Bajio Christian Mission

Honduras

Fall, 2003

Toward the Goal

The Lord has performed many miracles in the work of the Bible institute. Nine young men have been trained and graduated from the first facility that was built for this purpose. The lease ended at that location so construction began two miles away. The Hoffs and Chastains hosted various work teams until the second facility was finished. Classes began last February with ten men studying God´s Word. Three wives are doing the cooking. They bring four children with them so seventeen people stay at the institute from Monday morning until Friday afternoon.

The goal, of course, is to train young men in how to study the Bible and become Christian leaders in their local churches. This process takes time as the students learn self-discipline, how to be heads of their families, and leaders in their churches.

Construction of a ten-foot wall around the institute has been an ongoing process for over a year. Various work teams have come to lay the blocks. Finally, on July 8th, the students laid the final blocks. This called for a celebration. Joy took digital photos of this memorial event. Unfortunately, Mark was not able to attend this ceremony (he was very sick) even though he had worked very hard with all those involved in the building of the wall. Everyone rejoiced and celebrated with cake and cokes.

On July 7th Richard Gring, former missionary to Latin America, came to fulfill the teaching responsibilities while Bill vacationed in the States. Richard has always been “the man” for the job. He is very knowledgeable in Spanish and always concerned for the well being of the students. He did an excellent job in Bill’s absence. But on what was to be his last day of classes, he was admitted to a local hospital for an angioplasty and two stints. We are pleased to report that he recovering very well.

Your prayers are needed for the ongoing of this ministry.

Making a Difference

The International Christian Fellowship is not a large church by U.S. standards. It is a congregation with a high turnover in membership; many people have come and gone over the past six years. Three members have passed away and others have moved. But others have remained faithful through out its six years of existence.

The mission of the Hoffs (Bill, Margy, Mark, and Joy) is to make a difference in the lives of those who come on Sunday mornings. Their goal is to present a worship service that will glorify the Lord and Savior and bring people to Jesus Christ. They use as many members as possible are asked to participate in the church. Members lead the worship service in sacred music and the reading of the Word. Others members present meditations to make the Lord’s Supper meaningful, or preach, or teach one of the three children’s classes. Still others volunteer their services to oversee the financial operations of the church.

Just recently, there were two more baptisms. One was a young girl from Finland whose family are missionaries. The second was a young Honduran man. Even though many have moved away they are serving in the church where they currently attend. The Hoffs believe that this is a worthwhile ministry, because people make a difference.

Cutting Ties

On the fourth of September, Bill and Mark flew to Mexico in order to sell the house in Queretaro. It was a bittersweet time of reminiscing with friends from that area. It was also a time of rushing around to get documents in order, Mark had to go because the house was in his name: as foreigners neither Bill nor Margy could own property, but Mark is Mexican by birth.

Bill and Margy had purchased the property twenty-one years ago and built their house little by little over a ten-year period. It was the only house that Mark remembered while growing up. Mark remembered the house as being much larger than it was. It was sad to see how it had suffered deterioration during the past ten years. But any nostalgia Mark or Bill might have had, was quickly put to rest, because the second day they were there, an extraordinary tropical storm filled the city with floodwaters. Water backed up through the sewers and filled the lower floor; the sunken living room became a swimming pool. Bill and Mark mopped for hours before it was clean. They also hauled out the carpets destroyed by the water. The next day they found that during the night it had flooded again. They went to the notary’s office with fear and trembling, suspecting that the buyer would back out, (but the Lord was with them;) he was aware of the problem and still wanted the house.

Mark and Bill were concerned with the closing, but the thing that Bill thought would be easy, cashing of the cashier’s check, became a nightmare. Mexico has instituted a series of laws to prevent drug-money laundering. It took seven hours with a banker to get the money into dollars and deposited in an account so that it will be possible to transfer the money to Honduras later.

The continued flooding in Queretaro almost made it impossible to get back to Honduras on schedule, but some missionary friends went more than the extra mile, and enabled Bill and Mark made their plane. Be assured that they were very pleased to be back in San Pedro Sula.

Vacation

In our entire 32 years of ministry, we have not taken more than a couple of vacations. But this summer we did just that. We had enough frequent flyer miles accumulated for two tickets, so we went to visit family and friends. Part of our motivation was to visit Margy’s dear friend, Carolyn Clifford who had come to Honduras to celebrate Margy’s 60th birthday. Now she was to reach that same milestone and Margy wanted to be there. They have been friends for forty years.

The trip began with a flight to Indianapolis where Joy’s parents met us. After spending a couple of days at the North American Christian Convention, we borrowed Mark’s car and drove to Knoxville. There we visited Beka, soon to give birth, and Alfredo. It was fun celebrating Beka’s birthday with Alfredo’s parents at a Japanese restaurant. We also enjoyed the fellowship with friends at Johnson Bible College.

Our plan was to arrive in California in time for the birthday party, which was one week away. As we drove west, we stayed three nights with former members of the church here in San Pedro Sula. Then in Arizona, Margy and her sister spent time shopping and enjoying their time together.

The party was held at Mission Bay, CA. with 50 people in attendance. It was great to see friends that we hadn’t seen for years. From southern California, we drove to Las Vegas to visit Bill’s mother (who was grateful that we could stay for a week) and his brother and family. One of the highlights of the trip was the train ride to the Grand Canyon and back. Dianne and Tom had been given free tickets so we were included in the gift. Once again we were awe struck at the beautiful canyon. In Phoenix we continued to visit family and friends. This included a big pool party with Margy’s nephews and their families, Margy’s sister and mother, and Bill’s brother and his wife; kind of a family reunion. Following the worship service on Sunday, we visited Margy’s father’s grave.

Although not all our friends that we visited have been mentioned, we appreciated all their hospitality. We wish we could have seen more but time did not allow. The Lord blessed us during our travels and we rejoiced to return home.

A Tribute to Todd - The Big Man

Todd Fields, missionary to Honduras, was shot and killed by robbers in Guatemala on March 28, 2003. He, along with Mark and Joy Hoff, were on a retreat with six young missionary kids from Honduras. The mission was to help the students prepare for their re-entry into the United States after growing up in a foreign culture.

The following article was written by Joy and printed in the bulletin for his memorial service.

Todd Fields was born September 26th, 1961, to Bob and Eddie Fields. He and his two sisters, Tamara and Valerie, grew up in Israel, because their parents were missionaries there. Todd moved to the United States with his family when he was in the eighth grade. He then completed High School in Mt. Vernon, Kentucky. It was there that he met his wife, Lynnell Hammons. They were married June 23, 1984.

Todd and Lynnell came to Honduras for the first time as Peace Corps volunteers. He worked in Pena Blanca in the area of fishery from 1986 ­ 1988.

They then returned to Honduras as missionaries with Global Outreach International in January of 1991. Together, they hosted many medical and construction work teams from the States. They also established four feeding centers in which children in the area come and receive one good meal each day. Todd and Lynnell have created a scholarship program for youth in Honduras who wish to improve their lives and touch others through education. In addition to all of this, they began a pilot program known as the Timothy Corps. This is a mentoring program for young people interested in missions.

While Todd was busy with various ministries, his family knew that they came first. He was a devoted husband and father. We see the fruits of his love in his two daughters ­ Savannah, 14, and Sophia, 10.

Todd’s heart was bigger than he was. His desire was to meet the physical and spiritual needs of a dying world. His life has left a mark in thousands of people. Anyone who met Todd saw Christ in him, and many came to know Christ through him.