Stopping For The One

God wants to use us to bring light and transformation to the place He has placed us. It really doesn't matter where you find yourself. You may find yourself at home surrounded by family or you may find yourself in a foreign land surrounded by people with great needs. His purpose for us is to love HIM with all our heart, soul, and mind and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

I've learned a lot lately about what love looks like. Love is driving an hour, to a place not many people would go, and be willing to open my home to a young man from the garbage dump who needs daily outpatient medical treatment. In loving this one, he gave his life to Christ. He desires nothing more than to leave behind his sinful old life, and daily seek and walk with his God.

Love is being presented with a second young man with similar infection issues needing similar treatment. Love is again opening your home to the one in need before you. When you walk in love, even though you are being pulled way out of your comfort zone, there is a peace that passes all understanding and His love ebbs and flows naturally from you to the one God chose to encounter..through you.

Love is also looking into the sad eyes of a 9 year old boy and 5 year old girl who just lost their mother. Love embraces them where words fail. If you can look on the bright side of death and loss, little Oscar will be able to go back to school now. He solely was responsible for the care of his mother.

Love has no boundaries. Love suffers long and is kind. Love does not envy or behave rudely. Love does not seek its own. Love bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. May we all be consumed by His fiery love that challenges and enables us to stop for the one.

Would you pray for Jonathan and Oder as they rest and recuperate. Pray for healing and continued growth in the Lord and for transformed lives. Would you pray for Oscar and his family that they would be comforted in the loss of their mother.

Miracles

God is a God of miracles. In this hurricane season alone, we here on the north coast of Honduras have seen God's hand of protection from three (yes, not one but three) tropical storms. I stand in awe as I looked out my front gate this morning and saw the river rising and next the rain diminishing. Our God is faithful! He is concerned about every detail of our lives. We did not even get the 65 mph winds that was supposed to come our way!

When you talk of miracles I know that it makes some people uncomfortable. I'm not sure why that is. Jesus' life was a life of the miraculous and we are each called to walk and do as He did and even greater things are we to do because He lives in us. I have witnessed healings before and have seen people radically saved but just this past week I was able to witness it and be a part of it first hand in this amazing country God has chosen to place me in.

A pastor and 3 gentlemen came down to see how they may partner with me in the dump and possibly in other areas of ministry. The pastor felt really drawn to Rio Esteban. Rio Esteban is a fishing village almost at the end of the dirt road out here. I have one contact in Rio Esteban and wasn't even sure she was around but we went. We connected with my friend and felt led to go down to the beach and just pray. As we were praying, God began to highlight or give us clues as to people we should look for. One gentleman felt like we were to look for someone with a broken arm. We continued to pray and the gentleman got my attention and said "Lisa a guy just walked by with a bandage on his arm". We all of course walked down the path he had taken. He had a broken wrist. The Holy Spirit began to minister to this young man and long story short, he was prayed for and was healed. He took off the bandage and picked up a large stone with the broken wrist to show what God did for him. You could literally see his countenance changed. He also accepted Christ. When God demonstrates His power through the Holy Spirit, people are forever changed!

Another miraculous healing was a woman who could barely bend her leg to walk. She was completely healed and bent her leg back and walked around to prove it. Through tears she praised God for His goodness! She praised Him for His extreme love for her.

Yet another miracle was a very sick child. She had a very high temperature and was listless. Immediately after praying for her, she got up and started playing and smiling! There were other instances where the Holy Spirit ministered to people who were lost and hurting in a tangible way. People are hungry for more of God and He is longing to meet us right where we are! He loves us so much and will go to extreme lengths to encounter us in a real and personal way.

For God to demonstrate His extravagant love in such a powerful way, in such an out of the way place, surely He has great plans for this little nation.

Spring 2010




Dear Friends,

This spring finds me in the good old USA. My heart however is on Honduran soil. Most of you know by now that I returned to the U.S. in October for my oldest son’s wedding. Zach joined the Air Force, married Lora Leigh Tillman, and is now stationed in Warner Robins, Ga. I couldn’t have picked a more perfect young lady for him myself.
After a routine mammogram and subsequent biopsy in October, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. This completely caught me off guard and I felt as though the breath had been knocked out of me. To further complicate matters, my insurance had expired. The provider I had was extremely expensive and the coverage was poor. I had been searching for a better policy and was caught in a horrible situation. I literally thought that I was going to die because of this predicament I found myself in.
When this storm touched my life, God just happened to have me in the book of Job. It seemed that with every up and down movement of this emotional roller coaster I was on, I could relate to Job and his life ministered to me. I learned that it’s ok to cry. Crying does not mean that you are doubting God. Like Job, he mourned the loss of his children, his wealth, and his health. We do need to grieve for our losses. Job then stopped looking at his pain, and turned his thoughts to God. In like manner, I did the same. I stopped looking at my circumstances and turned my heart and eyes to my God who loves me, who promises never to leave me, and who knows the number of my days. I know we all know these things but sometimes when faced with a crisis, we get tunnel vision. This shift in my thinking as it was in Job’s was a catalyst for growth, strength, and renewal.
God called me for a season to “be still”. Most of you who know me know that this is something I just am not capable of. Through this path of suffering and this time of being still, my hunger for God and His word has been rekindled. His word became strength to my body and meditating on His word defeated every lie the enemy tried to tell me. I began to stand on His word and on His promises. I also began to spend more time in His presence. In the rush and hurried lives we live, we are robbed of the very things that we need most…prayer and God’s word. We must return to our first love and make sure He is just that….first. Being taken aside during this time, I have had to relinquish everything and it was not easy, but it was so worthwhile. Relinquishing all is not a one time thing, it is a daily dying to self.
During this time in the U.S., I have been taken aback by the number of people who are hurting and suffering. God has continually brought people across my path who are in more terrible and trying situations than I. I am remembering to count my blessings and even in my weakness, God has begun to speak life and minister to others through me. God is not waiting for us to reach some level of spirituality. No matter where we are or what we are going through, He wants to use us, to touch a hurting world. We must continually look outward and be His hands and feet right where He has us.
Also in this journey, I have been forever touched by the number of women who came seemingly from out of the shadows to minister to me. Women who shared their testimonies in tears and through their courage and strength helped me, though I was astounded by their numbers. I never knew that cancer touched so many lives of the women around me.
Though this has been a hard detour in my life, I can say I am thankful for it. I actually feel as if I am starting anew and I am stronger and better than before though I thought at first my heart would burst being away from my home and the very people God had sent me to. I am at this point halfway through with radiation treatments. My final treatment will be on May 6. I am hoping and praying that I will be back on my way to Honduras at this time.
Job was a man who was blameless and full of integrity. His suffering, like mine, only proved to make us stronger. In the end, God blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first. I am confident He will do the same for me.

Updates:
*I am still serving with Hospital Loma de Luz in the area of Administration. It is an honor to be a part of a ministry that is bringing health and healing (both medically and spiritually) to a very needy part of the world. For information on Hospital Loma de Luz, please visit our website at www.crstone.org.

*We are holding weekly children’s outreaches in two villages.

*We are working in the dump twice per week. Not only are we feeding children, but we are bringing them the gospel and allowing the Holy Spirit to just minister to them with His love. We are beginning to see lives transformed (see the praise report!)

*Joshua got his GED. He is really excited.

*Phillip is in college in MS. For the Fall Semester of 2009 he made 4.0-President’s List Scholar.


Praises:
*I am personally thankful for family and friends that walked through this health journey with me.

*We are thankful for the medicines, school supplies, and backpacks that have been sent for the dump! Thank you Pass Road Baptist Church for the huge part you played in this!

*We praise God for the people and finances provided to repair our home and replace furnishings after the flood. Thank you especially to the team from Jacksonville, OR. You guys are amazing and we are thankful for the big job you did in such a short time.

*Praising God for the 15 children that accepted Christ during a routine, run of the mill children’s outreach day. Never grow tired in doing good!

*Praising God for the two young men that recently accepted Christ in the dump. We literally could see these hardened young faces go from stone to beaming as they accepted our Lord with tears streaming down their faces.

*Thanking God for the Honduran young men and women who have joined with us in our village outreaches and dump ministries.

*Thanking God for providing a family to live in our house, as well as continue the hospital work and ministries while we have been away.


Prayer Requests:
*Continue to pray for revival in Honduras.

*Please pray for the safety of all missionaries associated with Hospital Loma de Luz.

*Please pray for the personnel needed at Hospital Loma de Luz: Teachers, Surgeon, RN’s, and Bookkeeping help.

*Please pray for our hospital’s finances.

*Please pray for our family’s financial support. This cancer diagnosis has been financially crippling.

*Please pray for direction for Joshua as to what to do at this stage of his life.

October stateside visit

Dear Friends and followers,
I came back to the U.S. for my son Zach's wedding. On October 10th he married the most wonderful young lady. He could not have chosen a better wife. She is sweet and beautiful inside and out and I am very proud to have a new daughter and her name is Lora (photos to soon follow).
A week and a half ago I had a routine mammogram. The next day I was called to come back in to further investigate something that they could see on the film. After a second mammogram followed by a sonogram a biopsy is needed. They have not called it a lump nor a mass and quite honestly it appears to be very small. I will have a biopsy on Wednesday the 28th. I would appreciate your prayers and agreement with me that this is absolutely nothing! I am planning to return to my home in Honduras on November 4.
I must admit is has been a bit scary not knowing what is going on and at times thoughts flood my mind, but I take captive every thought and I know who is in control of my very life. He has numbered my days and I have no need to fear.
Lisa