PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Leaders: Pastor Mark Erway and Al Erickson

Isaiah 46:11b “from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do.”

Part 1

The plans of God are being completed and worked out in the Fuerzas Armadas School in building a new second story building that will give 3 more class rooms and an office. When a man or woman leaves their home and country to live in a foreign country to help those who are in need can only be explained by a sheer obedience to God himself. This team like teams in past and future will come to fulfill a purpose not for us or Border Buddies Ministries Inc. but for God and His people in Honduras. Each person on team had their own testimony and discovery about themselves and their faith walk with Jesus. Team #8 was showered with blessings from God by the testimony of those in whom they worked with and their own personal testimonies of why they love God. The team was helped every day by new parents who came out to donate time towards the building. We had days of 10 to 15 workers. We want to share in this section and the following write-ups are the building process.

This is why we do what we do. We are building buildings and planting seeds to shape and save lives in the name of Jesus Christ. Just to look into the eyes of this child you can see a depth of thoughts, wonders and dreams like no other. We are so very blessed to have help from all of you back home in making dreams come true and allowing children like this to receive a better education. Please look forward to 4 more photo sending about the progress that team #8 had

Part 2

It is always exciting to see progress. This is something I have always enjoyed. We as Americans love to see huge amounts of progress. It was something that team 8 can show you. However it was something that I didn’t push. As I directed 25 plus people daily and trying to find everyone a special job for them do I kept saying to them we are here to absorb the culture, understand the people, and to take in every moment you can. Team 8 did just that and accomplished a ton of work on top of it. It is our passion that each team member relates to the people of Honduras or tries to understand them. It is also our passion to build long lasting relationships as well. I understood this more and more as we would see returning brothers and sisters from the States reconnect with those in whom they have made a relationship with. Love does cross the borders and the miles. Time seemed like it never passed away. This is what Jesus is looking in us as a family of God.
Please enjoy more photos of the progress that was made on the building at Fuerzas Armadas.
Teams make a difference:

Part 3

While working on this building we noticed that the original building couldn’t support a second floor. We definitely couldn’t put the roof back on and walk so we had to start planning on how to revise the plans. So first thing we did was to throw away the plans. They didn’t work for what was needed. Then we had to start building and engineering beams that can be the quality of commercial grade. This took some planning by Pastor Giron and I. When the decision was made we had the women on the team to start building some big rebar columns. We are talking 5/8’’ rebar mixed with 3/8’’ rebar. These columns would be used for various parts of the project as you’ll see below.

Psalm 18:18 “They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support.” When we enter projects or new beginnings in our lives and we definitely don’t know what the outcome will be we can count on one thing and that is the support from our Lord. I can say I didn’t panic. I knew these surprises will cost more money than what was raised and it may have a difficult outcome but during all this time I new and felt the Lord with us. He would give the knowledge that was needed to resolve these issues. Rely on the Lord in everything. Seek the light and walk in it.

Part 4

Exodus 33:13 “If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”
This scripture is so profound and definitely describes our feelings as missionaries. The team didn’t just work. They spent two Saturdays playing with the children. They loved being with the children because they saw the difference in two communities. In Rincon we have been there for more than 6 years and the other community named Modesto we’ve only been there for a short time. The children in Rincon were open and welcoming. They love visits from the States and look forward to them every year. Our goal is to involve the teams that come and visit us to involve them as much as we can in this ministry so they can walk away knowing that much more about why we do what we do.
Teaching booklets were donated to us and Amanda with the help from the team passed these to each child and Glenda taught a class with them. This is something we do every Saturday. The kids look forward to these classes. As we head up to the community the van and truck were filled with children with excitement for the day’s class. This is a huge witness in what we have been doing for these years. Building relationships!