Sunday Morning - 4 Hours till Departure

We wish to say "Good Morning" for one last time from Honduras. Our trip is almost over but our prayers are that the effects will go on and on. After our last post we did leave the La Ceiba area on Friday morning and headed to San Pedro Sula. Our trip was relatively uneventful until we got close to San Pedro Sula. As expected there was quite a traffic jam. As it turned out the bridge we had to cross was not totally closed. They were letting traffic cross but only one lane and one way at a time. We waited for two hours to make it across. During our drive we saw some damage from the earthquake and our hotel was without electricity for a short while when we got here. After that short time power was restored but we had no cable or internet connection until this morning. There is a lot more to tell but not enough time this morning. We will update the blog once again after we get back to Atlanta. The team wants to again thank everyone for their prayers and support. It has been felt all during our time here. To quote the ministers and their wives as they summed up the retreat the seed has not fallen on barren ground it will grow and thrive. We are again attaching just a few pictures that we took and we hope you enjoy them. God bless you all.

Hello Everyone

It is Thursday evening and our pastors and their wives are headed back home. The retreat was a great success. The couples had never had an opportunity to meet and discuss personal, marital, and ministry problems and successes. They loved the Fireproof film and all of them assured us they got so much out of it that will help not only them personally but as they minister to other couples in their churches. This retreat was so needed and very timely for all of them. They all said they did not have the words to convey to us and to you our partners just how much this retreat means to them. Our team wants all of you to know that they send their love and prayers out to all of their American bothers and sisters in Christ.
The presence of God has been so apparent to us during this entire trip. It was especially so very early this morning at about 2:30AM. We all were awakened to the bed shaking violently and it lasted almost 2 minutes. For many of us this was our first taste of what an earthquake feels like. Of course we have no television or radio here so we didn't find out until we left our and hotel and got to the retreat location that it was about a 7.3 quake. We are all fine and there was no real damage in the La Ceiba area. However there is a bridge we have to cross to get back to the airport at San Pedro Sula that has collapsed. Thus our plans to spend tomorrow painting a church building in this area have been changed. We will leave in the morning and head for San Pedro Sula because we are going to have to take the long way around. We don' t want to chance not being able to get back there in time to catch our flight home on Sunday. We will keep you posted on any other changes. Please continue to pray for all our brothers and sisters here in Honduras and especially those affected by the earthquake.

Tuesday & Wednesday Update

Our team spent all day Monday preparing the site for our pastoral retreat. And on Tuesday we arrived at the site early to begin preparing lunch for the attendees. You will see some of the pictures as we prepared. We purchased a lot of groceries and then had to unload and organize them. Our team consists of the six members from First Baptist that you all see in our team picture. We have added four additional members. They are Butch and Colleen Guidry from Lake Charles, La. They are our cooking team and they are great. We also have Mailey Garrido a young Honduran woman who works with Frontline Missiona and is translating for us. Finally we have Alan Wynter a pastor who also works at Frontline Mission and he is helping our pastor in residence Luis Chavarria to minister and train the pastor couples attending the retreat. God has blessed us and the weather although hot has been pleasant.

On Tuesday our couples arrived had lunch, then were treated to two sessions and it was dinner time. After dinner they attended a movie. It was "Fireproof" and they truly loved it and appreciated the chance to see it. Now it is Wednesday morning and after a great breakfast they are spending time going through the "Dare to Love" book from "Fireproof". These pastors and their wives seldom if ever get to spend time like this. It is truly a blessing for them. God is working daily miracles and we all amazed by his goodness. Please keep praying for us and our pastoral couples.

Today is our first day in Honduras. We arrived safely yesterday after a full day of traveling. Praise God our trip was uneventful and we and all our luggage and ministry bags arrived in one piece. It took us a few hours to go through immigration and then collect all our luggage before going through customs. We landed in San Pedro Sula at about 11AM CDT. We are two hours earlier here than in Atlanta. After a short stop for lunch and to get gas we set out for La Ceiba. This city is on the northeast coast of Honduras. It took us about 3 1/2 hours to get there and our driver Butch Guidry did a great job of handling a van full of people and luggage. Before going to our hotel we stopped at the site where we will be holding the retreat for the pastors and their wives. We are up early today and preparing to go to the site and take an inventory of what we will need in the way of food and supplies for the next three days. Please continue to pray for God to work through us mightily on this trip.

Today is Wednesday, May 20th. In just a few more days we will be leaving for Honduras. God is so good. Our team has come together and we are all very excited about this opportunity to go and minister to 20 pastors and their wives. These folks are so hard working and they seldom get the chance to have some down time. Our hope is that they will experience a time of encouragement and renewal. During our time together we will share with them as couples and also individually as men and women. We will be conducting this retreat for our pastoral couples at La Ceiba which is located on the Caribbean coast. Please pray for safe travel and good health for our team as we head to Honduras. And also pray for the safety and good health of our couples who will be joining us there. After our arrivel we will begin posting to this blog daily and we hope that all of our supporters will enjoy keeping up with our day to day activities.

Front Row: (L-R) Vinnette Archer-Crooks, Alice Parault, Tanya McDowell
Back Row: (L-R) Kelly Kuettner, Ronnie Parault, Luis Chavarria

Awesome Opportunity

Our short term team from First Baptist Atlanta will be leading a "Pastoral Couples Retreat" in la Ceiba, Honduras during the week of May 25-31. This is a tremendous opportunity to minister and encourage 20 Honduran pastors and their wives.
Please keep us in your prayers.

Luis Chavarria