Home Again!

(copied from old blog. entry dated: 7/20/2007 10:19:00 PM)

We wanted to let everybody know that we are back in Honduras. Our flight was uneventful and almost FUN, we arrived at 4:30 pm and by 6:00 o'clock were on our way out of the airport...
Tomorrow we will be making our way to La Ceiba and then to Rio Viejo, just another 4 hours of driving. We met up with our dear friends Curt and Cheryl Humphries, and Melody Alt and had a wonderful dinner together. It was nice fellowshipping with them and sharing some good Honduran food.  We are staying the night at their house and find ourselves nestled in God's hands, safe and secure, but exhausted. I never feel more vulnerable than when I am on the road, and especially flying. This is also the time when we are most in prayer for God's mercy. My parents will be traveling to Ecuador tomorrow and so I ask that you keep them in your prayers also.
Oh, and by the way, all of our gear arrived with us and nothing was searched or lost. God is so awesome!!!
We want to thank you all for your prayers for our safe travels. We covered about 15,000 miles during our stay in the States this time. We will be sharing with you all some of the details of our success, on a later message.
For the next few days will be setting up our pharmacy, with Melody's help. We are looking forward to breaking ground for the new building, the DORMITORY. We are so excited!!!!
This is supposed to be a short note, so I'll end it now.
Thankfully,
Martin


(Wendy and Addison Vaughn, one of the cutest babies in Alabama)

Flying out to Honduras Friday July 20th.

(copied from old blog. entry dated: 7/17/2007 7:40:00 PM)

We can not believe it, four months have gone by so quickly!
We have sent almost half a ton of things by boat, these things will be arriving to Honduras 24/25 of this month.
This is the first time we have used this method, previously, we would use our 8 pieces of luggage quota to take back supplies for the year. This time, because we had been away for so long, we have had to use shipping to ease the transport of books, supplies, clothing, etc., so that our trip to the Miami airport on Friday the 20th is uneventful.

We want to thank the various churches that hosted and welcomed us to their congregations' worship services. We have been blessed by you all, tremendously!



(Coaldale Church of God, AL. Pastor Gayle Lombard Sr. and his family)

The various equipment and supplies acquired will certainly be implemented as soon as possible.
We are looking forward to your visit, remember we will be preparing our medical centre for service, and will be inaugurating the building and its service to the Lord on November 9th. We will be busy working to this end.
Please send us a note, and let us know if you will be visiting....
We love you all,
Martin

Inauguration Date...

(copied from old blog. entry dated: 7/11/2007 3:23:00 PM)

Well, we have set the date! It is November 9th, 2007 for inauguration. You are all invited to the Party. Our Board of Directors met on Saturday the 7th and decided that this would be the best date. We have August, September and October to finish the last minute details and to introduce the equipment and supplies into the country and bring it all to our jungle hospital.
You all know about the metal container, and the various equipment and medicines acquired. And once they are in a port city in the USA, they can be shipped to a port city in Honduras. Once in the country, we have the task of getting over the mountains to our village of Rio Viejo.
God is putting together a medical network of clinics and rural hospitals; so far we have 3 outposts (nurses stations) and 2 hospitals (one in Rio Viejo and the other in a village called El Cacao). These villages have a great need for medical attention but more importantly, they have a greater need for Jesus Christ! We want to be able to address both of those needs. This is such a wonderful opportunity to serve these people and to do Kingdom Work.


(Pryor Family and Williams Family at our favorite eatery Cracker Barrel)

While in the States, we have had a chance to meet with a wide variety of God's people. Among these, we have met some that are above the norm (let's say it that way). These are people that are not satisfied with the old way; the thought is to use their unique talents and giftings to bring glory to God. Among them is Todd Pryor and his family. Todd is a helicopter mechanic and an x-EMT. I have always felt that there would be a need for a helicopter pad somewhere on the medical centre site. To make a long story short, Todd is working on not only getting a helicopter to Rio Viejo, but he is also working on providing a pilot, mechanic, and the medical   technician(s) to make it all worth the while. This is a huge undertaking that will require much prayer and time not to mention money. We all know that we can do nothing without God, but with His leading, we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. At the end of the day, when this task is successful, we will know that it was all God! Imagine how effective this would be; having the ability to transport patients to and from our medical centre in the jungle to other more advanced hospitals in the major cities. We could be the link between life and death. This same machine could serve to reach the most remote places not only in Honduras but nearby Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala etc.

So, to all of you who wish to be a part of the Grand Inauguration of the Hospital in Rio Viejo you are most welcome!  We are suggesting a November 7th arrival in La Ceiba and a November 10th departure date.  If you are interested in coming just let us know so we can reserve a hotel room for you in La Ceiba.  We will provide the transportation up and down the mountain and to and from the airport if you'll just let us know that you're coming.  And we'll be glad to set up your hotel reservations in La Ceiba as well, just send us word of how many and what dates!

Looking forward to seeing all of you there on that great day!

On Our Last Daze

(copied from old blog. entry dated: 7/11/2007 2:08:00 PM)

So here we are on our last days in the States. Our visit has been so successful. We have covered a lot of ground, traveling several thousands of miles since we arrived in Miami the 26th of March.  The last few weeks have been full of exciting things.  First on the list was a great graduation party in Baton Rouge, Louisiana hosted by Pete & Paulette Wunstel of Healing Place Church.  It brought closure and gave room for a true celebration after more than 7 years of hard work and study.  We had such a great time!  Thank you to all those who attended, and thanks for the wonderful gifts and words of encouragement!  What a way to end a trip!


   
(Martin and Wendy with Pete and Paulette Wunstel)          (Our good friends, the Pursifull Family, at the Grad Party)    


Another great event took place the day before the party, and was another day of celebration for myself and Wendy.  We have been trying to figure out shipping and storage for the equipment we are gathering along the way.  Many prayers were sent up over this situation, and God answered in such a remarkable way.  We went to Mobile to meet with friend, nurse and pastor, Eric McCraney to see about some equipment in a container nearby.  He wanted us to meet a friend of his named Larry Mullins who has such a heart for missions and who had some equipment that he was willing to donate.  By the end of the meeting, we not only had lots and lots of equipment, but we had a container!  Yes, he DONATED the actual 40 foot container and said we could use it for storage there in Mobile, then ship it to Honduras and use it for storage in Rio Viejo!  So not only is storage taken care of here in the U.S., but the lack of storage area we had in Rio Viejo is now solved as well.   He will be emptying the container of all its contents, will move it to a different location (either Eric's church or his home), and then refill it with all the items he has donated for the hospital in Rio Viejo.  We will then have others who are holding equipment take their things to Mobile, Alabama to place in the container.  We hope to ship the container in September.  How exciting!


(Eric McCraney, me and Larry Mullins in front of our new container)

Two other bits of great news...
We received a call from good friends Barry & Iris Ray and they have been working on funding to get a house built for our family in Rio Viejo.  Just a few days ago we spoke with a friend of theirs from Atlanta, GA who wants to bring a team from his church and $5,000-6,000 and begin construction of our house!  He is seeking out other nearby churches to get involved and help with the project.   We have been seeking funding to build a dormitory on the property, but God has blessed us with a house as well.  We are so thankful and filled with gratitude to all those involved, especially our Father God.
While passing through Gainesville, Florida on Sunday we met Billy Norton from our home church, Westwood Hills COG, who wants to bring a group of men to build ALL OF THE CABINETS  for the hospital in Rio Viejo!  WOW!  We can't wait to get back home and break ground on the dormitory and begin the finishing details on the clinic to get ready for inauguration in November!  We have the first $5,000 donated to begin the dormitory and are believing God to bring in the remainder needed as it is needed.
For now we are packing boxes and preparing for our departure on the 20th.  There are so many last minute details to take care of, "so much last minute shopping to do" is the way that Wendy would  word it.  We are all homesick and can't wait to land on Honduran soil and return to work.  God has blessed us so much this trip and we are filled with hope and anticipation.  Our cup is running over...

Wendy and Martin