All right, what's going on, everybody?

How are you?

Yeah, it's.

It's a day already.

The.

The devil doesn't want us to get any of this information out.

I just want you to know right up front, it could be pieced together.

It could be a piecemeal of a thing because the equipment has been having bugs.

Take three.

This is take three.

So luckily, we haven't gotten but maybe five minutes into any kind of conversation before we started, so that's good.

We were talking about how great the coffee is, however.

Yes, the coffee.

We brought back a little bit of coffee from Lanaje Esquijito Church down in Comayawa, Honduras.

I've currently got three bags.

It's what keeps your church going.

Yeah, yeah.

There you go.

That's great.

One of them is spoken for.

Two of them are spoken for.

So there's one that's not spoken for.

Who knows?

It will be by the end of the podcast.

It could be.

So it's been a month since I've been on here, I think, pretty sure.

And I was in Honduras for 16 days, so I thought it'd be great to have a bunch of the missionaries that went with me.

Bunch of the people that went on was on the team.

Wow.

I'm officially a missionary now.

Yeah.

Whoa.

Short term.

Okay.

So to come on and just have a conversation, let's, you know, talk about what our experience was and like, maybe the before and after, like your, you know, your thoughts and that sort of thing.

So what I want to do to start is introduce yourself.

Most of us know you.

Hi, I'm Kevin Feely, and like, maybe a little bit about the pre.

Before you went on the trip, like, what were your feelings?

Had you been on a mission trip?

You know, that sort of thing?

Sure.

No, I had never been on a mission trip before.

I was more concerned about being a leader in the group because I was supposed to be your sidekick, assistant, and worried about the safety of a lot of people who hadn't been on mission trips, a lot of which are women.

And we were going to the human trafficking epicenter in the world.

And so I was very concerned about that and stayed hyper vigilant because of that, which was great.

It really was good.

What I thought was exactly what I experienced, an emotional and spiritual filling up of my cup, which runneth over.

And it was just one of those amazing things and came back with more than I expected.

But leading up to it, it was just simply a matter of logistics and organizing.

And those are things that I'm okay with.

Was there anything that you were like super excited about going before you went on the trip, like you thought this would be cool to experience?

Nothing in particular.

It was the opportunity to be a servant.

Because my whole life has been oriented toward being successful and being served and identifying being served with success, as I was raised that way.

So the opportunity to go there in the servant role with no expectation other than misery truly was what I was looking forward to.

I wanted God to speak to me there.

Yeah, that's good.

That's good.

What did you expect out of the team before you went?

Knowing a few of the people on the team, personality wise or anything like that?

Was there anything you expected to see happen with the team or was there anything you were kind of worried about with the team?

I was worried about egos.

There's a whole lot of egos in the room or strong personalities, depending on what translation of the Bible you're reading today.

No, there was a great deal of women on the team and I was concerned that having strong opinions, a number of strong opinions in the room was going to lead to chaos, whether it came from the women or the men.

But my concerns were with so many ladies on the team that security, as I said, would be a concern.

And no, I really looked at it from a perspective of we're all going down there to serve.

And I expected from all the ramp up, all the meetings we did prior to that, everybody had the right heart.

Everybody's heart was in the proper place to go down there.

It was just now, how do we execute?

And if we executed outside of the boundaries of the way somebody expected, how belligerent were they gonna get over it?

Yeah, yeah.

And I was pleased that none of that happened.

None of it.

That actually shocked me.

I was pretty blown away by the fact that with the strong personalities translation, I read out of strong personalities in the room.

The dsv.

The dsv.

I like it.

Yeah.

Nobody wants that version, just for the record.

No, I thought the same thing.

I thought, what kind of issues are we gonna run into when everything changes?

You know?

And lo and behold, I was expecting personality classes.

Right.

Like I did too.

I did not.

I did not expect for the team to act as one like I felt like they did for most of the trip.

And the times in which we didn't act as one, it was because we had different jobs.

What was your anticipation going in?

Well, I've been right a couple of times, so never leaving the crew.

Right.

This was different because I was leading a team of people and so I was pretty nervous about the strong personality.

That was probably one of the biggest things I was nervous about because I didn't know if I had earned enough respect from them or whatnot to.

For them, if I said, this is what we're doing, for them to just do it unquestioningly, you know.

And also I have a lot of issues with, like, the way I view myself, so I've been working on that.

But going into something that big, it was just all that ramped up, you know.

But I think the thing that I was expecting to come out of the trip was for people to come back and just tell people, hey, you should go on this mission trip, you know, like, obviously experiencing God, experiencing the poverty that they have there.

Like I said, I've been before.

So I knew what to expect in the home visits.

Right.

When we went into Bentico de Octobre, I knew what to expect, and I knew that.

Can I cut you off?

Okay.

Obviously that means October 25th, right?

Explain to me this name.

They say.

I don't know.

It's probably when it was founded.

What was founded?

The little shanty town.

So the shanty town that we were in, where the school is, the MS.13 fortress, all that.

Yeah.

Bentecinco de Octobre is the name of the town.

25Th of October is the name of the town.

Is the name of the town.

Put that in your Google Maps, see what happens.

It probably will pull up.

No, but, yeah, that's.

And the only answer I can ever get from anybody even lives there is.

That's probably when it was founded or something.

I would have gotten c. Yes, yes.

I would have had somebody translate for me.

I don't speak Spanish, so I understand a little bit, though.

I understand more than I thought I did.

That was a shock coming out of this.

But no, I think that part of that was.

Was just a.

That was my expectation was for something to go wrong and egos, as you say, get in the way, including my own.

I have a strong personality, so I'm included in that.

And attempt to screw up God's plans.

But I learned that you can't screw up God's plans.

Nope.

But that was my expectation going in was for something to go wrong and it to become a mess and become chaotic at some point, but also for us to experience God while we're there.

So there was the worry and the expectation, I guess.

Well, they always say that there's like the speech you prepare to give, the speech you give and the speech they hear.

Yeah, that's true.

No matter how much you prepare, how much you expect something to be what it is, even if it is exactly what you're expecting, it comes off different.

And that is exactly how I felt when I was there.

I was going down there to experience God.

I wanted to be filled up, I knew I would be.

But in being filled up it was different than I had anticipated.

Yeah, yeah.

And I'm sure that even on our listeners side they can understand the whole like this.

Here's the topic, here's what we say and then what they hear is what God needs them to hear.

And I pray that that never stops.

Speaking of prayer, let's pause for a moment and let's pray here in just a second after the.

The rolling thing.

Right.

So welcome to the truth respons.

All right, we are back and I'm gonna pray because I haven't prayed on here for a month.

So God, I just thank you so much for what you are doing around us, God, I pray that you open our eyes to those things so that we can join you in them.

God, I thank you for what you've done in the past, God, that has led us to this point.

And I pray that we continue to follow you into what you have for us in the future, God, whatever that might be.

And I pray for contentment in all of those things, God, I pray that the words that are spoken today touch people's hearts in the way that you want them to be touched.

And I just pray that we can represent you well through our experience in the trip.

And it's in your precious and holy name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

So next question, let's see what was a typical day like in Comayagua for the team?

Go to bed at 2:30 in the morning, get up at 5:30.

It's actually about 5, so I could get in the shower early.

Now that wasn't everybody.

No, this was me.

Right, right.

And then meet out there for a cup of coffee about 6:15?

6:30, what did we have breakfast at 7?

Dedication.

7:30.

Ish.

Devotion.

Devotion.

Sorry.

I was dedicated to the devotion, but no.

So that was what, 7:30?

7:15.

7:30.

Somewhere there it shifted a little bit.

And then we rolled out and each day is like, where are we going?

I don't know, but we're going.

And so really what I had planned was from the time I woke up till the devotional and then after that I was along for the ride.

Yeah, yeah, funny enough, me too.

So that was kind of an eye opener to some degree for me.

Was that too.

But, I mean, the day itself really was mingling with them.

It was whether we were in Comayagua or whether we were in Bente Cinco, whether we were doing house visits or painting the hallway and bathrooms.

We were with them.

We were hanging out with them.

And to share a day in the life of their church, their ministry was really, how I would put it, probably don't ever want to eat the.

Whatever you want to call those things that you love so much again, because there's just too many of them.

We ate them a lot.

Like, I had them every day.

I had it probably, like, oh, we didn't eat them every day, but it felt like we had them.

I probably had them 7, 8, 9 times during my trip.

What about the pupusa?

I did not like the pupusas.

I was not a fan of that.

I hadn't gotten one until actually the second team came.

Oh.

I hadn't actually gotten to eat one.

Oh.

And so when the second team came, we went out to a nice place for something, and I did not like the pupuzas at all.

Funny enough, I did like the chimichangas from there.

Oh, man, I would have loved to have had a chimichangas.

They made Mexican platter.

And in Honduras.

Yeah.

Korean in Honduras.

Did you go to the Chinese restaurant?

I did not.

I'm just.

I want to, though.

I want to hear how the Chinese food is in Honduras.

Yeah.

From what I understand, it's pretty good.

Oh, darn.

Yeah.

Everybody that I've talked to that's eaten, I mean, including my mom said it was good.

Have they been to China?

No, not that I know of.

But in the day, in the life, though, back on topic.

The day, in the life that we were.

Every day, we got up with the expectation that we were going to make a difference for Christ.

And I think that is what the underlying unity was.

That was the banner we flew and where we went.

That's what we were.

Mindset was there.

Yeah.

So I think that really set the tone for every day.

Yeah.

And I know that we all had in our minds, like, the.

The idea that, well, we're going to share the gospel, whether it's through actions or words, which is what we did.

I mean, we loved on everybody that.

We could, but some of us had different experiences based on schedule.

For example, I was not expecting to do my sermon until got the Vente Cinco.

And then the first day, it's like, okay, you're going to do it.

Okay.

So I didn't have time to Stew on it.

It was just time to go versus.

Maria, who was supposed to be doing the very first thing, get it out of the way.

And she was literally the last day of the game.

She just had to sit there and grind it out the whole week worrying about it.

And although I think God worked in both of those things, I think that, like, he showed you that even a spur of the moment made up game on the spot would be a huge.

Hit for the kids.

In fact, it was a big enough hit for the team that they used it later on.

Did for the kids when they did the volleyball at the soccer day.

Yeah, yeah.

So the next day we did a soccer tournament and they used the volleyball.

So what Derek's talking about, for those of you who weren't there, is the first day.

Now, my assignment was to give the sermon of Jonah and the big fish to the kids.

And we arrive at this indoor soccer field, for lack of a better term, and Peter comes up to me and walks up and says, what games are you going to play?

Now, my understanding was games was going to be Anthony.

So I go to Anthony, I say, hey, Anthony, what game you got ready?

He's like, no, I'm doing the men's event.

That would be Cheliza.

I go to Shalisa.

Chelisa says, no, no, no, I'm only doing the women's vet in Vete Cinco.

Okay.

So I went back to Peter and I said, soccer.

He goes, no, no, no, we're gonna play that last.

What other game do you have?

And I literally looked over and saw two girls playing bouncing volleyball back and forth and created this volleyball game on the spot.

Tagged a message into it.

It was like.

It was solid.

It was so good.

The theme of the month that they were doing was Jonah.

They were preaching through Jonah.

So most of our events were based in Jonah.

So, yeah, so it was.

It was a good message I got.

I have it all recorded, by the way.

Oh, awesome.

Yours was the only one I recorded all of out of our team.

That's the only one I could get all of.

So, yeah, I'll definitely share.

I'll share with you in.

Thanks.

All right.

So missions often stretches us.

How did this trip stretch you personally?

Do I get to include housing arrangements?

Sure, but you can't stop there.

I mean, you gotta.

You gotta go beyond that.

You can't go shallow.

Well, we were in a room of four guys on two bunk beds with one bathroom.

And look, I'm not complaining.

We had the warm water.

We had the.

We were the Only room with hot water or warm water.

I shouldn't even say hot, but.

No.

So.

And it was fun because Derek and I took the bottom bunks, which put Anthony and Dave up top.

Yeah.

And they are tall.

Tall.

They are tall guys.

So the short guys were on the bottom bunks.

The tall guys were on the top of the bunks.

How did it stretch me?

It stretched me by having about 14 people in one house.

Stretched me not having my own space, really, in that.

But also stretched me in not being in control of where I'm going, what I'm doing every moment of the day.

They had total control, which is very uncomfortable for me.

But in terms of ministry, in terms of spiritually, it stretched me in hearing other people's joys and struggles and reaching into those places with them instead of just being in my own world and just saying, yeah, I get it.

We all have problems.

It was reaching into those places where they actually had those struggles and to joined them there.

Yeah, that was a real stretch for me, that empathy thing.

And I don't know.

It's not a comfortable place to be.

And I expected that through the.

Say hi to Brenda.

She just walked in.

Everybody.

Yeah, we're gonna be doing this, like, popcorn thing.

People are gonna be showing up and.

Leaving, and I still don't understand the popcorn reference.

Oh, okay.

So in.

In, like, junior or.

Well, all throughout my elementary and high school years, we would do, like, popcorn reading.

And so you'd start reading and then you go, popcorn Kevin.

And then Kevin would.

You'd have to read, and then you'd be like, the end of, like, the paragraph or whatever.

You'd say, popcorn popping off.

So different.

People are coming in and out and stuff.

So it's gonna be a little different than what you're.

You guys are used to.

But no, just to finish the thought on it, it was reaching into their places where they were and experiencing it through their eyes, seeing, especially the home visits, seeing the love they have for Christ, the heart they have to help each other, when the reality is they have no shoes on their feet, they have no running water, they have no electricity.

In some cases.

Most cases.

Yeah, most cases.

And they're rich.

They are fully what God describes when the meek shall inherit the earth.

I saw it firsthand.

And so the stretching really came after the fact.

As a result of that is realizing just how distracted I am.

Yeah, for sure.

So in.

In that.

That space where.

What did you bring home?

Like, what.

What.

I mean, what is it that happened there?

Coffee, everybody?

Well, yeah, we've got right here, you.

Know, we've already sponsored by.

Tanaje Esquijito.

Or left serve Tesla bike and the knicker and the.

The Honduran chocolate.

The Honduran chocolate was so good.

I've got some in my backpack right now, actually.

It's over there on the table.

Oh, yeah.

Ta da.

No.

So.

So what did I bring back?

I brought back the mechanics of how we can do a bilingual service immediately to reach more of our community.

Yeah.

I brought back the want and desire to put together a house visitation ministry, a go pray with people at the mall ministry.

And that mall being like flea market, because it's more like their mercado.

And these are things that we did there.

What I want to bring back is Honduras to America, to Rise Christian Church to Lehigh Acres.

And not just that, but, like, the heart of what they were doing, not necessarily the heart of what they were doing, because they were intentional about being the hands and feet of Jesus.

And I think that the cool thing about all of those things is that in our community, a lot of that stuff applies immediately.

Like, we've got huge flea markets.

We've got a huge Hispanic population here.

Like, and so it definitely.

I'm right there with you.

I think that it was an eye opener.

And I'm glad that you're gonna start some of those things up.

I'd love to join in a lot of that with you too.

And that's the thing, what I brought back is they are living their faith.

Yeah, we talk a good game here, and we do it from our couch.

Well.

And I think a lot of times we think we are living our faith.

Correct?

Correct.

Well, much to the discussion that we had multiple nights about living faith.

I wonder if that's what Jesus meant when he told the disciples, ye of little faith.

It's like.

It's like, oh, I thought I was living my faith.

I wonder if that's their perspective on.

It was like it was convicting.

I thought I was living my faith.

I apparently am not.

Every day before I got there, I thought I was living my faith pretty well.

I got down there, I'm like, no, I'm a spectator.

I'm watching this from the couch.

And to see it in action.

And honestly, their services were so moving.

The ability to communicate Christ's love through the message and not to detract from our own messengers here that deliver the message on a weekly basis.

But this came from their heart.

And it was likely rehearsed as much as ours is.

But it didn't feel rehearsed.

And.

And when Peter handed it off paragraph by paragraph to Kathy to translate her translation was as passionate as his message was.

Yeah, I love.

I loved their translators, their translators.

And the Sunday after you guys came home, your guys team came home.

The lady that translated was just on fire that Sunday.

Well, and then I come to find out it's her passion to not only translate sermons specifically into English, but to teach others to do the same.

And so maybe we get you connected.

I cannot remember her name to save my life right now, but I can find out.

So, no, it wasn't somebody that we regularly interacted with.

It was somebody outside of that.

But she did a phenomenal job and, like, mannerisms walked at the same time with the guy.

Perfect.

Everything was so just fluid.

And I was like, man, she really.

She really has a heart for what she's doing.

It was exciting.

So, yeah, that was all of the translators, though.

Most of the translators did the same thing.

Not to bury the lead.

Their worship, their music was.

Even when I didn't understand the words, the spirit was moving, and you could feel it in the room.

And I aspire to bring all of that home.

Yeah, I was definitely had the right motivation.

Absolutely.

For sure.

Any last.

Any things?

No, look, I just.

Nice coming here and seeing you guys.

No, no, no, you're sticking around.

He's popcorning out, so anything you want.

My parting shot is this.

I would encourage anybody and everybody to jump on the mission trips when they're available.

Do not think you have to be a biblical scholar to be there, but know your faith.

Know where you stand in your faith, and be able to represent Christ wherever you are in all that you do.

And then be prepared to be stretched because God doesn't just want to accomplish his task.

He wants to work on you at the same time.

And there's no better way to do it.

So definitely.

Y' all have a great one.

Thank you.

I'm gonna go ahead with the conversations.

There you go.

Have you ever done a podcast before, Brenda?

No.

All right, well, only my own mind.

It's not hard.

It's not hard.

Have you ever listened there?

No.

You can sit right there.

All right, scoot.

Just scoot up to the mic a little bit.

And, yeah, be good.

Ask the questions, and hopefully I have the answers.

Oh, it's great.

We're gonna start by asking about you.

Uh, oh, what about me?

What about you?

So just introduce yourself and a little bit about, like, when did you get involved with our church?

Just to start just a quick Something.

Nothing.

Okay.

Crazy.

My name is Brenda Carmichael, and I've been coming.

I've been coming here probably, I'd say, for the last four and a half years, but more so in the past year.

It's pretty regular.

And being involved with, you know, what God touches my heart to, I don't.

You know, I have been to a church before where I just bombarded myself with everything and then got burnt out.

And so, you know, it's like, that's me doing it, not the spirit saying.

So I've been trying to be as active spiritually where God wants me to be here.

And a part of that was him signing me up for Honduras.

For Honduras, which was the year prior.

The team came and talked to our church, and at the time, my husband was alive and just kind of thought, huh?

You know, just a flickering thought.

And then early on this year, they came again.

And, you know, I was led by the spirit.

You're gonna go do Honduras.

And I had a whole bunch of stuff in front of me that almost seemed like it was impossible, but I.

Never thought you had the call, and you were faithful to it.

You told me all this stuff, you know, like, all these things that were roadblocks, and you're like, if God wants me to go, he's gonna remove them all.

And he did.

He removed every single one.

Every single one of them.

And, you know, when I was getting my passport, never once did I think, oh, I don't know if I should get this, you know, because I have this.

I still have to.

Yeah, you knew that.

You knew that.

You knew that.

You knew that.

I knew it was definitely inspiring your faith in the way that God wanted you to do it.

Yeah.

That was crazy.

And I look back on that because I have to kind of reflect, you know, Was that me just thinking I wanted to do that?

Right.

You know, but it was.

No, he wanted me there.

He wanted me there and also healing me, you know, through the process.

And I'm gonna get a little emotional, but trusting in him again and him being the light of my life and the Lord of my Lord and Savior, you know, and putting him first.

Finally putting him first.

Not a husband, although he's passed away.

But that's what brought me to my knees, you know, him first.

Going into.

Before you went.

Right?

Yeah.

What were your expectations before the trip?

I didn't have any.

No expectations at all?

None at all.

And it's not being sure or anything.

I think it has to do with me traveling my whole life, being in different countries, just expecting the unexpected.

Don't expect anything.

So I just let it be what it was.

Have you gone on mission trips before?

Never.

This was your first one.

Yeah, but being homeless is kind of a mission trip.

Hey, look, I mean, that's for real.

That's for real.

We can do local mission trips.

Totally a thing.

There's homeless people in every country.

There is.

Okay, so cool.

So you had no expectations.

What did you think of the team going into it?

Because when I first started and we all sat at that table that first day, just seeing all the different people, not knowing any one of them and them not knowing me and not knowing you, even, because I was very quiet in the church, kind of just sitting here.

You were the one I didn't know.

You were the only person at the table that I didn't know at the time.

Did I scare you?

Originally?

No, no, no, no.

Originally, though, you were the only one at the table that I didn't know.

So I didn't know you at all before I just signed up.

Like.

Yeah, I didn't.

I didn't.

Who is it?

Did you come to our tricks?

That wasn't even.

Yeah, that wasn't even.

Like, I didn't even know of you at the time, so nobody did.

Right.

So that must have been interesting to be.

Completely.

Well, like I said, my background, you know, it has.

I've been around people, strangers, you know.

Yeah.

So I'm not uncomfortable with.

And I think that's.

It's kind of like going on this missions trip is like, okay, Lord, you have given me a lot of things in my life.

And being around every type of human being there possibly is.

Rich, poor, you know, and educated.

Educated does matter, you know, from every spectrum, every nationality, you know.

Yeah.

I've just.

It's been in my.

You know, with me my whole life, so adaptability is really easy for me.

As I was saying, I'm a little kakarocha.

You could put me anywhere.

I'm diversified.

What was the most.

And maybe nothing surprised you, but what was the most surprising thing when you first got to Comayagua?

Like from the van to the house.

Or just when you first got to the country?

Okay, I'm gonna give a little.

I did tell your mother, you know, and I did tell.

Look, I can't even think of her name now.

Oh, shame on me.

Peter's wife.

Kathy.

Kathy.

Thank you.

I'm microphone shy right now, but as soon as we were flying over Honduras, you could clearly see, you know, the.

The.

The outline of Honduras, the beach, the border and then it was just mountainous.

And I didn't start off with the.

With the window seat.

It was offered to me right towards the end, and I was like, cool.

So as I'm looking over that and as God will, you know, say to me ever so quietly, I'm looking over the edge and I'm just saying, oh, how beautiful that is.

Just so beautiful.

And all I heard was, love to learn or love, learn to love it.

Learn to love it.

Yeah.

And I was just like.

That came out of clearly nowhere.

It's not someplace that I would choose to want to be.

Yes.

To go back and do a.

Missions, most definitely.

But I was just like, what does he mean by that?

You know, time will tell.

Time will tell.

Well, did you start learning to love the country?

I loved.

Geez.

I loved the cows in the road.

I loved the building.

There was a lot.

Yeah.

I loved the dirt floors that those women had in their homes.

There's just so much appreciation for everything.

Just the.

It just brings me back to.

I don't need so much.

I don't, you know, and where do I put my.

Where do I put my efforts into?

Is it materialistic things or is it going to serve God?

That's what I mostly been, you know, I haven't really seen you guys since I got back, but figuring, you know, trying to figure out what it really meant for me and just trying to figure that out.

Yeah, yeah.

No, that could take a while, too.

I mean, that's something that, like, there's a lot to unpack.

There's a lot that.

Feelings, emotions, you know, experiences that we all had that we're gonna be unpacking for a while.

And it's crazy because when you go with, what do we have, 11 people?

There was.

Yeah, there's 12.

12.

12, yep.

You know, 12 strangers to me, you know, but learning to know them.

13 if you count my parents.

Right.

Like that.

But, you know, learning to know them, like through women's Bible study and, you know, just the widowers group, the whatever women group, although they weren't in there.

But it's just learning the women, you know, learning the relationships that I've been building up in this church and the pastor and everybody, you know, and it's just crazy that we could be in a room, you know, a house, and just literally fluidly move around each other.

You know, as crowded as it was, there was always still room and there.

Was almost felt natural.

Yeah.

Almost like we always.

Hey, roomy, what's up?

Right?

It almost felt like we always for me it was weird as well.

Like cuz our guys room, like it just felt like yeah, we stay up, we stay.

It did.

It felt like or we said several of us who have been on the CIY MOVE conference with the teenagers.

Like it felt like an adult version of move.

Yeah.

Like we were able to get rid of our cell phone usage and be able to separate from the world for it was amazing.

Be with each other and God for the time.

And it was questions, you know, biblically related, sharpening iron.

You know, it's like I was in the room with, you know, it was six women and it was just amazing.

It was so amazing.

I had to keep Michelle in her own space.

You know, she had like a.

Sweep my bed.

Her bed.

Well, your son in law we shared a bunk and yeah, he's a rambunctious dude.

You gotta love him.

Okay, so what is your favorite memory about being there that just puts a smile on your face every time you think about it?

Well, this is crazy too, but I like the fact that I got that somebody had heard it besides myself, you know, because I had again had gone to Kathy and I'd gone to Roxy because they were, you know, during the women's just singing and stuff.

But when it came time for the singing, it was always a singing.

Our first service there when they were singing, I was hearing this beautiful, beautiful harmonizing.

And it was almost like it was probably 10, 15ft above my head.

But I would have to look over my shoulder and there wasn't that many people behind me.

You know, I kept having a look.

So I started recording knowing maybe that's, you know.

But I was just like.

And I've heard it here in this church and I've recorded it here.

Yeah.

So then the second time it was like insane.

And I was, I was just like, whew, there's something here.

I could feel the, you know, the spirit.

Just like I'm getting the bumps.

There was several people that said the same thing.

Yeah.

But it was just like I could feel, you know, the.

The magnetism of the spirit.

But it was like so.

So probably a hundred, maybe 200 in sync up above singing in harmony.

Well then when I told Roxy and Kathy that they were like, oh.

I said I recorded.

They're like, okay, you know, like.

Well then the next day there was.

I don't know who was manning the door out in the first part of it was saying, you know, who was in there singing.

It sounded like there was a hundred people in there.

So I was just like thank you, God.

Thank you.

You know, because it wasn't.

Because that there is just like the anointing.

That's all I have to say is the anointing in that ministry, you know, that it brings, it brings, you know, it brings the spirit down into everybody.

Yeah.

Just loving.

It's just amazing.

They're just amazing.

Oh, do we have another popcorn?

Yeah, but we're not, we're not done yet.

Oh, it's good.

So what, what was the biggest thing that God either taught you or stretched you in on this trip?

Myself, as I was looking to try and look out and, you know, thinking you want the clouds to open and your head blow off and, you know, oh, I got, you know, why you brought me here.

You know, you did all this for me.

But what I found was being rubbed the wrong way and trying to avoid it and not be in the flesh about it, you know, and it was just getting harder and harder, you know, and I was just, you know, straight avoiding it because I knew that at the time that to say something if you're not aware of it, how can you accept what I'm saying to you?

And it would be an argument.

Well, you know, that person came and we sat down.

It was the last day.

It was the last day.

And God, he wanted me to see myself not saying that I'm that way, but I have been.

And as we're hugging and talking to each other and then just openly sharing about each other and how so alike we are, that in my ear, I just love what he does, that little softy, he goes, words are very important.

The way you felt hurt by words, just remember that's how you've hurt other people.

So I was just truly, if that's what it was that got me there, to be with that one person in that one space for that one week.

But other than that, there were so many beautiful moments.

But it was a growing and a wake up for me on how, you know, but I didn't want to act.

You know, I kept my, my bridal.

But it's like you said, words.

What, what is the hardest thing coming back to, quote, unquote, normal life.

Normal.

What's that?

Right?

Yeah, normal.

I don't know.

I think it's because I had such a wonderful time.

Every time I walked in that room with the six ladies, that's what it always felt like, you know, getting to know them because I'm coming back with them and, you know, just wanting to be a part of all those women in there, you know, and keep it the way, how we establish ourselves in that room to come back and to be this way here, you know, it's.

Almost not possible to bring that fully back.

Yeah, it is.

Because we all have our lives where when we're there, we can focus on those things, you know, and not having tv, that was amazing.

Being on my phone, I had to shut my phone up because my Bible was waking up Deb.

This is Deb, by the way.

So I was like, okay.

Is there anything that you want to, like, I don't know, final words, any encouragement to people who are listening about missions, anything like that?

Whatever.

I would say, you know, floor is yours.

Thank you.

Now I can tell my story.

We could bring you on and do that at another time.

I don't think the audience would be able to handle that one.

Oh, sure they would.

But honestly, it was being with the Hondurans, not being able to speak the language was.

I felt inadequate.

I wish I could have spoke for myself.

But they also understood we didn't.

And they still knew we were praying with them.

They knew we're, you know, praying for them.

And what brings me to my mind.

Is.

I guess because that goes a couple questions back.

Maybe school.

Yeah, the school talking to Kathy, that they only finished sixth grade.

You know, that breaks my heart because it's done for them after that.

Yeah.

At Benti Cinco.

Yes.

Yes.

And, you know, it's like, what can I do to help?

What can I do to help?

What does it take to get them?

You know, and it's a process.

It, you know, has to get another teacher.

The government's involved and, you know, supplies and things of that nature.

But they don't have a chance out there.

Yeah, they don't have a chance.

And it's really sad to see that the community is just recycling itself.

But for us to help sponsor a child or, I mean, we would have to be without.

For so little of what we waste.

For one child to go to school for a year.

How much was it?

It was $500 for them to be.

Able to continue school for a year for one year.

And I mean, if we look at it, that's less than one meal out for us a month, not even a week.

And a child could go and get an education and get a job and become something to help their community.

Yeah, that's how I see it coming back.

You know, if they have the power behind them, you know, and church, they can make a difference in their own community.

And that's what really.

And I have to say, one More thing.

And I know it's probably.

Nobody's going to say it.

Those animals need just as much help as the people.

That was definitely tough for animal lovers because you can't touch any of the animals that are there.

The different things.

And the people are starving.

They're literally diseased and starved.

But, yeah, there needs to be a program.

But it, you know, I don't see a.

It's hard to say with that.

Well, part of it.

I think the solution to that would be, you know, help get the people on their feet.

Because it's not like the people didn't care about the animals.

Right?

Like.

Yeah, it's nothing that.

I mean, it's.

It's just because of the environment.

It's not because of them.

It's their own.

And you could see the people that cared about their animal even though it was starving.

That dog followed that person wherever they went because they were still loyal to that person.

But if you have children, you're gonna feed your children first.

Of course.

They're more important than the animals, than the animals.

But I would say if you have the opportunity to go on a missions trip.

I'm already signed up for next year, so.

We haven't even put out signups yet.

I know.

It's okay.

God's already signed up.

She's already stole the spot, didn't she?

Yeah.

Well, God's got a plan, so learn some Spanish.

Yeah, I'm definitely gonna have to learn numbers.

Yeah.

Especially if I'm gonna be handling Dante Cinco.

I'm gonna have.

I got that.

I got that one, but.

Cool.

I appreciate that.

That's a great transition, because you were wanting to talk about the same thing.

You want to talk about the school.

And I think for the people that are listening, if somebody does want to help support a child, that they can make a donation to loveservetestifyfoundation.org and just put on a memo, you know, where it goes to, for the sixth graders.

Or just give a donation so the foundation can put the money where it's most needed and they can go from there.

But for $500 for one child to give them hope in a future, I'd.

Say you get that one student, and if you could sponsor that student till 12th grade, you know.

Yeah, I would.

I would put just.

Just for the legal purposes of it all, I would put probably like Binti Cinco School or the school.

They'll know what that means.

Currently, Love Serve Testify foundation only only has that one church in Honduras that they are supporting.

Currently.

And so they'll know that, you know, to help out with the school, however.

But they are really good about putting the funds that they get into the right places.

They know where they need it.

Yeah, they definitely know where they need it.

And so, yeah, you can get merch that helps out with that.

Cause you could do all kinds of stuff.

So check out the website and you check out the ministries that they're doing.

Once again, coffee.

It's actually very good.

I've been grinding my beans.

Did you like the candy?

Yes, I did.

Very good.

You did.

You ate them all?

No, I'm, you know, spreading them out.

Yeah.

Remember the neighbor came over with the little packets of coffee?

Were you there when you saw.

Yeah, I had one.

Yeah, I have one.

Yeah.

Well, I got some packets and I gave her a couple of packets because she was saying, I hope we're trying to find this coffee.

Yeah, I got.

There's like miniature blow pop type candies that we got at one point.

And I bought a whole bag of them and brought them home.

So I was like, yeah, I'm like.

I look at this snack.

I missed out on that.

Look, I had the perks of going to the store more often than you did.

I was there for 16 days.

Okay.

It was a long trip, but.

But yeah, that definitely is a big help.

They are in the process of raising funds to try to build a church.

They have bought the property that they need.

So anything that's sent to loveservetestifyfoundation.org is gonna go towards helping build the church there.

That are really being the hands and feet of Jesus.

As Kevin said earlier and as Brenda's talked about, they really are passionate and have a heart for Jesus.

Being taken to the community and being Jesus to the community.

It's like I did things I never thought I could do.

Going through the market, you know, and praying for people, you know, freezing up, but still nevertheless pushing through it.

Yeah, that was a trip.

It was interesting.

It was definitely interesting to see some of that stuff and getting to know the people and all the information behind them so.

Well.

Very good.

I appreciate you coming in and sharing.

A little bit because popcorn's leaving the popcorn stand.

I do want to get you in here at some point, talk about that story of yours, because I think that people would benefit from hearing about it, hearing.

Hearing your story.

I think about it, when you're ready, getting the Honduras, all of it, whatever, get it.

Oh, my God.

Any of your story you're up and willing to share, I think that people Will benefit from having that conversation, hearing that story.

But we do appreciate you coming in.

Thank you.

Have fun.

Okay, I will.

I had to pray.

I was like, lord, you know, I talk too much.

Make sure I say the right things.

It was perfect.

Thank you.

So, Deb.

Yes.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you fit in with the church.

Just briefly.

Okay.

I am not a Florida native.

I come from Wisconsin.

My husband and I started at Lehigh Acres Christian Church when we were Snowbirds back in 2010.

Never tried any other church.

Just continued to come here because we were just happy with the people that were here, the pastor that was here.

And we've just continued to grow with the church and.

And we both feel like it's home.

Very cool.

Very cool.

What were the expectations that you had before you went on the trip?

Oh, expectations, meaning.

What did you think I was going to say?

What did you expect?

What did you expect to experience down there?

Well, I have been to a country, a third world country before, so the poverty and that kind of stuff, I was.

It wasn't a big shock to me because I've seen it before.

Where did you go?

I've been to Africa and I've been to Peru off of the Amazon river and stop at the little villages along.

They were neither mission trips.

They were just a trip for myself because those were places I just wanted to go.

Very cool.

But I think I didn't realize how passionate these people were for Christ.

And not having the resources that we have here in the United States and just having so little, but yet be so passionate and content with what they have was awesome.

Yeah, for sure.

Did you have any thoughts about the strong willed team that we were taking?

Any first impressions of how that was gonna go?

Well, I guess I knew myself and so I knew that could be an issue.

So I didn't know a lot about the other people.

I had met Brenda and Logan in the women's Bible study and Maria and Lamar.

So all of them were in the Bible study.

But in there, I can't say I knew them as strong willed people.

So I had difficulty with myself.

The further we got into the meetings, though, you could tell that people were strong willed.

This is my idea and this is what I want to do.

And I think probably a couple of times in our remodeling of the church, I felt I was pushing myself a little bit too far as to telling people what to do because I like to keep organization and keep on schedule.

And we knew ahead of time that things were not gonna have a Schedule when we were there.

So let's talk about that.

For just a mom.

The project that you had, doing the bathrooms and painting.

Painting all that stuff, how did you feel when we didn't finish it that day?

I was disappointed.

I'm like, oh, I wanted to get.

This done, and we weren't planning on coming back to do that.

And I felt so bad.

I thought, oh, this was one of the things that we wanted to finish and make it look a beautiful place for the.

Even the kids and for them to say, oh, wow, look at this.

How much.

You know.

And when I thought we weren't going to be able to finish it, I was terribly disappointed.

It's crazy because God changed our plans quite greatly in that.

And so that next.

I think it was the next day.

Yeah.

The next day, we weren't able to go out to Benti Cinco to paint.

We'd already bought the paint, so we left that there for the next team to come and paint or whatever, but we couldn't do that.

And so we were able to finish the project.

And it was amazing.

The transformation from what it was before to what it is now, I mean, was just absolutely night and day different.

It was.

I mean, it was our plan to finish that day, but obviously God let us finish well.

And none of the projects.

I don't think any of the projects finished that day.

None of them?

No.

So.

Which was kind of wild.

And it definitely, definitely felt like.

I know.

It was almost like.

It felt almost.

You know, And I think all of us ladies that were in the room were like, oh, I wish we could have got this done.

So.

Yeah.

But it was amazing to see it done.

That next day when you said we could go finish, I'm like, yes, we got this.

So how did you feel about the communal living?

I didn't have a problem with it.

I been in that situation before.

I'm not a fancy person.

I felt like it went better than I expected.

Okay.

I felt like it almost felt natural.

Yeah.

You know, like us all being in the same house.

Yeah.

Functioning together.

It just felt like we did it every day.

Right.

Which was.

And we all was weird to me.

Was it.

Yeah.

And we all took turns cooking and cleaning and doing different things.

I think nobody ever had to say, hey, can somebody.

You know, that was never a thing.

Yeah.

The only days that it was, hey, can you do this?

Was trash days.

But that was because we didn't know when the trash days were.

Right.

So.

But, yeah.

No, it just felt.

It felt like we naturally did life Together all the time.

And who cared if the neighbor below me was snoring so loud I couldn't sleep?

Oh, well, yeah.

Yeah.

It could have been me in the next room.

I'm just saying, like, there was.

There was some snorers in the next.

Room over, you know?

But to be honest, you said you guys stayed up and talked all night.

We never heard a word, and you guys were right next to us.

That's wild, because we got kind of passionate at times.

It was, like, not negative, but Anthony gets excited really easy, so.

And it was fun, but it was, like, it was good to hear that we didn't keep everybody up.

No, we were good.

So was there, like, a moment when you thought, wow, God is really moving here, and when would that moment have been for you?

Hmm.

Wow.

That's exactly it.

Yeah.

God is really moving here.

There were a few times when we were praying, like, in the market.

I was usually too emotional.

I couldn't do it.

But like Brenda said, I can't speak their language, but yet I could feel the power that was there.

Especially with the guy that was in the leather shop.

Yeah.

I mean, that was a powerful place.

Yeah.

Tell us a little bit about it.

I wasn't with your group.

I wasn't with your group.

Okay.

So there was a family leather shop there.

They made homemade saddles from scratch.

Wow.

They had bridles, and they fixed leather.

They had gun holsters.

And the father was there and his sons, and they were all in the business, and they all prayed with us, and it was just really touching.

Yeah.

The market was.

It was interesting.

I had never.

I had never done that before.

Okay.

I'd never done, like, the, you know, going and just asking about them and, you know, praying with them and sharing the gospel in that way in a market like that.

Yeah.

That was a new experience for me.

That was something I hadn't experienced.

I know that you guys got to see the meat that was hanging just freely out in the open again.

I'm a farm girl, so, yeah, it doesn't really bother me.

It wasn't a shock to you?

No.

I'm like, I would like to get one of those beef heart.

It looks so good.

Beef heart?

Yes.

Really?

You're cow heart, huh?

Oh, it tastes so good.

It would be the best steak you have ever had.

Yeah.

I might have to toss some money at you and have you cook me one, because that would be.

I don't know.

That would be the.

Only.

If I wouldn't tell you it was a piece of beef heart.

You would never know, really.

No, it is a great steak.

Sounds like the only part of the body that's not normally eaten that I would be willing to eat.

There's Hispanic cultures eat a lot of the animals.

And so, yeah, there's just some things I'm like, yeah, that's not happening.

But if you don't know.

That's right.

Yeah.

And then the other part that I really felt God was working was when we were at Bente Cinco with the kids.

The day we made the beads and played with the kids, it was.

They just were having such a great.

Time, and so was I. Yeah, well, in the.

The.

At the women's event at Bente Cinco, we really connected with the kids, too.

Yes.

That was.

That was really cool.

That's when I really got to, like, really get involved with the children, because we were out there playing with them while the women were inside doing the women's event and wheelbarrow races and everything else.

And maybe that's the day that I'm talking about, because at 69, I'm still a big kid.

And it was so fun to play with it.

It was a blast.

And people got to see something they'd never seen before, and that was me running.

I'm sure it was as funny as I felt doing it, but it was.

It was a real game changer.

What was cool for me was I didn't get any pictures with the kids during the week.

Right.

Yeah.

But the very last day that we were there, we went.

Not.

Not your team, but the second team.

We were there.

We had done home visits, so we weren't actually at the school.

We parked at the school.

But then we did all the home visits for Benti Cinco.

And while we were going, the little boy that I had had bonded with was riding his bike to somebody's house that we were stopped at.

Okay.

To get air in his tire for his bicycle.

And so I got to get a picture with him.

Right.

Which was cool.

And then we got back to the school, and a couple of the little girls schools out, you know, a couple of little girls that we had bonded with.

And on that day, you know, the whole this, you know, the tagging you and that sort of thing, they were both there.

Okay.

And me and Shalisa got to get a picture with the group of girls, but the two that I bonded with really well, specifically, I got a picture with them.

So it was cool that God just offered me that opportunity when I hadn't had it before because of leading and doing different Things and trying to figure out logistics.

It was one of those, like, this is, I get to sit back.

And then God blessed me with that.

So that was cool.

But, man, those kids, they just loved being loved on.

They did.

And the love gate was given right back.

It was one day I hopped out of the van and a little boy never seen before walked up and was like, hola, gringo.

And just gave me a big hug.

I'm like, hey.

Hey, buddy.

You know, so it was cool.

It was cool.

And it was so special for me.

And I think a couple other people bonded with Sebastian, who was, you know.

The largest three year old you've ever seen before.

And so quiet and reserved.

And he didn't speak the whole time, but you could feel how much he came out.

Especially that day.

Yes.

When we did the wheelbarrows and I twirled the kids around and I'm like, okay.

All the other kids weighed probably 35, 40 pounds.

I'm thinking, I can handle this.

And then he came over like £70.

And he's like, he wants to go.

And I'm thinking, I gotta do this.

Because he did with everybody else.

And he.

He allowed me to pick him up and twirl him around.

Now he only got three or four twirls where the other kids got six or seven.

But I felt so privileged that he would let me do that.

Then he opened up.

Yeah.

He was super closed off when we first got there.

And I mean, he's three, so there's that, right?

Yes.

But he's like three and a half foot tall and £70 to the point where it was like, are you sure he's three?

Yeah.

Is this like leap year three?

Like, I mean, it was like, really?

Are you sure about that?

But his mother reassured us that he was.

Because he.

I was in the group that went.

To his house, right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

You guys had met several times.

I think so.

Cool.

Your dad, he had a fire truck.

Oh.

And all the time he was sawing on this floor.

And then your dad went and spoke with him and I think he told him that he was a fireman.

And by the time we left, Sebastian was washing off his fire truck with his bag of water to make it clean.

So I don't know what your dad said to him, and I'm sure he didn't understand, but somehow he conveyed that he should clean up that fire truck and make it look really nice.

That's cool.

Yeah, that's really cool.

And I did see him on that.

That the women's Event when we were playing, I saw Sebastian open up to my dad a lot, too, and he played with him and, you know, whatever.

And even by the second week, like, when we went back out there, there was.

He was a lot more open and receptive to us.

I mean, like I said, he was only 3, so he didn't know these gringos that were coming in.

It wasn't like, you know, he had been around my parents, who go every year, you know, or anything like that on a regular basis.

So it was.

It was cool to see that it was.

And I hope we really made an impact in his life and hopefully that we can continue, you know, to help him grow and come out of his show.

Yeah.

And that was my hope for all the kids, really, was, like, that they felt loved by somebody who didn't have to.

Right.

Like, that's.

For me.

See, you were the one worried about getting emotional.

For me, that's one thing that Lizzie and I have said for the whole time we've done ministry is like, it's about the loving on people who you don't have to love.

Right, Right.

Like, that you're not related to.

And so they don't, you know, like, if it's your mom, you're like, oh, well, she has to love me, or if it's my sister, maybe she has to love me, whatever.

But, like, we're somebody who's not related.

We're not, you know, necessarily friends.

We're not necessarily anything that's like, oh, you have to love me because of anything.

And my hope is just that we were able to leave that with them, that we really did love on them.

And, I mean, I felt the love from them, too.

And.

But that's.

That's one of those things that I hope that that means something.

Right.

You know, whether that's God giving them a feeling of safety when they struggle, you know, or whatever that might be, I just hope that stays with them in some way or another.

So let's see.

What was the biggest challenge for you on the trip?

Spiritually, emotionally?

What was the biggest challenge?

What was the hardest thing?

Biggest challenge was probably praying out loud with the group.

Yeah.

Because I get so emotional, and then I start crying, and then I can't speak.

And then everybody's got to sit there and wait for me.

And I know what I want to say, but I can't.

And that's really hard for me.

I feel that not with prayer, but I struggle with that.

When singing, I'll get emotional, and then it's the same Thing.

You can't keep singing.

I know, but.

So what did God do through that, though?

Maybe gave me more courage to speak out, because everybody has been.

Because I've said that over and over, and they're like, well, it's okay.

Everybody can feel your compassion at that.

And I understand that, but it's also my embarrassment, and I shouldn't really be embarrassed, but I think that's just human nature to feel that way.

I was gonna say that's one of the things that you asked for prayer about for coming on here.

And that's like, I understand why, but at the same time, like, it shows that you really actually care about what you're saying, about what you believe.

Like, and.

And so.

Not that people who don't get emotional, you know, don't.

Don't believe, or.

No, I.

But, like, you don't.

You don't go through that embarrassment for a show most of the time.

No.

So that's what I say.

So, like.

So it's one of those things that other people can definitely relate to.

As you.

We talked at the debriefing meeting, right.

When we came back, when.

When I got back on Monday night, we, you know, one of the other people in the group had mentioned that the struggle of prayer to actually other people, Right.

And then you.

You shared that as well.

And it's like, the more you.

The more you share that with people and show people that it's okay to do it through it, right, the more courage that you instill in other people as well, to go ahead and do it, even if it feels embarrassing or hard or whatever.

I mean, we discussed praying with our spouses and that sort of thing and how much of a struggle it is for just about everybody who express the fact that they pray with their spouses.

How weird it feels, you know, and that awkwardness and that almost that sense of embarrassment like you're talking about at times.

So I just.

You're not alone out there.

Like, everybody who's watching and listening, there's other people who struggle with that.

But don't let it.

Don't let it stop you.

Don't let it stifle you, because it's okay to be passionate enough and excited enough and have a reverence enough for God that he just overwhelms you.

And that's a beautiful thing.

Don't let the embarrassment weigh you down.

It may be there, but cut that string as soon as you recognize it, right?

Because that is.

That is you having a connection that is overwhelming, you know, which is good.

Thank you so.

And because I don't know if you remember, before we left, the Anthony that didn't go with us, he prayed us out that day.

I know I told him to.

And I told him, you need to be praying.

So when we.

When we got home, I sent him a text message.

Message.

And I said how much.

How I knew how he felt, because he was having trouble with his words.

And I thought, way to go.

Yeah.

I did that one other time to him during our meetings.

And for those of you who don't know, kind of a God thing.

I'll share in full detail, probably on another episode.

But there was an Anthony that didn't go with us because God called him to step back.

And yet he was at every meeting, every meeting, every fundraiser helped us out.

Everything we did.

And so one of the days we had split off with.

When the missionaries were here, we split off with different missionaries, and I forced.

Him to pray, and I wasn't.

And he gave me this, like, what Look.

So, yeah, I had forced him to pray just in a smaller group.

But it was cool to get to see everybody stretch.

It was really cool to see that.

And the fact that we had so many different personalities.

And like I said, they were all strong personalities to begin with, but we felt like a team.

We felt like one.

We felt like.

I mean, I don't think anybody experienced anything but a feeling of like, we're all in this together.

You know, like, it was.

It was supernatural.

It was definitely a God thing.

I don't.

I don't.

I don't know how else to describe it.

And I became.

So.

There were some of us ladies in our room that shared things that we wouldn't share with anybody else.

And it was very moving to do that.

What do you feel like God is calling you to bring back here from the trip?

Probably be more involved in doing things and maybe helping the community in some way for the people that struggle here.

Because we have people in our community that struggle, Even children, Even kids.

Even some of the kids that come here, you know, to be support for them or someplace to go if they need a safe place.

I would like to do that.

Yeah.

Kevin, before was here first and before you got here, he had mentioned wanting to start up several.

And he said it at the meeting, too, several outreaches that are local.

Is there anything that.

That you see specifically that you're like.

That you saw on the trip that you're like, it'd be really cool if we did this thing in whatever capacity it looks like here right now.

I Can't think of anything.

Anything specific?

No.

And that was.

It's gonna take some time to debrief fully from.

Yeah.

We're gonna be talking about new things for months, probably, that we're learning from the trip, but.

Yeah.

And we have a lot of things going here right now, too, with expansion and things going on that I'm involved in.

So it almost feels weird to come back to doing the things we were doing right before.

Do you feel like that has shifted your perspective on some of the things that you're doing, you were already doing here that you're gonna move forward in as to.

You mean, like things that happen on the trip, the changes, the feet, like what God did, the experiencing God there.

Did it change any perspective on it?

Not really.

No.

No.

I mean, I want to stay involved with our mission team, you know, and stay in close contact with everybody that was involved in that.

I don't want to lose that special.

Yeah.

Especially you ladies that expressed, like, that being able to.

The walls to drop.

Yeah.

And you getting to share things you wouldn't have shared with anybody else.

That is.

It's been my encouragement from the first time I heard anybody say that to.

It will always be my encouragement that you guys get together and just talk every once in a while.

I would encourage you guys to start a discipleship group where you just come together and you hold each other accountable.

You can do a Bible study if you want, but.

Sure.

But just where you talk about things and process things.

And even if it's just a little things in your life, like, you guys already have a trust for one another, and the walls are already down.

The hard things.

Some of the hard things are already out that, you know, you don't have to worry as much about somebody backstabbing or hurting you or whatever, because it's already out there.

Right.

That was what I had told Maria when she had said that I'd walked up on them talking out in the open.

It wasn't like in prayer or anything, but that's what I had told Maria was like, look, you've already put it out there, so if they're gonna.

If somebody's gonna hurt you in the group, they're gonna do it, and they've already got the ammo.

But the group isn't.

Doesn't feel that way.

Like, I really.

Like, this is probably for nobody really knowing each other really well.

I mean, like, to have a group that is that willing to open up.

And.

I mean, we had some crazy, deep conversations in our little guy's Room too.

So.

But that is something to capitalize on, is.

Is you guys gotta figure out how you can make.

Make that happen.

Yeah.

And I think we can grow together.

And 100%.

100%, I think that you guys are.

If nothing else, you guys are made to do life together in one way or another.

So it was.

It was cool to see all of the women shared that they shared something they didn't.

Everybody knew.

If you knew, you knew.

Right.

But like.

Like that.

That everybody, all of the women, at one point or another said, I was able to say something that I've never told anybody.

I never felt like I could tell anybody.

And it was like.

And feel safe and feel safe.

And to me, that was like somebody's holding on to something that is that scary to them.

Yeah.

Like at.

I mean, I was the youngest one on the trip.

Okay.

So anybody older than me is older than me, but just at all different ages.

Right.

Like, people were holding on to things that they were too scared to share with people.

Yeah.

And that God met you guys in that place and gave you the ability to speak it and start the healing process, whatever those things are, in a place in which people weren't judging you and people weren't there to hurt you with it.

And that it was safe and it was comfortable.

And I heard that from several people that it just.

It was a safe space.

The whole.

The whole thing felt like a safe space.

So that was really encouraging to me that so many of you felt that way, you know, on that trip.

Capitalize on it.

You guys have gotta.

You guys have gotta get into meeting together, even if it's lunch or whatever, you know, because if you don't do it early, it'll fall away.

It'll fall away quickly.

Absolutely.

That mountaintop heading back down at some point.

Right.

And it may be a slower descent for some, but.

But that's.

That's.

That's coming, you know?

Right.

So.

And if you're already doing things together and doing life together, when you get down into the valley, you'll be able to help each other back up the other side of the mountain, you know, so then that's my encouragement to all of you guys too, is that if you.

If you're not doing life with people and you're not discipling one another and you're not sharing with somebody, find those people, seek them out.

Pray for those people to come into your life, because God will place them there.

That's how God originally designed humanity, was to be in community with one another in a Deep, intimate, yet not sexual way.

You know, like a deep intimacy of the heart and the mind.

And so it's even shown in who God is, right?

Being the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit.

Like he lives in community with himself.

And so you really got to get into that community with other believers that are going to build you up and hold you accountable when you fall short.

Because we all fall short.

I mean, that's something that, man Jonah was beat into us, you know, over the trip, that we all make decisions that are dumb and we all.

And we keep making the same mistakes over and over.

Paul said that one, right?

Why, why, why do I keep doing these things that I don't want to do, you know?

But we need each other desperately need each other to get close to one another, to build each other up, to help carry each other's burdens.

And it is a need that I believe was built inside of each and every one of us that it's not possible to just do it on your own.

You may think you're doing it, but.

I would say it's a much bigger struggle.

That's a fake doing it right if you're doing it by yourself.

So.

So that's my encouragement to everybody out there from, from that is that just find the.

The men if you're a man, or women, if you're a woman, to.

You can share all of your life with, you know that.

You know, you can be open and honest, and it's gonna take time to build that up sometimes or in others.

God just divines it.

It's a divine appointment, but definitely something to seek out and search for.

Is there anything.

What do you want to leave people with?

Is there anything you want to share that we haven't talked about?

What word of encouragement might you have for people listening?

I think that I would want to share that we need to be more content with what we have because there's a lot of people living with much less and being much more of a servant to God than we are.

And we just need to be kind to everybody.

Watch our words.

Because they hurt.

Yeah.

Yeah, Words definitely have meaning.

My first philosophy professor, that was all he said for the first two weeks of class.

And it really is true.

Like your words, and we can never take them back.

Right?

Your words either give life or bring death.

And I mean, I believe we were made in the image of God, and his words do that at a much higher power level.

But it's true with, with us too, that we either build people up or we tear people down with Our words.

And so that's good.

That's a really good word of encouragement.

So thanks for being on.

Yep.

One more time.

Gonna pitch the.

The coffee we've got.

You know, hey, check it out.

I got one extra bag.

If anybody out there is like, I'm dying to buy a bag, I do have one.

They're only 12 bucks.

And if you don't, I'll end up drinking it, I'm sure.

So it's really great coffee, though.

It goes to support La Naje Escijito Comayagua, which is the church down in Honduras and Comayagua, Honduras, that we are partnered with here at Rise and that I'm sure the Truth response is also going to partner with in some degree as we have pitched them a lot in the last six months.

But also loveservetestifyfoundation.org you can send a donation to them just really to support the.

The things you've heard about so far with the school and with the church itself and all of the ministries there.

There's some pretty cool merchandise that you could get from there, too.

And right now, as far as I understand it, the coffee is not available to purchase in our country yet, except for here.

So maybe it should be like $24.

Maybe we should double the price.

No, no, no.

Or they could just donate extra.

Yeah, they could.

They could.

But yeah, if you, you know, if you have any thoughts, comments, please don't be afraid to ask.

We'll.

We're up for answering whatever.

And share, share this with as many people as you can, because I believe that everybody, if possible, if opportunity presents itself, should go on a mission trip once in their life, if nothing else, to see how other people worship God in other countries.

And I promise you, you will find it's a whole lot more similar than you think.

And that when the whole church comes together, regardless of where you're from, it's a beautiful thing.

It is.

So thanks for tuning in today.

Hope to do even more of these here in the next couple of weeks.

And God bless.

Bye.

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