Belize Missions Team Flight Information

Pastor David Brown, Grace Covenant's high school and young adult pastor, will be leading a missions team in Belize from July 6-13. Partnering with Foursquare missionaries Caleb Ortega and Lee Brockinton, the team will minister to a variety of people and do work on church projects.  

If you would like to encourage a team member(s) while on the field, please submit notes to the church office by July 3.  Team members are Abigail Banzhof, Pastor David Brown (team leader), Tracy Brown, Katelyn Cartee, Jacob Gordon, Joel Hoffman, Aaron Hosea, Karen Hosea, Alaina Huey, Ross Linfoot, Skye Linfoot, Mikayla McDonnell, Staci McDonnell, Brielle Palmer, Micah Palmer, and Cade Ratcliff.

Here is the flight information.

Outbound Flight

US Airways Flight 1141  - July 6
Leave Charlotte @ 9:55  am.  Arrive in Belize City @ 11:25 am. 

Return Flight

US Airways Flight 1142  - July 13
Leave Belize City @ 1:00 pm.  Arrive in Charlotte @ 6:10 pm.

Grace Covenant Global Mission Teams Alert

Haiti Missions Team Flight Information

A Grace Covenant team led by Duane and Fayetta Wilson is scheduled to host a teachers' conference in Haiti from July 15-20.  Here is the team's flight information.

Outbound Flight - July 15 
                US Airways Flight 1281
                                Depart Charlotte @ 9:55 AM.  Arrive in Ft. Lauderdale  @ 11:55 AM.

                American Airlines Flight 2285
                                Depart Ft. Lauderdale @ 1:45 PM.  Arrive in Port Au Prince @ 3:45 PM.

Return Flight - July 20
                American Airlines Flight 1988
                                Depart Port Au Prince @ 9:30 AM.  Arrive in Ft. Lauderdale @ 11:30 AM.

                US Airways Flight 1840
                                Depart Ft. Lauderdale @ 2:50 PM.  Arrive in Charlotte @ 4:55 PM.

Linefork Final Day

We  reached Ms. Mary's place before service started, so we all took the prayer walk and prayed.  It was a great time.  A friend of Ms. Mary's talked about living with the Spirit for Sunday school and next the Ignite team led worship service.  Alan played the guitar with them.  After service it was sad to say good-bye to everyone.  We're so grateful for what God has done through us and in us throughout this trip to Linefork.

Linefork Photos for Days 3 & 4

Here are the pictures from days 3 and 4 in Kentucky!

Linefork Day 4

Today God held off most of the rain for us.  Howard took Christina, Ana, Abigail, and Drew up the prayer walk.  After lunch, everyone except Alan, David, and John (who stayed behind to finish the fence) went to Cumberland to drop off the clothes to a great mission called United for Jesus.  We sorted some of the clothes and the people came to pick up them up.  We gave them Salvation bracelets and helped them find lots of new clothes.  Each of them had different stories and we were thrilled to share some love and pray with them.  Tomorrow we will go to Ms. Mary's church. Sunday School at 10:00, Lunch at 11:00 (yes that is correct) then service at 12:00! We will be heading home after that. We should be back at the church by 8.

Linefork Day 3

Last night Larry and his two truck loads full of food, meds, & clothes, so today everyone helped unload them.  After that, we continued the work we had started yesterday.  Drew, Paul, Sherry, & Lynda went to donate a trailer full of clothes to another ministry nearby, which will distribute the clothes to the comunity.  David, Ken, Chistina, Abigail, & Ana stained the back deck.  The men and the Ignite team finished taking out the railroad ties and started on the fence.  After lunch the girls all prepared for the kids' birthday party.  John grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for everybody.  Everyone enjoyed the party.  The kids (and Ms. Mary) loved the many cards the children made at Global Express.  After the party, Ms. Mary inspired us with her testimony.  Tomorrow we hope to do some witnessing in the community.

Linefork Pictures from Days 1 & 2

Due to internet connectivity, the team has not been able to post pictures with previous blog posts.  Hope you enjoy!

Linefork Day 2

We arrived at Ms. Mary's with plenty to do.  The girls worked on Theresa's garden while the men worked on the front yard.  Hector was in the garage fixing everything.  The Ignite team was very helpful.  After lunch the girls scraped paint off the back porch while the men still worked on the front yard. :)  The railroad ties at the driveway took lots of manpower.  All the men had to help.  We ended with a happy (and exhausting) dinner of Ms. Mary's Rueben sandwiches.

Linefork Day 1

We arrived at Ms. Mary's at around 1:30 today.  We went straight to work.  David, Christina, Sherry, Lynda, Ana, & Abigail pulled the weeds out of Miss Mary's front yard.  Hector went to work fixing the weed-eaters.  Alan, John, Ken, Paul, & Jason worked on Ms. Mary's fountain.  Drew was the "gopher" for everyone.  That evening we introduced each other to the Ignite college students team.  We made plans and got excited for upcoming ministry together.  Everyone had a good time after a long (hot) afternoon.
(Due to technical difficulties, we are unable to upload pictures.  We'll try again tomorrow.)

Linefork Missions Team Has Arrived!

The Linefork team has arrived in Linefork, Kentucky.  They are busy unpacking and preparing for the remainder of their stay.  More posts to come!

Nicaragua Construction Team Flight Updates

The team is expected to land in Charlotte tonight at 11:35 PM, American Airlines flight 3533. For flight updates, go to https://www.aa.com/travelInformation/fsnAccess.do?anchorEvent=false&from=Nav.  You will need to enter the following information and select the method for which you would like to receive notifications (email, text or voice message).

Departure Date: 1/25/2013

Departure City: MIA

Flight Number: 3533

Arrival City: CLT 

Friday before Departure

Getting ready to board the van for the airport.  See you soon. Dios le bendiga.

Ended our final morning praying for the city from the roof of the hotel and praying for Pastor Alan and Sylvia.

Thursday Morning

Our last morning here started with men gathering around the four corners of the church praying that God would draw men to be the pillars of this church.  We have pastors and men here from three churches today, which is a big help...our team more than doubled in size.

32 holes 4 feet by 4 feet dug by the beautiful bulldozer ---now  trying to get as many filled as possible before we leave.  

After hearing Pastor Ruben's testimony of how God spared his life when he was about to be executed by guerrillas and how The Lord has allowed him to plant 30 churches in Northern Nicaragua, Don blessed him with one of the hats given to one of the Jimmy Johnson championship teams.  We all agree, Pastor Ruben is a Winner in the Kingdom!

Wednesday - Working at Construction Site

Pouring concrete into the first corner...exciting moment.

How many miles of wire have we cut?

Teamwork gets the job done

Update on Harrison

If you followed the missions blog this past summer, you will remember a story about a young boy named Harrison.  We met Harrison on the street in Matagalpa.  He was on crack and running drugs, yet all of us who met him could see there was something special about him.  He accepted Jesus into his heart, and he captured our hearts.  We prayed hard for his healing and for freedom from the evil men who were using him.   On Tuesday morning as we arrived to the site, we were once again greeted by a band of boys.  There was a new boy in the mix and when I said hello to him, I thought, "I know this boy."  Once he smiled, I said, "Harrison, are you Harrison."  With a big grin he said, "yes, I heard the pastor was building a church and I want to help."  Gone was the scratching from the crack.  Gone are drug dealers, Gone is the confused look in his eyes.

Tuesday Morning Update

Pastors from two other towns joined us at the construction site this morning.  Fortunately, we were able to rent a Bobcat for the morning to dig out the perimeter of the church, probably saving us a couple of days of hand digging.  Never seen people so excited to be greeted by a big yellow machine.

So what have we been doing the last couple of days?  Making about 40 of these towers. 

Only have another 30 to go.

Carol has a new skill...master brace maker.  We figure in the last 2 days she has joyfully made 555 of these.  Yesterday after standing at this bench and bending wire for about 5 hours, she said, "I'm so happy. Everyone of these represents some who will come to this Church and meet Jesus."  That's what I call working with a Kingdom perspective.

Monday-Construction Site

Team Errol working hard together 

Monday-Pastor Allen & Sylvia

Before going to the construction site this morning, Pastor Allen and Sylvia shared with the team their testimony and their journey of becoming the church planters in Matagalpa.  pastor Allen shared that he once was a solider trained to kill people, but now He has been trained by the Holy Spirit to kill the works of darkness.

Upon coming to Matagalpa they knew no one.  They felt like Abraham who had been called to leave everyone he knew and all the comforts of familiarity.  To date, they have visited over 1500 homes in Matagalpa (most have more than one family living in it.) They have shared the message of Christ and given each family a New Testament.  Many people they have ministered to once followed Christ, but leafy the Church because they felt no one truly cared about them.  after visiting with them, many have returned to Church.  even though they are disappointed the people have not chosen to attend the church they are planting, they rejoice they are returning to their walk with Christ and are confident The Lord will add to their numbers as they focus on advancing the Kingdom in this City.

Because the Jehovah Witnesses's have a disciplined evangelistic strategy active in the city, the team prayed for The Holy Spirit to give Pastor Allen and Sylvia the divine ability to break through the confusion in people's minds about Christ and His Grace.  

Off we go to build the church ...which the gates of hell will not prevail against.

Sunday

While the men were ministering at the Matagalpa church, 75 women from four surrounding towns met in the hotel for a special worship service.  The lady on the far left, Sdelma shared at the end of the message that she had walked away from The Lord many years ago.  A neighbor who attends the Matagalpa church invited her to attend this morning's special service.  She shred that  during one point of the teaching, she felt like God was talking just to her, that He wasn't mad at her, but want her to get to know Him fresh.  Then she asked an important question, "what if my neighbor hadn't invited me? I would have missed hearing God today." she ended by encouraging all the women to have the courage to invite their friends to church.  someone who had drifted reminded us to "make disciples."

It meant a lot to the children to have the men ministering to them today.

In between morning and evening worship services the team prayer walked around City Hall, praying for the newly elected mayor and other government representatives that just took office last week.  we pray the Matagalpa church will have favor in recieving all their permit approvals and that the Church will be a blessing to these newly elected leaders.

During the evening service in Sebaco, we invited the churches to join Grace Covenant in 2013 to encourage people to answer the call to "Be One, Make One,For One."   Presenting new church banner to Pastor Pedro, one of our Bible Institute graduates and pastor of one of the Foursquare churches in Sebaco.  

The churches there combined for the evening service and we worshipped outside under the stars on a beautiful night.