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?