The last day of work is always tough. The kids are exhausted! They have worked so hard. Things really slowed down at the house project, as all the work is now on scaffolding. There are lots of hands, but also a lot of waiting. We did not get as much done as I had hoped. However, there are only two and a half rows of block to go.

In past mission projects, Friday afternoons are quite challenging. So, we took the afternoon off and took the group snorkeling again. Twelve members of the truss crew arranged to go fishing. What a beautiful spot to snorkel!

Tonight was the last evening meeting, as tomorrow we will conclude at church with a baptism, etc. It looks like we will have eight to ten baptisms from these meetings. Interestingly, there are quite a few others that want to be baptized, but there are a lot of people living in “common law” relationships. This means that many are not legally married, and it makes baptism a challenge.

One of the regular attendees at the meetings is the former Miss Honduras (1994), a beautiful woman with two children. She wants to be baptized, but has to become legally married first.

Another one of the youth from OKAA came up tonight after worship, with tears in her eyes, asking to be re-baptized. This experience in Guanaja has changed her life.

The Quiet Hour’s motto “Changing Lives” comes into focus here. At our first group worship, I told the group that we were here to build a church and a pastor’s home with brick and mortar. But, more importantly, we were building lives – lives of the folk in Guanaja and those in our group. Certainly, when I see two young people whose lives are changed because they had an encounter with Jesus, it makes it all worth it.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Whew! Our first group is now enjoying a couple days of relaxation on Roatan. What an awesome group from Okanagan Academy and Chetwynd SDA School in Chetwynd, British Columbia. They have set the bar high for other groups. I will send a lengthy journal this evening detailing their ministry to the folk here on Guanaja.

During our closing worship, we had a baptism for two of the girls in the group that wanted to be baptized, one from Okanagan and one from Chetwyn. Carly, from Chetwynd, is 14 and has never been baptized. Niki, from Okanagan, wanted to be rebaptized.

The baptism was a deeply spiritual moment, with tears and joy. We had a couple spotlights set up to light up the water. What a beautiful sight! I made a call from the ocean front in front of the hotel where we were doing the baptism, and another four young people responded. Then Pastor Erroll made another invitation (he and I were both in the water for the baptism) and another six came forward. Twelve young people in all decided to follow Christ’s example of baptism! And listen to this: seven of them had never been baptized before. Several of them were 11th and 12th graders. I almost walked on the water getting out. I was so excited! This was one of the most special moments in our mission project history. We always have two or three that get baptized. But we’ve never had 12, with seven for the first time.

The Quiet Hour's motto of “changing lives” certainly is accurate for this project. Yes, we changed the lives of many of the local residents. They fell in love with our kids and the way they live the gospel. But we fool ourselves when we think that we are only coming to change their lives. In fact, the most thrilling aspect is when we see our lives changed. And that is exactly what happened with this first group!

The staff and adult leaders with us were thrilled beyond words.

My heart is overflowing with joy and gratitude for the way God used us to change lives for eternity.

Monday, April 2, 2007

Things are going very well with the group from Paradise Adventist Academy. This senior class is a very high-energy group and their energies are positively directed.

We have had a few more sick ones this time. One of their staff, Pastor Randy Speyer has been quite ill for five days. He now has a serious eye infection, so we are keeping the doctors busy.

The work on both the church and the pastor's house is quite a bit behind schedule due to the lack of some of the materials needed that were supposed to be here, but these dear saints on this island are so appreciative. It’s an interesting culture with more than 70 percent unemployment. There’s very little work ethic evident, but those that do work are excellent workers.

The eight Bible workers have been helping today at both sites.

Judy and I are doing fine, but we are really looking forward to next week and getting home.

Judy trained a couple of the nurses to operate the auto-refractor for the glasses clinics, as she is desperately needed in the kitchen. The couple we have doing the cooking have no previous experience at mission trip cooking, and Judy has been able to assist with her expertise.

The group has not had any serious injuries. One young man tripped yesterday after worship, while he was running to the ocean front to jump in for a quick dip. He tore the toe nail off one of his toes and has been limping today.

The group has gone snorkeling and diving twice and had a great adventure there.

Must run! Supper time!

God bless all of you for your thoughts and prayers.

Our love,

Joedy & Judy

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