Good morning,

Please post this Psalm to the blog:

I will lift up my eyes to the hills-
From whence comes my help?
My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.

He will not allow your foot to be moved;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel
Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is your shade at your right
      hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.

The Lord shall preserve you from all evil;
He shall preserve your soul.
The Lord shall preserve your going out
     and your coming in
From this time forth, and even
     forevermore.

Psalm 121

"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles." Matthew 10:16-17

We don't like this. We say things such as, 'The safest place to be is in the center of God's will.' We think, if it's dangerous, God must not be in it. If it's risky, if it's unsafe, if it's costly, it must not be God's will. But what if these factors are actually the criteria by which we determine something is God's will?-David Platt, from the book Radical

"Surely those who know the great passionate heart of Jehovah must deny their own loves to share in the expression of His. Consider the call from the Throne above, 'Go ye,' and from round about, 'Come over and help us,' and even the call from the damned souls below, 'Send Lazarus to my brothers, that they come not to this place.' (see Luke 16:19-31 for the context) Impelled, then, by these voices, I dare not stay home while the Quichuas perish. So what if the well-fed church in the homeland needs stirring? They have the Scriptures, Moses, and the Prophets, and a whole lot more. Their condemnation is written on their bank books and in the dust on their Bible covers. American believers have sold their lives to the service of Mammon (i.e., wealth), and God has His rightful way of dealing with those who succumb to the spirit of Laodicea. (see Revelation 3:14-22 for context)

This was Jim Elliot's response to those who told him it was too dangerous to share the Gospel with an unreached people group in a foreign land, but instead, wanted him to stay and serve the church in America because he was a gifted preacher.

We are 2 weeks away from our Honduras trip for 2011.
I am excited to be going to Honduras again. This is my
2nd trip. I went in September 2009. It was a totally new
experience for me. I had never been to Central
America. This year will be a new experience as well. My
husband Mark and daughter Deborah are going for the
first time. As we started this journey this year we all
thought that we were going to participate in children's
ministry and construction. It turns out that this time
I am going as the nurse. Dr. Tom Jarrett and I will be
seeing patients every day. Even though this is my 9th
overseas trip, this will be my 1st official medical trip.
So as always I believe that God allows us to learn
something new everytime we serve Him overseas. We
just need to be willing and available.


I love missions and I especially love traveling to other
countries. I am a North American Mission Board missionary
working here with refugees and immigrants. I love what I do.
It is amazing that God has brought so many different people
to Atlanta, GA. But, going overseas adds a whole new
perspective to what I do. It  allows me to gain a broader
world perspective and vision. It helps me to realize where
people are coming from and what it was like in their home.
Really it is a reality check. I wish all believers could
have the opportunity to serve on a short term missions team.
It will forever change you. I am grateful for this opportunity
and pray that God will be with us and fill us as we go. May
He bring peace, joy, happiness, and salvation to His people
in Honduras.

Cathy Wilson

What an interesting journey the past several years have been.  Our interest in missions began by hosting a missionary in our home while he was in Atlanta for a conference.  The following year we became involved with a local missions agency that ministered to children and families in local apartment complexes that housed mostly internationals.

Then we began supporting other mission activities and our first short term mission trip was to Botswana, Africa.  At first thought Africa seems a bit scary. Long flights, wild animals, a lot of unknown.  But, God provided.  We knew we were supposed to go.  After all Matthew 28:19 tells us to go and make disciples of all nations.  All nations, all people, everywhere.  This was a life changing experience and I am thankful to God for His choosing me to go.

This year will be our sixth short term trip.  The number of trips is not what is important.  Being obedient to God’s plan and allowing Him to use me to share His love with others is most important of all.   

I am very excited that God is providing the opportunity for me to return to Honduras.  I look forward to seeing some old friends, making some new ones and most of all I am looking forward to what God will teach me as I serve Him.

Jean Hines

Hey everyone - Just two weeks and five days until we leave for Lempira, Honduras with First Baptist Atlanta! We are excited and exhilarated that the departure date is close - July 2nd!

(Also, please see the list of missions at the second half of this email).
Thank you so much for the prayer support from each of you. Now that we are close to the departure date, we expect to face some challenges in the area of spiritual warfare. Please pray for us that we will be protected, and stay focused on the trip.

At this point we are almost ready, and the final preparations are almost complete:

---Bible Stories: We are practicing 4 bible stories each, and this is our main method to share the gospel with the community. Often, storying is effective when language or literacy challenges arise. Think of how much a person can learn from hearing about the Prodigal Son, Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, or the Rich Young Ruler.

---Medical: We have a list of the medicines and equipment needed for those we are serving. Dr. Tom Jarrett and Kathy Davis (nurse) are ready in this area.

---Construction:  We are gathering the materials needed to bring with us. The site for the pastor's house we are helping build has been chosen.


In addition, I would ask that each of you consider something else. In Matthew 28: 19 - 20, Jesus calls us to share the gospel globally, in both action (going) and support (prayer and financial). Our acts of serving those around the world is part of HOW we share the gospel - in deeds as well as words.

Whether you attend a North Point Community Church, First Baptist Atlanta, Passion City, or another, each community sends out teams throughout the year or has a mission department that truly needs your help. Please consider prayer, financial, or even better, GOING on one of these trips, in order to share the gospel with people around the globe.

Global missions isn't an "exciting vacation" or an "exotic way to see the world" - it is often hard work, in extreme conditions, done for the love of Jesus and the people we serve. So when any of your friends and loved ones ask for support, it is often a sacrifice they are making to serve someone else. I would ask that you consider 1) GOING on one or more trips, and 2) Giving of your time and resources. We are blessed with our resources SO we can give and support others!

Below are a list of some well-respected communities that host trips throughout the year or serve locally - I hope you will consider giving:


First Baptist Atlanta: http://www.fba.org/ministries/world-missions/123-2010-short-term-mission-trips.html

Frontline Missions (organization we are partnering with on our trip: they conduct missions throughout the Americas):  http://www.fmusa.org/

Do Something Now (relief arm of Passion City Church): http://dosomethingnow.com/

North Point Community Church: http://goglobalx.org/?page_id=80

410 Bridge (missions organization focusing on Kenya and Haiti): http://www.410bridge.org/

Perimeter Church - global: http://www.goperimeter.org/journeys/

Perimeter Church - tornado relief: http://www.perimeter.org/index.php?module=ministry&submodule=cms&artid=2129&mid=41055

New Life Global Ministries: http://www.newlifeglobal.net/trips.jsp

World Relief Atlanta (helping resettle refugees in Atlanta): http://worldrelief.org/Page.aspx?pid=1643

Samaritan's Purse (local disaster relief efforts, especially tornado clean-up in Alabama and North GA): http://www.spvolunteernetwork.org/

Helping Honduras Kids (Honduran orphanage in La Ceiba, Honduras - they allow 4-week volunteer trips): http://www.helpinghonduraskids.org/volunteer.php


Thanks to each of you for your support.

Blessings,

Jim LulejianFirst Baptist Atlanta Honduras Mission Team 2011

"We are settling for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves when the central message of Christianity is actually about abandoning ourselves."  -- David Platt

Hey everyone. Just one month to go before we leave for our mission trip to Honduras! I am excited, and grateful for the prayer and financial support provided by friends and loved ones (Please note the video link and statistics at the bottom of this message).

As a recap, the team from First Baptist Atlanta departa for Lempira, Honduras July 2nd, going to work with the Lenca people of Lempira. The Lenca are descendants of the Mayan people, and one of the largest indigenous groups in Honduras. As they reside in primarily remote mountainous areas, poverty and accessible health care are great challenges for many of the communities.
This year's trip includes three components:
1) Construction - The pastor we are helping building a home for currently lives 45 minutes walking from the church. He recently suffered some medical challenges, so a home close to the church is imperative. As a reminder, the construction is lead and directed by the men of the local community. We are there to support and help.

2) Children's / Women's ministry - We will be providing teaching materials, bible studies, encouragement, and games for the community.

3) Medical - A physician and nurse are part of the trip, to provide medical check-ups and advice for the community. This is in a remote part of Honduras, so access to healthcare is not readily available.

Finally, I wanted to give some insight into life in Honduras, to help you appreciate the challenges faced by this nation:

• Honduras is the third poorest country in Latin America.
• Honduras faces particularly acute poverty and food insecurity in rural areas, where 53 percent of the population lives.
• On average, only one-third of Honduran children attend school past the primary level.
• Child labor is also an issue, as an estimated 384,000 children and adolescents between the ages of five and 18 are employed.
• Average annual income: $1200.00.
• Quality of healthcare is in decline, due to a scarcity of medicines, supplies, human resources, and facilities. One out of four Honduran children under five years of age suffers from chronic malnutrition. In some rural communities in the western area of the country, that total can reach 88 percent.
• Approximately 53% of the population is rural, and it is estimated that 75% of the rural population lives below the poverty line.

--Statistics taken from the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and World Vision

• The Lenca Indians of Honduras have remained isolated to a great extent living in the mountainous and more inaccessible areas. The Lenca in general are very timid and reserved, with a personality very distinct from the population in general.
• Their communities are agricultural, using traditional, primitive, cultivation methods. Family is important, and they live as extended families with their houses built together. They depend upon one another to survive, working the land together.

Finally, here is a YouTube video showing a snapshot of the Lenka people from the non-profit Mercy International.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4NLKpdfSG0

Thank you again for your support, and I appreciate you keeping our team in your prayers.

Regards,

Jim Lulejian
First Baptist Atlanta Honduras Mission Team 2011

Why I'm going on this trip?

 

The chief reason why I'm going on this mission trip is to allow God to work in and through me to help fulfill the Great Commission.

 

The reason why I'm going to Honduras is to continue to witness how God is working through the Lenca Indian tribe. My first trip to Honduras was in 2009, that year I met a group of people who had been crying out to God to meet several needs. I saw a group of people who had prayed much and was seeing God unfold answers to their prayers by a corporate effort between them and our FBA Mission team.

 

I want to continue to be involved in what God is doing in that area.

 

I'm grateful that I have been given the opportunity to return again to offer words of encouragement and also be involved in telling Bible Stories.

 

 

Yvonne Davis Henry

My name is Greg Hines. This is the third trip I have led to Honduras with my wife, Jean and the sixth trip I have been on with First Baptist Atlanta. The Lord called me to short term missions in 2004 but the first trip did not take place until September 2005. At the time the one place I was scared to death of was Africa; and while I probably never openly said "Lord, please don't send me there", that really was my attitude at first. Of course, that is the first nation He called me to and I could not wait to go back. I did get to return to Botswana in January 2007 and the relationships we built in '05 were deepened, so much so, that I thought for sure I would go back a third time. For the rest of '07 I desired and prayed to return for a third trip but the Lord closed the door. This desire, which actually turned into arguing with the Lord about going back, continued into very early 2008. The Lord finally convinced me to surrender my desires to Him and let Him open new doors for me.

In 2007 I began to work at FBA and one of my coworkers was a gentlemen named Luis Chavarria who is a native of Costa Rica and was starting to take short term teams to Central America. Very shortly after I surrendered my desires to the Lord Luis asked Jean and I if we wanted to be part of a team going to Costa Rica in 2008. Almost immediately I knew this was the door the Lord was opening for us. We prayed about it and went on the trip. It was a great experience and my friendship with Luis grew. In 2009 Luis told me about an exciting new ministry he was getting involved in with an indigenous people group, the Lenca Indians, in a remote area of the western mountains in Honduras and asked me and Jean if we wanted to lead a team from FBA there in September. We prayed, and the Lord confirmed He was opening another new door for us so we accepted our first leadership assignment in short term missions. We were blessed to lead a small team on a return trip to Honduras in 2010 and have been blessed again to lead a much larger team in 2011.

In 2009 Luis left FBA to become a full time missionary with Frontline Missions. Frontline is a small, but growing missions agency, who is taking the gospel to people and places in Central and South America where nobody else is going. They have many different projects and ministries going on; to learn more about Frontline Missions please go to http://www.fmusa.org/

Through the teaching Jean and I have received at FBA in our Sunday school class, all of the World Mission's Conferences and our own Bible study we are convicted that the Great Commission is not optional. In Matthew 28:19 Jesus didn't say go make disciples of all the nations when you feel like it or when you can make the time. It was a commandment that He gave to all believers.

If you do not believe the truth that Jesus is the risen Lord and Savior, the long awaited for Messiah, I urge you to examine the multitude of facts which prove this "story" to be true and then surrender to Him and accept His grace, which is the free gift of salvation from sin. In observing mankind it is hard to argue with the biblical truth which states that "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Since God is holy and just, He has to punish sin. The Bible tells us that "The wages of sin is death." (Romans 6:23) but it also tells us that God is "patient toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9) It is because of this last statement that He sent Jesus to die on the cross. It is at the cross where God's justice met His mercy because God placed all of the sins of the world on Jesus and judged Him in our place. All you have to do to become a Christian is to accept that Jesus is the Savior, believe that He paid the penalty for your sin, that you are saved by His grace alone and not by any works of your own, confess your sin to Him and your need for Him, and believe that He is risen and alive, seated with the Father in the heavenly places. Once you do this, tell somebody what the Lord has done for you and find a Bible to learn more about Jesus; the Gospel of Mark is a great place to start. If you have questions, please contact any Honduras team member because we would love to help you.

For the Christian, as you study your Bible, and pray for our ministry in Honduras please ask the Lord to show you where He wants you to go and make disciples. If you are already being obedient to this commandment through short term missions ask the Lord to expand your vision to see the far bigger plan He has for your life. The Lord did not create us simply to pursue the American dream and tack church attendance onto the end of it; He has far greater plans for every Christian. In order for us to live out His plans we have to abandon ourselves to Him. He created us to be His hands, His feet and His voice to a lost and dying world. There are an estimated 4.5 billion people living right now (most of them outside of the United States) who do not know that Jesus loves them and wants them to spend eternity with Him, so much so in fact, that He left heaven and came to earth to die a painful death on a cross for them to be able to do so.

In order for these 4.5 billion people to hear about this glorious gift of salvation that will save them from an eternity separated from the Father Christians must go and tell them. Might the Lord be calling you?