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New Church Planted Overnight?
Overnight is not at all an accurate description since we have been visiting and working in the community of Torihuaque, San Juan de Opoa for a whole year. However, we did hold an "old-time Gospel tent meeting" for one week there this past month.
God blessed the efforts of our "new church planting team" with eighteen baptisms as a result of the week's efforts. There was no church of Christ meeting in this community before the campaign and now, as of Sunday, February 24th when they had their first organized worship service, there is a congregation of some thirty people, including adults and children.
More than two hundred people were present, on the last night, to hear our preacher for the week Nestor Sánchez. Nestor is a Baxter Institute student, from Nicaragua that is working a six-month internship with us. Five men, who were baptized during the week, will be attending one of our leadership Boot Camps during the first week of March as a part of helping leapfrog the local leadership into a position where they can be responsible for the work of their local church from its inception. Please be praying for this young church. As challenging as planting a new church is, the real work begins after the initial planting. Teaching, equipping and nurturing a small church to the point of sustainability is a challenge.
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Dulce Refugio/Safe House
 In past newsletters and other communications we have told you about one of our newest ministries Dulce Refugio. The name means sweet refuge and communicates both the mission and the vision for this effort. This ministry has as its goal to help a small number of 18+ year old girls that come from an abusive past. They are given shelter, structure, spiritual guidance, economic and educational opportunities as indicated by their individual situations. Our goal is to shelter and nurture these girls until such time that they can live on their own in a self-supporting existence. Our "poster child" is one young woman who works as a teacher volunteer while going to school on the weekends to finish her Bachelors in Education. We need your help. Can you help locate people who would be willing to donate to this ministry? It costs $500 per month for us to house and support each young woman. We have space for a total of six participants in the program for this year but due to our need for funds we only have three in the program. Our dilemma is that our cost for a fully functioning program is $3,000 per month. (i.e. 6 girls at $500 per person). At present we only have $850 per month coming in as earmarked funds. The other money, for the time being, is coming out of our general funds, which tends to cannibalize our annual budget. Please consider helping us locate individuals that might be motivated to help with this ministry.
A partial sponsorship of one girl begins at $250 per month. While a whole sponsorship is equal to $500 per month.
Should you or someone you know be interested in knowing more about the ministry please contact Donna Waldron at: waldrondonna@me.com or you can call at 706-534-7060 on our Vonage Internet line.
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Elder and Deacon Preparation Efforts Continue in Puerto Cortés
Phil is continuing to drive the four hours to Puerto Cortés once a month to preach to the congregation on the theme of Biblical leadership as seen in the roles and qualifications of Elders and Deacons in the First Century church.
In addition, we are very excited about Dr. Bob Young, from Oklahoma, agreeing to come in June of this year to hold a weekend seminar for the church. Please remember them in your prayers as they work through the numerous issues of preparing and naming the men who God would have to serve in these vital roles.
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Jason Bybee, Mayfair Church in Huntsville, Alabama
Jason Bybee, from the Mayfair church of Christ in Huntsville, AL, came this month to hold a three day retreat for our Mission UpReach team. The event included children and adults with the children having their own sessions of activities.
Jason focused on five themes designed to help our team be more effective in church planting and leadership development ministries. The themes were United in God, United in Christ, United in Body, United in Vision and United in Ministry.
 It was a transformational time for all of the participants with each one coming to know the unique role that he or she has in the body of Christ as well as in the Mission.
In addition to building the team spirit among our employees and team members it was really helpful to have some recreational time together as well.
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Appeal for Donations of Used Vehicles for Church Planting
Recently we have had two of our vehicles to "die". One was a 1984 micro-van and the other was a 1990 Toyota four-wheel drive mid-size pickup. We are in need of two more good quality used vehicles for our church planting teams. The most useful vehicles for what we do in the rugged terrain that we work in is a midsize, extended cab or four door, 4x4 pickup. The models that we have found to be useful are Ranger, Chevy Colorado, GMC Canyon, Toyota Tacoma or similar all with an extended or four door cab. For it to be legally imported here in Honduras it has to be a year 2000 or newer vehicle. Do you know of anyone that might want to donate a truck like this? If so please communicate with Phil Waldron via email at: philwaldron@me.com Our drop-off/departure point for donated vehicles is Longview, Texas. If you or someone you know might be willing to donate a vehicle please let us know.
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