I thought for one of my first blogs, for my brand new Website (woo hoo!) I’d share a little history on how we came to love the mission field. For most of our married life My Donnie and I have made yearly mission trips building homes, providing provisions and sharing the gospel. In the early years it was in Baja Mexico helping the Oaxacan Indians. Those trips were the catalyst that instilled mission work in our hearts. After moving to Texas in 2001 we devoted ourselves to the orphan children of Honduras. We came alongside Bill and Connie Hayden and their dream to build Promise Home Orphanage. With every trip, we got closer to our dream of hearing the happy voices of loved and well cared for children filling the 150 acres of Promise Home. Kensey Nicolle was the first child to be adopted; then came newborn David and so it goes . . . God-sized dreams do come true – but first we must labor.
In January 2016 God called me to return to “my Jerusalem” the birthplace of being called into ministry. The vision became clear; go back to the place your parent’s died and bring the message of forgiveness, and share the redeeming love of Jesus and His saving grace.
It was simply amazing to watch God open unimaginable doors and bring this vision to fruition. So on January 11th 2016 we embarked on a journey back to the islands of Antigua & Barbuda . . . Destination known – all the Lord had instore unknown!
This single obedient, giant leap of faith started a fire storm of greatness that is still raging!
Now two years later, Antigua Barbuda has become my second home. The horrific tragedy on Barbuda that struck my life in 1994 is the connection that drew me to this Twin Island Nation, but it is the redeeming love of Christ Jesus, the powerful act of forgiving and the loving people of both islands that has turned my tragedy into triumph!
As a result of following the Lord back to Antigua & Barbuda, He planted yet another vision in my heart; to set up a permanent ministry presence on Barbuda. We have our sights set on a certain little hotel that we believe we are to restore and turn into the Sunrise Hotel & Mentorship Centre. Our desire is to share strong Biblical principles with the people of Barbuda and to offer them experience in a trade through various vocational skills training classes and entrepreneurship programs; all the while preserving the beautiful culture and character of Barbuda. Any change we bring would be only to better the quality of life on the island and to prevent what happened to my parents from ever happening again.
I’ll be faithful to keep you posted on our progress!
Bonnie