Patterson Post

Greetings in the great name of the Lord Jesus Christ!

I had the great privilege of going on a mission trip to Honduras from April 9th through the 16th.  During the trip we were able to join up with a church in Honduras to preach the gospel in several schools and homes. 

Each day we went to a different village and were able to go into the schools to tell the children about Christ.  The teachers would cancel classes and gather the children together to listen to us.  I still can’t believe that they were so open to the gospel coming into the schools and even asked us to come back. We were able to preach the gospel to well over 1,200 children. We are not sure how many received the Lord, but we do know that they all heard the gospel and pray that Christ was glorified in the preaching of His Word.

After we spoke in the schools we were able to walk around the villages and visit people in their homes.  The Lord provided some amazing opportunities to talk to Christians and non-Christians. One in particular was when a local pastor took us to a Christian lady’s house to pray for her and encourage her as her husband had recently left her for another woman. We prayed for her and her husband, and as we were leaving her property, we met her husband walking down the road. After agreeing to speak with us, we sat back down and had the opportunity to open up God’s Word to him for about 45 minutes.  It’s always great to see the Lord answer prayer – while were we praying for the man, the Lord was in the process of granting our request by orchestrating it so the man was on his way to meet us.  To read more about our trip check out a blog my friend from Jacksonville put together while in Honduras http://web.mac.com/schristmas.

As you know our family is praying about joining a ministry (MEDA) in Honduras that equips men in the study of God’s Word. They hold conferences throughout the year and are in their 3rd year of seminary classes. They are making a huge impact in Central America training pastors and men who aspire to teach God’s word faithfully. We were able to have several meetings with the staff at MEDA to discuss joining the ministry. They were very encouraging, and we would appreciate you continuing to pray for God’s direction. A conference call is being planed in the next few weeks for the leaders in our church and the board of MEDA to further discuss this opportunity for our family.

Be sure to see the Pictures tab to view photos taken during my trip.

We hope you all are preparing your hearts and minds to remember the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.  How amazing it is that the Lord was pleased to send Jesus to bear our sins on the cross and experience the wrath and judgment of God in our place. As the Scriptures say He didn’t remain in the grave, but God raised Him up on the third day and He is now seated at the Father’s right hand. Our Savior and Lord is a risen and living King.  

In January we announced that our family would not be serving in Kenya as we had been preparing over the last few years. It was a hard decision to make but we feel it was the right decision in many respects. We have since been seeking the Lord’s direction on where He would have us serve Him full-time. A few months ago Christy and I took a five day trip to Honduras with a friend from church to visit a ministry that currently runs a conference center and seminary for pastors in Central America.  We were able to visit the missionaries and also serve with the local church in helping with Vacation Bible Schools in remote villages. I was also given the opportunity to preach in two churches on Sunday. It was a wonderful time meeting believers in another part of the world and seeing how Christ is building His church around the world. You can see pictures of our trip on picture tab.

Upon our return we spoke with our elders about the opportunity to serve in Honduras. They were in favor of us contacting the ministry in Honduras (MEDA) and discussing our suitability to join the ministry there. We were pleased with the information MEDA provided for us and feel this is a great match for our family and church. I, along with other members from our church, are going to Honduras next week as part of an evangelism team focusing on remote villages, some of which do not currently have a church. I will also be meeting with the men at MEDA to further discuss the possibility of our family joining the ministry. Please be praying for the evangelism team and for those we will be proclaiming the gospel to. Please also pray about my meetings with MEDA and our future ministry. We desire to please the Lord in all things and are looking forward to having our feet planted and being engaged in full-time ministry.