Just a quick report on Guanaja [The Quiet Hour’s Youth Mission Adventure building projects in 2007, on the Honduran island of Guanaja].

At the end of his sermons, Pastor Salome usually asks all the people to bring some flowers to Jesus, and more than $2,000 worth of flowers were bought and put on the pulpit the last Sabbath. The entire back wall of the sanctuary was filled from the floor to the ceiling. Even prostitutes standing outside the church that heard about the offering were moved to bring flowers. They asked Roger and some of the people from the church to buy flowers for them and place them on the altar as they felt unclean to enter the church. So you can imagine the impact on the members.

Roger and the pastor stated that they saw people coming to the meeting – people that they thought would never come to church. Salome also asked for a special offering for Jesus, for no specific purpose, just what was in their hearts. So by the end of the campaign, they collected $20,000. Some people sold their houses, some people donated all their savings, and some even donated a business! They donated a gas station and its profits. Some of the people who donated large sums were not members. There was a very poor lady who had 5000 limps, all her life savings. She donated and went up at the calling to get baptized. Just amazing stories, each one with very nice details but I cannot write all of them now.

Pastor Salome had a special morning session at 4:30 a.m. and 100 people showed up every day. So you can see the impact it had. More than 25 people wanted to get baptized.

Roger tells me that he has completely changed. Salome put them to pray for at least 25 minutes at 4:30 a.m., and then they would exercise, so Roger is more than excited! By the way, Roger and his wife donated everything they had in their checkbook. Roger had 5000 and Ismirna had 6000. They made out the checks and they were supposed to turn them in on Sabbath. They were going to be left with nothing that Friday night after they made their checks. They put them away for the following day, and Roger received a call from an old friend that owed him 20,000; and he told Roger that something told him to pay him back and that he had just deposited the 20,000 he owed him. Roger told me that this man had not paid him for years and that he basically wrote it off as if he would never collect it. And out of the blue the man calls and pays him. Roger, needless to say, is very impressed, changed, thankful, and everything else you can think of.

It was such a great success that I spoke to Adonia today, and they are going to use some of the funds to get two more preachers: one for the health message and another on reviving the church. I'm setting it up for them now.

So the Guanaja project continues.

God Bless. 

Danny Garcia