Coup?

Hello to those of you who are following our blog.  As you've already probably heard, there is an incident currently going on down there with a grab for power by Manuel Zelaya.  He has recently been removed from power by the Honduran military for blatantly defying the Honduran constitution.  By Honduran law, the elected president may only serve for one four year term, and Mr. Zelaya has decided to stick around by his own authority.  In doing so, he was able to have a impromptu election by having Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez to print up invalid ballots.  The Honduran supreme court and congress have both invalidated the results and have repeatedly asked Mr Zelaya to step down.  Unfortunately, Mr. Zelaya has not complied and was forcibly removed by the military last Sunday.  There's more to the story, but in a nutshell that's the situation. 

What does this mean for our team??   Well, currently we are waiting until next Tuesday to get more information from the locals in Honduras.  Our guide is a man named Gustavo, and he has said where we are going, (Florida de Copan) is still calm and has not been affected by the recent political drama.  The organization we are using, MMI seems to be a very trustworthy organization and so far has given us no reason for concern.  The State Department and US Embassy in Honduras have warned all Americans that non-essential travel is not advised.  I think the situation will resolve itself, however the fact that Mr. Zelaya is threatening to return to the country along with the help of the Venezuelan military which it has been reported is building up on the Nicaraguan border.  If this happens, I have my doubts that we will be able to go.  If you read this, please pray for the country and the situation there.  Also, pray for us as our decision nears.  We have put a lot of time and effort into the planning of this trip and our whole team is eager and willing to go.  I understand that safety should be a priority here, and we will most likely err on the side of caution, but I also understand the nature of missionary work and the need for reliance upon God and His sovereign authority.  We trust in the Lord no matter the decision, and at this time can really use all the prayer we can get.  Check back soon as I will be updating our status as information becomes available.  

Joel

Fully Funded!!!

Hello everyone (or the two of you who have checked us out)...Sara and I are here to give a quick update on our upcoming trip.  We have officially raised all of our funds for Honduras totaling almost $20,000 for our entire team.  We are now going to start meeting as a team on a weekly basis starting Monday, June 8...which means our trip is just around the corner.  We would like to ask those of you who are following this to please remember us and our team in your prayers....that God would prepare our hearts and minds for this trip and that he can use us as examples to those we encounter as examples of who Christ represents.  Thank you for all of your support and hopefully we will update this soon.

Joel and Sara

P.S. - Next time we will post a group picture of the whole team.

First Update

Well Hello,

To our one follower, and others that are interested in our trip this summer, thank you so much for your support!!!  It has been about a month since we have sent out our support letters, and we have received a tremendous response.  We have officially raised over $1,000 for our trip so far, and have had numerous pledges for prayer support.  One new announcement for this summer is that Sara and I will be joining one other member of our team for an extended stay (2 weeks) at a local orphanage to help with whatever they need.  This will give us a solid month in Honduras, and although a little longer than expected, we hope the Lord will teach us and work through us during the duration of our stay.  I can only tell you that we are very excited for this opportunity and will constantly be thanking God for all the support you have given us.  Lastly, I apologize for the lag in posting blogs, but it's early still and updated info. is still a little slow to come by.  I am going to try to get a team picture posted soon as we have our next meeting on the 20th of March...

Thank you all so much!!!

Welcome to our Blog...which was created to allow friends and family to follow the progress of our Honduras missions trip this summer.  We have had our first official meeting with the group and are excited for the trip.  Ron and I are the only men out of a group of 12, but hopefully we can recruit a couple more soon.  It is still early in the planning process and I don't have much information yet, but check back in about a month and I should have more posted soon...