LAMP-Miami

Posted by: Jim Holway | October 2, 2008

Catching Up – part 3

Whew! This catching up stuff is tougher than I thought. It seems that the more I try to keep up, the further behind I get!

Every summer, my sponsoring church, the Sunset Church of Christ (in Miami) conducts a mission trip to Central America. This year we returned to León, Nicaragua to help a congregation continue its building project. One of the things that attracted us to this group of believers was their forward-thinking attitude: they were going to accomplish this project regardless of whether we helped or not. They weren’t sitting around for the “americanos” to do everything. They had purchased a small plot of land, so we purchased the one next to it and doubled their investment. Our first year, they poured the foundations and we built the walls. This year, they had put a roof on the structure and asked us to help them pour the floor. They had manpower to do the manual labor, but didn’t have the funds to rent a cement mixer. That’s were we were able to help them. So the floor got poured and we began adding two classrooms to their structure.

In addition to the construction crew, we took two doctors who saw hundreds of patients and distributed medicines worth thousands of dollars. We had puppet shows and fun and games for the kids. It was a great week! Next year, we plan on focusing our energy on providing seminars and training sessions for the leaders and members of the congregation. The clinic and the seminars will be held in their new building.

As God partners with us, we are learning what it means to partner with others (Phil. 1.3-6). What an absolutely amazing thought: God wants to work alongside us! As we go with God, he goes with us.

Enjoy the pics!

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Posted in Mission trips, Nicaragua

Posted by: Jim Holway | August 26, 2008

Catching Up – part 2

The last day of Miami Work Camp was the first day for our next summer mission project. The Church of Christ at White Station (Memphis, TN) sent 22 youth and chaperons for a week of ministry in sunny (!) Miami. The group was led by a long-time family friend, Lance Morgan. Lance grew up in Miami, and his dad Rex is very involved in broadcasting the Word via TV and radio all throughout the Spanish-speaking world.

The group had three tasks for the week: finish painting the houses from Miami Work Camp (remember the torrential rains?), work at a homeless shelter in downtown Miami, and help hand out flyers for a new church in Pompano Beach, FL. They completed these projects with enthusiasm and a wonderfully positive spirit, and the group was a blessing to all they came in contact with.

The White Station church occupies a special place in our hearts. They were our sponsors and partners in starting the Latino church in Memphis, and we are confident that the relationships we built with the leaders and members will be maintained through our lives.

Here the White Station Youth Group before being let loose on Bayside, a wonderful open-air market on Biscayne Bay:

The Chapman Center is the downtown shelter of Community Partnership for the Homeless. Due to its location, there are higher numbers of unattached males and drug-related issues. Discipline is strict, and the center is very nicely maintained.

Many of the residents are believers and they all work; one left his Bible on his bunk.

Our tour guide and “boss” was Butch, the manager of the warehouse.

The Center had just received a couple of truckloads of clothes from Macy’s, and it was our job to sort them. The clothes are then given to families and individuals as they move out of the center and into their own homes.

Our next “boss’ was Carlos Preciado, the church planter in Pompano Beach. He had us prepare hundreds of door hangers, which was done with joy and the presence of local members as well.

Jesus said the last things are sometimes first. Last things are also sometimes the most important. Before handing out the door hangers, we circled up and prayed for God’s blessing on our day as well as for the community and the new church. The door hangers were in English, Portuguese and Spanish, just like the neighborhoods we were walking.

Stay tuned for more exciting news about this new congregation in Pompano Beach!

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Posted in Miami, Partners, Youth

Posted by: Jim Holway | August 15, 2008

Catching Up – part 1

Whew! This has been a whirlwind of a summer. I apologize for not updating the blog, but honestly, there were days/weeks/months when I didn’t have the energy! Things have settled down now, so I will be posting summaries and pictures of the great things God has been doing in and through us.

The week of Father’s Day, 100 youth arrived for Miami Work Camp. This year they came from various congregations in Florida and from Montgomery, Alabama. Their goals were to paint some houses, feed and minister to homeless, and prepare VBS materials for Nicaragua and for other places. The week started well, but then the rains moved in and dampened clothes but not spirits.

Statistics indicate that most missionaries get their start by participating in short-term mission trips and service projects. Our prayer is that out of this group of youthful workers, God will raise up more laborers for his harvest in Miami and throughout the world (Matt. 9.37-38).

The kids started with energy and sunshine.

The sunshine gave way to clouds…

which gave way to heavy rains.

So, inside we went to prepare VBS materials…

and lunches for the homeless.

In between rainstorms, the kids hit the streets…

and mixed it up with the growing homeless community in Miami.

While their shoes and clothes dried out, we shared our lunch, friendship and the love of God.

The Vaughn Park Youth Group won the award for coming the furthest distance!

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Posted in Miami, Miami Work Camp, Youth

Posted by: Jim Holway | June 18, 2008

The Girl Effect

Larry James posted this link to an amazing video about how to change the world. It’s worth watching.

http://www.girleffect.org/#/video/

Answer the prompt question with “Agree.”

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Posted in Uncategorized

Posted by: Jim Holway | June 6, 2008

Missionaries Coming and Going

Miami, “the Gateway to the Americas,” is the entry and exit point for many traveling to and from Latin America. This is especially true for missionaries, which gives us the wonderful opportunity to meet, visit with, and pray with missionaries. We had two such experiences last week.

Enoch Rinks and his fiance, Laura, were on their way back to Asunción, Paraguay where they work as missionaries. Their flight out of Miami got postponed for a few days, and they took advantage of the delay to visit friends and family in Miami. Enoch is from Tennessee and has been working in Asunción for five years, and Laura is Italian but moved to Paraguay with her family over 10 years ago. Their team is doing a great job maturing the congregation they started, and I am planning to visit their work in September.

Enoch and Laura will wed in August.

Josh and Julie Marcum and their three girls arrived in Miami from Cochabamba, Bolivia, where they have been working for 3 years. They had intended to enjoy a few days of rest before a very hectic two months of furlough travel, but their flight out of Bolivia was delayed and they spent two nights in Santa Cruz. We will see them again one their way back home in Bolivia.