Hello everyone from Hot Honduras!! Yes, I said "hot". We are supposed to get to 88 today with 100% humidity. We arrived Thursday and hit the ground running (I got that from Cheryl). It is a much slower pace here but there is so much that we are doing. We spent Friday getting use to our surroundings.Went to the Deaf Center (where Tommy and Danny and his two boys) are working building cabinets and shelves.We got to bed early to start Saturday morning early. We left early Saturday morning to go to Lake Yageo in the
mountains about a 1 1/2 hour trip from here. We stayed in a really pretty place, the scenery was so beautiful, the people are so poor, but so loving and excited that we were there.I mean masses of people, walking for hours to get to the "open air church" where Tommy spoke that night (by translator, of course). This was up a mountain that has no electricity. The only light in the church was a kerosene lantern. But they were all so happy to see us. This mountain village is called Yure. You would NOT believe the rough, steep, rocky dirt path that we had to drive up for about 30 minutes to get to that village. It was awesome.
Then, Sunday morning we got up pretty early and went to a place to eat down by the lake. It was beautiful, but let me tell you they don't know how to cook bacon and eggs, like we do. But we have learned that we can eat whatever. We started back here to San Pedro Sula. We stopped by the roadside and bought the prettiest pineapples and 2 stalks of bananas. We rested for about 1 1/2 hours and then we went over to the Deaf Center and watched them communicate using their sign language. They are a bunch of probably about 20-25 young adults who were so friendly and loved us with lots of hugs and it makes we cry to think I won't see them again. We have grown so attached to most of them. We have even learned some of their sign language and can communicate a little. When I don't know I just smile real big and give them the "fine" sign. They seem to understand that I don't know what they are talking about.
Last night we went to a real open air church here in San Pedro Sula and Tommy spoke to about 700 people. It was hugh. The people came any way they could get there, buses, pickup trucks that would have probably 15-20 people on them, standing in the backs of the trucks. And the driving here you would NOT believe. Most of the streets do not have centerlines and the people drive fast and dart in and out and run you off the road, and pass in curves. Once we were almost hit by a really big truck. They take chances like you would not believe.
Well, today our two nurses are at the clinic, meeting with some of the doctors, and this afternoon will be meeting with nurses there and showing them some of the techniques they use at Pitt Memorial, taking mostly about premature births and care that should be given to small babies and how mother should take care of themselves. Tommy, Danny, Dustin and Dalton are working at theDeaf Center. (But Dalton is probably swimming in the pool they have there. He is 8 years old,) I am helping our wonderful host (who have a large house, with high fence all around it with barbed wire on the top of it and an electric wire on top of that, and, yes, I do feel safe). We are cleaning house and doing laundry and preparing for a cooking class that I am supposed to do this afternoon at 3:00.
I cannot say enough about our wonderful hosts, Paul and Kim Dyar. They have 4 small children, ages 8, 6, 3 and 18 months. They have been so good through all of this, but I know they will be glad to get their home back to normal again.
I probably should wind this up because internet service here is not real good and it could go out anytime and I sure don't want to lose all of this. So you all pray for us that we will stay safe and arrive back home late Thursday night, or real early Friday morning safe and sound.
Would love to hear from you all. I check my emails daily. Love to all and hope I didn't ramble too much. Tell everyone we are doing just great. Please forgive the typing, I am not use to a laptop.
Love and prayers,
Janis
Monday, April 21, 2008
Letter from Lisa Mitchell about her trip to Honduras
Hi Cheryl,
I was so sorry to hear if Curt's death. He fought such a hard fight and I know you will miss him very, very much. He is probably walking down the streets of gold right now telling Jesus all about the needs of the people of Honduras (as if Jesus didn't already know!) and is asking Him to bless them and your ministry. Curt's love for others truly shone and he will be missed by everyone that knew him.
I am so sorry we did not get to see you in Honduras but we had a great visit! It was truly life changing. Thank you for helping to facilitate our trip. We stayed very busy and loved every minute of it. I do not think you can ever realize just how great the need is until you see it for yourself! Paul and Kim and their children are wonderful. We fell in love with them immediately. Also Jack and Nancy and Anna and Tiffany were immediately like part of the family. I already miss them terribly!
Thanks you for setting us up to teach in the clinic. Those nurses and lab techs were so eager to learn and the classes went great. They were so thankful for the supplies - especially the gloves. It was so pittiful that they did not have enough gloves to wear and change between each patient. We also showed them how to use LED pen lights as a tranisilluminator to find veins in infants. They were pretty amazed with that. We were able to bring and leave 2 teaching baby maniquins and you would have thought we had given them gold. It was an awesome experience. We take so much for granted in the states.
Linda and I also worked with a group from Alabama and Martin (MD) and Wendy (Wylie and Candi were the missionaries) at a clinic set up at a church. We treated probably close to 1000 persons all together there. It was very hard though to see them given two weeks worth of hypertensive drugs with no followup. I still wonder what will happen to those people. Also the babies that came through that were already very sick and malnurished. It was so sad but truly changes my life!
The time we spent in the mountains and saw the people there and their hunger for Jesus was amazing. To see people willing to spend 3-4 hours to walk to church and their living conditions was unbelievable. But they all seemed happy and so loving - You truly could see Jesus in their lives. I find it hard to come home and really describe to others the experience we had!
And the deaf center - WOW! I had such a great time with Doris, Marcellena, Rosa, Edwin, and Gilma and the rest of the gang. It was awesome to see the things that the Lord was doing there!
Again, Thank you for helping to make this trip happen for all of us. I hope to come back again.
You and the others are always in my prayers! God Bless you!
Lisa Mitchell
I was so sorry to hear if Curt's death. He fought such a hard fight and I know you will miss him very, very much. He is probably walking down the streets of gold right now telling Jesus all about the needs of the people of Honduras (as if Jesus didn't already know!) and is asking Him to bless them and your ministry. Curt's love for others truly shone and he will be missed by everyone that knew him.
I am so sorry we did not get to see you in Honduras but we had a great visit! It was truly life changing. Thank you for helping to facilitate our trip. We stayed very busy and loved every minute of it. I do not think you can ever realize just how great the need is until you see it for yourself! Paul and Kim and their children are wonderful. We fell in love with them immediately. Also Jack and Nancy and Anna and Tiffany were immediately like part of the family. I already miss them terribly!
Thanks you for setting us up to teach in the clinic. Those nurses and lab techs were so eager to learn and the classes went great. They were so thankful for the supplies - especially the gloves. It was so pittiful that they did not have enough gloves to wear and change between each patient. We also showed them how to use LED pen lights as a tranisilluminator to find veins in infants. They were pretty amazed with that. We were able to bring and leave 2 teaching baby maniquins and you would have thought we had given them gold. It was an awesome experience. We take so much for granted in the states.
Linda and I also worked with a group from Alabama and Martin (MD) and Wendy (Wylie and Candi were the missionaries) at a clinic set up at a church. We treated probably close to 1000 persons all together there. It was very hard though to see them given two weeks worth of hypertensive drugs with no followup. I still wonder what will happen to those people. Also the babies that came through that were already very sick and malnurished. It was so sad but truly changes my life!
The time we spent in the mountains and saw the people there and their hunger for Jesus was amazing. To see people willing to spend 3-4 hours to walk to church and their living conditions was unbelievable. But they all seemed happy and so loving - You truly could see Jesus in their lives. I find it hard to come home and really describe to others the experience we had!
And the deaf center - WOW! I had such a great time with Doris, Marcellena, Rosa, Edwin, and Gilma and the rest of the gang. It was awesome to see the things that the Lord was doing there!
Again, Thank you for helping to make this trip happen for all of us. I hope to come back again.
You and the others are always in my prayers! God Bless you!
Lisa Mitchell
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Ministry Opportunity
Recently we have received e-mails from pastors asking about starting deaf ministries in local churches in the United States. Cheryl and I have put together a program to help American pastors or people who desire this ministry in their community.
We are prepared to offer training here in Honduras with the deaf adults and children in the deaf ministry center. We would offer classes in American Sign language, Spanish, and American deaf culture. Because the sign language here in Honduras uses similar language markers and structure to the American Sign Language, the intern would be able to switch easily from LESHO (Honduran signs) to ASL. The intern would be immersed in both Spanish and Honduras sign language for 6 months to a year, as they work teaching children and adults in classroom, bible class, and community evangelism situations. They would return to your area or church with the tools needed to minister not only to the deaf, but also to help minister to the rapidly growing Spanish population in your areas.
The church would commit to send and support a person (or persons) from their congregation from 3 months to one year, depending on the amount of sign language they know already. The cost include; the ticket to and from San Pedro Honduras, plus $500.00/month. The monthly support would include: room, board, all classes, and transportation. The person would be responsible for their personal items. We can accommodate 8-10 people presently.
The only documentation needed to come to Honduras is a current passport. The intern would be required to exit Honduras every 4 months for 3 days, but they will have the opportunity to visit countries in Central America to satisfy that requirement.
We also have projects for groups that would like to visit for shorter periods. No Spanish or sign language required.
If you would like more information about our projects or the internship, please contact us at logosima@hotmail.com or call our Honduras number 843-278-5734.
Also we ask that you visit our web site at www.logosima.org. Any donations for your support are tax deductible.
We are prepared to offer training here in Honduras with the deaf adults and children in the deaf ministry center. We would offer classes in American Sign language, Spanish, and American deaf culture. Because the sign language here in Honduras uses similar language markers and structure to the American Sign Language, the intern would be able to switch easily from LESHO (Honduran signs) to ASL. The intern would be immersed in both Spanish and Honduras sign language for 6 months to a year, as they work teaching children and adults in classroom, bible class, and community evangelism situations. They would return to your area or church with the tools needed to minister not only to the deaf, but also to help minister to the rapidly growing Spanish population in your areas.
The church would commit to send and support a person (or persons) from their congregation from 3 months to one year, depending on the amount of sign language they know already. The cost include; the ticket to and from San Pedro Honduras, plus $500.00/month. The monthly support would include: room, board, all classes, and transportation. The person would be responsible for their personal items. We can accommodate 8-10 people presently.
The only documentation needed to come to Honduras is a current passport. The intern would be required to exit Honduras every 4 months for 3 days, but they will have the opportunity to visit countries in Central America to satisfy that requirement.
We also have projects for groups that would like to visit for shorter periods. No Spanish or sign language required.
If you would like more information about our projects or the internship, please contact us at logosima@hotmail.com or call our Honduras number 843-278-5734.
Also we ask that you visit our web site at www.logosima.org. Any donations for your support are tax deductible.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
October Update
We arrived back In Honduras late Friday night (actually early Saturday morning). When we went thru customs at the airport here in San Pedro Sula, one of our carry on luggage “disappeared”. And of course it was the most important piece of luggage we had. It contained the new video conferencing phone system, closed loop system and lots of other important items. Please help us pray that it either be found or returned soon.
Sunday night at the Deaf Community Center and Bible School we had 7 new deaf that we had never met. Then Monday night at the Deaf Community Center there was another 5 new deaf adults who had heard about us and wanted to check us out. Monday morning the early intervention children (5 years old and under) meet at the center for teaching and evaluations. We also work with the parents at that time. This past Monday another new parent (He is a Pastor in nearby town) brought his 3 year old deaf daughter for help.
Sunday night at the Deaf Community Center and Bible School we had 7 new deaf that we had never met. Then Monday night at the Deaf Community Center there was another 5 new deaf adults who had heard about us and wanted to check us out. Monday morning the early intervention children (5 years old and under) meet at the center for teaching and evaluations. We also work with the parents at that time. This past Monday another new parent (He is a Pastor in nearby town) brought his 3 year old deaf daughter for help.
September Update
We are getting this update out late thanks to Hurricane Felix. Knocked out our electricity for a day and cable and internet for 2 days. We had rain and a little flooding but not a lot of wind. All is well her. Our house and the Deaf Ministry stayed dry.
Greetings from Honduras. I know that every month our newsletter states God is doing awesome thing here in San Pedro Sula. Well his past month was no different. We are humbled at his favor and his love.
There have been 23 deaf saved and last Sunday Pastor Fred Nichols and Pastor Ken Shelton baptized 11 deaf in the Deaf Ministry Center pool. We want to thank Pastors Ken and Fred because while they were here, Pastor Ken and the members of Grace and Restoration Ministries purchased new chairs that are strong, durable hard plastic reinforced with metal, along with a much needed micro wave. Pastor Fred and his church purchased a desk for the main office.
Thanks to Mike Rudd, who donated 4 suit cases full of Illustrated Bibles and New International Versions (both in Spanish), the deaf now have bibles. So we have now started a series at the Deaf Bible School titled “What is the Bible”. While we are in the states for 3 weeks, Pastor Paul Dyar will continue the Bible School Class as well as oversee the Deaf Ministry Center.
Dr. Collins, National Director, has been a tremendous help to us. He has put together an “advisory/support” committee consisting of doctors, pastors, teachers, attorney, and a hospital administrator. They will be a great resource for us and the ministry center.
We are training another 15 hearing teachers. They are volunteers from a local Church of God. We are evaluating deaf children and meeting with parents almost daily. Please pray for wisdom in dealing with some of the parent’s misconceptions of deafness. Cheryl is working on a manual for parents to help them understand the causes of deafness along with helping parents develop a positive view of their deaf child.
We will be in the states from Sept 9 till Oct 1. We will be meeting with classes at Lee University who continue working with us to develop teaching tools. On Sept 16 we will be at Walton Blvd. Church in Pontiac, Michigan for the am service. On the 23rd we will be in the am service at Down River Praise Center. We are still trying to make appointments for the pm services. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel and also keep the Deaf Ministry Center in your prayers while we are away.
Thank you to the forty something individuals who responded to the last news letter update. Still would love to hear from you who have not responded. When you do respond, please give us some advice as to what you want to know. Are we sharing too much about what is happening? Not enough? Do you what to hear more personal things? Give us some of your ideas. Thanks for your continued prayers and support. God Bless
Greetings from Honduras. I know that every month our newsletter states God is doing awesome thing here in San Pedro Sula. Well his past month was no different. We are humbled at his favor and his love.
There have been 23 deaf saved and last Sunday Pastor Fred Nichols and Pastor Ken Shelton baptized 11 deaf in the Deaf Ministry Center pool. We want to thank Pastors Ken and Fred because while they were here, Pastor Ken and the members of Grace and Restoration Ministries purchased new chairs that are strong, durable hard plastic reinforced with metal, along with a much needed micro wave. Pastor Fred and his church purchased a desk for the main office.
Thanks to Mike Rudd, who donated 4 suit cases full of Illustrated Bibles and New International Versions (both in Spanish), the deaf now have bibles. So we have now started a series at the Deaf Bible School titled “What is the Bible”. While we are in the states for 3 weeks, Pastor Paul Dyar will continue the Bible School Class as well as oversee the Deaf Ministry Center.
Dr. Collins, National Director, has been a tremendous help to us. He has put together an “advisory/support” committee consisting of doctors, pastors, teachers, attorney, and a hospital administrator. They will be a great resource for us and the ministry center.
We are training another 15 hearing teachers. They are volunteers from a local Church of God. We are evaluating deaf children and meeting with parents almost daily. Please pray for wisdom in dealing with some of the parent’s misconceptions of deafness. Cheryl is working on a manual for parents to help them understand the causes of deafness along with helping parents develop a positive view of their deaf child.
We will be in the states from Sept 9 till Oct 1. We will be meeting with classes at Lee University who continue working with us to develop teaching tools. On Sept 16 we will be at Walton Blvd. Church in Pontiac, Michigan for the am service. On the 23rd we will be in the am service at Down River Praise Center. We are still trying to make appointments for the pm services. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel and also keep the Deaf Ministry Center in your prayers while we are away.
Thank you to the forty something individuals who responded to the last news letter update. Still would love to hear from you who have not responded. When you do respond, please give us some advice as to what you want to know. Are we sharing too much about what is happening? Not enough? Do you what to hear more personal things? Give us some of your ideas. Thanks for your continued prayers and support. God Bless
August update
God is doing awesome things with the deaf of Honduras. We just completed a 5 week study on “Sin” (which was preceded by weeks on “Who is God?”) and had a total of 16 deaf saved. On the last night we showed clips of the Passion of the Christ. Since moving into the Deaf Center we have been averaging over 40 at the Bible School.
The next three weeks we will be teaching on water baptism. We will conclude with a baptism service in the Deaf Center pool. Pastor Ken Shelton and Pastor Fred Nichols from Michigan will be here at the end of the baptism study and will be conducting the baptism service. The National Overseer of Honduras, Doctor Collins, along with Dr. Catrerra, District Overseer, will also be here.
Deaf leaders are being developed and taking their place as Christian examples for the other deaf. The deaf and hearing teachers are doing a wonderful job teaching deaf children (and adults) sign language. We still need more teachers because every day we are finding new deaf who have never been to school.
Our dear missionary friend, Angie McInvale, the founder and director of the Church of God orphanage (Hogar Esperanza) here in San Pedro Sula. One Saturday we invited her, the children, and the staff for a cook out and swim day at the Deaf House. We all had a blast! It was nice speaking the English language again.
Curt is doing much better. It’s amazing what prayer and two units of blood can do! At the time there was no B+ blood in the entire city. It took several days, but God used a doctor who had only been living here for 3 weeks to help us. He showed up at our home with one unit of blood one day and another unit the next. Praise God!
Pastor Paul Dyar was here last month and is coming back next month for the 3 weeks we are back in the states. We have included some photos of the hearing church service where Pastor Paul preached. About 25 deaf people attended the service.
We want to thank all of you who continue to support us with your prayers and your finances. Thank you for the extra donations this month to help purchase tables, chairs and an air conditioner for the Deaf Center. Special thanks to Brother Millwood and our friends at Hopewell for their assistance with the rent of the Deaf center.
I have a special request. No, not money this time. We have almost 300 individuals on our e mail list but only hear from about a dozen. Please respond to this update and let me know you received it. Thanks.
The next three weeks we will be teaching on water baptism. We will conclude with a baptism service in the Deaf Center pool. Pastor Ken Shelton and Pastor Fred Nichols from Michigan will be here at the end of the baptism study and will be conducting the baptism service. The National Overseer of Honduras, Doctor Collins, along with Dr. Catrerra, District Overseer, will also be here.
Deaf leaders are being developed and taking their place as Christian examples for the other deaf. The deaf and hearing teachers are doing a wonderful job teaching deaf children (and adults) sign language. We still need more teachers because every day we are finding new deaf who have never been to school.
Our dear missionary friend, Angie McInvale, the founder and director of the Church of God orphanage (Hogar Esperanza) here in San Pedro Sula. One Saturday we invited her, the children, and the staff for a cook out and swim day at the Deaf House. We all had a blast! It was nice speaking the English language again.
Curt is doing much better. It’s amazing what prayer and two units of blood can do! At the time there was no B+ blood in the entire city. It took several days, but God used a doctor who had only been living here for 3 weeks to help us. He showed up at our home with one unit of blood one day and another unit the next. Praise God!
Pastor Paul Dyar was here last month and is coming back next month for the 3 weeks we are back in the states. We have included some photos of the hearing church service where Pastor Paul preached. About 25 deaf people attended the service.
We want to thank all of you who continue to support us with your prayers and your finances. Thank you for the extra donations this month to help purchase tables, chairs and an air conditioner for the Deaf Center. Special thanks to Brother Millwood and our friends at Hopewell for their assistance with the rent of the Deaf center.
I have a special request. No, not money this time. We have almost 300 individuals on our e mail list but only hear from about a dozen. Please respond to this update and let me know you received it. Thanks.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
july Update
We have been back in Honduras for over a month and lots have happened.
We had started going to homes of deaf children who have never attended school and teaching them sign language. But after returning from the states, word had gotten out to other parents and now our children have tripled. We are hiring about a half dozen “instructors” who have gone thru a week of training with us this week. Now they will be able to lighten our load and allow us to locate other deaf children.
We have also started teaching sign language to deaf adults who have no language at all. One of the photos included in this update is of Emilee. She has a 10 year old son who told us here name, but doesn’t know how old she is, neither does she. We have found many deaf adults in the same situation.
Our Bible School has as few as 14 and as many as 31 deaf attending. We have had two students from Lee University with us (one is Kim, our daughter). They, along with Brandon, have been a great help with teaching the children and in the Bible school.
Reverend Paul Dyar, Pastor from Maryville, TN has been with us for a week and spoke at the Bible School Monday and 3 deaf were saved. He has also been helping teach new deaf students. He will be preaching in a local Church of God here in San Pedro Sula Sunday night. We will have interpreters for Spanish and for the deaf.
If you can get your hands on the new issue of the World Missions magazine (SOW), the cover story is about the deaf ministry in Honduras.
We signed the rental contract for a Deaf Center this week and the National Overseer of Honduras, Dr. Collins wrote out the check, and we are so excited. It is better than we would have ever been able to dream of. It is a 3,000+ sq ft house in the richest section of the city. The owner is renting to us for 5 years at 1/4 the price that it would rent for normally. It is behind the major hospital in town and is on the major bus route. It has the perfect kitchen to teach cooking classes and there is an office to make into a hearing aid lab or whatever. So now we will need kitchen supplies, desks, tables and all.
Get your groups together and come on down and we will put you to work.
The Deaf Center will house the vocational training program, adult literacy program, deaf youth leadership program, early intervention for deaf infants and children, parents with deaf children program, sign language classes, the Bible School, teacher training, hearing evaluation and hearing aid distribution, leadership training, discipleship programs, and home group Bible study. The Deaf Center will also be a place where the deaf can come and fellowship in a safe, Christian atmosphere.
Your support and prayers are needed in order to make the Deaf Center a success. Please consider sending some extra support this month to help with the start up costs for tables, desks, chairs and other needed items..
Thank you for your continued prayers and support.
Please e mail us with your comments so we know you are still out there. God Bless.
Curt, Cheryl & Brandon Humphries.
We had started going to homes of deaf children who have never attended school and teaching them sign language. But after returning from the states, word had gotten out to other parents and now our children have tripled. We are hiring about a half dozen “instructors” who have gone thru a week of training with us this week. Now they will be able to lighten our load and allow us to locate other deaf children.
We have also started teaching sign language to deaf adults who have no language at all. One of the photos included in this update is of Emilee. She has a 10 year old son who told us here name, but doesn’t know how old she is, neither does she. We have found many deaf adults in the same situation.
Our Bible School has as few as 14 and as many as 31 deaf attending. We have had two students from Lee University with us (one is Kim, our daughter). They, along with Brandon, have been a great help with teaching the children and in the Bible school.
Reverend Paul Dyar, Pastor from Maryville, TN has been with us for a week and spoke at the Bible School Monday and 3 deaf were saved. He has also been helping teach new deaf students. He will be preaching in a local Church of God here in San Pedro Sula Sunday night. We will have interpreters for Spanish and for the deaf.
If you can get your hands on the new issue of the World Missions magazine (SOW), the cover story is about the deaf ministry in Honduras.
We signed the rental contract for a Deaf Center this week and the National Overseer of Honduras, Dr. Collins wrote out the check, and we are so excited. It is better than we would have ever been able to dream of. It is a 3,000+ sq ft house in the richest section of the city. The owner is renting to us for 5 years at 1/4 the price that it would rent for normally. It is behind the major hospital in town and is on the major bus route. It has the perfect kitchen to teach cooking classes and there is an office to make into a hearing aid lab or whatever. So now we will need kitchen supplies, desks, tables and all.
Get your groups together and come on down and we will put you to work.
The Deaf Center will house the vocational training program, adult literacy program, deaf youth leadership program, early intervention for deaf infants and children, parents with deaf children program, sign language classes, the Bible School, teacher training, hearing evaluation and hearing aid distribution, leadership training, discipleship programs, and home group Bible study. The Deaf Center will also be a place where the deaf can come and fellowship in a safe, Christian atmosphere.
Your support and prayers are needed in order to make the Deaf Center a success. Please consider sending some extra support this month to help with the start up costs for tables, desks, chairs and other needed items..
Thank you for your continued prayers and support.
Please e mail us with your comments so we know you are still out there. God Bless.
Curt, Cheryl & Brandon Humphries.
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