Honduras?

We are now official bloggers...lol. We decided to go this route so that our supporters, friends and family members can have a place to learn about what God is doing in our lives as we transition into full-time missionaries with World Gospel Outreach in Honduras. The first thing to post I guess would be a brief background of where our hearts are now and how God led us here. This really is a condensed version of the wonderful work that God has been doing in our lives, but hopefully it conveys the general idea.

We would like to give you just a little background of how we got to where we are now. Alan went on a short term mission trip in October of 2003. He went with our church at the time, Fairview Baptist in Apex, NC. It was an amazing experience and God provided some great opportunities. The group was able to spend the 8 days we were there with a Honduran family and share their home. Also one of the men on the trip was a career missionary with 40 years of experience. It was a tremendous blessing to interact with both the family and the missionary. On our way back through the airport, our group met a family who were full-time missionaries in Honduras. In Alan’s journal he wrote that after meeting them he could envision our family being a missionary family, but he did not want it to be the emotion of the trip. He wanted it to be from God. Early last year God started working in his heart and created a desire for mission work and compassion for Honduras. Alan began making inquiries into mission organizations and while looking back through his notes of the trip noticed that the family at the airport worked with World Gospel Outreach (WGO), and sent off an email to them. We knew we were not qualified to preach or church plant, but felt that God was certainly pulling us into missions. Dana had also been hearing God’s voice on some type of ministry work, possibly involving children. We were not sure where God was leading us, but we wanted to be where He was. After sending off the interest email, we received a call in June from Terry Mallasch, COO with WGO. He mentioned that house parents, one of the possible positions, would not be feasible since we already have six children of our own. However he did mention that they had a need that matched up with our skills. God had provided the place He wanted us to serve. Through what can only be described as a God ordained process, we completed the application, had a formal interview with the president of the organization, Mike Ferguson, and went down to Honduras in October for a final interview. After a time of prayer and council, WGO extended an offer to join them doing God’s work in Honduras. It made us truly understand the saying that God is not interested as much in your ability as He is your availability.

WGO is a missionary organization whose mission statement is "Believers equipping children and families for spiritual and moral excellence, serving the nations for Jesus Christ." No one in Honduran society is more forgotten than its abandoned children. WGO's mandate is to rescue and raise children like we would our own in a wholesome family environment. They accomplish this by modeling God's design for a Christian family utilizing Christian house parents from Honduras, North America and around the world at a ranch about an hour outside of Tegucigalpa. They also help bring the love of Christ to Hondurans by helping with their physical needs through approximately 25 medical brigades throughout the year.

WGO is a faith based mission organization, in the respect that the missionaries are responsible for raising 100% of their support. God calls everyone, some He calls to go and some He calls to send. We know that God desires that we serve in Honduras. We are simply in the process of discovering which people and churches God has called to be our supporters. Please know that we as a family serving on the field have a commitment to you as our supporter. We commit to serve faithfully, communicate regularly what God is doing in Honduras, and to share prayer concerns with one another.

Please let us know what you think of this and share any prayer concerns that you have. Email us at mgrathome@yahoo.com or leave a comment here.

We want to thank everyone for your prayers and love for our family.

Sims Prayer card

Thanks Angie for the great picture