One Month!

We've just passed 30 days here in Honduras! We probably mentioned it before, but getting settled in is taking us longer than expected. This is the rain season here in Honduras and its raining.

In the past 30 days, it has rained over 12 days. Nothing too bad, but it makes the drive up and down the mountain slower. The rain has brought temperatures swings from high 80's in the day to high 60's at night. Brandi caught a viral infection in her head and chest last week and is getting over it, but now me, Jada & Josiah have it. It's going around the community also.

Josiah's Classroom

We had started homeschooling, but had to break again after everyone got sick. The kids are devastated.... HAHA!

Our landlord is continuing to make improvements on our property. The front wall and gate is near completion. We have less than 15 boxes to unpack and we are figuring out storage.

We are continuing to build relationships we started while we were here in the Summer. Mostly with the HPC Honduras Staff and church members. Some of the guys on staff built us a dining room table for the house. It came out great but with all the rain and humidity, we haven't been able to stain and finish it.

We also began to spend time with some great missionaries here, Larry and Allison Smoak. Larry came here over 20 years ago at the invitation of Papa Jack Dyer. He married Allison, who's been here in Honduras 11 years. Think they've been married 9 years. They have 3 girls and a boy. We had a great Thanksgiving lunch with them and they have been very hospitable and encouraging.

We are excited to finish getting settled in and excited to get into our normal routine here. Whatever that looks like!

Thanks for checking in!

Gered, Brandi, Jada & Josiah

We're here!

We made it! We are still somewhat tired from packing and making the transition. But, the work has only just begun. We have boxes to unpack and furniture to arrange.

I have to say again how much we appreciate Ps. Mike & Rachel Haman, Ps. Jeff Rentz, Ps. Derek Smith, Br. Wayne Austin and Br. Earl Rentz for the kindness, generosity, wisdom and encouragement they have shown us. We feel so good moving into this next season of our lives! We are extremely excited about what God has in store!

Our humble abode!

The house is GREAT! We are blessed! Our landlord has done a great job getting it ready for us. There are some small things to finish, but we love it and it's only a 2 minute walk to the HPC Honduras Campus!

Thanks to your generosity and support, we were able to by a refrigerator, propane stove and a water dispenser yesterday. We now have to look into shelving and/or cabinets for the house. It did not come with cabinets or closets! But, Brandi is a MASTER ORGANIZER and I mostly do what she tells me to do. So, we gonna make it work!

We hope to purchase our vehicle soon in the coming weeks. We need to get Honduras phone plans for our phones. We need to get internet hooked up at our house.

Our current PRAYER NEEDS: 1. We had a few items missing in shipping. We are assured they will be located. 2. Patience for our family as we transition now that we are here. Kids are anxious and trying to learn their roles. 3. Brandi and I need wisdom! Plenty of decisions to make, things to do to complete the transition. It's a challenge finding English speaking employees at some places. But, I LOVE trying to communicate and they LOVE trying to figure our what we're saying! 4. Covering for our health. We didn't experience many problems this Summer. But, we would love to have prayer covering now that we are here for good.

Thanks for checking in! We are so thankful for your prayers and support! We love ya'll!

Gered, Brandi, Jada & Josiah

The Call - Part 4

When we were asked to lead the mission trip to Honduras, only Brandi and I, along with a few friends in our married small group, knew what was stirring in our hearts. Brandi and I had talked about how we could use this trip to hear from God to give us direction about what this calling meant.

Now, it’s important to remember that despite Brandi hearing from God and despite the fact that I felt God was trying to speak to me,  I wasn’t crazy about it. I was leaning toward the comfort, safety, job security and career direction both of us had with our positions at Healing Place Church Highland Campus. Simply put, I was running from God’s calling.

We were excited about our trip to Honduras. We hit the ground with the team and went to work immediately on the special project we had for that team and all the normal ministry events we held at the church. With that excitement, we went down our own paths. We were not united. We got very frustrated with each other because we thought we were supposed to walk this out, talk this out together. It came to a head and we talked about it. We FERVENTLY discussed it! That’s the best way I can say that we got in a HUGE FIGHT. As big as a fight a couple can have while leading a dozen 18 to 22 year olds. It was tense.

Then, the night we had the team debrief to go over the lessons learned, wins and takeaways from the trip, we prayed as a group and then one of our Honduran pastors gave us an encouraging word. It was one of those supernatural moments that brought clarity, joy and peace. He shared what He felt God needed to communicate to us through him. Ps. Derek was translating and after a moment, it was like I didn’t even need Ps. Derek’s translation any longer.

I knew it was God because it was affirming, edifying and confirming to what God had been speaking to both Brandi and I. God reconciled me and Brandi and also, reconciled my mind and heart to His calling for our family. Not only that, but God showed me that the enemy was attacking our marriage specifically to keep us from being united about this calling to Honduras. “New levels, new devils,” is what we hear in ministry. The enemy is calculating and strategic. The enemy’s activities and priorities indicate where The Kingdom is gaining ground. So, if our marriage was being used as a distraction for our calling in Honduras, there must be something significant for God's Kingdom and The Lamberts in Honduras.

We came home from that trip with a fresh perspective. I knew that the blessing from our spiritual authority MUST confirm this calling. God WILL NOT call you to step from under your spiritual covering. We KNEW this calling HAD TO LINE UP WITH THE HOUSE WE WERE CALLED TO SERVE. The Kingdom is about unity, not disunity. So, we shared our hearts with Br. Wayne Austin, Br. Earl Rentz, our direct supervisors. We shared our hearts with Ps. Jeff Rentz, HPC’s Missions Pastor. Finally, we met with Ps. Mike Haman, our Lead Pastor to share with him what was on our hearts. We ensured him that we were submitted to the house and knew this would only work if it lined up with the mission and vision of the house. We asked him if he would consider us when he was ready to resource what he saw for the HPC Honduras Campus future.

So, here we are! Until next time, thanks for checking in!

Gered, Brandi, Jada & Josiah