Worship, Serve, and Pray

By Corey Wells

If you are serving through your church, leading a ministry or volunteering, on the mission field called your neighborhood, workplace, or in another country not your own... If you are in any sort of ministry, you have heard it before: that raspy, wicked voice taunting, “What can you do? Why are you even here? What about your kids, think of what you’re doing to them? You are completely ill-equipped for this. Did God really call you here, to do this, with them?” There is an enemy of your soul and he wants you to doubt what God has asked you to do. What are we to do when face-to-face with this Father of Lies, Enemy Number One, Satan? We respond how Jesus did. I will worship the Lord my God. I will serve only him. (see Matthew 4:1-11)

The journey for us to this point of being in Honduras to minister has been long. It started decades ago with a desire to worship God. Little by little, the Lord changed our hearts and turned us to Him, over and over again. He changed our hearts and our only response was to serve Him only. We saw answered prayer. We experienced His grace and forgiveness. We pushed forward into what God was calling us to not knowing what the future held, holding onto the promises He has given us. Have we looked down into the raging waters below us? Absolutely. We have begun sinking at times, only to stretch out our arms and reach for Jesus' hand offering us peace and still waters. We thank Him for that! Daily, we need to submit our flesh to Him and ask Him to fill us with His power that doesn't fail.

Why do I write about this? Because I can look back on the past decade, years, months, and days and see a clear path. We have moved to Honduras with certain skill-sets, and certain desires to see people come to know our Lord personally and intimately. The Lord has led us to a people, the Garifuna, who He has put in our hearts a love for that only comes from Him. We are excited about the future here. Do we know what next year will bring? No. Do we know what next month will bring? No! We don't even know what tomorrow will bring, but we move forward in faith knowing God wants to shape us and use us for His purposes.

So what's coming? 

Here is a glimpse into what the Lord has put before us. We are praying through each of these opportunities. Some may come to pass, some may not. Please pray with us about these as we seek to do what the Lord has asked us to:

• Garifuna Bible Institute: I have begun working alongside a Garifuna man, Fernando, who started a Bible institute about 3 years ago. Basic theological education for Garifuna pastors is a great need. The institute began with conventional classes taught from a single location in the small Garifuna town of Corazal, just minutes from our home. This format did not work well for the remote villages he was trying to reach which are several hours bus rides away. Also, cost for materials made it nearly impossible to offer to pastors who struggle to feed their families. After some research, Fernando changed the format to be more portable and nearly free. He now has access to "modules" that are designed to teach pastors, and more condensed packets of the same material to use to teach church leaders. It's referred to as "church based theological education." The goal is to strengthen Garifuna churches and lead to other churches being planted in more communities. Many things are needed to make this possible. The institute needs mentors for pastors (most are in their 30s with young families and no training, some with no high school education). The greatest need is spiritual mentorship. They also need teachers to teach monthly classes to pastors. They need trained leaders, who would lead study groups and other outreach projects. Please pray for our involvement with the Garifuna Bible Institute and for their needs. 
• Mentoring pastors and church leaders: As mentioned above, many of the Garifuna pastors are young and inexperienced. All have a heart to serve the Lord and have received the call to teach. Most need mentors, but resources are few. As ill-qualified as I feel, I have been asked to pray about mentoring pastors in some way. I don't know what this looks like for me, but I know that pastors need others to be accountable to, as most here do not have someone, especially in Garifuna communities. Pray if I should be involved in this way, at this time, and in what location.
• Evangelism and discipleship: In recent months I have begun involvement with The One Story Project, a Bible story-telling project targeted at oral cultures. Oral cultures are those cultures in which traditions and culture is passed down through stories and through memorization. Oral cultures are very good at memorizing stories, so using The One Story Project in these cultures is ideal for putting the Word of God into the minds and hearts of the people. I have been asked to pray about leading The One Story Project in English among Garifuna communities. There are pockets of English speaking Garifuna communities on the Bay Islands (such as Roatán), and in Belize and Nicaragua. The One Story Project is a unique way to communicate God's love and doing "church" in an already very "churched" or religious culture. The focus is on building relationships through the project. This project not only reaches the unsaved, but is a discipleship tool for existing believers and gives these believers a platform to share their faith.
  
  There is also an opportunity for me to show evangelistic films (such as The Hope, The Jesus Film, and other Christian based films). These films are hosted by local churches in hopes to reach their communities for Christ and initiate conversation from the unbelievers in the communities. I have been asked to pray about showing these films in Garifuna communities on the Bay Islands (Roatán and Cayos Cochinos).
  
  Both of these projects are close to my heart as I enjoy the evangelism aspect of them. These projects also go hand-in-hand with the training aspect of the Bible institute. There is a great need for discipleship and examples of how to use our everyday lives to minister to those around us.
• Family and ministry balance: Starting new ministries and/or becoming involved in them requires balance of work and family life. There is a certain amount of family life that involves ministry outside the home, but it is easy to blur the imaginary boundaries between the two, neglecting one or the other. Please pray for balance as we seek to have a healthy, private family life, as well as being involved in some way together in ministry.
• Homeschooling: We are continually evaluating what is best for our family and ministry as far as teaching our boys go. We have considered putting them into a local school next year. Please pray with us about this as we want what's best for them, for us, and want to do exactly what the Lord is leading us to.
• Language learning: Bettering our Spanish and for my understanding/learning of the Garifuna language.

Thank you for praying for us and with us and supporting us financially and in other ways! You are a vital part of our ministry as we believe in the power of prayer and that God wants us to "petition" Him. Please lift these requests up and we'll update you on answered prayer so we can praise together!

In Christ,

The Wells