Blog - 61 Isaiah

Thirteen Years of Faithfulness

March 24, 2023 by Lindsey Moreno Leave a Comment

Once again, like every other year, the calendar marks the 14th of February, and in our country we celebrate Valentine’s Day, the day of love and friendship. This is a day to exchange gifts with your loved ones or even go on a date. Flowers, chocolates, and candies become popular again. For me this date is much more than that. It was the 14th of February in 2010 when I received the calling from God to become a pastor next to my wife and children. They were just kids when this happened Carlos was four, Regina was six, Mauricio was seven, and Elvirita, our adopted daughter was 22 years old.

We started by having church services at my house. After meeting several times, we decided to move to a different building my family owns. We didn’t have any musical instruments, logistics, much less any idea of how to fund a church, but we had a grateful heart to serve God. I knew God would be faithful, and that he had a plan for us. God had shown himself to me and my family demonstrating his love and divine protection by taking care of us when we were in a car accident.

But God had been working on my heart long before that accident. I had been on a spiritual retreat back in 2006, and during that retreat I had a personal encounter with Jesus. For me, everything changed. That’s when I started going to church and studying my bible more. I was thirsty and hungry to learn more from God, the same hunger and thirst I have now. I took every chance I had to learn more. I started going to theology seminars and studied with missionaries that came to our city. I had decided to have a real relationship with my God.

Later I realized that in the church there were things that were anti Biblical, some churches had practices that were contrary to what the sacred scriptures taught us. They used psychology and emotions to keep people there. Yes they were thrilling, but they had very little knowledge of the truth and what they were doing. Practicing retreats where I had given my life to Jesus, God used these retreats to call me but not everything the churches did had basis in the Bible. I decided to step away and stop attending churches. I didn’t want to be a judge of how the other churches work or the strategies and methods they use. I asked God to keep me from having a judgmental heart. I just wanted to have a relationship with Jesus, learn from him and his life, and learn how I could take his message to those who need it.

Returning to my story, it was on the 14th of February that we got out of the comfort of our house and we moved on to a bigger building. At that point we only used CDs for the worship songs. It was during this time that a family who had just recently moved to Gracias showed up timidly asking if this was a church. My wife’s answer was that this isn’t a church, but we do bible studies and you are welcome if you’d like to come in. From that point our church continued to grow.

Working in the Maternity home with the Avenue

Later on God sent a missionary couple and their family down to Honduras, the Hopkins family. They have helped us with their discipling programs, teachings, and connecting us through 61 Isaiah Ministries with other missionaries who live in Honduras, specifically in my town Gracias Lempira. I have walked with them and learned so much from them by visiting churches, villages, and communities. Through 61 Isaiah we formed a partnership with our sister church The Avenue from Waxahachie, Texas. They come down to visit us yearly, helping share the gospel all around. Not only do we share God’s word, but we also work on social projects at Maternity Home for women from far away communities and villages to come stay while they wait to give birth at the local hospital.

The Avenue helping with ceiling construction at Rio de Dios Church

So much has changed since we started our church that February 14th. But what I really want to share with you is that for me, Jose Mauricio Vicente Romero, I can say that by the grace of my Heavenly Father I have the privilege of being the pastor of Rio de Dios. And I can’t be more thankful for having celebrated our 13th anniversary. Every doubt and insecurity I had at the beginning, God has walked through them with me. Little by little God connected me with the right people and has shown me what it means to be part of a healthy church that may truly be a River of pure waters, like in Revelations 22:1, where people may come and find the peace that only God can give us.

Pastor Mauricio and his daughter, Regina

Christmas celebration at the church youth group meeting

It’s Not Always as It Seems

March 10, 2023 by Taylor Chandler 4 Comments

Hi friends and those reading this blog! My hope anytime I write is that I might share a little vulnerability and truth. I hope you stick with me and God uses these words to speak to your heart today. So here I go…

The other day I was speaking to a good friend who had seen a post of mine on social media that some of you may have seen as well. My post was a combination of pictures that had been taken since January including some moments during a staff retreat, valentines day celebrations, and a hike I had just recently gone on with some of my friends here in Honduras. It was pretty cute if I’d say so myself.

My friend and I continued our conversation, and she mentioned my post and the pictures she had seen from our hike saying, “Oh my goodness Taylor, those pictures are so cute… it looks like you guys had so much fun…” and even before she could finish her second sentence I laughed stopping her to explain the moments that were not pictured. “It was not as cute as it seems,” I said. This hike was one of the hardest things I have done, not just physically but mentally and emotionally. However, those hard and difficult moments are not exactly the pictures I shared on social media.

The more I think about this conversation with my friend and her perspective of the hike, I wonder how many times in our life we appear to be “living the best life” whether it be on social media or through interacting with those around us. It is easy to put a mask on, and I’m not talking about a covid mask. At times I find myself living this way, and it’s not intentional. The majority of the time my desire is to be transparent with those around me and share in the hard things going on because honestly that’s what I hope for in return, but just like you my flesh wants people to think I have it all together.

A lot of times we can even do this with God. We want to seem to have it all together even when approaching Him. We place human characteristics and qualities on Him thinking that we should also hide from Him and cover up our messes. (I hate to say it, but we’re just like Adam and Eve). Christ knows where I am. He knows the parts of me that many people don’t see and aren’t pictured. (Having a husband who sees lots of those ugly parts of me day to day is still wild to me– but that is another story). God sees the parts of my life that are not cute. He sees the days when I get home and don’t want to talk to anyone. He sees the days when I lay down in bed with tears streaming down my face because it was a hard day at work. He knows the thoughts I have and I don’t have to cover up that mess or make it seem like I’m okay. He knows and is okay with it. But am I?

Jesus is pretty clear in Matthew 11:28-30 (NLT) when he says, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” I think this is a theme running through our ministry seeing that Kylie also quoted this piece of scripture in her blog a few weeks ago. But, there is so much to gain from this passage that Jesus teaches. My prayer for you and for me is that we can come to the Father unashamed of trying to seem okay. But not only that, feel freedom in showing others our true self and the reality of how we are.

We live in a time where many things are romanticized. Social media especially romanticizes life in ways that make other people think you have the perfect life. Envy is another topic for another day, but people probably see your life or mine right now and wish they were us. It’s the “grass is always greener on the other side” mentality. But no matter how hard we might try, Christ is the key to finding freedom and the life we truly desire. We can be freed from the burden to live life perfectly or appear to have it all together. You’re not alone in this, and I have to remind myself that I’m not either.

On Saturday, February 18th at 9:00 am Paul and I started a two day hike, hiking the tallest mountain in Honduras with ten other people. At 4:00 pm, after 7 hours of hiking, we arrived at our camping spot, had coffee, cooked dinner over the fire, and got ready for bed, which at the moment was pretty fun. Those are some of the cute pictures you probably saw. But what I didn’t know was that Paul got injured within 45 minutes of our hike and was still feeling really bad, and to be honest my ankle was hurting pretty bad because back in December I rolled it and it hadn’t recovered 100%. “We’ll just push through it,” we said. That was probably the first wrong decision we made when we started our hike that morning.

The next morning we left our camp at 7:00 am because it rained all night and would have been dangerous to hike any earlier. The original plan was to hike to the top and watch the sunrise but again, it was too dangerous and wet. Before we started our day two of the hike, we were told it would be around 2 hours to the top plus an additional 4 hours back down, or if we chose to start the hike back down it would be around 4 hours. So Paul and I decided because of injuries we would be splitting from the group and begin our hike down instead of hiking to the very top.

As we started down, we noticed the terrain was very slick, muddy, and mostly downhill. I also forgot to mention it was raining off and on. Paul and I hiked for about 3 hours and were hopeful to soon be done only to find that our guide told us incorrectly and we had an additional 6 hours of hiking. We didn’t plan to pack lunch and extra water for this day so we were exhausted and running out of energy. After slipping in mud, being soaking wet, hungry, having a few buckled knees, rolled ankles, and hurt hips, I was angry. I was angry at our guide, the rain, the mud, slipping, and possibly dying. (Yes, I’m a little dramatic). It was a nasty moment of acting out in the flesh. I heard from others that it was a hard hike, but I was not expecting it to be like this. After 8 hours of hiking we finally made it down to the bottom with tears of joy in our eyes.

This isn’t necessarily the picture I painted in my post. I wanted it to seem like it was the best day of our lives, but to Paul and me it wasn’t. We probably won’t hike Celaque again. We did it, but probably won’t do it again. God was our strength through our literal weaknesses and helped us in the moments when we didn’t want to take another step.

Our hiking story might be a silly example of what it’s like to want to appear a certain way before your peers, but I hope you get my point. I don’t want to hide and seem to have it all together when I really don’t. Here’s to vulnerability and allowing Christ to use my weaknesses for His glory.

When you feel the need to appear a certain way, whether that be on social media or in your relationships, humble yourself and share the rawness and truth of what’s really going on. I will do this as well. The next time someone asks, “how are you doing? ” answer honestly. And lastly, be real with the Creator of the universe because He really does see you.

Seeking Help

February 24, 2023 by Kylie Johnson 1 Comment

I hate asking for help. I am not entirely sure if it is a pride issue or an insecurity issue. Honestly, it’s probably both. Whatever it is, at the end of the day I avoid help like the plague. With that said, I can ask for help with more minor things. I don’t mind someone helping me change a flat tire on my car, because honestly, I’m not sure I can get the tightly screwed lug nuts off by myself. The areas I hate asking for help in are much deeper and more personal.

Truthfully, I find it challenging to face the emotions I have when it comes to asking for help. There is a vulnerability when it comes to seeking help outside of yourself. I would have to acknowledge being incapable of being able to control the situation. Not only that, but I would be inviting people in to see me powerless and scared. Failure would laugh in my face and others would be there to witness it. Therefore, I “bravely” hold onto what I am facing alone. The weight of my burdens that I decide to keep is heavy. Still, I hold onto things because if I talk about my worries, insecurities, fears, and emotions, they will overwhelm me.

Avoidance becomes my best friend and my worst enemy. The lie of avoidance is this, “If I don’t tell others how I am feeling, then I don’t have to confront the uncomfortable. If I don’t confront the uncomfortable, then my problems aren’t really there.” Well, let me be the first to tell you that lie is absolute rubbish. Yet, I still struggle with it. I find myself instinctively choosing to bear my burdens alone, and I also find myself suffering alone.

At some point, we will all be faced with burdens that are too heavy for us to carry on our own. Life circumstances quickly show us that seeking help outside of ourselves is necessary even if it is undesirable. During Jesus’ earthly ministry, many people looked to different things to help alleviate their burdens. They looked to status, money, relationships, and religion (many of the things they sought help with are similar, if not the same, as where we seek help today). Yet, they still found that their souls were in want of something more.

What they needed and what we need wasn’t a thing, it was and is a person: Jesus. The only way we can truly help ourselves is to humbly recognize that we cannot. To be honest, this sucks, but it is exactly where Jesus wants us to be. When it comes to following Christ, all he asks is that you come as you are, mess and all. He doesn’t tell us that we have to clean up our act for him to even consider helping us. Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened.” I don’t know about you, but I’ve been weary. I’ve been burdened. I am weary. I am burdened. He then goes on to say to those who come to him, “…you will find rest for your souls.”

Recently, I have been overwhelmed. Emotions have started rising to the surface that I don’t want to deal with. In the midst of feeling helpless, I decided that I wanted something different. I made a list of what was causing me to feel overwhelmed. As I looked at my list, I realized that there were people who could help me in some of the areas that were causing stress and anxiety. People who God has lovingly placed in my life. So, I humbled myself and asked for help. Some of the things on my list I am still struggling with. They aren’t easy fixes. Yet, there were other things I was able to overcome with help.

I know that God doesn’t want us to live our lives weary and burdened, but sometimes I don’t believe that.

God has started challenging me to come rest in Him. He is reminding me that I can find rest for my soul and that I don’t have to suffer alone. You don’t have to suffer alone either. Trust me, I know it is hard to ask for help, but the love that you’ll encounter from God will bring healing.

My Next Step

February 10, 2023 by Edith Ayala Bonilla 1 Comment

When I was about to graduate high school I was trying to figure out what was next in my life, where I needed to go, and what God wanted me to do. God answered my prayers by opening doors, and I was able to go to college to get a degree in hospitality and work with 61 Isaiah ministries. Little did I know the blessing and the family I was getting myself into.

It’s been almost 7 years since I joined the ministry. I have no idea the amount of sermons I translated, the amount of time I spent with pastors and their families, the amount of visits I made to hospitals or clinics with families from communities, The amount of preparation we did for teams, or the amount of laughing I did in so many places with so many people. My last 7 years brought me so much spiritual growth. I have learned by not just reading the Bible or listening to sermons, but by seeing people living their faith and showing what it really means to love people and their families well.

2022 was a hard year, a year that truly made me face my fears, and my faith. So many things changed, I was graduating from college, and again I had to ask God what was next. I can say with all certainty that the past 7 years have been an awesome journey. A journey that has given me a second great family, friends far away joined in prayer, and a great spiritual growth that prepared me to face the world and my journey ahead in a whole different way than I would have faced it years ago.

Many of you may wonder what is next. My next step is to attend flight attendant school in San Pedro Sula. After that, I will be seeking the Lord’s direction for a position in the airline industry. I am so grateful to take all of the skills I have learned in the ministry to this new field. The hours spent serving others and meeting them in their good times and bad times will help me to better serve and see the needs of people I will meet every day.

Working in ministry, I have come to realize that all people have basic needs to hear about our Lord and Savior, and to be loved, cared for, and accepted. I will have the opportunity to be this for countless people and I look forward to see how God will use me.

The past seven years have been full of ups and downs and many twists and turns. I’d like to leave you some of my favorite memories that will hopefully make you laugh.

Teaching Shannon Spanish is one of my favorite things to do. Primero (first) because I’m not good at explaining rules, Segundo (Second) because accents are hard for English speakers, and tercero(third) because many words sound so similar and it’s hard to pronounce them right. Also, feel free to ask Shannon about the tercera (third) reason.

In 7 years of visiting pastors and their families in the communities my name is still not remembered by them, in fact, I gained some more names. I am the translator, the girl that comes with Shannon, Iveth, Iris, Cindy, la hermana, (the sister). Most of the time I answered to anything because I knew they couldn’t remember my name.

During my time in the ministry I developed an awesome gift that I know came from the Lord because He knows how much I like to sleep. I can sleep in the car up or down the mountain anytime. Bumps don’t bother me, I just need to find a good spot and game over.

Translating sermons has helped me gain a lot of knowledge and not specifically by just knowing the word, but by saying a word that is not the right one and saying something completely different in the middle of a sermon. After a lot of mistakes I decided that some English words were not going to be in my vocabulary. Some words you mispronounce and it becomes a VERY different word altogether. I rather explain to people what it is and have them say the word.

These memories and experiences I will have forever. Thank you all for your love and support over the last seven years. I will not forget you and the experiences we shared. I pray you will continue to lift me up in prayer as I follow the path before me, as I will continue to pray for you and the work of 61 Isaiah Ministry.

My 61 Isaias team is the bomb diggity bomb!

The Upward Calling

January 13, 2023 by Jeff Holloway 1 Comment

Samuel, Jeff, Michelle, and Caroline Holloway

Our Family has been here just over two years serving with 61 Isaiah Ministry. It has been a wonderful two years full of struggles, blessings, failures, and successes. I could spend my time sharing about the difficulties of moving to a third world country during a pandemic between two hurricanes, leaving all my family has known as a church family and home to join in what God is doing to reach a beautiful and wonderful people in Honduras with the gospel. I could talk about the blessing it has been to have a team that took care of us and prepared for us to be here and so many supporters who made it possible for us to be here. I could tell of many failures including all the trial-and-error mistakes with my poor Spanish, making cultural mistakes, and probably offending more than my share of people who have been so gracious to forgive. At the same time God has blessed us with so many successes: churches and individuals growing in faith, sharing the gospel, discipling believers, and so many more amazing things.

As I was thinking of the new year and what I wanted to share one scripture kept coming to mind, Philippians 3:14, “Press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” This is a life verse for me. One that I have been returning to over and over since my pastor, Herb Thompson, shared it with our football team my freshman year just before we stepped on the field the for the first game of the playoffs.

His message was inspiring, and I clung to it for all these many years returning to it repeatedly to remind myself to press on. Just like many scriptures, it has grown in depth and width and inspiration as I have grown. That night I took it as a rally cry that God wanted me to do my best and that even though we were in the playoffs, we couldn’t rely on what we had done in our past, good or bad, to get us to the future and win these games that were before us. Yes, I was fully convinced that I would do my best and bring God glory through performing well.

As I grew in my faith and understanding God has used this verse time and time again to remind me to press on. Also, as I grew, I learned to look at his Word in greater context. I need to see why this was being said, what was Paul writing about to understand it with greater depth, width, and application. This is not a complete interpretation; I have much more to learn, but I would like to humbly share what God has shown me so far. With that in mind, I would like to take just a few more verses before and share a little more.

Philippians 3:10-14, “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.¹²Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

In verses 10 and 11 we see a deep expression of love, worship, and hope in Jesus, a deep and abiding desire to live like Him, to die like Him, and to join Him in heaven. In verse 12 Paul confesses he has not arrived at this but that he will press on no matter the struggle, no matter the suffering to join Christ because Christ has taken hold of him. In verse 13 he repeats that he has not yet arrived, but he explains one thing he does.

Wow, when Paul says the one thing he does, we might need to listen closely to what he is about to say.

“Forgetting what is behind”– This has come to mean so much more than it did in high school. Not different but more. We can forget all the sins, problems, and mistakes that could entrap us and keep us imprisoned in the past, keep us from living the life of fullness, freedom, and kingdom impact that Christ desires for us to have. I can press on because I have been forgiven and set free to join in His wonderful ministry of redemption and restoration. Looking back and focusing on the life I have been set free from can lead me into a life that is empty and never full, entrapped in a world of condemnation and pain and one of impact but not for the kingdom of Christ but my own kingdom.

We also must forget all those amazing accomplishments and achievements included in “forgetting what is behind.” We tend to look back and see what God has accomplished in our lives and drift into a place of pride thinking we have accomplished these things. We tend to look back and say, “look what I have done!” And then we get caught in resting on our laurels. Like the farmer who puts his hand to the plow and looks back at what he has done instead of focusing on what is ahead. Our life gets off track and we find ourselves trapped in the past. When we look back at our past “accomplishments” and claim these accomplishments as our own, we get caught in our own kingdom instead of pressing on for His kingdom.

I am not saying that we don’t learn and grow from the good and the bad in our past, but when it is our focus, we become stagnant and trapped.

Then Paul says, “straining for what is ahead”– I look forward to Christ and what He has in store. Not just looking forward but using all my energy straining through whatever comes my way to see Him glorified, to see His kingdom increased, to join with Him.

As I look forward to the coming year, I need my focus on Him. I need my heart, my mind, and my soul stiving forward to His upward call. No matter what has happened, good or bad, I will continue to see his kingdom increased.

I am reminded of the story of Desmond Doss who won the Congressional Medal of Honor but never carried a gun. He kept going back and retrieving wounded from both sides while praying for God to give him strength to go get just one more. His focus was clear he wanted to save as many lives as possible.

The game is not over, the time has not come to rest and relax, but to press on to the upward calling.

Join us Through Support!