News from Honduras

A few blogs ago, we informed you that a very nice Takamine guitar was donated to us, and this guitar was sent to a pastor in Honduras. We now have pictures and a letter from this pastor that we would love to share with you...

Dear brothers and sisters, I thank God for your lives and for using you in this ministry here in Honduras. I have been very amazed by God's grace in our lives. For the past two years I have been praying to the Lord for a guitar like this one, and two years later the Lord has responded. It’s amazing to know all the work this guitar has done already, and I promise you, it will be working much more for His glory. I will take care of it with love because I know it has been provided and is a blessing from the Lord. It already has been used in churches, seminars, and big and small groups. A young man from our church already learned how to use it and is playing in the church. This guitar is and will continue to be a blessing. Thank you very much and may God bless you all.
Pastor Franciso Ilias

Pastor Franciso and his family...

Receiving the guitar from Ron Naish, with International Christian Hospice.

The gentlemen that donated this guitar to WAKETHESILENCE wrote a letter to the missionary that would eventually receive this guitar. This is what Pastor Franciso is reading...what a blessing!

How exciting it is to see the fruits of this ministry! We ask that you continue to pray for WAKETHESILENCE as we come into your minds. Thank you!!

Opal, Wyoming

In July, WAKETHESILENCE found out about a need at a church plant in Opal, Wyoming. Experiencing God Through Missions has been sending teams out to Wyoming to build and help start this church in an area that is in desperate need of a good church that spreads the gospel of Jesus Christ. They needed a Passport PD250 which is a portable sound system, so that the music and preaching could be amplified throughout the church. We were thrilled to be a part of this wonderful project!

Opal Baptist Church

Just unpacked and ready to be tested....outside!

Testing the sound system inside the church...it worked!

Guitar to Honduras

Ron and Susan, missionaries with International Christian Hospice, called us last week with a need in Honduras. Franciso Ilias, is the pastor and worship leader of Christian Vision Church in Honduras, and he is a friend of Ron and Susan. Before they left for the United States for a short visit, he told them of a need he had for a guitar to play in their worship services. He would also use this guitar to go into homes and play for those that are nearing death, as he is also a Hospice trainer and worker. He told Ron and Susan that he was more than willing to pay for the guitar, although he has so little financially. In God's great timing, a beautiful guitar was donated to WAKETHESILENCE Ministries a few months ago, and we were able to hand this over to Ron and Susan at no cost. Pastor Ilias will be so delighted when he gets this guitar! As soon as we get pictures of him playing it, we will pass them on to you, our readers! For now, here are pictures of the guitar that was donated to us...




Thank you for your continued prayers and support of WAKETHESILENCE as we are seeing his hand move in mighty ways!

I just got back from a mission trip in the Dominican Republic, where I was joined by 200 other people from 56 different churches. Four teams spread out to different villages each day. We had medical, dental, and eye clinics, plus sports, and arts and crafts with each team. Also, the evangelism teams went house to house to share the gospel throughout all the villages. I was fortunate enough to be part of an evangelism team, along with my friends, Candace and Raquel. Raquel, born and raised in Puerto Rico, was our interpretor and definitely an asset on this trip! It was an amazing, amazing trip. We saw God's hand working in so many ways! Over 2500 people gave their life to Jesus Christ, and 278 Bible studies were started in the villages. Praise God!! Still hard for me to believe that SO many seeds were planted. The goal is to have a church started in each village. I made several contacts for WAKETHESILENCE, and we hope to help in many of these churches in the Dominican Republic.

God taught me several lessons on this trip, but more than anything I learned how selfish I have been. So easily I shared the gospel there without fear, yet in America, I let fear and pride hold me back. Our time here on earth is so short, and so many people in our backyards are lost and going to hell. We are called by Christ to 'go and tell' without fear of consequence. We can not be ashamed of the gospel, for think about the sacrifice Jesus made for us. I ask that all of those reading this blog will pray for Jonathan and I, as we strive to be more bold in sharing our faith with others. Help us not to lose this passion, and not to give up when it seems too hard. Thank you so much.

Tara


Here are some pictures of our trip...

Our first day...right off the plane...sharing the hope that we have!

The Eye Clinic

This is an awesome story...Janderi (the lady in the center of us...Candace, me and Raquel) had been praying for years that someone would come and bring her the truth. When she saw us walking by her house, she knew that we were the ones that God had brought to her to tell her the truth. How awesome is that?!

A group of ladies praying to receive Christ with Raquel.

This is me, Aturio, Raquel and Cooper. In this picture, Aturio just accepted Christ as his Savior and Lord. He is the president of his community and is highly respected. God has BIG plans for him! Thank you, Cooper, for your encouragement and inspiration!

Aturio came to our hotel that evening and was baptized in the pool! It was an incredible moment.

This is 'The Hole', the worst place I have ever seen. People literally live, work and play in the sewage and trash. It is poverty like I have never seen before. It certainly opened my eyes to the overwhelming needs around the world.

A home, in 'The Hole', that had been washed away when the river flooded. They just rebuild and continue to live in the sewage.

'The Hole' was heaven for the pigs...

She is pregnant, full, and happy...

It is Friday, and we just got back from the Inspire '08 worship conference in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Carl Cartee Ministries put on the conference, and they did a wonderful job. They had guests such as dove award nominee, Christy Nockels...Steven Furtick, with Elevation Church, one of the fastest growing churches in the country, and Randy Hughes...one of the greatest luthiers in the nation. WAKETHESILENCE Ministries had the honor to set up a booth at the conference. It was such a privilege to be surrounded by worship leaders whose desire is to share Christ's love to others through music. We got a lot of great feedback from the guests there, and they were very supportive through donations and prayer. Thank you, Inspire '08! A special thank you to Matt and Randy Hughes for helping us with our booth and spreading the word about WAKETHESILENCE! You guys are awesome, and we are blessed to have you as friends!

Carl Cartee, Steven Furtick, Christy Nockels, and other worship leaders give advice to those attending...

We wanted to bring to your attention a need from a missionary in Liberia (we do not want to disclose her name at this time). In her application she describes what she does there...

I am working as a missionary with EQUIP, but I do my own personal ministry as well. The church I attend has a choir that wants to learn American music to complement their African music. We also sing hymns (from very old hymnals), and because there are no instruments and no one can read music, the tunes are usually much different from that written. I have found it difficult to teach them both the melody and parts to songs without help with an instrument. These people have been deprived of so much from the wars, but they love the Lord and love music. I want them to learn music and sing it correctly.

Here are the immediate needs that she has:
Keyboard (66 note, with some different instrumental tones (piano, organ, etc.). It needs to be 220V and/or battery.

She also needs accompaniment tapes to sing to for a male quartet, choir and solos.

If you can help with any of these needs please contact us! Thank you very much for your constant prayers and support.

We found this sweet picture of children in Liberia...



Tara and Jonathan
WAKETHESILENCE Ministries

WAKETHESILENCE in Guatemala!

Biltmore Baptist Church has a sister church in Guatemala that they send mission groups to several times a year. Pastor Misael, the senior pastor of this church, sent a request to WAKETHESILENCE Ministries in February.

It is a privilege to write to you all and be able to great you from the bottom of my heart. In God, we share the same faith, communion, fellowship, vision and mission. So, all together we honor his holy name. I worked in the Facultad Teológico Evangélica in the area of music, teaching music on weekends with the vision of honoring our Lord in a great way. This year, we have 46 students already registered in four different areas including Comitancillo, Sipacapa, San Miguel and Ixtaguacan. By doing all these, it has encouraged me to prepare more in music. This year, I started to study in the evangelical conservatory NEW SONG in Guatemala city. They are the only ones that offered me this option to study one weekend every month. Normally it would be every weekend. So, I travel once a month to study 4 hours to the city. It is also urgent to have my driver’s license, type "C", so I can drive to teach classes once a week in each of these communities already mentioned. All these seem to me difficult to achieve, but I am convinced, I know, that with your prayers our God will provide this resources to achieve my goals.

Thank you so much and may God bless you.

Misael Salvador Crisóstomo

We were so excited to help Pastor Misael, and we were able to provide the money for his classes and for his driver's license. We hope to keep you updated on how the classes are going for him and what he is learning. In March, a team from Biltmore Baptist went to Guatemala to help with needs there. Sam McLamb, a WAKETHESILENCE board member and Single Adult Pastor at Biltmore, was able to present the money to Pastor Misael from our ministry. Before the team left for this mission trip, Sam received a request from Pastor Misael's church for guitar strings. These strings were donated to WAKETHESILENCE Ministries, so they were able to present these also! Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy!

Biltmore Baptist's sister church in Guatemala

Worshiping our Lord!

Sam McLamb and Pastor Misael

Pastor Pier and Pastor Misael

Thank you for your continued prayers for WAKETHESILENCE Ministries as we see God working in wonderful and amazing ways!!

Update

I am sorry it has been so long since we have updated this blog, but we have been very busy trying to get the ministry up and running! I am happy to report that we are now incorporated, and we have our application in to the IRS for tax-exempt status approval. We are praying that it is approved quickly! We wanted to tell you about some people that we have been able to help through WAKETHESILENCE Ministries. Our good friends and missionaries in Southeast Asia expressed a need for an electric acoustic guitar and a sound system. They needed this to expand their worship ministry in and around the area they are living. They have been using music to minister to the people in the community, and this has been such a powerful tool. Yet, their sound only reaches so far, and many people are missing out. With this new equipment they have the capability to reach the ears of more people, attracting them to the gospel. Fortunately, a guitar was donated, and a portable sound system was purchased for these missionaries! See their picture below....


Prayer Points:

• Please pray that our application moves at warp speed through the IRS channels. :)
• Please pray that people are moved to give instruments, equipment and/or monetary donations to WAKETHESILENCE Ministries.
• Please pray for those receiving these donations...that they will be blessed beyond measure, and that as a result of their time of worshiping through music that many people will be drawn to our Lord Jesus.
  
• And last (but DEFINITELY not least), please pray that we seek His face in every decision that is made within this ministry...and that we will never stray from His perfect will.

Thank you!!!!!