 2009 - Food Distribution

More pics. The tables are the kitchen for one of the houses. The sign on the other house says "Me and my house will serve the Lord."