Giving glory where glory is due

“For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.” –Habakkuk 1:5

In September of last year, we set out from Siguatepeque, Honduras, to move to the town of Trujillo to begin ministry among the Garifuna people. Four months later we found ourselves returning from our two month trip to the States back to the city of La Ceiba instead of Trujillo. In looking back on this time period, we realized we had left out many details of just how we ended up in La Ceiba. It didn't seem important at the time because, in either place, we were to start our ministry with the Garifuna people regardless of whether we were in La Ceiba or Trujillo. We think it is appropriate now to share what happened during this time to shed light on what is happening with our ministry in La Ceiba and all that God is doing.

While we will never know what it might have looked like for our family in Trujillo since that is not where we ended up long term, we know that God had and has a great plan for redirecting us to La Ceiba. We also know that God used our move to Trujillo to show us his plan and to reinforce his desires for us, and ultimately to receive glory for what he would eventually do. And while we felt confident in moving to Trujillo, there were still some items we did not feel at peace with, but moved ahead in faith knowing God was with us and guiding us.

After our mid-September move and spending two weeks in Trujillo, we had plans to go back to Siguatepeque for a weekend at the end of the month to attend a missions conference for all missionaries in Honduras. And to say our move and first two weeks in Trujillo were bliss would be complete opposite from the truth. We expected to have resistance, since the enemy of God does not want us to succeed. But what we didn't expect was to not want to return to Trujillo once we left for the missions conference. We can't even begin to explain the battles we were up against. We had a very hard time discerning if it was God prompting us or Satan trying to slow or stop us. We found ourselves on our knees before him crying out for his direction. In a moment of prayer very early one morning, God spoke to me (Corey) with a verse from Habakkuk 2:3, "For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay." Although I have been taught to read scripture in context, in this case the revelation given to the prophet Habakkuk concerning wickedness in the land of Judah, in this moment God was telling me that this was a message for me specifically and to listen. He then led me to Habakkuk 1:5, "For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told." So the clear message was to wait for the appointed time, "though it linger"—wait for it and it will not delay, because GOD would do something through the waiting, through HIS power, that would show his glory and plan... and it would be something I wouldn't believe even if I was told.

In a post from last October, we explained some of what had happened on our way to the missions conference, our truck breaking down, and the days that followed that weekend trip that that turned into weeks in Siguatepeque. We realized that we were moving faster than the Lord had wanted us to, but in his grace and mercy we knew that the move to Trujillo was exactly what we needed to see into the future. God was clearly telling us to wait on him and follow his gracious leading one step at a time.

During the missions conference those first few days back in Siguatepeque, not only was our truck broken, but so were we. It was just the place God wanted us: broken, humbled and ready to listen. As we sat in the first session of the conference curious about what we would learn, we listened to the guest speaker as he began to teach about waiting... from the book of Habakkuk! Just two days earlier God had given this clear message to us, and if that were not enough he confirmed it again. Such grace! 

View of the Pico Bonito mountain range out the front
window of our house in La Ceiba.

So with a holy fear and reverence, we sought the Lord in prayer, meditation, and fasting over the next few weeks. We were determined to take this delicately, only moving one step at a time and only when we had sure confirmation from the Lord. In our time of individual prayer and leading by the Holy Spirit, both Kirsten and I sensed we should go to La Ceiba and meet with another missionary there. For what reason we did not know, only that we knew we should go. In the following few weeks we traveled back to La Ceiba and met with this missionary and several others in the area. We discovered a great peace about being in La Ceiba and sensed this was where God wanted us. So we rented a house and just one month later went back to the States for our scheduled two month furlough.

Fast-forward nine months... 

The latest project: a house for the Sosa family.

Since February we have been working with another missionary family in La Ceiba who have begun a ministry called Transform Honduras. Our desire to reach Garifuna communities by entering in using various means to help the communities has merged with theirs. We use infrastructure projects identified by the community to initiate a way to begin building relationships with the community. From that point, we begin to asses different areas of the community to find solutions for them to solve problems, work together, serve one another, and create sustainability in every area of life. This gives so many opportunities to show, teach, and live Christ in every day things. It is the true Acts 1:8 church!

Lagoon port of Nueva Armenia.

We have begun work in a new Garifuna community called Nueva Armenia and will be sharing more on our closed Facebook group page Wells Family Honduras (for security/privacy reasons). Please become a member of this group to receive updates, see photos and video, and be a part of what God is doing here. We will share more soon on this blog with specifics of how we got connected to this new community and what we've learned over the past few months working in other communities with Transform Honduras. Stay tuned...

The history of how we got to La Ceiba really is important, as it shows God's providence and all-knowing, all-surpassing power at work. There are so many details we can't include here, but someday we hope to write a book about all of it so we can include them! And we really CAN'T believe what God is going to do (Hab. 1:5), we just need to hold on for the ride and keep looking forward. Please continue to pray for us!

In Christ alone,

Corey, Kirsten, Gavin & Garret