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From Father Keith …                                      

Honduras
Lessons in Faith, Hope, Joy and Gratitude

by Bruce and Donna Cross

On our mission trip to Honduras, in June of this year, we saw so much poverty and sadness.  But we also saw faith and hope and joy in the form of the Latin American Missionary and Bible (LAMB) Institute.  LAMB was started by Suzy McCall who went to Honduras as a missionary 20 years ago from St. Philip’s church, Charleston, SC.  The Institute was founded in 1999 as a missionary training school.  Little did Suzy know 10 years ago that God had other missions for her, as well.  Today, LAMB continues as a missionary training program and has evolved into so much more. 

•      We saw Erling, a nineteen year-old, who lives in a tiny and depressing little room in Tegucigalpa.  He was smiling because we paid a few dollars for some bracelets he had made.  He was also happy because he had adopted Jan, one of our team, as his mother.  He told us he had never had a mother, not that he could remember.  (Erling is a member of LAMB’s Alonzo movement—130-youth-strong now—to rescue teens from drugs and street gang involvement in the city.)  
•      We saw women in the poorest part of the city, many of whom can’t afford to buy eggs every day, but they were smiling and happy to share our rice and beans at lunch and so grateful for the simple cotton material we brought to teach them to sew skirts for themselves. (LAMB’s community assistance program teaches women skills to support themselves.)
•      We saw the 260 children at the day school, quiet in their classrooms because they are grateful for an education.  We spoke with the head of the day school, who said very quietly that her job is not just a job to her, but a calling from God.  And looking into her eyes as she says it, we know it is true. (LAMB’s day school and day care for children and infants is for poor working mothers in Tegucigalpa.)
•      At the Children’s Residential Home in San Buenaventura, we saw 60 plus children, many of whom are from unspeakable home situations, now happy and thriving in the safety and loving care of the residential home with 3 nutritious meals a day and excellent schooling, more than most of them could have ever hoped for. – (Again, this is a LAMB initiative.)

We saw and reveled with these amazing Hondurans in their gratitude for simple, basic needs.  We invite you to go to Honduras to see LAMB yourself.  But, if you can’t go, we urge you to support this ministry in any way you can--with your money, your prayers, or your time and talent.  Any support for this ministry is not wasted.  Good things are happening at the LAMB Institute in Honduras.  Suzy and all of the loving and devoted staff at LAMB are doing God’s mission there.  And for that, we can all be truly grateful.  Thanks be to God.

Note:  Suzy McCall will be visiting several parishes in the Marietta Convocation during early September of this year.  We are hoping that everyone in our parish who would like to meet Suzy can do so at some time during her visit here.  We will publish dates as soon as we know her final schedule.