FCM Team Arrives Safely in Honduras

On this day twenty-seven followers of Christ met together in Miami,
Florida to begin a week long ministry to the people of Honduras. With
luggage and supplies in hand, we begin what will unfold in the following
pages. Our expectant hearts await the blessings God has for each of us as
we willing share his love through word and deed to the people of
Tegucigalpa and the Orphanage Immanuel. Knowing that God’s plan is
greater than we can possibly perceive we step out in faith to experience
God’s loving hand on each of our shoulders.

Sixteen of our twenty-seven member crew hails from Alabama while eleven,
ten of which were from North Carolina and one from Tennessee met us in
Miami to begin this great adventure. I along with Trey and Loretta were
scheduled to take a later flight to our final destination, but after some
sweet talk and charm we were able to travel with our fellow teammates. At
this point, however, we are unsure if we will ever see our luggage. The
decision to travel together and take a chance was based on the political
unrest we learned about just hours before our trip. The Honduran
president was arrested and based on speculation and rumor we just learned
that the power to all of the country has been shut down and martial law
instated. Doing only what we know to do, we called our fellow believers
and ask them to begin praying for our safety. With confidence in God and
the knowledge of American Airlines, we proceeded with our journey. I
write this as we are flying from Miami to Tegucigalpa.

When we arrived in Tegucigalpa the team gathered and one by one we made
our way through customs with no certainty what awaits us on the other
side. At baggage claim, Trey and I wait with baited breath to see if our
bags had traveled with us. As we watched for our entire luggage, around
the corner comes my back pack and just seconds later Trey’s. What we had
been told would be impossible to accomplish God found a way. The entire
luggage arrived and our team met our fearless leader, Gary Clark, and
proceeded to our bus where we met some locals who were graciously waiting
to assist us.

With watchful eyes we scanned the parking lot and surrounding area for
signs of unrest and discovered that the electricity had been turned back
on and there was no sign of any danger or trouble. This day seemed to be
as any other day through out the city. The government had already
anticipated problems and secured the areas where there may be unrest. We
made our way to lunch at the local Pizza Hut and watched what appeared to
be a news conference which of course none of us could understand.
However, those dining with us seemed not to be worried in the least. I
believe their attitude helped to calm our spirits and reassure us that we
had made the right decisions in continuing our journey.

Because of the unrest and curfew that had been set in the city, we made
our way to the hotel Excelsior where we will be spending two nights
before traveling two hours into the mountains to the orphanage Immanuel.
The time we spent together as a team today helped build a bond that will
ensure great success on the field to which we have been called to serve.
Each of us awaits a good night’s sleep and look forward to a great day of
ministry on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa on Monday.

Steve Dean