WORLDGOSPEL - Honduras Winter Issue 2016 web.pdfto Honduras, we set up the Serve Team sites at a local church building and coordinate with both the local church leadership and the

Winter 2016

WORLDGOSPELO U T R E A C H

4 Summer Learning Fun 8 Housecalls in Belize 12 First for WGO

WHAT are we about?Our vision statement is:

“Impacting the faith of Christ followers through serving and evangelizing children and the poor”

WHy are we pursuing this vision?We are driven to pursue this vision by three fundamental Biblical mandates:• To care for the poor, and especially the widows and orphans (James 1:27)• To be fishers of men and to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the lost (Matthew 4:19)• To be accountable before God for how we meet the needs of others (Matthew 25:31-46)

how are we accomplishing this vision?We are accomplishing this vision by engaging in three areas of ministry:• Serve Teams - Meeting physical and spiritual needs• Rancho Ebenezer Children’s Ministry - Caring for at-risk children• Impact on the North American believer - Life changing opportunities to serve

ContentsWinter 2016

12 A First for WGO

8 Housecalls in Belize

About the Ministry

On the coverWGOKid, Junior adds an activity to Summer Learning Fun at Rancho Ebenezer.

4 Summer Learning Fun

14 Bringing Water to the Poor

16 Tearing Down Walls Holly Tompkins 19 Impact on the Believer

The World Gospel Outreach Magazine is published in March, July and November.

To submit articles contact:[email protected] the online edition of the WGO magazine at www.wgoreach.org

Winter 2016 World gospel Outreach Page 2

Come join aWGO Serve Team

Each year, over 1000 believers are called to serve the people of Honduras and Belize through WGO Serve Teams

God does not call the equipped . . .

He equips the called

contact us at:[email protected]

In the newsHurricane Earl does damage to WGO Belize campus

I want to take this opportunity to lift up a praise for the work the Lord is doing in Belize. As you know, the WGO Board of Directors decided in April 2014 to expand the

ministry into the country of Belize. Three months later a 13-acre property on the Belize River located in the capital city of Belmopan was purchased. Six months later the first building was established. By July 2015, one year after the property was purchased, we had four buildings on the property and were able to host construction teams on our property. In March of 2016 we hosted the first community Serve Team with a similar format to the teams in Honduras, i.e., offering medical help and sharing the Gospel. We will host seven Serve Teams this year in Belize. The first team arrived less than 20 months from when we first started construction. The remaining building that we are in the process of raising funds for is the main Mission Center (see page 11) which will house the team dining and meeting areas as well as offices, food service and laundry. We hope to start this building in February of 2017. This is amazing progress that only the Lord could have accomplished.

This progress with the physical campus is very encouraging. Equally encouraging is the progress with the ministry outreaches that the campus facilitates and enables. Similar to Honduras, we set up the Serve Team sites at a local church building and coordinate with both the local church leadership and the national agency that has oversight for health care. We have seen very good reception by the local communities that we have served, both in the on-site Serve Team involvement and the off-site home visits that are mentioned later in this issue. The Belizean people are a very caring and engaging people and are very grateful for the help these teams bring. We have done a variety of construction projects from raising walls to a house (see photo), building a bathroom and painting existing structures. The site in August already had a Vacation Bible School planned for the week we were serving, so many of our team joined their staff to minister to many of the children of the community. We have witnessed some amazing movements of the Spirit on people’s

lives and stories of the Lord completely turning a life around. This year of hosting teams has been verification that

Belize is ripe for the harvest and that God’s hand is on WGO in that country. One obvious provision of the Lord is the warm reception and cooperative spirit we have experienced with the other ministries in Belize.

Of course there have been challenges too but not insurmountable. There is the usual challenge that goes with interfacing with a foreign government, whether is it for permits to do medical care or the process and cost for bringing in material on containers. However, our most recent challenge was hurricane Earl. This hurricane landed in Belize on Aug. 4 and was a direct hit on our campus (see photo on page 2). We experienced four hours of 75 mph winds and are grateful that nobody was injured and only minor damage was done to our buildings. However, it dealt

a devastating blow to the trees on the campus and the tropical forest surrounding our site. Many of our beautiful trees did survive and we have made good progress in clearing more than 200 trees that fell during the storm. We have had to spend about $4000 in off-budget expenses for this cleanup. If you would like to help with this please indicate you want your gift to go to Belize Hurricane cleanup (Belize Site).

We are very pleased with the progress in Belize and thankful to the Lord for His mighty provision

there through many of you. Please lift this special country up in prayer as they engage their own set of spiritual battles that will require stamina and faith.

Mike FergusonWGO President & CEO


From the President

Update on WGO’s Expansion into BelizeBy Mike Ferguson

Belize Serve Team builds a home for a local woman.


continued on page 6Winter 2016 World gospel Outreach Page 5

Every child deserves a summer full of fun activities surrounded by family. It is no different for our children at Rancho Ebenezer. The summer of 2016 was filled with summer teams, families visiting to give respite to mentor parents and an outstanding learning program that brought several devoted interns for the summer planning events, holding workshops and creating activities that would be fun for all ages.

winter 2016 World gospel Outreach Page 6

continued from page 5

Each morning, the children went to school in their age groups

to work on language skills, science projects and Bible studies. During the

afternoon, they came together during family time and participated in

activities monitored by mentor parents.


The intern team of Evette Lane (below), Hailey

Holford, (left), Megan LaFond (bottom page 7), Madeline Ray

(bottom page 6) and Annie Schexnayder (far left page 6) led by Racheal Hancock of

WGO made the summer of 2016 a success. They taught and ministered to ministry children,

missionary kids and community children as well. WGO is grateful for these women

sharing their summer with our children.


While teams in Honduras serve an amazing number of people every year, Belize is a smaller country and the Serve Team sites will

naturally be smaller. Even poverty looks different because of the distributed population, with most people living in rural and small village settings. However, this does set the stage for some intimate encounters between our short-term missionaries and the people they come to serve.

When a medical Serve Team from Illinois led by Kathy Ivec arrived to minister in the community of Duck Run 3 in July, the WGO staff was still uncertain as to how the week would look. Because they were only the second Serve Team in Belize, there wasn’t any precedence to know how many patients would arrive or what to expect. As the week proceeded, it was clear that the lines were dwindling and all that were going to be seen in DR3 had been seen. The idea of home visits had been discussed prior to the team’s arrival

and in conversations with the local health care worker, Mirna, nearby residents were identified who were limited by lack of mobility.

The team split up into groups with one adult leader and one bilingual youth from the church and several team members going house to house to pray for the villagers’ needs. Working side by side with the local church, the team encouraged and ministered to peoples’ hearts. Meanwhile, a medical team consisting of Dr. Kathy Hassell, Nancy Stell (a nurse) and Lesly Tardecilla (a pharmacist) went with Mirna, the village health care worker, to visit with shut-ins. Everything that could be done at the Serve Team site was done in their homes. Blood pressures were taken, glucose levels checked and urine samples taken to check for infection. Under the prompting of the Holy Spirit, Lesly had packed almost every medication that was needed. However, the greatest impact was the individual attention each patient received.

By Lynne Razor

continued on page 10


They were reminded that they are not alone. The team also spent time in prayer for their needs and most visits ended with hugs between new friends.

The August team from Geyer Springs Baptist Church in Arkansas also sent out a medical home visit team to minister in Ontario Village. But a cry for help from a young man concerned for his mother was the catalyst for an impromptu visit.

On Tuesday afternoon, a young man of about 12 or 13 came to the registration desk asking for medicine for his mom who was at home, sick in bed. It was explained that no medication could be given without a doctor first seeing her. A neighbor of the family just “happened” to be close by and explained that this woman had been recently diagnosed with myeloma after suffering a broken bone. The son, John, said she was suffering from a fever and cough, plus body aches. After conferring, it was decided that if one of the young men

from the church was willing to escort them, Dr. Evelyn Cathcart and WGO missionary, Lynne Razor, would go and see this woman. John, Joshua (the church worker), Evelyn and Lynne drove the short distance to Sandra’s house.

They walked through the neighbor’s yard and climbed the steps of the family’s one room house on stilts. Her bed was the largest piece of furniture in the room, along with a sofa, chairs and a porta potty. Although only 40 years old, she looked like she was sinking into herself due to her disease. Dr. Cathcart listened to her story (she was in the hospital two weeks previously due to pneumonia) and to her lungs. She was given additional antibiotics and something to ease her pain and her cough. But the biggest concern was not for her physical suffering, but for her spiritual condition and where she would spend eternity. The Gospel was presented and she was asked if she wanted to be sure where she would go after she died. She said yes. Did she desire a relationship

in Belize


with her heavenly Father? She said yes. She was then asked if she would like to pray and ask Jesus to be her Savior. She was silent. It was explained to her that this was something she could do on her own, that she could pray to God by herself in her bed. She had a Bible close by and it was suggested she read the book of John. Dr. Cathcart wrote down some verses to read on a piece of paper which she tucked into Sandra’s Bible.

While her mother stood close by weeping, prayers were offered for her healing and for the guidance of the Holy Spirit into all truth. While saying goodbye, John broke down in tears and Lynne held him as he wept. It wasn’t just Sandra that was suffering, but the whole family. They also needed the reassurance that God had not forgotten them.

A couple of days later Dr. Cathcart went back to check up on

Sandra. She still had pain in her side and coughing, but her countenance was remarkably different. She was smiling and more engaged. One of the nurses with Dr. Cathcart on this visit asked her if she were to die tonight did she know where she would spend eternity. She answered that she did! She had read the verses left with her and they had found fertile soil. Sandra was given the precious commodities of time and attention and they paid off in eternal results.

Some things a short-term mission team does are temporary, e.g., medicines run out, buildings deteriorate and people return to the States, but this should not be discouraging. We see the the obedience of the believers that come on a team who are diligent to share the Gospel and see the Kingdom impact which is eternal.

continued from page 9


The Belize campus only lacks one building to be complete…the Mission Center. Here are renderings of of the building as it will look at completion. We have teams coming in February 2017 to start this building and make progress based on the funds we have at that time. This building will house the team dining/meeting room, kitchen, laundry and offices. This will be the heart of the campus where the team meetings, devotions, and praise and worship

will happen. The construction of this building is the last critical step to have the campus ready to host teams of 25-30 people plus WGO staff. If we are able to raise all of the funding, we could be hosting full-size Serve Teams in this new Mission Center by summer 2017.

New Mission Center Building Project for BelizeMission Center will house the team dining/meeting room, kitchen, laundry and office.

View of the team dining/meeting room

Be the heart of Jesus

Join WGO in serving the people of Belize

visit our website at wgoreach.org


Three campuses, three Serve Teams and a sewing team, two countries, one purpose: Reaching people for Christ! The week of July 23-30, 2016 was historic for the WGO ministry. For the first time in our history, we had teams from North America serving in both countries in all three of our ministry locations. At the Mission House in Tegucigalpa, to Rancho Ebenezer and at our new Belize campus. These teams simultaneously provided medical, dental, optical care, service projects and children’s outreach impacting Honduras and Belize in a big way.

The Ranch Serve Team serves alongside the

ministry children.

The yearly sewing team serves children and adults.


Mission House team 3016A served in two locations.

The Serve Team in Belize was able to help build a home for a woman in need.



Hondurans in poverty are subject to horrific water conditions. Consuming the water from the

river or streams can be extremely harmful. Some will buy filtered water in bottles, if they have the money.

For some time now the ministry has considered and investigated offering teams the opportunity to do service projects other than pouring concrete floors. One idea has been to provide and install water filtration system in homes or churches.

This summer, a medical/evangelism Serve Team installed water filter systems into two homes. This first-time WGO endeavor was extremely successful, and greatly appreciated by the families. The team purchased the filtration system (cartridge-less), and two buckets specifically designed for this purpose. One bucket has an open/close spout. The team also purchased a metal shelving unit to hold the two buckets, enabling gravity to activate for flow of water through the filter system. This is a great solution for a family or even a small church congregation.

Both families who received the water filters were thrilled to know they will always have clean pure water to consume.

In the past they only had clean water when they could afford it. This will save them money that they can spend on other necessities of living. We are confident that the health of these families will improve.

Four team members were involved with the family (two at the first home, and another two members at the second home). At the end of the installation, taking one hour, the team member taught the family how to use the system and how to back-flush the cartridge-less filter. Then team members talked about Jesus offering the living water, saying with His water, you

will thirst no more. They talked about the hope and love that Jesus brings. The Holy Spirit is the living water providing everlasting nourishment from God. Then a team member prayed a special blessing over the family and the home. This was a meaningful experience both to team members and

the Honduran families.

Team members can now inquire about their team installing water filter units in homes.

Providing water to the poor Rick McClintick

Women in the mountain regions carry water in buckets on their heads up the mountain from the water source.


Tearing Down WallsBy Holly Tompkins

I was living in Boulder, Colorado preparing to leave for a nine month mission trip to Uruguay. I’ve been on lots of mission trips – not usually serving as a nurse which is

my profession, but usually doing construction, (because I was such a tomboy in my youth – and I like that kind of hard physical work!). Often I just helped with whatever the need was. I’ve helped build and rebuild many houses and churches – which means I’ve built walls in Mexico, Honduras, Argentina, Massachusetts, Chile, Colorado and Louisiana. Little did I know this trip to Uruguay would also be about a wall – but not a physical wall. A spiritual and emotional wall that had become a part of me; a wall I had constructed throughout my life; a wall of protection I could hide behind. A wall that separated me from others emotionally, and also from being able to truly have intimacy with God. But now I know part of the plan God called me to Uruguay was to break down the huge wall I had built in my life.

I was adopted at six months -- and so was my brother -- but we are from different birth parents. He is two years older than me, and it was just the two of us kids in the family. I was raised in a “Christian” home, but it couldn’t have felt less Christian with all the turmoil. I remember the four of us going to church together until I was about 6 years old. My dad stopped going regularly and shortly after it was just my mom and me. Thankfully, God opened my heart and as a child, and I invited Him into my life. I rededicated my life to him as a teenager at a Christian camp I loved going to. I knew God, but I had no trust. I had put God on the other side of the wall I had built with all the other people, to protect me from the pain and abuse I had experienced not only in my childhood but also in my adult life from my chaotic and unpredictable family situation.

God had somehow brought me out of my past which I thought was my biggest struggle. However, He now was revealing to me that my wall was still there.

Then an amazing thing happened. Something only God of the Impossible could do. In 2007, in going to serve in missions for nine months with a new organization, I went for a visit to the capital of Uruguay with two others, and we stayed at a YWAM (Youth With A Mission) base. Nadia, a Brazilian woman on staff there, came up to us and said in her limited English, “We’re going to start our first Foundations of Biblical counseling school here at this base in a couple weeks.” Over the next two mornings, she then directed a little more information specifically to me. “The

first three weeks is just part of the seminary based the ‘divine plumb line,’ from the book of Amos. The focus is to remove barriers in our life so we can hear God’s voice.” Why is she telling this to me?, I thought. I don’t know anything about YWAM bases, and I can’t speak or understand enough Spanish to attend… though I asked, “Do you have any information about the school in English?” She told me she would have the director talk to me that night so I thought, maybe there was some English information so I could understand. Instead, that night I received a notebook and she told me she didn’t have any material or

information in English. I began thumbing through this thin notebook of mostly pictures trying to get a better idea about the school, and I came to a picture. Instantly I KNEW this moment wasn’t a coincidence, but it was part of God’s plan. I found myself stunned because of this simple picture of a wall, I was holding in my hands. This picture was my wall. I knew one of the reasons God brought me to Uruguay was


Tearing Down Walls

to go to this school. He wanted to start restoring and healing me. I couldn’t understand the language, but I could understand the picture. I would go to class knowing in my head that I didn’t know enough Spanish to be attending a school like

this. We would always start with praise and singing but I couldn’t understand most of what was being sung. However, when the professor started teaching, I wasn’t only able to translate it into English for my notes, but I could understand it. I was able to understand the teachings and receive so much healing through the Holy Spirit through this

miracle that was taking place in my life. This just blew me away....when something supernatural like this happens to you, it is just too wild! I was a beginner in Spanish, humanly incapable of understanding this. Once outside of class I could only understand my basic level once again. I knew God had brought me there. The “wall” part of school got us looking at our beliefs about ourselves and our behaviors, based on what we had experienced in our lives, our life story up until that point. For example, how did I react to my feelings of being unwanted and unloved? What doors had I opened up in my life for the enemy to influence me?

I ended up living at this mission base as the only American for three months, attending not just the first three weeks, but for the entire three months of the seminary part of the school and doing outreach with the rest of the YWAM base on weekends. During the last several weeks of this school, God made it very clear to me that I was now to go to a bilingual Discipleship Training School (DTS). I didn’t even know what that meant so I really knew it was from God. I knew the best thing would just be to obey so I did. I searched the YWAM schools and found and applied to one in Chile. I bought a one way ticket and thought I’d be there for the six months of school and then return to Colorado.

Well, God had different plans and I ended up staying and working as staff for the following DTS part time and helping reconstruct homes for the local people after the 8.8 earthquake brought major devastation to nearby areas. Much to my

surprise, I ended up attending Foundations of Biblical counseling school AGAIN for six months, and then served again working with the next class of students for their three-month seminary part of the school. I later realized that this was because God had more healing to do and I believe He knew He could only do so much at one time.

I returned to Colorado 17 months later knowing God’s calling on my life for long-term missions. He just had some more restoration to do in me before I would be ready to represent Him. I wasn’t sure how I would know when the time was right or where He would want to use me in missions but I knew it would be a Spanish speaking country. After 3 1/2 years I felt His “nudge” that it was time to leave the country for missions work, so I began praying about where that would be. After looking at several different organizations, I came to Honduras for a one month “vision trip” with WGO to serve and pray, asking God to affirm me serving with WGO or not. I spent three weeks at the Mission House, and a week at Rancho Ebenezer. I didn’t come with the desire to use my nursing in serving, I had the counselor job in my mind as I had been working as a house parent for adult men with disabilities for over the past year, but God had different plans. The need for a nurse and the opportunity to work in the community with the mission teams seemed like a great fit since I am a mountain girl at heart. God has spoken to me in some amazing and surprising ways through ideas, visions,

others and His gentle voice.(not audibly). I know I owe my life to Him as I know who I am without Him, and it isn’t pretty. I lived “my way” too many years. To God be the glory and I know He will use me here at Rancho Ebenezer, and He will continue to make me more like Him through trials and life here. I am so blessed to be a part of the lives of the kids who will grow up here at the Ranch. It is a privilege that God believes in me

enough to have brought me here and a small part of what God is doing here in the mountains of Honduras at my current home called Rancho Ebenezer.

Holly is a nurse and assists with Serve Teams at the Ranch. Her medical knowledge, love for the ministry children and her servant heart make her an important member of the body of Christ serving WGO at Rancho Ebenezer.

To touch more lives,We need your help

WGO Serve Teams in Honduras and Belize are able to offer medical care to more than 100,000 people each year. The CarePay program was created to augment the funds needed for that care. Every $2 you donate covers the “co-pay” to care for

one patient. $20 will provide for 10 patients. We hope you will consider a monthly gift to help in this ongoing ministry.

Your donation to the WGO ALLKids Fund will go directly to the food, clothing and education of all of the Honduran children living at Rancho Ebenezer, who desperately need a

loving Christian home. Or you can sponsor an individual child of your choosing for $30 per month by going to our website: www.wgoreach.org/wgokids. If you have questions about our kids’ sponsorship program please contact Fred at: [email protected] or Ph. 630-359-5175.

The Belize Campus is still in need of donations to build the Mission Center. Help us grow the ministry there by buying:• Dining chairs (donate one @ $40) Donate all 25 needed -$1,000

• Interior doors (donate one @ $75) Donate all 13 needed - $975

• Dining tables (donate one @ $100) Donate all 8 needed - $800

• Ceiling fans (donate one @ $150) Donate all 6 needed - $900 There is an envelope in the magazine to make your donation by check.

Or you can go to wgoreach.org/winter to make your donation by credit card.

God is touching and changing lives through WGO. Please

consider contributing funds toward the needs of the

ministry. Your giving will help continue the kingdom work

that is ongoing.


Impact on the Believer


I first noticed Beatrice at a clinic site in Ontario Village when the pharmacist, Jason, pointed her out to me. After she

received the medication prescribed by the doctors, she pointed toward the evangelism area and asked what was going on over there. He explained that they would be telling her a “Bible story.” He said her demeanor changed instantly and she looked apprehensive before moving on to get her daughter’s eyes checked. I went over to chat and see if I could ease her apprehension. I talked to her daughter Kaiysey first and found out that she was getting new glasses and sunglasses. Beatrice was also told that she could pick out a pair of sunglasses, but she decided to take a pair to her husband instead. I then walked her over to the evangelism station and told Donna, the short-term missionary, that Beatrice was my buddy and I was going to sit with her.

Donna began to share the Gospel with her and Kaiysey. When Donna asked Beatrice if she wanted to “ask Jesus into her heart”, Beatrice said yes. However, because of Jason’s observation and because sometimes people say what they think you want to hear, I interrupted and asked Beatrice if she understood what she was doing. Sometimes, as Christians, we use phrases that may not fully explain the seriousness of the decision about to be made. So, I took her through the

Gospel again, hopefully using words and phrases that adequately described our hopeless state and our need for a Savior. At one point, Donna pulled out a card with illustrations. She showed how the cross of Jesus acts like a bridge between us and God. The next graphic showed a nail-pierced hand reaching out of a brightly lit cloud and Beatrice exclaimed, “I’ve seen that hand in a dream!” She told us how she had seen a brilliant light as she slept and as she watched, a hand

extended toward her out of a cloud. She said she felt overwhelming love and she was compelled to reach for the hand. As she reached for it, she woke up.

God had already been speaking to her. She had other dreams as well, which she shared with us. And in her daily life, God

protected her from being hit by a drunk driver after she called upon Him. God is always at work and it can never be said that believers make conversions. That is the work of God’s Holy Spirit and He does it better than any of us could.

I never did ask her why she felt apprehensive. Perhaps she was simply nervous about sitting down and talking to strangers. Please keep Beatrice and her family in your prayers. We gave her a Bible and she said she would be attending church on Sunday.

Sketch by Linda Rempel

By Lynne Razor, missionary in Belize

WORLDGOSPELO U T R E A C H

Published by

P.O. Box 14348Humble, Texas

77347-4348

Will you be in this family photo?

Sponsor a child today and make a difference for tomorrow

Will you be a part of this family?

Documents

WORLDGOSPEL - Honduras Winter Issue 2016 web.pdfto Honduras, we set up the Serve Team sites at a local church building and coordinate with both the local church leadership and the