The Sims Family in Honduras

I Love Monkey Ice

2008-08-03T06:47:00.001-06:00

Please check out www.ilovemonkeyice.com to see where God is working in our lives.

Thanks as always for the prayers, support and love. We are so grateful.

Alan

Monkey Business

2008-04-18T06:56:00.001-06:00

Hello everyone and God Bless you all! Sorry it has been such a long time since our last update. Life has been crazy, living in the States is a lot more hectic and fast paced, that is for sure.

Just wanted to give you all an update on what is going on in our lives. Alan is doing well, feeling much better. Jordan is getting along well also. She got a new cast last Friday that hopefully will be her last one. It will come off in another week. She won’t be able to walk for a while yet, but hopefully soon. Please continue to pray that the surgery did what it was supposed to do.

Ok now for the latest crazy thing we are doing… a friend told me the other day that we don’t ever do anything normal. I’m not sure if it was a compliment or not. Alan spent some time trying to find a “real” job to no avail. Then somehow we started exploring the idea of starting a small business. I can’t tell you exactly how this evolved but somehow we decided on a shaved ice business. With summer coming it seemed like a good idea… low investment, high return. But from the beginning we have prayed for 2 things… that this would provide for our family and also in some way bless other people.

Originally we thought that we would be mobile and do special events. Then we started leaning on opening up a small neighborhood stand. We purchased a small start up package but then found that finding a location for our small operation was a lot more difficult than we imagined. We were met with lots of opposition. We were either told no or if we thought something might work out, the door closed. Needless to say this process started becoming very frustrating.

Interestingly throughout the process God began revealing ways that we could use this business to bless other people. The name of our business is Monkey Ice (don’t ask). Our logo will be a jungle theme with monkeys and snow. God began showing us how this theme is just like the world… snow is not of the jungle and we are not of this world. Our monkeys will be holding a snow ball and these will represent nuggets of truth that we can throw at people. Another bit of symbolism God reveled is in regards to the ice itself and the syrups we will use. The ice is the common denominator in our product. It is the foundation (the truth) and even though it may be covered with many different types of flavors and colors, it does not change the foundation.

Who likes normal anyway?

So we had been looking for a business who would lease a small portion of their land or parking lot… wasn’t working. We had been praying but nothing seemed to be happening. I (Dana) was getting very frustrated and on Tuesday I was at the breaking point. In the morning I was reminded of how God had told me in Honduras to go past the point of resistance. I was so frustrated and tired of trying to make this thing work… that I told God that I could no longer do that. He was going to have to do it for me. I was out of ideas and when ever I try to “make things happen”, nothing ever does happen, I am just spinning my wheels. Alan on the other hand has great patience, calmness and an inner peace that is very irritating. He truly knows how to wait on the Lord. I guess that is why God uses us to counter balance each other in a marriage.

Tuesday night I went to a prayer meeting. It was a sweet time if prayer and fellowship, we prayed for many people and needs of our church body. After the prayer meeting I went back to a location where I had grabbed a Subway sandwich. Next to the Subway there is a shop available for lease… to make an already long story short… God just started opening the doors.

Alan had gone up to NC a week ago Monday and did some training with Adrian Johnson (the man who owns Pelican’s, a very successful snowball shop in Raleigh). Adrian had told him that if he could get a location next to some schools, that would be a smart move. This location (Quail Ridge Shopping Center) that we are going to lease is surrounded by three schools. It is directly across from the high school, right next door to a middle school and another shopping center away from a third middle school.

The owner is a Christian and is excited about working with us. He currently donates space in the shopping center to a Christian teen group that ministers to the students in that area.

We are very excited and also very scared (well I am scared more than Alan). Who would have thought God would be moving us in this direction… I certainly wouldn’t.

So here we are… we do have some specific prayer requests and would so much appreciate you lifting them up in prayer…

1. First and foremost that we are moving in the will and direction God wants us to go.
2. We have never undertaken anything like this, please pray that God will lead and guide us and that we will listen and make wise choices.
3. Our focus will not stray from our original intent.
4. Please pray for our finances. We are using the funds from the sale of our van in Honduras. We have a small budget and big dreams.
5. There is lots of work to do, we need to paint, install sinks and a counter… lots more than that too. Please pray for all the details will be worked out and that we can open as quick as possible.
6. Please pray for calmness and peace.

Thank you so much for your support. Thank you for taking the time to read this and thank you so much for your prayers.

Love, The Sims

2008-04-18T06:50:00.002-06:00

Sorry it has been so long since we have updated this blog. Below is an email we sent out in February ... it gives you some details of what has happened this year. Who would have thought we would be back here in the States so soon. God's timing is perfect though and we are so thankful for all He has done.

*******
Dear Friends and Family

I hate that we are relating this message via email, but it is the easiest thing to do right now.

First of all we want to thank you so very much for all of your prayers and support. In the midst of these trying circumstances God has poured out His provision and blessing upon us in many forms. The overwhelming concern you have shown towards our family has been amazing. Thank you for your prayers and stepping up to help us out financially.

We wanted to let you know that we have made the decision to move back to the States. It is heartbreaking for us to have to do this, but we know it is what we need to do right now. We love the people and the country of Honduras and the work we are doing there.

We have grown in many ways during our time in Honduras and wouldn't trade this experience in for anything. The circumstances we are in right now prevent us from fulfilling our commitment and we are very sorry for that. Jordan's medical bills are overwhelming and on the rise, plus we have realized that her physical needs can not be met in Honduras at this time. These reasons alone are cause enough to return but there are other issues as well. God seems to be using this situation to call our attention to other areas in our lives that need to be taken care of.

We took Jordan to the neurosurgeon on the 23rd of January and all is well. Her cat scan looked good and she does not have to go back for a year. We found it interesting that the doctors said they had never seen this happen before. She was classified as shunt independent 2 years ago and yet her shunt failed and she is now shunt dependent again. They have some theories on what happened but really don't' know, they said it was bizarre. Her foot is doing much better. They put on one more cast, it is mostly healed and they are planning to do surgery in about a month.

We had been waiting to get more information on Alan before we headed back to Honduras to tie up some loose ends. Alan had one more test last Wednesday (a gastric emptying test, he had to eat radio active eggs and they took pictures of how they went through his system) and it came back normal. So now they have scheduled him for gallbladder surgery on the 25th of February. We were really hoping that it would be sooner so that he could feel better, especially having to take care of things in Honduras but since they can't get him in until then end of February we are going to go ahead back for a few weeks.

We will be leaving this Tuesday the 5th and returning the 19th. We will be getting rid of all of our things there with a few personal exceptions. It cost too much money and takes too much time to get them back here. So we will be starting over from scratch as far as material possessions. We decided to take AJ and Jordan back with us this time. They are old enough and been a part of this process from the beginning that they need to go back and say their goodbye and help with this process. The other four kids will be in the care of our good friends, Dean and Angie Rish.

God has blessed us with a loving, supporting Christian family (I'm talking about all of you) and we are so thankful that He continues to meet all of our physical and spiritual needs. A local church here in Columbia has a house they use for missionaries who are on furlough or in transition. It is available from mid February until the end of June and they are going to let us stay there. That will help us out greatly.

A note to our financial supporters...

Our intention was to get a real letter out to you... sorry about the email, but we wanted to let you know what was going on and now it's "crunch time". WGO will accept your contributions for us up until April (if you need an tax receipt) and forward them on to us. We are going to ask if you would continue to support us until Alan gets a job. Thank you so much for your care and concern for our family.

We love you all and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all that you have done for us. It certainly has been an adventure... and it's not over. We are all in this (life) together.

Love,
Alan, Dana and kids

Urgent Prayer Request for Jordan

2007-12-17T10:57:00.000-06:00

Please lift up Jordan in your prayers today. On Saturday we had to take her to the ER because she has been having headaches for about a week now and almost passed out on Saturday. In addition we noticed that her shunt (a tube that drains the fluid from the brain) was swollen at her neck. The strange thing is that this shunt has not worked for about 2 or 3 years (sometimes the brain can find a way to drain cerebral spinal fluid on it's own). So we don't know what is causing the headaches or the shunt to be inflamed or if they are related. She had a CAT scan Satuday night and it showed normal fluid levels in her brain (which is a tremendous blessing) so now we have to go to a neurologist today and she has to have an EEG and perhaps an ultra sound of her neck. All of her blood tests also came back negative for infections on Saturday, so we still haven't gotten a explaination on why there is swelling in her neck.

Please keep Jordan in your prayers for God's healing touch. Needless to say this is scary for Jordan and us since we don't have an explaination of the swelling and the long term effects.

Thank you as always for you fervant and consistant prayers for our family.

---Alan

Brigade numbers for 2007

2007-11-26T15:23:00.000-06:00

Once again I am amazed at what God has done this year through the medical brigades.

People seen in:

Medical---28,815
Dental---5,445
Optical---9,193
Children's ministry---12,854
Total number seen in the medical brigades this year:

56, 307

The really important numbers:

Rededications---990
First time decisions----2,448

Here are the team numbers:

Number of teams hosted: 29 medical, 15 construction for a total of 44 teams this year.
Number of team members: 731 medical, 155 constuction, 886 total
(451 first timers to WGO)

Thank you to all the team members that joined us this year. They are the ministry of WGO.

What a great honor and blessing it is for our family to be able to join God at His work.

To God goes the Glory!!!!

Overdue and I am not even pregnant....

2007-10-31T12:21:00.000-06:00

To the millions and millions that wait anxiously for our updates, here you go. Actually its more like 10 people that we owe money to that actually read this...lol.

Sorry for the delay, I am still having health issues that seem to be better for a couple of days and I think all is well, then right back to feeling bad. It has not been fun to say the least.

---Still getting into my expanded and new role overseeing the entire medical brigade and the operation of the mission house. There certainly has been a learning curve and I am learning to prioritize my time, because I still am doing interviews, recruiting and orientation for new missionaries also.

---God has been wonderful in providing additional workers here in Honduras. We have a 3 new missionaries coming at the first of November, a teacher due at the beginning of January, another couple in the final stages of fundraising, a retired couple here presently interning and helping us out, another intern scheduled for the beginning of the year and a couple of more in the process of applications, interviews, etc. God has worked wonders.

---Dana and I are both participating in Bible studies during the week and have grown through them.

---The kids are doing well with their homeschooling and are adapting well to the culture and life here.

---When we were back in NC at Fairview we were asked by the mission committee what we needed and how they could help. We said that the best thing would be for you to "come". We can tell you what it is like, but to actually see Honduras is powerful. And it is such a blessing to have someone come down, not necessarily on a team, but just to visit our family. Our home is always open to anyone who wants to visit. Well a friend from SC and her two young daughters have taken us up on the offer and will be arriving in Honduras on Monday the 5th for a 6 week stay. She said that she is coming to minister to us, but we pray that she will be blessed by her time here and see what our ministry with WGO is about.

---If you get the WGO newsletters you have read recently about a couple of our kids that have left the bridge house to start their lives away from WGO. What a blessing to see these young adults and the transformation in their lives and the way they have been impacted through the prayers and support of WGO. These are examples of the long term seeds planted many years ago at Centro de Vida and Rancho Ebenezer. It is so neat to see the results of years of hard work, prayers, laughter, and tears. To God goes all the glory.

---We have 2 more teams in November to finish up the year. Including ranch teams we will have had over 40 teams come down this year. As busy as it was, we would love to see more teams. If you or your church are considering a mission trip, please let us know and consider coming down to Honduras. We would love to see you.

---As most know we now have a van to replace the one that burned up last year. With that we had to deplete all of our reserve. So please keep our finances in your prayers. We are confident of God's provision and care.

---We hope to have a newsletter out with the next team, next week. If you do not receive one and would like one, let us know. To be better stewards we would prefer to send it via email, but will mail a hard copy to you if you would like. Also we send out regular email updates and more importantly prayer requests (for example the recent health problems) so if you are not receiving them, please email us and we will add you. The email is mgrathome at yahoo dot com.

Thanks for your patience with the updates. I am sorry that I am not as diligent as I should be. But always remember that we love you and are incredibily grateful for your love, prayers and support. You will never know how special and humbling that is to our family. Thank you for joining with us in God's work in Honduras.

--Alan

Dana, AJ and Jordan on Staff Brigade Day

2007-10-04T14:02:00.001-06:00

About a month ago we were not able to do one of our brigade days with a church because of strikes in the city. We definitely wanted to honor our commitment to the church, so this last Wednesday we had a staff brigade day. This was a wonderful opportunity for our staff, both North American and Honduran to bless this church and the community around it. Dana, AJ and Jordan joined in the brigade also. Dana was in evangelism, AJ helped in the pharmacy and Jordan worked in the kid's area. It was a great day and everyone enjoyed it.

Here are some of the faces of the brigade. Once again you see the beauty of the Honduran people.

Here are some pictures of our staff working on the brigade that day. We had everyone from the mission house, the cooks, cleaners, maintenance, drivers, etc. participate. It was great to see them give back to their communities. We also had a couple of teachers and 7 of the kids from Rancho Ebenezer. This was the first time that they have seen or participated in a medical brigade and it was great to hear the excitement in their voices as they retold their experiences.

God had the perfect plan for making up the missed day and He was Glorified.

Health Issues

2007-09-21T12:50:00.000-06:00

Sorry that I haven't updated in awhile, but I have been battling some health issues related to my stomach. In reality I really haven't felt well in about 4 months now. It started before our home assignment and has continued. Once back in Honduras, we have went to many doctors to get some answers. I have endured and endoscopy and ultrasound and different medications.

Basically this is what was determined. My stomach looks fine and healthy (no ulcers), but it just is not working right. What I mean by that is that I am experiencing bile reflux in my lower stomach. Apparently my valve (pyloric valve) that should keep this out of my stomach is not doing its job. This has led to my discomfort and gastritis (inflammation of the stomach). Also during my ultrasound they did discover that I have 5-10 gallstones. Talking with the surgeon, the gallbladder probably should be removed, but I have not had any typical symptoms associated with gallbladder disease. Also removing the gallbladder will not help with the bile reflux and may in fact make it worse. I have been given some medicine to try and help the condition, but so far no noticeable relief.

Needless to say the situation is frustrating and the adage applies: I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. So I selfishly ask that you keep me in your prayers as we make the decisions of the next course of action (i.e. surgery or not).

Also please keep Carson in your prayers for health also. She is currently experiencing her second round of being sick in the last month or so.

One final IMPORTANT note: While I may not update this blog as much as I would like, we do send out updates, newsletters and prayer requests (such as this recent health concern) via email. So if you would like to be put on our prayer partner, newsletter and update list, please drop us an email with your email address. We would be honored to include you on our list. Send it to mgrathome @ yahoo.com.

Thank you to all that have been prayer warriors for us.

----Alan

Hurricane Felix is coming

2007-09-02T08:40:00.000-06:00

Please keep us in your prayers as we keep an eye on Hurricane Felix. It keeps drifting further south (and putting Honduras in its path) on every update.

Also continue to keep our health in your prayers. Alan is still battling the issues he had in the states, Carson just got over being sick for a couple of weeks, and today Reagan is sick.

Thanks for your prayers.

---Alan

Dana's Brigade Day

2007-08-25T08:46:00.000-06:00

This last Thursday I (Dana) had the privilege of working with a team made up of five (I believe) different churches. The team is actually made up of a ministry in the States called Servant Outreach in Pennsylvania. I worked with them one day last year which was my first experience on a brigade. Last year, I got to wash hair and also observe in all of the different stations of the brigade.

This time I worked on a concrete floor. The family that was ministered to lived in a fairly nice neighborhood. Surrounding them were nice, sturdy, gated homes. Their house stood out in the neighborhood in many ways. On the street was a poorly constructed fence that revealed steep steps down to the front door of the home. One side of the house was carved out of the mountain (all of the kitchen) and the other side had wood paneling on the outside and cardboard on the inside. The family has lived there for 25 years. They consisted of a mother, two grown daughters, an eighteen year old son and one granddaughter. It was an amazing experience in many ways. It was very humbling to see the gratitude this family had for getting a new floor. The mother was praising God throughout the entire process.

I also really enjoyed working with this team. I had not been back to work on a brigade since last year, perhaps this will become a tradition. This team is made up of many wonderful, skilled, caring people. I told them that the best part of doing what we are doing (besides knowing that we are serving God) is working with people who truly care about other people and that is what I got to do this week. There are a few team members that I especially bonded with again and I am looking forward to continuing our friendships. I praise God for the opportunity to be here and the growth that I and my family have experienced.

Another blog

2007-08-22T14:36:00.000-06:00

In attempt to keep my wife happy and to keep this blog more about the ministry we are with in Honduras, I have started another blog.

alanssoapbox.blogspot.com

I don't expect many to read it, but I needed the outlet....lol.

Basically it is a place for me to deliver my opinions and thoughts about anything that comes to mind. Whether it is my love of politics (yes I know its terrible), my opinions about sports, thoughts about a movie or book, really what ever I wish to expound on at that time.

Thanks

---Alan

New job

2007-08-21T13:59:00.000-06:00

A brief update:

We are getting back into the swing of things now that we are back in Honduras. Dana has started school with the kids and the first few weeks have been great. One of the new things going on now is that I have a new "job" here. I am now the Mission House Director. That means that I am responsible for the entire operation of the mission house and of the medical brigades. Now the "fun" part is that I did not lose any of my previous job duties, so in addition I am still doing the human resources side of things also. While it is a lot of work, I am so blessed that God has provided the opportunities for me and I enjoy the responsibilities.

We are also still looking to purchase a vehicle to replace our van that burned up. We had a couple of people send in some money specific for the van, but we still don't have much. The cost of good cars here is quite high. We are trusting that God will provide, just as He did with the previous van.

Hurricane Dean luckily for us stayed to the north, but this is the time of the year when we keep a watchful eye on the Atlantic.

Thanks as always for caring and praying for our family.

----Alan

Back Home in Honduras

2007-08-11T09:39:00.000-06:00

Well we are now back home in Honduras. It is nice to sleep in your own bed. We ended up having to drive two cars to Miami on Monday and arrived at the airport on Tuesday. Dana has said that she hopes to never have to fly out of Miami again. We were there about 4 hours early, there was no one in line and it didn't seem busy, yet we still barely made our plane due to the time it took to check us in and scan our luggage.

I have said it before, Miami is a 3rd world country in itself.

We had a wonderful time being back in NC and SC. It was such a blessing for us. The fellowship was priceless. That is one of the things we miss most here is the fellowship with our church family. It was great to hear Pastor Craig, Pastor Greg, and Pastor Mike again and to just be loved, and prayed for by our church families.

3 John 1:5-8 says, "5Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren, and especially when they are strangers; 6 and they have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. 7For they went out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. 8Therefore we ought to support such men, so that we may be fellow workers with the truth."

Our 3 church families, Cary Bible Fellowship, Fairview Baptist and New Heights, have definitely sent us on our way in a manner worthy of God and they are fellow workers with us on the mission field. And God is Glorified.

We also were blessed in so many numerous ways, from financially, Dr. Ron helping us arrange doctor's visits (some doctors blessed us by providing free medical care), Dr. Sherry donating her time and expertise for dental work for everyone, Mrs. Harriett and the Maines letting us stay at their homes during our time, New Heights blessing us by allowing the use of their church van and then renting us a van to use during our time in NC. And God was Glorified.

We had the wonderful privilege of sharing at our 3 sending churches and also Faith Fellowship in Hertford. We traveled the state of NC one week, virtually from the coast (Hertford) to almost the mountains (Winston Salem) visiting some great friends, the Daughertys, the Dunningtons, Miss Dee, and the Brocks. And God was Glorified.

We were able to have many dinners and lunches with friends. It was such a blessing to spend time with people who love you unconditionally and just want to bless you. Dana and I were incredibly humbled and grateful for the time that people took for us. And God was Glorified.

There were so many wonderful things that happened to us during our time on home assignment. Dana and I made a list of the things and they fill up a full page easily and we have been blessed beyond measure. For anyone that gave of their time, resources or prayers for us, we humbly say thank you.

It was amazing to see how God was glorified in so many ways during our trip back. And really that is what it is all about. To God goes the Glory. That is the main reason for missions (and in fact, our life) is simply to Glorify God. It is not about the medical brigades, Rancho Ebenezer, or laying a concrete floor it is simply about Glorifying our Lord.

1 Peter 4: 10-11 states, "10Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 11If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

----Alan

Our presentation video

2007-07-29T18:56:00.000-06:00

Here is a video of the slide presentation that we did for our church families. The wonderful music is by a young lady who actually interned at Rancho Ebenezer, Stephanie Weir and her sister, Sarah. They do have a CD, if you are interested. .http://www.myspace.com/stephanieandsarahweir

We pray that you enjoy this.

Seeing all of North Carolina

2007-07-24T18:54:00.000-06:00

Time for an update of our time in NC. We had an absolutely wonderful time in North Carolina, and were blessed by the time and fellowship we had there. We had the opportunity to speak at two more of our "home" churches, Fairview Baptist in Apex and Cary Bible (located at WLFJ in Garner). We are truly honored and humbled by both of these churches' support, prayers and love for our family. Thank you Pastor Craig and Pastor Greg for allowing us to be a part of the family.

During the week of the 9th we "toured" the great state of NC and it seemed we were always on the go. We started from our home base in Fuquay, went to Hertford to stay with the wonderful Daugherty family and visit their church (and speak) on Tuesday and Wednesday, drove back to FV on Thursday and had dinner with Rick Habegger (HR for WGO) and family, left Friday morning for Reidsville to stay with the Dunningtons (the kids new adopted grandparents), Saturday went to Winston Salem to have lunch with a great lady named Dee, dropped off Jordan so she could go to camp, went to Liberty to pick up AJ from Centrifuge (to eventually take him to the Flowers later that night to go to camp in VA), and then spoke at both services at Fairview on Sunday. Exhausting? yes, but eternally rewarding.

The following week was VBS at Fairview and the kids (that were not in camp) went to that every evening and Dana and I had the great priviledge of being able to spend time and have dinner with some special friends every evening (and a few lunches).

This past Sunday we were able to report back to Cary Bible about our time in Honduras and we also were able to meet a wonderful family that are in the process of raising funds to join Global Outreach in Costa Rica. Ken and Sherri Dundon, along with their 4 kids were a tremendous blessing to us as they came to hear our presentation and then fellowship afterwards. It was amazing to hear how "interconnected" we were (including our kids) and the others from Cary Bible were to the Dundons. Please join us in lifting them up in prayer as they complete the process of raising up supporters. I also encourage you to see their blog at http://dundcostarica.blogspot.com/ I am sure they would love a quick note to say that you are praying for them and to encourage them, and if you feel God leading you to partner with them please do so. I am looking forward to the time that they become our "neighbors" again in Costa Rica.

We are now in South Carolina until the 6th of Aug, then we will drive down to Miami for our flight back home to Honduras. While it is a little sad to think we only have a couple of more weeks here in the states, we will treasure every moment.

Thanks as always for lifting our family up in prayers.

---Alan

In the U.S.

2007-07-03T14:56:00.000-06:00

Haven't updated since we all arrived here so thought I would do a quick one.

I (Alan) arrived here in SC on Tuesday of last week after a "fun-filled" adventure on Greyhound buslines. It included me (and 3 others) being left in the Orlando bus terminal for 6 hours. I mentioned to Dana that Greyhound is the official airlines of the Jerry Springer show.

We are currently in SC and having a wonderful time. The people here and our church here, New Heights have been incredible. The way they have taken care of us and prayed for us is glorifying to God. We have been blessed by someone letting us stay at her house and the church has blessed us by allowing us to use their van while here and paying for a rental van for our time in NC. Simply amazing!!! I shared on Wednesday about in 3 John, when John wrote to Gaius and in verse 6 mentioned that "You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God". Our supporters, prayerers, and church has sent us in a manner worthy of God, and they are fellow workers with us in the Truth. We are always humbled and in awe of God's provision.

As mentioned we had the opportunity to speak with our family at New Heights on Wednesday night and enjoyed being able to share God's work in Honduras. We have also been able to share fellowship and lunches and dinners with many friends. Our prayer is that during our time here that God is glorified.

Today Jordan is having a couple of doctor's appointments and if all is well, our plan is to leave for NC on Thursday. We are looking forward to our 3 weeks there and will be back in SC for a final week before we head down to Miami for our flight back to Tegucigalpa.

Thanks as always for taking the time to read this blog and to pray for our family. It means more to us than we could ever possibly convey.

----Alan

Photos of Christian

2007-06-22T18:34:00.000-06:00

Dr. Hector, Christian and Sandra.

Christian and team member Katia, who is a native of Honduras.

Christian and his mother Sandra

Our friend, Christian.

Christian's home.

A little boy named Christian

2007-06-20T15:54:00.000-06:00

Normally Luis leads the medical brigades, but he is currently in the states so the director duty has fallen to me this week. The team this week consists of three churches, Lakewood from Texas, Gethsemane also from Texas, and All Nations Church from Chicago.

I realize that I need to eventually do a post describing what a typical brigade week looks like, but I just wanted to share a prayer for a family we met on Monday and Tuesday.

As part of our brigades we also try and bless a family in the community with a cement floor. (see the earlier post for some previous pictures) As it turns out this week we were working in a community that was built after Hurricane Mitch, which meant that all of the houses had a concrete slab already. On Monday, Mark Harden (our concrete coordinator) and I took the pastor and started driving up the road to find a house that we may be able to work at. As usual God led us to the perfect house. In honesty the actual concrete project we would do at the house was not that "big" of a project, but the opportunity to minister to the family was.

The family in the main part of the house consisted of an older lady and 4 chidren ranging from 26 yo. to 6 months. The "other" part of the house consisted of a add on section made out of sticks, boards, cardboard, plastic and tin. The entire area was probably 14x6 if that. In the front part was the earthen stove that they used, then there was a sheet hanging from the tin roof dividing the room in half. Behind that was the cot, that Christian and his mom Sandra slept on. When we first got there Christian, 6 years old, was hiding his face and hiding behind the sheet. Talking with his mother we discovered that he had skin cancer. At lunch time Mark and I went back to get the Honduran doctor, and a couple of nurses from the team. As the doctor examined Christian we could see the extent of this young man's cancer. Basically from the middle of his chest up to the top of his head was affected. The most severe areas were his nose which was almost completely gone and a large open abcess on his left cheek about the size of a silver dollar. He also could not see very well, if at all, because of the effects to his eyes. We went back to the brigade site and got medicines for the entire family and then the following day, Mark and some team members did the concrete floor, while others ministered to Christian by playing with him and giving him sunglasses. They also were "the hands of Christ" by applying lotion to his entire body and even washing his feet. As you might imagine, during this time, Christian also ministered to the team. Please lift this family up in your prayers.

As we shared the events of the day last night at the mission house, the ones that went to the house told of the impact in their lives that this brave young boy brought. It is so wonderful how God uses everything to His Glory.

And as bad as Christian's face and little body seems, we are assured that in Heaven his face will be unblemished and perfect,......................

just as it is right now in God's eyes.

--Alan

I hope to get the pictures of the young man from Hector (our doctor) and post them.

Jordan's Poem

2007-06-12T16:19:00.000-06:00

Our beautiful daughter Jordan recently wrote the following poem. She even submitted it to Brio Magazine and they are going to post it online. (She finally let me post it here)

For anyone who doesn't know Jordan she is 14 yrs. old and was born with Spina Bifida.

Just the way I am

Its not so bad
Being different
Its not easy
But I'm used to it
Its all I've ever had
Sure, I've been teased
And I've felt the stares
But I've also felt the love
Of the ones who really care
Sometimes I wish I could change
But don't you think it would be boring
If we were all the same
We'd have nothing to talk about
Nothing to do
Its not easy being different
But its better to just be you
I can't do all the things others can
But I don't mind so much anymore
Because I know I am safe in His hands
He has a plan for me
Even when it seems hopeless
I know there is a reason He made me like this
There is nothing wrong with me,
Its not a DISability,
Its just a DIFFERENT ability
I wish people could understand,
Its not something I despise
I am perfect in His eyes
Just the way I am.

Love and Hugs,
Jordan

Getting Ready for the U.S.

2007-06-09T09:30:00.000-06:00

We are in the process of getting things ready for our furlough back to the U.S. Dana and the kids will actually be flying out on Thursday the 14th. Please keep them in prayer as they will be also driving from Miami to S.C. I will be leading a brigade the week of the 17th, so I will not be in the states until the 25th. I will have the "pleasure" of riding Greyhound for 16 hours back up to South Carolina.

We still have some things to get ready before Dana leaves. We are working on a slide show presentation that we can briefly show at churches. We also have to get the house situated before we leave. We have been blessed because one of our Honduran friends has agreed to house-sit for us. That is a relief because not only can they watch the house but they can also take care of JoJo, our dog.

We are all looking forward to visiting our friends and family when we get back. As mentioned in a previous post, leaving your friends and family is a tough decision. But God has blessed us with a wonderful support network of friends that lift us up in prayers and encouragement. We are so grateful for all of you.

See you back in the USA in a couple of weeks.

---Alan

Van Fire

2007-06-01T17:40:00.000-06:00

We wanted to send out a great praise and an special prayer request. On our way home today our van caught on fire. Fortunately it happened in our driveway and we all were able to get out of the van safely.

We first want to praise our Lord for his protection and providence in this situation. We had just returned from a trip to the ranch and we were very fortunate that this did not happen on the ranch road, in town, or as we travelled up the mountain to our house. Secondly when the smoke started we made the right decision to stop and get everyone out of the car. We also had some neighbors that helped. Also, a couple of men from the mission house came and stopped the flames at the front seat and prevented them from reaching the gas tank and causing an explosion.

Now the prayer request. Obviously we will now be looking for a vehicle. Ironically our plan was to purchase insurance on the van when we returned from our furlough. Unfortunately it appears that we were a little late in our decision. Although we were planning on only liability, which would not have covered this anyway. We trust that God will provide and we ask for prayers for the right decision regarding the next vehicle.

Thank you all for constantly lifting our family up in prayer. Because of those faithful prayers we are safe and were protected in this incident. Our family is grateful.

The Sims Family

More about President Mel

2007-05-30T10:51:00.000-06:00

Well Mel has started the propaganda campaign. At 10 pm on Monday all of the TV stations went blank for awhile and then the "messages" started. Admittedly I did not stay up to watch them nor have did I stay up to see them on Tuesday. It is interesting to see what the reactions may be, especially in light of what is happening in Venezuela with Chavez's decision to shut down a TV station. The Chavez decision has been heavily criticized here with the Association of News Media and Association of Broadcasters of Honduras branding May 27 as "a black Sunday" for press freedom in Latin America and claimed that such actions are authored only by totalitarian regimes.

Is Mel's decision the first step in that direction for Honduras?

Also a recent Gallup poll shows that confidence in Zelaya drops in Honduras

Polling Data
Do you think Manuel Zelaya is doing what is best for the country?

May 2007
Always / Almost always 50%

Never / Almost never 42%

Jan 2007
Always/ Almost always 66%

Never/ Almost never 25%

Source: CID-GallupMethodology: Interviews to 1,200 Honduran adults, conducted from May 4 to May 10, 2007. Margin of error is 2.8 per cent.

I think the most telling number of that poll is the dramatic jump in the belief that Mel never or almost never does what is best for the country.

The Honduran President propaganda order

2007-05-25T08:41:00.000-06:00

Well there have been some interesting things going on in regards to the President of Honduras. In the last couple of weeks he has flown a jet over the city, told the media to stop reporting on the violent crimes and now has ORDERED the radio and TV stations to air 2 hours of propaganda for 10 days starting on Monday the 28th.

Here is one link for the propaganda story:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6690217.stm

The press fought against his "request" to stop reporting the news and they are asking that he rescind this order also. It will be interesting to see where all of this leads. Keep in mind that Mel is a friend of President Chavez of Venezuela, who just recently pulled a TV station off the air for opposing him.

As for the jet flying, it did cost about $5,000 US in fuel, but it also produced one of the best quotes.

Ex-commander of the Honduran Air Force Roberto Mendoza Garay said that Mel put himself, the jet, and any other air traffic in the vicinity in danger. The commander said, "We can replace the president, we can't replace this jet because it's too expensive."

Please keep the government situation in your prayers. This has been a pretty stable country, but things like this make people nervous.

---Alan

Political Contributions by Celebrities, Sports Stars, etc.

2007-05-23T11:38:00.000-06:00

I am one of the oddballs who enjoys political discussions and opinions. I actually watched the GOP debate over the internet here. Please send all condolences to my wife....lol. While looking around at some news sites regarding the upcoming (2008) election, I stumbled on an interesting site (at least to me). It is called Newsmeat (http://www.newsmeat.com/). Strange name I know, but has a fun little search on it. It lists every contribution over $200 made to a candidate or party since 1978. If you go to the homepage there is a link for the "Hall of Fame". Click on that and then you can see where your favorite celebrity, sports star, politician, or even billionaire has donated. Of course most of the celebs give to the Dems or to Democrat special interest (ie soft money), but there are a few surprises and some of the amounts given are interesting. May make you think differently about your favorite actor or actress.

A couple of totals and then some recent donations for you:

The Leftists:

Tom Hanks---$45,800 total (99% Dem) Recent: $4,600 (Barack Obama), $2,300 (Al Franken)
Don Henley---$702,685 total (87.5% Dem, 11% special interest) on 3/28 gave $2,300 to Hilary and then on 3/31 gave $4,600 to Edwards
Jennifer Aniston---$2,300 to Barack Obama
Michael Douglas---$555,850 total (97% Dem) In the last month has covered most of his bases. $4,600 each to Hilary, Barack, Chris Dodd (why?) and $1500 to Richardson

For The Good Guys (or at least GOP announced Prez Candidates, no Fred Thompson...yet)
John Elway---$2300 to Guiliani
Kelsey Grammer--$4600 to Guiliani
A-Rod---$4600 to Guiliani
Charles Schwab---Another one covering his bases--$2300 to Guiliani, McCain, Romney and curiously Chris Dodd (maybe I'm missing something)
Roger Staubach--$2300 to McCain
Some of Romneys supporters---David Brandon CEO of Domino's $2300 and Meg Whitman of EBay $2300

Just for kicks went and looked at Ronald Reagan's supporters. Some of the names on the list.
James Cagney
Johnny Carson
George Halas
Charlton Heston
Bob Hope
Don King (only in America, surprisingly to me he is a GOP man lately, giving quite a bit to the RNC over the years including $50,000 recently. Did have a bad habit of funding Harry Reid though)
Donald Rumsfield
Jimmy Stewart
Frank Sinatra
and Donald Trump

I am sure that no one other than myself will find this at all interesting.

No matter who you contribute to or support, my prayer is that you overcome the rampant apathy that American voters have. If we did not have the right to vote you would be protesting and begging for that right. Well the truth is a lot of people have died for your right to vote, please don't dishonor them by saying your vote doesn't matter. If their lives mattered then your vote matters.

---Alan

Missionary-Blogs.com

2007-05-22T15:49:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to share about some of the links that are on our page. One of them is called Missionary Blogs. This is a great site ran by Jim Cottrill (a missionary with a blog and website himself). Not only does he keep up with hundreds of blogs, he also dispenses some good advice for bloggers.

The description from the home page reads:

This is the place to find Christian missionary blogs from all over the world. See what God is doing first-hand, as these missionaries share their hearts.

I encourage you to take a look at the site and view some of the great blogs that are listed. I am pretty confident that there probably is a missionary with a blog listed for a country that God has burdened your heart for. If you do see a blog of a country of interest and you find a missionary working there, please take a few minutes to let them know that you enjoy their blog and that you are praying for their work.

BTW, even with my anemic updating, we have been priviledged to be "featured" a couple of times on the blogwatch. The most recent time was April 26 at the link below title Missionaries of the Carribean

http://www.missionary-blogs.com/200704.html

Again take a minute or two and check out Missionary Blogs.

----Alan

Dana traveling and our furlough

2007-05-21T12:30:00.000-06:00

Well today I dropped Dana off at 5:30 am for her to catch a bus to Guatemala City, then she will be taking a flight to California to visit her family. The bus trip will take about 11 hours total with a layover in San Salvador, El Salvador for lunch. She is taking Spirit Airlines (a new service out of Guatemala) to LA. The airline has been running specials to introduce their service, so she was able to book one for $100 roundtrip. We had been looking at doing that for our upcoming furlough back to the states, but after adding in bus fare to Guatemala and really the hassle with 6 kids, we decided to go out of Tegus on Taca Airlines.

Please keep Dana in your prayers for traveling mercies and I wouldn't mind a couple as I play the single dad for the next 8 days or so.

BTW we have our furlough dates set, just not the specifics.

Dana and the kids are flying out on the 14th of June and I will be leaving on the 25th. I am scheduled to be the brigade manager for a team coming in on June 17th so I could not leave early. We have looked at lots of airfare, bus, trains and so on from Miami but it looks like we will probably rent a van and drive up.

So here is our tentative schedule...

Tegucigalpa to Miami June 14th. (Dana and the kids)
Arrive in SC on June 15th (overnight somewhere on the way)
Alan arrives in Miami on the 25th of June
Drive to NC on July 5th
Back to SC around July 30th
Drive to Miami on August 5th or 6th
Fly from Mia to Tegucigalpa on August 7th

To clarify

SC June 15th-July 5th
NC July 5th-July 30th
SC July 30th-August 5th or 6th

Please pray about housing and transportation and let us know if you know of some housing arrangements or vehicles we can use.

Please pray for safe travel and peace during our trip.

Praise God! He is so faithful and He is the great provider, we are in His hands.

---Alan

2007-05-03T20:45:00.000-06:00

Been quite awhile since I posted, I do apologize. I will attempt to tell a little of what has been happening and try to do a better job of posting in the future.

We have our latest newsletter complete. We will be emailing and snail mailing it out in the next couple of days. If you do not receive it and would like to be added, please email us at mgrathome@yahoo.com before this weekend.

More from the brigades

2007-01-30T16:56:00.000-06:00

More sights and faces from the medical brigades

Pictures from the first few brigades of 2007

2007-01-29T18:36:00.000-06:00

One of the houses that we worked at putting in a concrete floor

Papa and Grandma

2006-12-21T09:08:00.000-06:00

The past two Decembers have brought on the passing of both of my parents. On December 11th of last year my mother passed away and on December 11th of this year my father went into the hospital in critical condition. He passed away on Saturday.

Leaving family and friends is one of the toughest decisions that missionaries have. Not only the leaving but also the distance apart that sometimes makes it difficult to come back home during times of illness. We faced that decision with my dad last week. We found out on Monday that he had been admitted back into the hospital and that the prognosis was not good. On Tuesday Dana and I discussed what we should do. The decision was do we try and go now and see PaPa while he is alive or go back for the funeral. After thinking and praying about it we decided that me and the three older kids would go back. Two hours later we were boarding a plane for NC. God really honored that decision, because on Wednesday they were able to take the breathing tube out and by Wednesday evening Dad was coherent and alert enough to recognize us and talk with us for a couple of hours. What a blessing that was. On Thursday he started getting worse again and eventually he did pass away on Saturday night. Unfortunately we were not able to stay for the funeral because in order to change the tickets it would have been over $2000 and we would not have been able to return back to Honduras until December 28th. It was certainly hard to leave my sisters there to take care of the arrangements and I would have liked to have been there for the funeral. But when we step out on faith to follow God and we face heart wretching decisions like leaving family and friends, the faith that we have in God is rewarded. God proved that to us on Wednesday when the older kids had one last time to talk with PaPa and I had one last time to tell Dad that I loved him.

Thank you Lord for blessing me and my family through the lives of Mary and Alvin Sims. And thank you Lord for honoring Your Word and giving us the strength to serve You.

---Alan

2006 impact in Honduras

2006-12-04T10:05:00.000-06:00

Here are the numbers from this past year's medical brigades.

People Ministered to:

Medical: 25,406
Dental: 3,943
Optical: 5,549

First time Decisions: 1,593
Recommitments: 665
Children who heard the story: 9,796

Total number of people recorded as recieving medical, dental, optical and children care:

44,694

Thank you Lord for allowing us to join Your work in Honduras. YOU ARE AMAZING!!!

Story of Honduran Children at Dump

2006-11-15T13:39:00.000-06:00

While World Gospel Outreach does not have a ministry to the children and people that live at the dump I thought people may be interested in learning about some of the despair here in Honduras. As you read through this story, think of the kids that WGO does minister to at Rancho Ebenezer. By the grace of God and His provisions they are in our care and not facing a life like this.

From the Miami Herald:

Honduras facts
• An estimated 80 percent of Honduras' population of seven million is poor.
• More than half of Honduras' population, about 3.5 million, are children. An estimated two million of them live in poverty.
• The rate of children working at the dumps in Honduras is higher than countries with larger populations, such as Mexico and Brazil.
-- SOURCE: UNICEF

Poor children forced to live off garbage
TEGUCIGALPA -- Streaks of grime cover the boys' bodies and insects crawl on their heads as they scour through heaps of trash alongside buzzards that seem large enough to carry the kids away.
Brothers Carlos, 11, and Noel, 9, are dragging a pair of plastic bags filled with fast-food refuse while Ruben, 14, chases after a dump truck spilling fresh rubbish.
Here comes 6-year-old Giovanny, yanking at the brothers' trash bags to pick through crumpled boxes of fried chicken. He's known as El Pollo -- The Chicken -- for his love of the morsels he scrapes off the tossed-out bones.
This is life for the children at the main municipal dump in the capital of Honduras -- a life of far-too-early desperation in a country where nearly two-thirds of the population lives in poverty.
Many Latin American nations have pepenadores, Spanish slang for people who scour garbage dumps for recyclable goods they can then sell. But Honduras has the highest rate of children working at dumps -- an estimated 2,000, according to UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund.
''The level of boys and girls in poverty and going to the dump is big and growing every day,'' said Héctor Espinal, a spokesman for UNICEF in Honduras. ``Those children represent the poorest of the poor.''
Espinal applauds the current Honduran government's effort to rid the dumps of children, even as he urges authorities to move more quickly and diligently to put a total end to the child pepenadores.
''The country has taken some measures that, if continued and expanded nationally, will have an impact,'' Espinal said. ``But they are not moving fast enough for a problem that deserves a prompt response. The funds exist, the methods exist. What is needed is motivation.''
RAY OF HOPE
Some progress has been made through a government program launched a year ago. New ordinances prohibit the entry of children and pregnant women at the trash sites, and there are new programs to send the kids to school. So far, 189 have been enrolled in the capital.
But authorities estimate it will take at least three years to put an end to the children working at dumps across a country, about the size of Tennessee, of seven million people.
''Every barrio has a dump,'' said Rick Beck, a Christian missionary who visits the Tegucigalpa city dump each week to deliver food and prayer. ``It's a way of living. The problem has to be attacked spiritually, physically and emotionally.''
Soledad Ramírez, director of social programs for Tegucigalpa, said the effort will require a long-term commitment.
''It's not just to rescue the kids. It's to educate them and insert them into society,'' she told The Miami Herald. ``Many of these children grew up in the dumps. There were even children in cribs there.''
About 500 children -- the majority of them boys between the ages of seven and 17 -- are now estimated to be working at several dumps around the capital. About 50 remain at the main city dump, down from 200 before the government launched its rehabilitation program for the kids.
But the number is expected to climb again during the approaching holiday season as poor families desperately search for that bit of extra income.
Some of the kids say they virtually grew up in the dumps. Others say they found the work on their own or through friends.
Brothers Carlos and Noel began picking through the foul-smelling dump after their parents were killed by robbers earlier this year: ''The robbers wanted money,'' Carlos said. ``They didn't have any so they killed them.''
The brothers, who now live with their grandmother, said a friend led them to the dump and showed them how to collect plastic bottles, which they then sell to a recycler. The boys make about $2 a day. The nation's per capita income is $890.
''I like it here because I make money,'' Carlos said as he sucked on a chicken bone taken out of the trash. ``I give the money to my grandmother. She makes money washing clothes, but she's old. We have to help her.''
Ruben is the oldest of three brothers but works alone at the dump to help his single mother. He said his father ``left with another woman when I was a little kid.''
Giovanny is the second oldest of six siblings, ages 8 to 8 months old. His mother, Jenny Ordóñez, said she has no other way to earn money and can't afford to keep her boy out of the dump.
''Everything you do is out of necessity,'' said Ordóñez, 26, a single mom. ``The truth about my son is that he likes to work. Thanks to God, I am surviving.''
When the dump trucks roll in, it's a mad dash to get to the refuse. Men and boys tend to push the women off the mounds, and no one seems bothered by the smell, which at times is so foul it burns the nostrils and makes the eyes tear.
The pepenadores are too busy collecting anything they can use -- some shoes they can wear, a semi-broken toy they can still play with, a piece of cake they can eat, a bit of metal, plastic bottles or paper they can sell.
''The problem is that they make more money in that dump than they do with an education,'' said Kim Beck, who helps her missionary husband deliver food. ``It's the only recyclable program they have here, those people going through garbage.''
Even though some of the kid pepenadores have been enrolled in schools, not all of them stay there, and some educators are finding it difficult to teach them.
''I used to collect bottles and paper,'' said Jessica, 11. ``I like school better so I can learn.''
But Jessica, like many others, is doing poorly academically, and absenteeism is high. She remains in the first grade, despite efforts to upgrade her to the proper age level.
''The kids don't come to class regularly,'' said Jessica's teacher, Regina Palma. ``They don't come clean or with their homework done. So they don't advance.''
MORE INCENTIVES
Advocates of the children's program are offering incentives to parents by promoting memberships in cooperatives that pack recyclable products fetched from the dump. Plans also are under way to provide training for other job skills.
At least one cooperative financed by an Italian nongovernment organization has made a difference in the lives of 24 women who used to work at the dump alongside their children and now are partners in a business that packs plastic bottles fetched from the dump.
''This program has helped me a lot,'' said Dionys Gómez, 34, president of the cooperative, who worked at the dump with three of her five children. ``My kids would be embarrassed now if they had to work at the dump.''
When they worked at the Tegucigalpa dump, they earned about $10 a day. Gómez is now paid at least twice as much at the cooperative and can afford to send her children to school.
''I don't want those kids to go back to the dump,'' said Gómez. ``My hope is that the cooperative grows big and provides steady work. There has been a little progress, but so much more needs to be done.''

Pictures from the Concrete ministry

2006-11-09T09:35:00.000-06:00

We have been adding a concrete ministry in with our medical brigades recently. The churches that we work at choose a family that has a dirt floor and is in need of a concrete floor. It has been such a blessing. It really takes the team members deeper into the experience that God has for them when they come here. I had wrote about the experiences in an earlier post.

A recent family was doubly a blessing for us since the lady of the house was a widow of 5 years. Her name is Rubenia and she has three teen-agers: Ricardo, Fernando, & Seidy. Her husband, a carpenter by trade and the only bread winner, was hit by a motorcycle and died from a head injury after hitting the pavement. She struggles to keep her kids in school by preparing, cooking, and selling tortillas. Pastor Gary Olson and his team from Good Shepherd were able to lay floors for the living room, kitchen, and porch areas.

Rubenia and her family Pastor Gary and his Crew!

Kitchen area before and after.

Living Room before and after

These two photos are of another family that are very poor. You can see their tiny one-room house. A family of five lives in it. We poured their floor this week with the Don/Jeff/Lois/Mike Green team. Leo is the husband, Norma the wife, Kids: Anderson (8), Junior Alexander (5), and Fernando (3).

Pictures from Honduras

2006-11-03T15:10:00.000-06:00

A girl at one of our brigades.

Some of the boys at Rancho Ebenezer
Favio, Julio, Kevin, and Nick

Team member talking with the kids while they wait.

The line outside of Joshua 1:9 church

Jennifer at Rancho Ebenezer

Being God's hands.

2006-10-12T10:35:00.000-06:00

We are finalizing our latest newsletter. We are sending them out via email and snail mail. If you do not receive it and would like to please email us at mgrathome@yahoo.com to be added. Also if you don't get the WGO newsletter, we were in the August edition. Go to www.wgoreach.org and click on the newsletters link.

Love,
The Sims Family

Honduran update....always running late

2006-10-03T11:02:00.000-06:00

A friend of ours asked us to send him an update so that he could share with the deacons at church. Gave me a good reason to also update this blog.

Jordan's foot---She had surgery yesterday to remove a spot that had become infected. Down here there are a lot of different nasty bacteria that you have to be careful of. This particular place on her foot became infected and the concern was that it had started moving up her leg. She is on antibiotics and will go back Friday for a follow up.
Reagan's eye---His right eye is still crossing in. We have a patch that we are trying to use, which is impossible with a 2 yr. old. If this doesn't work, Reagan will have to have eye surgery, probably when we go back to the states for furlough.
Alan's Dad---My dad has been having some health problems recently. Its difficult with us not being there to help him and of course his grandkids here worry about PaPa. He is currently in Fayetteville with his daughter and is looking to move there so that they can look after him some. He is 78 and my mother died last December, and with us moving, and his recent health issues, its been a tough few months.
Spanish language---Pray as we continue to learn the language. The great thing is that we all desire to learn it so that we can become more immersed in the culture and by that be more effective in our personal ministry.
Our Support---Continue to pray that God raises up the support He has called. We are technically still below what is a recommended budget, but God has been incredibly faithful in raising up supporters and providing for all of our needs. We are blessed and humbled by the sacrificial giving of our supporters.

Praises:
The kids---They have been adjusting great. We didn't anticipate any problems with AJ adjusting and that is the case. He loves it here and all the new bugs and things he can find. Jordan was the least thrilled with coming here. But she has done great and I think if you pushed her, she would admit she "somewhat" likes it here. The younger ones have been fine and have become little Hondurans in no time.
Homeschooling---We have started the new year of homeschooling and so far the kids are doing very well.
Dana---She has gotten over the initial culture shock and is doing well. She is adjusting and starting to understand and enjoy the different aspects of life in a third world country.

Recent happenings:
---I had the opportunity to work with a brigade for a week in September. It can lead to tiring days and nights, but it is a great blessing to be apart of God's work here in Honduras. I love seeing how the Hondurans are affected, but also how the team members that come here are transformed during that week.
---Just last week I went to a bible conference in a little town called Siguatepeque for an exposition on 1 and 2 Thessalonians. It is an part of John MacArthur's Master Seminary and was an incredible 4 days of teaching.
---We are getting ready here at the mission house to have 4 teams in a row to finish out the year. Next year we will have 12 in a row to start the year, so be in prayer during that time for strength and endurance.
---WGO has been working on completing the upper grade school building at the ranch. With this we are looking at having all grades taught at the ranch with a bi-lingual curriculum. To do this one of the prayer request is for more teachers. I am in the process of trying to recruit at least 5 more for next year.
---I am also continuing to recruit more house parents also. WGO would love to be able to bring in more children into the ranch setting, however we can not do that until God raises up additional house parents.
---WGO recently donated over 500 bags of corn and $200,000 worth of medicine to the first lady of Honduras.

Verses:
1 John 3:16-19 16We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? 18Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. 19We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him

Phillippians 4:6-7 6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 7Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me--to keep me from exalting myself! 8Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. 9And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness " Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Galatians 6:9-10 9Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. 10So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith

---Alan

Love disguised as a concrete floor

2006-08-18T09:42:00.000-06:00

I had the wonderful opportunity to help with the medical brigade on Tuesday. I wanted to share a little about another element we are adding to the brigades. The local church picks a family from the congregation and we have a small construction team from the brigade go and pour concrete floors in their house. Most people here in Honduras have only dirt floors. The dirt here is teeming with bacteria and of course just imagine the respiratory problems that the family and little children have. The family we worked with on Monday and Tuesday were Rigo and Maria. They have three adorable children and another on the way. The also live with there with her mother and aunt in a house that is smaller than your typical front porch in the US. Now the medical brigades in themselves are touching, but to see the effect on the team members when they are in a small 10x20ft shack of mud and boards and you can remove the family's entire possessions in one armful, that is powerful. And the family is there also, so the team members get up close and personal with another of God's children, who just so happens to live in Honduras. And when you are looking into their eyes and their heart, you are humbled and moved to action. So can God's love be seen in a concrete floor? Does that small little thing make a world of difference to a Honduran family? If you looked into Maria's eyes on Tuesday, you would know that the answer is a resounding yes.

----Alan
(I will try and have some of the team members email the pictures that they took so that I can post them on here)

A story about WGO Founder Allen Dansforth

2006-08-07T19:48:00.000-06:00

We wanted to share a story about Allen Dansforth, the founder of WGO. It shows the heart of a true man of God.

This is in the form of two emails. The first one is from Dana relating the story that she heard and the second part a reply from Steve Razor, a missionary with WGO.

Dana's original email: Hello everyone, hope you are all doing well. I just wanted to share a story that our neighbor Terri Riley shared with me the other day. Weekend before last she and her husband were conducting a youth retreat for about 150 youth in Zepate (on the road to Olancho). There was a pulperia right outside of Proyecto Victoria that she had to visit for more supplies. There was a sweet little old lady there who asked Terri where she was from. After she told the woman that she was from Tegus, the woman asked her if she had ever met of Allen Danforth. Terri told her that she got to meet him one time at the Mission House. The little old lady proceeded to tell Terri that her daughter was born deaf and mute and that Allen had arranged a scholarship for her daughter to study in the States. Her daughter is now a missionary for the deaf.

Terri couldn't remember the girls name but she made a comment on how sometimes in our lifetime as missionaries we won't get to see the fruit of our work but it's encouraging to us now to see the fruit of Allen's work. I thought it was a great to hear how Allen's compassion and efforts for this young girl are now being used to further God's kingdom.

Steve's Reply: This young lady is Aura Diaz. She is working with Christy Owen (formerly with WGO's Deaf Ministry) here in Tegucigalpa. WGO launched Christy and New Life Deaf Ministry about 5 years ago and it is now an independent 501 (c)(3) ministry based in Little Rock.

Aura lived in Little Rock for several years with a family by the name of Ernie and Barbara Northup. This arrangement was set up by Allen when he lived in Little Rock. Ernie Northup is also deaf and now a member of the board of directors at New Life Deaf Ministry.

Aura was married here in Tegucigalpa 2 or 3 years ago to a young deaf man. Aura is a supported missionary and her husband works in Tegucigalpa. They had a baby a year or 2 ago.

---

A late update

2006-07-26T13:09:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone, once again sorry for the time between updates. We did finally get our newsletter completed. We are trying to send the majority of them via email to save on some of the costs. If you would like to receive it in the future via email and you are not on our email list, please send you email to mgrathome@yahoo.com If you receive it by mail it should be there sometime in the next week. By the way, our family is featured in the newest (August) WGO newsletter. Go to wgoreach.org to see it or sign up to receive it.

We are adjusting to life here slowly but surely. There have been some frustrations, esp. with getting things fixed at the house. But it is God's way of teaching us patience and dependence on Him.

This past month I have been taking Spanish on Mondays and Wednesday for 2 hours. A lot of my high school Spanish is coming back better than I thought it would. I enjoy learning it and have told all of the bi-lingual Hondurans here at the office to try and only speak to me in Spanish. My Spanish is still a work in progress, but at least I am providing them some laughs with my attempts. Dana, AJ and Jordan start their Spanish next Wednesday. Please pray that God opens our ears and loosens our tongues to learn the language.

AJ finally caught a snake, it promptly escaped, he recaught it, then it died in captivity. We also had a vinegaroon in our house that he caught. If you don't know (I didn't) that is a tailless scorpion. Here is a picture from the web of one.

School has started at Rancho Ebenezer. WGO has welcomed some new teachers recently and so far they have adjusted well and are doing great. Please pray for the kids, teachers and the school year.

We have a couple at the ranch currently that are a prospective teacher and admin staff at the ranch. They will be here until Aug. 1st. We then have another couple that will be here from Aug.5th-Aug. 17th for their final interview to become house parents. Pray that through their visits God's will is made clear. Pray that God raises up more teachers, house parents and staff to join Him at work in Honduras.

WGO has extended an offer to join us to a couple that will work at the ranch in construction and admin. Also we have extended an offer to a couple of teachers for this fall and next year. Please be in prayer for their fundraising efforts and preparation for coming to the field. God gets the Praises.

As always we cannot express fully our thanks and gratitude for your prayers and support. We definitely feel that prayers lifting us up in times of frustration and struggle. We give thanks for the sacrificial giving to support us on the field. We are humbled by everyone's' grace, love, thoughts, prayers, and support. We love you.

---Alan

Random Ramblings

2006-06-29T13:43:00.000-05:00

Hola--Just wanted to keep this up to date somewhat just in case people are actually looking at this. Everything is going well and all of us are adjusting well. I am starting to come into the office most days now and I will start language classes next Monday. God continues to bless us and protect us. Thank you for all of your prayers and support. We are humbled and grateful for your prayers and your sacrifice to support us monthly or with special gifts. We truly appreciate each and every one of you.

We hope to have our newsletter completed this weekend. Again if you want to be added to our newsletter list or email loop, drop us a quick line. We also hope to every so often send an email newsletter to save on cost, so if you have not given us your email, please do.

Thought I would write out just a few random thoughts, opinions, nonsense to finish up this post.

--God is causing our passion and love for Honduras and the people here to grows stronger everyday.
--Driving in Honduras is like a video game. Terrifying at first, but after awhile pretty fun. Passing on blind curves going up the mountain, making 6 lanes of traffic on a 2 lane road, red lights are an option, seeing which of the 5000 taxis is going to suddenly stop in front of you or cross the "6" lanes of traffic to beep at someone waiting by the road, driving through the black smoke of a old US school bus, now painted like the Partridge family bus, as it struggles to carry close to 1000 people and stopping to pick up more, the beauty of 5 cars lined up side by side for a left hand turn onto a one lane road and somehow making it work, dodging missing manhole covers, dogs, open grates, cats, dogs, potholes, cows, people, dogs, chickens, rocks, tree limbs, dogs, trash, quadruple parked cars, street vendors, did I mention dogs?
--How about those Carolina Hurricanes? Figures I worked at the RBC 2 years ago when they stunk and now this.
--How about the church softball teams at New Heights and Fairview? Both of them won the regular season and tournament, with New Heights going undefeated. How come I had to move to Honduras for that to happen??? I might get a complex if this keeps up.
--Dana does not like trantualas!!!! Especially when we find 3 within 24 hours including one in the laundry.
--There is nothing like taking a shower out of a 5 gallon bucket, try it sometime.
--Screens on windows and doors do a great job of keeping out flies. Too bad we can't get ours fixed yet.
--AJ hasn't found a snake yet (give him time) but he has found the above mentioned trantualas and last night him and his friends found a huge toad. It was literally the size of a chihauhau. He has also found him a new pet lizard, some other unique bugs, but alas no snake...or chihauhau.
--We can relate to the frustration that people who come to the states and can not speak English have. We will be glad when we can speak Spanish a little more fluently.
--We have a new restuarant in Tegus: Bojangles!?!
--There are close to 1 million donut shops in Tegus give or take a few. Its a battle between Dunkin Donuts and a Dunkin Donut Honduran version called DK'D donuts. Something about a store named decayed that makes me want to pass on by. No Krispy Kremes.
--Finally, if something is going to get done manana, that doesn't necessarily mean tomorrow, it just means not today.

------Alan

Update from Honduras

2006-06-16T21:33:00.000-05:00

Well I haven't been good about updating this and for that I apoligize. We are still in the "settling" in process and it seems that time/days slip away. Dana has been good about sending out email updates so if you would like to be added to that list, please just drop a quick note to mgrathome@yahoo.com. Below are the last two updates that we sent, including an incredible praise for what God did regarding our vehicle.

A few prayer requests:
--Reagan's right eye is still turning in. We will probably get him looked at next week, so please pray for healing and straightening of his right eye.
--Our continue adjustment to life here. Overall I think we are adapting very well and God certainly is looking out for us. There are still some things like the house issues that would make life a little easier. But then again, we feel so blessed and humbled when we drive around and see the situations that others here live in daily.
--Please pray that God continues to raise up supporters and provide for our needs. We are still a little behind what is considered the minimum we need, but God has always been faithful to provide. Our Lord and Savior hears your faithful prayers for us and provides in perfect sufficiency. Thank you for your love and prayers.

Praises:
--Our van, read the story of God's divine work below
--The kids, for the most part, seem to be adjusting very well. AJ has met a couple of friends and Jordan has also. There is a good community of believers right around here that have kids that match up in age with all of ours.

Below are the last two email updates. We hope to get out our newsletter by the end of next week. If you want to be included in the emails, join our newsletter list, or support us (or all three :-) , please drop us a line at mgrathome@yahoo.com and let us know.

June 10th update

Hello everyone! We hope you are all doing well. Thank you so much for all of your prayers. It has been a crazy week, we are very much in culture shock. We are just trying to get used to life here, where to shop, what to eat and what not to eat and how to go about eating it.... and so on. We now have internet access but we won't have a phone to call the states for about 3 more weeks.

Life is a bit crazy right now. I am learning that my biggest problem is that I have no patience. When I get an idea in my head that I want to do something or something needs to be done, I usually want it done yesterday. That just doesn't work here so I'm trying to adapt and not get frustrated. There are many things that don't work and that need to be fixed at our house. We are very blessed to have a large house that we are comfortable in but it has not been lived in for about 6 years so we are finding out many things that need repair (it was never equiped with a dryer and it takes about 3 days for clothes to dry on a line because of the rain and humidity here... so that has been interesting to work around).

The kids are all fine and learning new Spanish words daily. They have made friends with some of the neighbors and are enjoying all of the new bugs, flowers and critters here... we have bats in our attic and it's been fun watching them fly out at dawn. We were told that it was a good thing to have them around since they eat a lot of insects. We are being careful not to get too close.

I had to have a tooth pulled last Saturday, that was an experience. This was because I broke part of a my tooth from eating a very hard cookie (a welcome gift from one of our new neighbors). I had a deep filling on this tooth but after the dentist looked at it, I had a deeper cavity that I did not know about. She said that it would not be a good candidate for a root-canal because a crown would not fit on it very good. This was a very conservative dentist, the dentist that works here with WGO (if you have watched the WGO dvd, it was the dentist that called this her "blessing work") so I trusted her opinion. It was not as bad as I had anticipated (Alan had told me that they don't use anesthesia here in Honduras, which is true in some cases, but praise God that they did use some on me).

Please pray for our health it seems like we have all had one issue or another. One of Reagan's eyes is turning in like he is cross eyed. There was a team here this week with an optometrist, he looked at it and said not to worry now but he would be back in August and will look at it then, if it still doing it then we may need to do something about it (like glasses).

Thank you again, we love and miss you.
Alan, Dana and los ninos.

June 11th update

Just wanted to let you all know how God has answered our prayers today. We have had a very hard time trying to find a vehicle we could afford here. We had some very specific needs, the first being a vehicle that was large enough for our family. We also were trying to get one that ran on diesel, it's about .75 less a gallon here and also we needed a vehicle that had enough horse power to get up and down this big hill we live on (it's about a 20 minute, very rough ride). Anyway used vehicles are very hard to come by here, we have been looking ever since we got here.

Today we were on our way to get our drivers license (that was an experience, we spent 3 hours, stood in numerous lines, then in the last line the machine that spits out your drivers license broke... or so it seemed, the person worked on it for a while and then finally left... with a huge line still waiting) and we stopped at a light behind a white van for sale. Terry Mallasch (the COO of WGO, who Alan reports to) was driving. He recognized the phone number on the van and thought it was of a friend of his... sure enough he called and his friend's wife was driving. We all pulled into the McDonald's parking lot (yes, we do have McDonalds in Tegus) and basically struck a deal. This van was exactly what we had been looking for. It was perfect. It is a 2002 Hyundai (I believe). It seats 12, it has 3 rows of 3 seats and the back seat folds up and faces the opposite direction and has 3 more seats. It was in great shape and the best part was that it was way within our budget. It was also a blessing that Terry knew the people selling it and knew they took good care of their cars.

We are so amazed at God's provision. Thank you all so much for praying for our vehicle, today we were blessed in so many ways. Technically we had enough money in our account to purchase a new vehicle but that would have depleted it completely. I'm talking about the account we have with WGO, where you send your support. This as a huge deal because we came here not fully funded. We still don't have enough support to meet our monthly budget so what this means is that now we have a little cushion until we are fully funded. I hope that makes sense. We came here fully expecting God to provide for us and that we would live on what ever provision He had planned for us. Today he has eased our minds and reassured us that He is in complete control. Thank you again for all of your prayers... keep them coming.

Just another quick note... AJ was given a pair of barely worn Adidas running shoes that were exactly his size (a big size 12 at age 14)... we had bought him some "army" boots before we left the states and then the night before we left he said that he wished we had got him some tennis shoes instead, there was no time then. So God has also taken care of that need as well, through another MK.

Well we just couldn't wait to share this news with you, we are going to be picking up the van on Wednesday, there is some paperwork and money transfer to be done.
PRAISE GOD!
The Sims

HONDURAS

2006-06-01T21:49:00.000-05:00

Hola everyone! We are here safe and sound. We had no problems with our flights, baggage, customs or immigration. Our container full of stuff that was shipped in April actually arrived today (in was in Honduras last Friday, but released today) and they unloaded it this evening. They said that we were the first missionary family to have their things when they arrived (we did get here a few hours before our stuff).

The most hectic part of our trip was getting all of our bags together in Tegucigalpa. We were all so hot and frazzled by the time we got to the customs agent he just took one look at us (after witnessing my 3 year old have a fit over carrying her own back pack... I also refused to carry it and threatened to leave it right where it lay) and ushered us us through without looking or asking about one bag, that was awesome!

We are so appreciative of all of your prayers. We are amazed at what has taken place over the last 18 months and we are thrilled to be here. It is still very scary and we have a lot of adjusting to do, but we are comforted by knowing that we are here through following God's leading in our lives.

We are staying tonight and tomorrow night at the missions house and we will probably move into our own house on Friday, it still needs a few repairs and some cleaning.

Please continue to pray for us, over the next few weeks we have to set up utilities, get a stove, buy a car (please pray for the best deal possible), start language school, train our children not to drink the water or flush the toilet paper and so many other things. By the way there is a medical brigade coming in this Saturday, we may not be too involved in that, but everyone else here will.

We love you all and thank again for all of your support. We give all the praise and glory to our God who does amazing things.

Dios te bendiga,

The Sims Family

In North Carolina

2006-05-10T12:13:00.000-05:00

Update time-- Alan and AJ had a nice trip out to Texas to drop off our stuff. They also had the opportunity to meet with Eric and his daughter Audrey Shultz who are going to work at the ranch and will be leaving for Honduras on May 17th. We have already been blessed to get to know this wonderful family through email and sharing our preparations for the move to Tegucigalpa.

We are now in NC. God has blessed us again! At the time a couple of weeks ago when we set a tentative timeframe of being in NC for the first 3 weeks of May and then to CA, and finally to Tegus we literally did not know where we would be staying in NC. Well God knew exactly where. We received a call from our good friends John and Shannon and they mentioned that the renters in their trailer on their property had just moved out and we were welcome to use it for as long as needed. Then they mentioned that they were planning a trip to visit some family so actually right now we are house (and dog) sitting for them out here near Pittsboro, NC on the "farm". It is a beautiful place that is close enough to Raleigh so that we can see family, friends and supporters, but it is also far enough away and secluded that it almost feels like a retreat. Dana and I are grateful that we can use some of the quiet and isolation to recharge our spirtual batteries before the move to Honduras. We had the opportunity also to speak at Emmasus Baptist church (Shannons dad's church) last Wednesday. We will also be speaking at Sandy Creek Baptist church on the 21st, so please keep us in mind that day. We are also pleased to say that many of our supporters and friends have agreed to invite us to dinner at their houses this past week and also next week. What a special time of good food and great fellowship.

We are still planning, God willing, to go to CA around the third week of May and be in Honduras either the last couple of days of May or the first week of June. It's been amazing to see God's work in touching people's hearts to partner with us in His work at WGO.

Praises and Prayer requests

2006-04-23T21:25:00.000-06:00

"Every blessing You pour out I'll turn back to praise"

We just got back from a wonderful family weekend at Victory Junction Camp and thought we would do a quick update before we finished our packing and put the computer away.

Praises:
-----As mentioned we were fortunate enough to be able to spend some time in NC and have a family weekend at VJGC. We were extremely blessed to have been paired with several wonderful people. Thank you Dee, Linda, Carl, Rackley, and Allyson for putting up with our family and making the weekend memorable. We love you all!
-----Our last newsletter mentioned that we were at 50%, thanks to God's provisions we are at 70% of our support with the pledges we know of and around 65% of our moving expenses. Thanks to all of our supporters. We are deeply touched and grateful each time we see your names either on commitment forms or on our monthly reports. To know that you think enough to support us monthly or with special gifts is indeed a unique blessing.
-----Alan's work has a contract w/Penske Truck Rental and they agreed to let us have a 26 foot truck (to move our stuff to TX) for $300... this is normally a $1,000 .
-----There is a house that we looked at in Honduras last October that is on the same property that 3 of the other missionary families from WGO live on (one other missionary family live there that is not from WGO)...this house had been vacant for 5 years (now going on 6). It is a very large house (perfect for a large family). The problem is that the owners wanted $1,200 for it (hence the reason it's been vacant for so long). They now have agreed to rent it to us for only $650...GOD IS GOOD!
-----Our pediatrician's office agreed to give our kids Hepatitis A shots at 1/2 the cost so we get to pay only $60 vs. $120.
-----Jordan's foot is healing well and she is now able to walk with her braces.
-----We have a special needs co-coordinator at our Peds office that arranges Dr. appointments and things for us. She volunteered to make all of Jordan's appointments for us and continue to co-ordinate her care at no charge.
-----This is a big one.... We went to the neurologist last week for a routine visit and they were looking at some test results from last year (that we never knew about) They told us that Jordan's shunt had been severed and no longer working (THIS WAS A YEAR AGO)... (for those who don't know, a her shunt is a tube that runs from her brain to her abdomen to drain cerebral spinal fluid... kids with spina bifida used to die or have severe brain damage w/out a shunt). The praise is that our God is the Great Physician and apparently Jordan has outgrown the need for it.
-----Special thanks to Angie and her family for taking time out of their weekend to help pack some of our items for shipping. Thanks, we love you.
-----We have been blessed by an outpouring of people giving us much need household goods that are either hard to find or expensive in Honduras. We continue to be humbled by your outpouring of love and support.

Prayer request:
-----That God raises up the rest of our support.
-----Alan and AJ will be leaving for Texas either late Tuesday or early Wednesday to take our stuff to Humble, Texas to be loaded in the container for Honduras. Then they will be flying back on Saturday. Please pray for traveling safety.
-----Our family travelling plans for May. We plan on leaving SC on May 1st and will be in NC for 2 or 3 weeks. Then we will go to California for a week and fly out of CA to Honduras tentatively around May 30th. Pray for travelling safety, no van problems and that God will raise any needed funding or lodging.
------Our health physically and spiritually during this last hectic month.
------That we only "wander" for a month and not 40 years. :-)

Love and Blessings,
The Sims Family

Stepping out of the boat

2006-04-04T18:02:00.000-06:00

Its been awhile since our last post and seeing as we "advertised" this blog in our latest newsletter, thought it was a good time to post another entry.

The great theologians (lol) and Christian rock band Audio Adrenaline have a song called "Walk on Water" and one of the verses is that if we keep our eyes on Jesus we can walk on water. How true that is. When we focus on Jesus it is amazing what we can accomplish and God has a way of letting us "walk on water" even during the roughest of storms. During the last couple of months we have been going through some storms. Our support seemed to plateau for awhile, at least one of us have been sick every week with Reagan getting a nasty case of rotovirus for a week, the task of going through everything in preparation for the move is not a fun thing, and Jordan had foot surgery and is still in a cast. However even through those stormy times when I kept my eyes on Jesus, God had a way of calming the storm and giving me a great sense of peace. I have every confidence that God will provide our support and He will make all sufficiency even at the current levels. He is the great Physician and we will get through the sicknesses and He will completely and greatly heal Jordan's foot.

Of course to walk on water you have to be like Peter and actually get out of the boat. That first step is the scariest. That is also what we are doing now. I will be leaving my job on April 14th. No more "security" of a paycheck, ending our insurance that covered Jordan, giving our landlord notice of us leaving the end of this month and planning on being in Honduras around May 16th. As we take this step, we are asking that our prayer supporters take that step with us and lift us up so that we always keep our eyes on Jesus.

We are so grateful for the love, prayers and support that has been shown for our family, and it is because of that, that we boldly move to the edge of the boat and step onto the water, our eyes firmly focused on our Savior, Jesus Christ.

--Alan

Re-Focus

2006-03-05T14:40:00.000-06:00

Hello! This is my first blogging experience. I wanted to share a story with you that really helped me to re-focus on the "why" we are going to Honduras. About a week ago a couple from our church gave a report regarding their short term missions trip to Honduras in January. This couple have been going down there on medical brigades for nine years now. Our friend Ron is a doctor and he told a story that was very powerful. The way their brigades work is that you have to present a "stamped" card in order to see the Dr. The way you get your card stamped is that you have to attend a service. They have several services throughout the day where you can hear the gospel message. They see so many people that it can take hours to stand in line just to hear the message and then hours again to see the doctor.

The card that they present the doctor also has their list of ailments. Ron said that it is usually a lengthy list because they see so few doctors, they want to get all of their needs and possible future needs taken care of. Ron told a story about a man who had stood in line for about 3 and a half hours to hear the gospel and get his card stamped, then he stood in line another 4 hours to see him. The only thing this man had on his card was "eyes". Ron asked him several questions to make sure there weren't any other needs that this man had. All he kept saying was "eyes". Then Ron asked a few questions to find out what was wrong with is eyes. The man said (through an interpreter) that all he wanted was a pair of glasses so he could read his Bible. The optical part of the brigade was closed but they were able locate 3 pairs of glasses and one of them was a perfect match.

Isn't that amazing? What would we stand in line almost 8 hours for? Would we do it just so we could read the Bible? I was humbled, embarrassed and motivated. To be honest I had recently been having a pity party and this snapped me right out. Not just this story but their whole presentation was just what I needed to hear. I had gotten caught up in the logistics of getting to Honduras and this helped me focus on the "why". There are so many needs there and it is a privledge that we have been called to help.

Thank you Ron and Debbie!

---Dana

Waiting on God

2006-03-01T20:52:00.000-06:00

God is using this time of raising support and getting ready to move to Honduras to teach me about patience. I certainly know that God's timing is perfect, it's just sometimes I want to change the clock. If it were up to me we would be in Honduras now, or at the very least in the final stages of leaving. I am at the point now that alot of my day is spent thinking about Honduras, the people and what we will be doing there. I check the local papers out on the web for news, check the weather, look through the WGO site rereading the newsletters, and looking at blogs that are about Honduras and Tegucigalpa. But, God is telling me to be patient. We are still at around 45% of our goal, Jordan's foot is not healing as quickly as the doctors would like and they are even talking about surgery, and we still have many, many things to get ready before we leave.

So what is God trying to tell me? I admit I'm not sure right now, maybe that's why He is waiting. Perhaps He is telling me that while He is definitely placing a compassion in my heart for the people of Honduras, that the "alot of my day" should be spent with Him. He has great news, it's sunny when He is around, He has a great newsletter called the Bible, and He has the best prayer blog in the universe.

Thank you Lord for your lesson on patience and we are thankful that You tolerate our rushing to get things done before You deem it worthy. We trust that Your timing is wonderful and perfect.

--Alan

Honduras?

2006-02-27T18:38:00.000-06:00

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

2006-02-27T15:13:00.000-06:00

Thanks Angie for the great picture