News from Honduras

Family Outreach

March/April 2003

Dear Friends,

            Once again we would like to share with you some of the things going on here in Honduras. The Lord has extended his hand of mercy by blessing the work here.

            There were five baptisms in Las Conchas. We are expecting a few in el Ocote. We are also very excited about the family retreat we had in January.

            Possibly up to eighty people showed up for the family retreat we hosted the first weekend of January. Among our guests were Chema and Viola (Presler) Manzanares as well as other brethren from the States and Seventy Juan Reyes from Mexico.  Viola Manzanares and Tita Metzger helped the youth prepare a drama of the conversion of King Lamoni’s father, when he was overcome by the Spirit (Alma 13). The young people really enjoyed learning their lines and practicing with costumes. We were grateful that the Lord gave Vi the inspiration to write the drama.

            The play was presented on Saturday night. Chuck gave a class on being transformed by the Spirit of Christ, using the illustration of the Lamanites’ conversion and drawing a distinction between being “slain in the Spirit” as practiced in some churches.

            All the women worked together in the kitchen. We could make a list of all the people that were involved in helping and who had responsibilities, but this is not as important as what the Lord did during this weekend.  The Lord’s Spirit was with us. It was a “shot in the arm” for many of those who attended. There is no better way to express the blessings that the Lord gave us, than to write the testimony that a dear sister shared with all of us during the retreat. Her testimony

is as follows:

            “God bless you brethren. My name is Marta. I live in El Ocote, Santa Barbara. I am here today only by the grace of the Lord.

            In March of 2002 I began to have pain in the back of my head and shoulders. It became so intense I could do nothing except walk. I could not sit or sleep. I then lost my desire to eat. I walked about the house trying to clean and organize things.  Unknown to me, I was making a wreck out of the house.

            After a time I became unaware of my surroundings. I could not recognize my children, husband, or family. I was what you would call a crazy woman. My husband and brother tried to feed me spoonfuls of broth, but I looked like a skeleton.

            My aunt and cousin came from San Pedro Sula to see me. They were shocked at my appearance. They insisted on taking me to a special clinic in San Pedro. My husband and brother had to force me into a car and literally hold me down to keep me in the vehicle.

            I was in the clinic for several weeks. There they found that I had an infection in the lower part of my brain. The clinic had been giving me medication. Slowly I began to gain consciousness.  I found myself strapped to a bed.

“What is happening?” I thought. My husband began to cry. They told me what had happened for the past few months. Bills were piling up. Only the Lord could provide for our needs.

            There was a specific medicine that was needed for my cure. The only place that had this medicine was a government hospital in Tegucigalpa. The clinic gave a referral to my husband.  I spent several more weeks in the other hospital. They drilled me with many questions in order to check my mental abilities.

            Finally by the grace of our Lord, I was sent home. I was scared to go home. I was not completely well. What if I got worse? I still needed a few months to recuperate.  As time went by I still felt a burden of fear. I was not free from this sickness. The congregations of our church had a special prayer time for me. I was at home with my little boy during this prayer time. Knowing that my brothers and sisters were praying for me, I fell on my knees.

            I stayed there for two hours. I looked up at my little sick boy who was asleep on the bed in front of me. I asked the Lord to please give me a sign of the cure that He had for me as well as heal my son of his sickness.

            When I finished praying, my son’s mouth opened and said “Even as you have healed her.” The Lord healed us both in this moment. Oh, I was so full of joy! I was clean. What mercy my God has shown me and my family. I now have a renewed strength to serve my Lord Jesus Christ. I will continue to serve Him the rest of my life.

            Sister Marta is a Sunday School teacher in el Ocote. She now hopes to begin a women’s group in her congregation.

            What will it take for us to come before the Lord in humility and serve Him with all our hearts? Will it take the death of a loved one? A war? The destruction of our nation? God gives us trials so we can learn to depend on Him completely. We cannot rely on ourselves, a job, or a person to give us that security. True security only comes through faith on the Lord Jesus Christ.

HEAR YE HIM.

            Mark 13:29 says “For as the light of the morning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, and covereth the whole earth, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”

            I would like to add a little about our trip to Subirana, Yoro. We left Saturday and traveled to el Progreso where brother Juan Argueta lives. He and his wife were planning to go with us to Subirana, but their little girl had to go the hospital with a kidney infection.

            When we arrived in Progreso, we went to the hospital and had a laying on of hands for healing for her. We felt the presence of the Spirit there, and after we fiinished Jim felt that we should ask a young lady with a sick baby if she would like one also for her son. She said she would like that very much.

            After we finished with her, a lady in the other room said that she would like a blessing for her granddaughter also. While we were administering to her, I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit to such an extent that I began to have tears in my eyes. When I looked up, I saw that the lady was also crying. I told her that because her daughter was not a Christian that she had a great responsibility to teach her granddaughter the right path.

            We left Progresso at 1:15 and arrived in Subirana at 6:00. The roads were horrible. There were a number of times we were pushing mud with the bumper.

            We had been told that there were about 70 people who were interested in the gospel. My guess is that there are about 20 people who are interested, but because of the continual rain the majority of them were not able to come to the get-together - the 70th birthday party for Chema Manzanares. He had asked me to explain our doctrine and the Book of Mormon to them. The Lord blessed us.

God Bless you all!

Chuck & Regina Sperry & family

Prayer Requests

            *Timothy had problems with a hernia. (The Sperry family prayed for him and it went away for a while, but a smaller one has shown up again. During Chuck’s visit to the States he will take Timothy to Children’s Mercy to get him checked out.)

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Family Outreach

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Independence, MO 64051

(We are now a non-profit organization)

Mission Board Members

President:        Dan Norman

                        (dannorman@yahoo.com)

Secretary:        Ruthanne Norman

Treasurer: Jon Tandy

                        (jtandy@arcomcontrols.com)

Newsletter:      Brad & Rachel Gard

                        (baglady0406@sbcglobal.net)

Medical Advisor:          Bruce Stayton