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As we begin a new year we are planning to continue with our evangelistic outreach in Honduras. We as an organization strongly believe in the sharing of the Gospel. We have been working diligently training the members of our churches in different areas such as: personal evangelism, Christian stewardship and Bible knowledge. Additionally, we have been having seminars in the three different zones where our ministry is concentrated. Here in Honduras, our ministry is gearing up to have our church leadership be ready to do the work that our Lord has send us to do (John 9:4).
Many young people are responding to the ministry's call to serve the Lord. They have great enthusiasm and are ready for training. This year we have four youths enrolled in different Bible Institutes. At the moment we just have scholarships for two ($700 per year for each one). They will be starting their classes in February. However, we are in need for the other two to be sponsored as well. Would you be their sponsor? Their names are Catalino and Samuel. Both are involved in ministry in two different mission fields. Our goal this 2018 is to start two new mission fields to develop future churches. It will be a year of challenges but we know that our Lord will provide everything that we need (Phil. 4:19). Pray for us and as the Lord prospers you would you consider helping us in the expansion of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Honduras? Thank you so much for all of you who has been very faithful helping us and supporting our ministry financially. May the blessings of our Lord be upon you and your family. PRAISES:
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Dr. Hector Newman Executive Director  Rev. Enrique Newman & Dr. Hector Newman Well we are just a few days from Christmas. The year has flown by so fast! We are so thankful for all of the blessings the Lord has bestowed upon our ministry in Honduras.
A few weeks ago, precisely on November 26, 2017, Honduras held its presidential election. Unfortunately, the election results were marred with voter suppression, voter intimidation and voter fraud. Sound Familiar? Yes, it happens in Honduras as well. The governing president does not want to leave power and manipulated all 3 branches of government to accomplish his goal. The result of this political manipulation has caused the majority of the country to be in constant protests in the streets demanding the resignation of the president. The chaos has awakened a spirit of solidarity in the country to stand up for a nation that wants nothing to do with corruption. In the midst of such a predicament, we have been and continue to pray for peace and justice for Honduras and our people. As a new year approaches, our commitment to church planting, equipping church leaders, training current and new pastors and serving communities continues. Time is of the essence, and it is very important that we all continue to work together with the gifts that the Lord has equipped us with. In 2017, our ministry planted new churches, finished a church building, purchased more land for additional churches, Newman Evangelistic Ministries expanded its outreach on Facebook, recruited new pastors, hosted many mission trip teams and helped more than 1,000 people with medical assistance just to name a few. All the glory goes to God. On behalf of our missionary, Hector Newman, and our Iglesias Comunidad de Amor Internaticional team, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a very blessed New Year! May the peace and love of God be with you. PRAISES:
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Assistant Director In this Thanksgiving month, I'm very grateful with our Lord and each one of you for many things:
First, you have been very faithful in supporting us and our mission this whole year. Second, this has been a very successful year at the Newman School. Third, my wife and I are very thankful for many of you who contributed generously for the purchasing of our new (used) truck. The old blue Isuzu truck had served faithfully for almost 20 years and was sold to provide for the rest of the funds needed to complete the purchase. Fourth, we are very grateful with The First Baptist Church of Hingham in Massachusetts for donating their bazaar funds to complete the water system at El Arca. Fifth, for the Greenville Baptist Church in Rhode Island for raising all the necessary funds needed to build the new church building at Cofradia, Honduras. Lord willing, this January 2018, we will be able to finish and dedicate the building in February 2018. Sixth, we are very thankful with the Lord for a very successful national youth conference. This past month, more than 50 leaders and young people from all of our churches in Honduras arrived to train at EL Arca. The conference theme was: "Looking forward towards the future." We had four conferences entitled: The Youth in Today's World (pastor Carlos Banegas), Making the Difference (Pastor Javier Ayestas), Him & Social Media (pastor Carlos Banegas) and Youth and God (Pastor Delmer Rodriguez). These conferences were of great impact to theirs lives. Let me tell you about two very special people. Noe Ramirez is 23 years old and he came to the conference not expecting too much. He had been struggling with his faith and told us that he was going back renewed. He also testified that he was going back with a new vision for his life and with a clear commitment with our Lord and his church (Dos Caminos Church in the North). The other youth that impressed me was Danner Blandin. He is a thirteen years old that came from the Altamira church in Choluteca. In his testimony, he mentioned how the conferences impacted his life. He is now considering a future in ministry at his church. His grandfather, pastor Adan Blandin, just recently retired. Pastor Blandin's home was the place were we started our Iglesias Comunidad de Amor, Internacional organization in 2001. Today, we can count over 23 churches. I see Danner as the future pastor of that congregation. He was born and is growing as a Christian leader learning a lot from his grandfather and the Lord’s business. PRAISES:
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Executive Director Great news from the mission field in Intibuca! We have started the process of building a church sanctuary for our Indian Lencas brethren in Rio Blanco, Intibuca. The first step will be to start assembling 2,500 adobe bricks that are going to be needed for the walls. We are so thankful for the recent $850 donation received for that purpose. At this moment, the congregation is meeting in houses and also in the open air. It is very hard for them to hold church services like this because it is the rainy season and they don’t have any large structures to meet.
Can you help us to build them a place of worship? We Need $3,500 (invest in the Kingdom). You can send any contribution to: Mission Honduras (Lenca Church) c/o Ray Riddle, 41 Fairview St., Hingham, MA 02043. Thank you so much for all your help and support provided to us and our churches. PRAISES:
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Dr. Hector Newman Executive Director I would like to share some of the different activities from the past few weeks. In the southern part of Honduras, in the city of Choluteca, 6 people recently finished a discipleship course. They are now ready to share their new knowledge to other ones (Acts 2:42- 47).
On September 24th, our 3 churches in the northern part held their annual youth conference. The theme was "Youth Identity." A total of 80 youth attended with 3 professing Christ as their savior and 8 reconciling their lives. We are excited to continue to see many young people coming to know our Lord Jesus as their personal savior. The Newman school had a presentation where medals of excellence were awarded to 31 students who have excelled in academics. It is a great honor to see these kids receiving their medals. Many of them are sponsored by you. Imagine if these children were not in school with all of their intellectual potential? Thank you for supporting our school and our whole ministry in Honduras. The Lord is using you to help share the gospel around the world, especially in Honduras. PRAISES:
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Dr. Hector Newman Executive Director A few weeks ago, a team that included myself traveled to Danli, El Paraiso in Honduras. The purpose of the medical mission was to help the local community with medical care. For the past year we have promoted and recruited people with medical and non medical backgrounds. Our efforts paid off, and we ended up with the third largest mission team that we have ever had in our ministry. We assembled a wonderful team of 22 short term missionaries from 5 different states that included: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Michigan, Florida and New Hampshire.
On August 12th, we arrived in Tegucigalpa (capital of Honduras) around 11AM at Toncontin International Airport and you could sense the excitement and anticipation in many of the team members. I had not met anyone from the Michigan delegation so I was particularly looking forward to that. There were some volunteers that were on their 16th mission trip and then there were some newbies. We also had the youngest ever short term missionary on our team at just 9 years old. The team was led by Dr. Rick Reeves (Michigan), who was now on his second medical mission trip to Honduras. Many in his delegation had driven countless hours throughout the night to get to their airport of choice in Illinois. I traveled as the pastor and spiritual leader on the team. Early in the the morning, I met up with the NH, MA and RI group at Logan International Airport in Boston. We flew to Miami and we met up with our last team member at the airport. We were greeted in the luggage area by my father, missionary Hector Newman, with his traditional ear to ear smile. It had been a very pleasant flight and as a matter of fact I flew in with a former high school friend of mine that was traveling back to Honduras from Florida. It was wonderful to see him again after 20+ years and catch up. After loading the trucks with all of the luggage and medicines and grabbing a quick lunch we headed to our hotel in Danli. Even though Danli is only 60 miles from Tegucigalpa, the pothole filled highway makes it almost a 2 hour drive through the picturesque Honduran landscape. Our hotel was located in the heart of Danli so we unloaded and got some rest. After dinner I took a shower and got ready for the youth church service that night. A few months earlier my dad had invited me to preach at their youth meeting. The service was filled with youth and I was excited to see the growth in spiritual maturity and physical growth in many of the kids that I have previously connected with throughout the years. The title of my sermon was "Youth: What is your destination?" I shared with the youth 5 Biblical principles to help them set goals and ways to achieve them. Five youth consecrated their lives at the end of the message and came to the front so that I could lay hands and pray for them. Right near the end of the service there was a youth that shared a brief emotional testimony. He talked about how God had rescued him from the drug scene and how he was so excited to be a part of a church. I could sense his gratitude towards our Lord by how passionately he talked about how he had been rescued by our Savior. It was so refreshing to hear his testimony. The boldness in this young man's heart was specially touching to me seeing that he was sharing this with a church full of his peers. Back at the hotel many stayed up late sorting the medicines and some resting from a long travel day. On August 13th, there was more sorting of medicines and many in the team took the time to get to know other members of the team. Later on that night we went to the San Cristobal Church for the evening Sunday worship service. The youth led the worship and the church was packed with many newcomers and members. The church has been growing steadily under missionary Hector Newman's leadership and it was noticeable. There were many new faces and people just excited to have a place to worship the Lord. Our medical team prepared a song and Lisa Waterman led us in practice. When the time in the service came for us to be introduced we went to the front and after introducing ourselves we sang, "Open the Eyes of my Heart Lord". Afterwards I preached the message titled, "Called to Serve" and used Exodus chapter 3 as the text. It was a message that challenged the congregation to serve when God calls. On August 14th, we woke up early, had breakfast and left towards the San Cristobal church where we would be hosting the brigade for the rest of the week. When we turned the corner to the street where the church is located, we saw a lot of people already waiting. We headed inside the church and quickly got ready and assembled our temporary medical facility inside the church. We had some Honduran doctors (2 dentists and one general family physician) also join our team. After the set up was complete I gathered the whole team and we prayed for a blessed day and week. Then we headed to open the doors and started helping those who had come for medical need. Many who had been waiting since 6AM(we opened around 8:30AM) perked up knowing that soon they would be helped. I remember speaking to this middle aged woman who was outside waiting to get in and be seen by the doctors. I spoke to her through the metal bars on the church fence. I asked her, "Where are you from?" she responded, "Santa Rita." "How far is that from here?" I asked and she said "Very far." "How far?" I asked, and she said, "Well in order to get here I had to walk half an hour to get a bus and then I rode a bus for 3 hours." Imagine having to travel that far for medicine? The day was hot and humid and many people outside were anxious to get inside. The scene was chaotic to say the least. For many of us this was not our first time volunteering for a medical mission but it sure looked like it. The flow of things did not go as planned but it was minimal confusion. It was perhaps that we were just a little rusty. That night when we got back to the hotel and after the team assembled we debriefed. We heard suggestions on how to improve the flow and service of things. It was a true example of working together as a team. Dr. Reeves then went on to tell us how many people we had served that day. It was 197 people! I cannot put into words how it feels to do something for the Lord that is so fulfilling. We were so excited! On August 15th, we went in with a vengeance with the goal of fixing the little quirks from the first day. Many of the suggestions that were made the previous night were put into place and executed. The day was a complete success! Being a non medical volunteer my main job was to keep the influx of people coming in at an acceptable flow for our medical team. I remember late in the day there was a guy was complaining about the wait times. I was trying to explain to him that we were doing our best to get everybody seen and how important it was to be grateful that missionaries from far had come to serve the people in Honduras. Additionally, I reminded him that the medicine was free. As soon as I finished talking to him a woman that was coming out said to me, "It was worth the wait!" as she left with a big smile and a bag full of medicines. That put a big smile on my face as well. That night we went to the church dedication service at Bellavista. It was a beautiful celebration of their brand new building. Pastor Hector Newman brought the message based on King Solomon's dedication prayer of the temple. The Bellavista church is pastored by Milton Santos and is one of our first church plants in Danli. On one of our last days of the medical mission as the day was dwindling down a youth from the San Cristobal church approached me and started a conversation. She shared her life's story with me. Her parents abandoned her when she was a baby and her extended family rejected her as well. She went on to tell me how her uncle sold her to some guy who raped her. At this point I was not sure why she confided in me all of her personal tragedy. Her story continued as I listened intently. Her eyes were filled with hurt as she shared how she has had feelings of rejection and depression for most of her life. Then she paused, looked at me and told me how grateful she was for being part of a church that has taken her in as family. She lit up as she continued saying how she feels welcome and loved at my dad's church. I encouraged her in the Lord and reminded her that despite all of what she's been through the Lord has not forgotten her. Overall, it was an amazing week! It was a week full of God's blessing to those seeking medical help and to us serving. The week's patient tally was around 944 (probably closer to 1,000 since we weren't able to get all of the patient cards back) that were seen and assisted by our medical team! Dr. Reeves and the medical team treated patients with hypertension, diabetes, urinary tract infections, upper respiratory infections, ear infections, gout, arthritis, diarrhea or GI infections, asthma or other lung disease, headaches, sore throat, abdominal pain, fever, fungal skin infections, broken bones, carpal tunnel syndrome just to name a few. The dental team led By Dr. Gustavo Argeñal focused on extractions, fillings and cleanings. What an amazing team. Many on the team were already talking about coming back in 2018. To God be the glory! Interested in joining any of our mission trips for 2018? Below are the scheduled 2018 mission trips: 2018 January 11-18 Building Team (Intibuca) 2018 February 17-24 Building team (Cofradia, Cortes) 2018 March 11-17 Youth Team (Danli, El Paraiso) 2018 June 23-30 Medical Mission (Intibuca) 2018 Sept. TBD Medical Mission II (Danli, El Paraiso) PRAISES:
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Rev. Enrique Newman Assistant Director The Newman School in the month of July is very busy with many activities. This is the time when many pictures of students are taken because of graduation. We are so thankful, with many of you for faithfully supporting many of our students with scholarships. You had made it possible for children without opportunity go to school and help them get achieve their academic dreams. They have been enjoying the blessings of the learning process. This year we have 7 students that are finishing the 6th grade and 9 students finishing kindergarten, ready to start first grade. This is a great blessing for us and for the country.
Also in July we celebrate the anniversary of our great national hero, Lempira. Lempira came from the Lenca Indian tribe. On the 20th of July our school celebrated his life. Lempira day is a day when students dress up and reenact the past by dressing up in clothes that remind us of those days when the Lempira fought the Spaniards. We are very excited for the funds that were received from the Greenville Baptist Church in Rhode Island. The funds will be used for the construction of the church building at Cofradia, Cortes. We hope that by February 2018, we can dedicate this beautiful building Pastor Wendy Kiefer-O’brien and the group from her church comes to visit. Finally we are so happy to welcome the newest member of our donkey family, Boston. She was born on July 17. She is a beautiful! PRAISES:
Dr. Hector Newman Executive Director As some of you may know, we have partnered with Compassion International in Honduras for many years to implement special programs with very poor kids in our community. One of the main focuses is helping release children from poverty, both spiritual and financial. Just this week, our ministry added 56 new children to our Integral Development Center (CDI) program. We provide them with special attention which includes: dental care, a meal a day and a sound Christian education. This addition bring us to a total of 293 poor kids that we are able to care for. We have a director and a staff of 16 people from our church in Danli that work there. This is not to be confused with The Newman School, but a separate ministry partnership that we help host in our facilities.
Also, we had the regional 2017 Youth Conference of El Paraiso zone this month. We were very excited to see dozens and dozens of young people attend the conference in Danli. Every year we emphasize these conferences because it is so important to help the youth grow in their Christian life. It was a blessing to see pastor Samuel Fonseca, a mature, young man who is the pastor of one of our newest churches, sharing his knowledge in a conference called, "Daniel: Impacting Your Generation". We also had Yolibeth, a recent college graduate facilitate the conference called, "Youth: After God's own Heart." We are seeing our young people grow healthy in their Christian lives. Our profound thanks to every one of you who are contributing to make all our ministries possible over here in Honduras. PRAISES:
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Dr. Hector Newman Executive Director The Newman School, through it's curriculum, is working hard to change the children's attitudes toward environmental pollution. Our students are taking this issue very seriously. This month they planted 60 new trees at El Arca property. They also worked with a variety of items that we normally throw away like: cups, paper, cans, etc. They recently hosted an exposition, which was presented at the Danli central park. It showcased a wide variety of things we can create with what we call trash. We are very excited to see this sea of good ideas coming from their minds and hearts, and the responsibility that they are assuming about our serious problem of pollution and the destruction of the whole environment.
We are also very thankful with our Lord for the donations that have arrived for the construction of the church building at Cerro Grande ("big hill"), Teupasenti. This new congregation of more than 25 people is in a remote area of the city. They are excited to continue to see progress in their construction building. They still need your help. For more information, please check our projects section on the website. Concerning the preparation of this year's medical mission team, Dr. Patrick Reeves, Enrique and Judy worked hard recruiting people from Michigan and the New England area. At this point, the mission team consists of 19 people ready to come in August 2017. PRAISES:
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Dr. Hector Newman Executive Director The Spanish word for "international" is "internacional." In Honduras, we are known as Iglesias Comunidad de Amor Internacional (which translates to "community of love international churches"). We are international for two reasons. First, we are in partnership with the United States by joining forces to accomplish many of our ministry goals in Honduras. Second, we are international because Iglesias Comunidad de Amor Internacional has been partnering with India since 2010.
This year, Newman Evangelistic Ministries, which is our gospel outreach ministry, was able to partner with India again. Our global partner in India is Pastor Prem and his wife, Deena, ministering in the region of Andhra Pradesh. One of their ministries is an orphanage in which they help serve food for local children who have nothing. Deena tailors clothes and earns money by selling them to feed the orphan children in their city. Sister Deena goes from house to house collecting used clothes and rice to feed the children. Many of these children come from parents who were HIV/AIDS patients, children of farmers who have committed suicide, children of prisoners and unwed mothers. In the spirit of James 1:27, our ministry was able to assist them by donating a sewing machine for their outreach. Newman Evangelistic Ministries is focused on expanding Christ's kingdom, and one future goal is to plant a sister Iglesia Comunidad de Amor, Internacional Church in India. Yes, our focus is Honduras but the need is throughout the world. A few days ago, the Bellavista church building in Danli, El Paraiso was completed. Newman Evangelistic Ministries was able to contribute by helping raise most of the $1,850 needed to see this project through. In other news, we have a new church construction in Cerro Grande, Teupasenti. It is a new church, and we have about 23 people who attend. All of the construction workers belong to this church as well. It is truly a congregational effort. The church is being built from adobe and the walls are all up. Now it only needs wood, doors, floor, windows and a roof to be completed. It is amazing what a small amount of faith can do. Yet, the Word of God kindly reminds us in Hebrews 11:6 that it is impossible to please God without faith. God bless! PRAISES: 1. Thankful for Jonathan DiLuglio who recently joined our team as Youth Coordinator 2. For the Cerro Grande church construction 3. For our Pastor Prem and his wife Deena ministry in India 4. For the Bellavista church buiding which was recently completed. PRAYER REQUESTS: 1. For funds for 3 pastoral scholarships ($60/month each) 2. For our goal of planting 3 new churches this year 3. For missionary Hector Newman’s living expenses (short $750 each month) 4. For the $2000 needed to finish the Cerro Grande church in Teupasenti Rev. Enrique Newman Associate Director |