We share the vision of Escuela El Sembrador to raise up a generation of Godly young leaders in Honduras. God’s presence, His mercy and His desire for relationship is the foundation of our ministry.
  • The Escuela El Sembrador mascot is a hawk. So we've nicknamed our rec room ministry "The Nest" ("El Nido").
  • On January 25, Hondurans celebrate Day of the Woman which commemorates the date that women were given political status in the country in 1955.
  • The new strategic plan for the The National Holiness Church in Honduras targets the 4-14 window, which emphasizes evangelizing and discipling children between the ages of 4 and 14. This represents the church's renewed focus on the future generations of Honduras.
  • Kelly designed the new El Sembrador and Honduras field t-shirts this year. Be sure and pick one up when you're here!
  • In the U.S., 85% of conversions to Christ happen between the ages of 4 and 14.
campamento - camp
niños - kids
"There will be plenty of work here. You will build houses for the people. They will be the same. No one will have a better house than another. And you'll build them the way I want them built and paint them the color I want them to be," the pastor screamed at the children, pointing at the uniform stacks of boxes and building supplies.

"You do not have permission to address our president," I hollered at one of those who dared to speak out in protest as the guards shoved her toward the cardboard jail under the playground slide. "SILENCE! This is not a game," yelled Steve at the startled prisoner.

No, we haven't been recruited into some militarized cult that terrorizes children. The Country of Progress was part of a complex project designed to demonstrate what life is like living under tyranny. The pastor acted as our corrupt dictator and Steve and I, along with several other staff members, were his henchmen. In the nearby soccer field, another group of kids ran wild, smeared paint on one another and stole and hoarded snacks in the Country of Happy People (our anarchy neighbors).

The exercise was part of a week-long kids camp experiment that gave volunteers and church leaders like us the opportunity to practice teaching methods and ideals we'd learned in the previous week's seminar. We worked alongside seasoned facilitators from Puerto Rico to learn how to disciple entire families, churches and communities through their children.
 

What a joy it was to watch Nick thrive in his role as camp counselor!

Over 85 children were invited to join us at the denomination's retreat center to take part in the pilot program. The 4-14 camp is a holistic model intended to minister to a child's physical, intellectual, spiritual and social needs. Projects and lessons focused on family, government, church, health, creativity, science, service, communication and business.
 

This project was one of many that focused on creating art to honor our Creator.


Steve helps demonstrate a lesson on architecture.


Dressed in their "lab coats", children laid on benches to observe the clouds during their science lesson.


Puppets helped the younger children understand more complex lessons.


A news broadcast helped students communicate what they'd learned and taught them about media influence.



The kids helped make a special lunch together as part of a lesson on family. Here, Steve helps a group of girls make fresh orange juice.


In order to demonstrate service to their community, the kids spent their final morning at camp volunteering.
 
Our time at camp was exhausting, but it was also an encouragement. This camp was meant to be a prototype to be reproduced all over Honduras. It represents a new direction for our churches who are more committed than ever to our future generation. 

Believe it or not, we actually had to practice being mean for three days in order to transform ourselves into tyrants. But the tyranny/anarchy project also gave the kids an inside look at the perils of living under too many arbitrary rules or living with no rules at all. The activity and following discussion guided the children to think about authority and choosing to live under God's rule. And don't worry. We gave out plenty of hugs in the days following just in case our acting was as Oscar-worthy as we imagine it was.
  • Praise God for children and families impacted by the 4-14 camp. Pray that He would continue to raise up teachers, pastors and volunteers within the church who are passionate about ministering to the future generations of Honduras.
  • As students return for a new school year, pray for the staff and leadership of Escuela El Sembrador. Pray that they would be encouraged and inspired by all that God is doing here.
  • Pray for the new and returning students. Pray especially for their transition into life at El Sembrador and their openness to hearing and learning from the Word of God.
  • We can hardly believe that it's already time to start thinking about our next Home Ministry Assignment (HMA) that will begin in August. Please pray that the Lord would already be at work preparing hearts to give generously toward our ministry.
  • We are currently looking for a place to live and a vehicle to use while we're home on HMA. Please pray for peace and patience as we wait for God to provide for these needs. And if God wants to use you to serve in this area, let us know!
Two weeks ago, I had the amazing opportunity to work at a camp for youth ages 4-14. I was the co-leader of a group of teen boys from the ages of 12-14, which is the primary age group at El Sembrador. As luck would have it, the three boys staying in my room were all boys I had previously known from El Sembrador. It was a great experience to get to know them better away from the stress and hard work of school.

These three boys have each led hard lives. One is the only Christian in his family, another saw his brother murdered, and they are all living in one of the most dangerous places in the world. And yet they were always ministering to others from their own experiences. My favorite memory of the whole week is a good example of them and their wonderful character. Every night, we had an hour or so of prayer time to get right with God and worship Him. I watched every single night as younger kids would break down crying from whatever was on their hearts and one of my boys would go over there and comfort him/her and continue their prayers. It was a sight that is indescribable. I am so proud to be one of the El Sembrador boys. God is changing lives here!

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