Are You Ready?

We are excited to announce that the Voyage of Hope Mission Trip 2012 will be to La Ceiba, Honduras to work with Mission To The World missionaries, Mike & Erin Pettengill and their Team Honduras.  We met this couple back in 2008 when we were there and they were just arriving to start their ministry in La Ceiba.  We made a fast friendship and truly fell in love with their family and their hearts.  They are doing a mighty work for the Lord and because of their faithfulness, the Lord has blessed and expanded this ministry.

What started as a family of 3 is now an expanded family of 8 adults and 5 children working to bring hope and healing to those who are hurting.  This team owns two ministry centers and works in three neighborhoods providing medical mercy ministry, church planting, ESL programs, a StreetChild program, Kids Club, a home for single mothers and a theological seminary.  It is so exciting to see all that is going on and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to work alongside such a great group working diligently for the Kingdom!

Now, we need YOU to go on this voyage with us to help further this great work!  Our trip is planned for July 7 – July 14 and we only have 15 spaces available.  You don’t have to have any special talents or abilities, just an open heart to see others come to know Christ through your service.  This will surely be an opportunity for you to be the hands & feet of Jesus.   Contact us TODAY via email at voyageofhope@gmail.com or find us on Facebook under Voyage of Hope Ministries to find out more information or to request a registration packet.  Please be in prayer for God’s provision, team members and the hearts of the Honduran people.

Below are a few videos about the ministry in La Ceiba, so you can get as excited as we are!  We hope to hear from you very soon!!

Kid’s Club (weekly):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiPRwKfdKO4

Medical Clinics (weekly):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-M81B327xA

English Classes (weekly):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qsb2AY5q4Ys

Take a look at this video for some general information:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOsw2UVIz14

Take a look at the 180+ videos on this site to understand the ministry better:

http://www.youtube.com/mikepettengill

Thanks  so much for your continued support!

ALL for HIM,

Grant & Hope

A Trip Back In Time…..

What an amazing trip we had to Trujillo, Honduras in July 2010. I wanted to share this video that I never posted of Voyage of Hope Ministries along with Northcoast Missions who went to build a house for a family of 11 who lived in a mud, stick and tin shack.  One of the sons, Johnny, has had a hole in his heart since birth and has been revceiving medical care and other services from Little Hands, Big Hearts which is a ministry in that area that serves families who have children with disabilities.

The Flores family was so very precious and grateful for all of the work that was done to build them a home and a shower facility.  As always, this trip proved to be full of blessings on our part bestowed by those that we went to serve.  How good is our God!  We are so thankful for the opportunity to be His hands and feet and as always we are so thankful for your continued prayers and support!

Enjoy the video below to see the work that was done and the relationships that were built!  God Bless~

Grant & Hope

{Photo Credit: Lori Willis, Diana Couey, Brooke Welborn and Grant Staples}

Even the smallest things…..

You know, often times we think that we are going to go abroad on a mission trip and really “bless” others.  But, I have found that the blessing is from those that I go to serve.  Our trip to Costa Rica was such a wonderful trip and I am amazed at how He so meticulously orchestrates everything.  But before I fill you in on that trip, I want to share a little about the exciting things that were happening the weekend before we left.

We had the awesome opportunity to go and minister at the FBC Natchez Youth Retreat over the weekend of July 4th.   Grant led a worship night that was filled with joyful praise and a sweet time of communion with our Father and I taught several sessions for the girls throughout the weekend.  God really showed up and broke chains of bondage, brought healing to hurting hearts, salvation to the lost, reconciliation to the divided and a renewed fire to live for Him!  We praise God for all that He has done and are so humbled to have been a part of His work!   Thanks so much, Ashley Blackwell, for inviting us to be a part!  Below are a few pics from the weekend: (click on each picture for a larger view)

COSTA RICA TRIP:

The Mejia family is so very precious and they are doing a wonderful work for the Kingdom in Costa Rica at the Hidden Treasures Children’s Home.  Not only are they building homes for children for a physical roof over their heads, but they are loving and nurturing these children into a forever family.  It’s such a beautiful picture of His redemption for these children.  It’s very exciting to see the progress of the first house and to know that generations will be impacted as a result of our service there.  We are so thankful to have been a part of such a wonderful work.

The video below just gives you a glimpse into our week with the Grace Temple Ministries crew.  What an awesome experience and we praise Jesus for it!  Once again many thanks to all of you for your continued love, prayers and support!

{Photo Credit: Grant Staples and Hayley Higgason}

Costa Rica 2011

In just 6 days we will be headed to Costa Rica to minister alongside a team from Grace Temple Ministries from Hattiesburg, MS.  We are so excited about this opportunity and can’t wait to see all that the Lord is going to do while we are there.

We will be working to complete a children’s home called, Hidden Treasures.  While there we will also be able to minister to area villagers, workers and the children.  Please be in prayer for these that He has called us to serve during this trip.

We want to thank all of you for your support, both prayerfully and financially.   The Lord has provided all we needed for this trip through our faithful supporters. THANK YOU!  Continue praying now and throughout the trip. Prayer IS Powerful!

Please see the link  below for more information about where we will be serving while on this trip:

http://www.csmpublishing.org/tres_home.php

We have already planned a summer mission trip to Honduras 2012.  Stay tuned for more exciting information about that trip when we return from Costa Rica.  Be blessed and thank you all for your continued support!

All for HIM,

Grant & Hope Staples

Mission Accomplished!

 

The mission that God set before us has been accomplished and then some!  Praise God!  He is SO good!  Sorry that we haven’t been able to post frequently on the blog, but we weren’t in a place that had working internet service.  Here are just a few photos from the trip.  We will post more photos and the story of this experience when we get home.  God has done some amazing things on this trip and we are excited to share it with you.

We are now in La Ceiba and will be heading to San Predro Sula on Wednesday to catch our flight on Thursday morning.

Please continue to pray for our safety and for travel mercies over the next few days.  We thank you all for your continued prayers and support.  We could not have accomplished God’s mission without you!

The precious Flores family!

Our Mission Team

Time to Rise Up and Answer.

It’s 5:30 a.m. and I have no earthly reason to be awake other than sometimes you just know when God is dealing with your heart.  It’s been a while since this has happened.  The words “wake up” can surely be powerful in our lives when they come from heaven!  The last year has brought me many tests and trials: physical, spiritual, financial and relational.  I can’t say I’ve passed all these tests with flying colors, some I’ve even failed, but I can say one thing – God has never left my side!  I wonder this morning where you are on your journey of faith, and if you’re even aware of the plans God has for you today?  I’m not talking about your destiny, your ministry or even your “spiritual gifts.”  I’m talking about today, this morning, noon and evening/night.  What will you do today that brings you or someone else closer to the love of Jesus?  I don’t have an answer for you, but I can honestly tell you who does….and He’s waiting for you just like He was waiting for me to get up this morning and type these words.  It’s exciting to know that God has something in store for us and a wonderful gift of mercy that the Bible says is “new every morning!”  Praise God!  We need Him….and He loves us and wants to use us today to be the answer/hope/healing/peace/joy/love and salvation for one of His children.  Seek, knock, ask, and you will find, enter-in, and receive, says the Lord!  As we are gearing up and preparing to go to Honduras, I wanted to let you know a few things that have been going on here at home.

On April 24th a tornado ripped through the Yazoo County area, one of the worst in decades.  I’d seen it on the news, been through it with my own family in 1987 in a small community called “Glade,” but I wasn’t a part of it.  I hadn’t suffered or even seen the loss of the families in the  Yazoo area.  Then I “woke up” on my way home from work one afternoon and realized that right around me everyday were thousands of people who might be willing reach out and make a difference for those in need just miles away.  I created a Facebook group called “Yazoo Baby,” and worked with some resourcefull folks at Holmes Community College (where I work) to send out a cry for help to anybody who would listen.  The group quickly reached hundreds and I made the announcement for help to all my students.  I find as a teacher that students don’t do much without motivation, but bringing people together to help others is a strong and persuading force.  We collected items for well over a week and sent over a truckload to storm-tossed families! 

I just wanted to share with you some of the things missionaries do.  You don’t have to be in another land to accomplish this, but you do have to ask God to use you – everyday (if you want Him to).  OR – you can just stay asleep and do nothing.  How many days do we run through without even thinking about what the Lord has in store for us.  Don’t let today slip away.  Rise up and be a part of the difference!

The video above highlights a trip in Cambodia, but so much of the scenary and the faces of the people remind me of Honduras.  I believe the biggest reason for this is that people who receive God’s love have a very similar “glow.”  We will be leaving for Honduras in July to go and give that love away to people who need it desperately.  One of the families we will be helping lives everyday in a place most of us would describe as “unlivable.”  Our missionary friend Andy (who is a Memphis Police Officer when he’s not serving) said he cried when he saw the area where we will go and build.  We’re not talking about a girly-man here!  We’re talking about a man who asked God to use Him, and now that God has answered, he is broken for those who are hurting.  What makes people “what they are” is the simple request to Jesus that He so graciously answers, and by doing so He changes everything about us forever.  The simple request – “Use me Lord.”

We have made this request, and we are going to Honduras, but we can’t do it alone.  Will you pray about going or giving so others can go?  God can make a difference through whatever we give Him.  In our case it’s “us.”  We’re going for it!  We’d love to take you with us…either in spirit or in person!  If you aren’t able to go, or led by God to go, please pray about donating so that someone can be used.

No matter what you do…wake up today and ask God to use you.  It’s amazing how He changes YOU in the process.

Building on a Solid Foundation

Have you heard?  We are off to Honduras in July to build a couple of houses for some families who desperately need it.  These families have children who suffer from some type of physical or mental disability and don’t have adequate facilities to care for them.  However, building houses is not all that we will do. 

Matthew 7:24-27 (NLT) states:

  ²⁴ “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. ²⁵ Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. ²⁶ But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. ²⁷ When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”

Not only will we go and build houses, but we will go and share the hope of Jesus Christ with these families so their homes, both spiritual and physical, can be built upon a solid foundation.  By accepting Christ and believing in Him, we don’t have to worry when the storms of life come raging at us because we know that our hope is found in Him.  Not only will our help make a physical difference in the lives of these precious people, but it will make an eternal difference as well.  We are so thankful for this opportunity to be involved in His Kingdom work. 

We want you to be a part of this exciting “voyage” to Trujillo, Honduras from July 10-24 to work with Voyage of Hope Ministries and North Coast Missions.  You don’t need any special talents or abilities, just a willing heart to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Contact us today via email at voyageofhope@gmail.com or find us on Facebook under Voyage of Hope Ministries.  We look forward to hearing from you soon!

So they all will know,

Hope & Grant Staples

READY, SET, GO!

HONDURAS MISSION TRIP 2010

July 10-17 & July 17-24

Streets of Trujillo, Honduras

Voyage of Hope Ministries will be taking the hope of Jesus Christ to Trujillo, Honduras this summer.  We have 2 teams planned for July and are recruiting team members now.  Space is limited to 15 people per team, so if you are interested, please let us know as soon as possible.

We will be doing construction, mercy, prayer, children’s and street ministry.  Dig out your work gloves and an old T-shirt and get yourself prayed up and ready to go.  We look forward to seeing how God is going to change lives during our time there.

Please be in prayer for God’s provision, team members and the hearts of the Honduran people.  More details to come!   Thanks  for your continued support. 

So they ALL will know,

Hope & Grant

For He is faithful…….

Wow!  What an awesome God we serve. His love for us is so beautiful, so real, so precious and so faithful….Oh, how He loves us!  At this very moment, I am so overwhelmed by His love for us.  That He would love us the way that He does, without conditions, without regard to our response or actions toward Him.  He chooses to love us anyway and He first loved us.  Oh, how He truly loves us…..

I know it has been a while since we have posted to the blog.  Let me apologize now for that and let you know that we ARE going to do a better job of keeping you up-to-date on the happenings with Voyage of Hope Ministries.

I want to begin by letting you know that I am WELL!  Praise the Lord for His healing touch!  After returning from Honduras, I was dealing with joint pain, fatigue and horrible migraines.  For the next several months, I would visit doctor after doctor and try several different medications to see if I could get any relief.  After CAT scans on my brain, echocardiagrams on my heart, pulminary function test on my lungs and a host of other tests, there was NO SARCOIDOSIS found active in my body.  I was put on several medications to control the migraines and they are working.  I haven’t had a migraine in about a month and I thank the Lord everyday for that.  I want to thank you all so much for your continued prayers and support.  It means so much to know that there are people lifting you up in prayer even in those times when you think that you can’t.  

Even in the midst of sickness and pain, it amazes me how God continues to use us for His glory.  Over the past several months, He has opened doors for Grant and I both to minister to many people in several different capacities.  Grant is leading worship at our church on a part-time basis and he is co-sponsoring a Bible study at the college for the students.  There has been so much positive response from the students as well as area ministers who are eager to give their time to help lead the study and sponsor meals.  We continue to see growth each week and praise God for His faithfulness.  I have had the opportunity to speak to several groups about missions and I began teaching a Women’s Bible study just a few weeks ago.  Grant and I both had the opportunity to minister to some precious women who are living with HIV/Aids.  Grant led worship and I spoke to the ladies about the hope that is found in a relationship with Jesus Christ.  It was such a sweet time to share the love of Christ and to love on these ladies as He would.  We are so thankful that He chooses to use us and allows us to be a part of His work.

Our hearts are so burdened for our missionary friends in Trujillo, Honduras.  As you may remember from our post last summer, there were several North American families working in that area.  There has been an attack from the devil like you wouldn’t believe on these precious families.  Three of the five families are in the States right now, dealing with funding issues, sickness and other atrocities that keep them from doing the Lord’s work.  Please join us in lifting these families in prayer as they seek to find their way back to the place that the Lord has called them to serve.

We are planning a trip to Honduras for this summer, but are not certain of the dates at this time.  With things in our economy the way that they are and our missionary friends in turmoil, we are waiting for the Lord to guide our next step in our planning for this trip.  We know that He uses us here as well as He does in a foreign land, so until He calls us there, then we will continue to serve Him faithfully right here in our own community, state and nation.

We are very excited about what the Lord is going to do through Voyage of Hope Ministries during 2009.  We are so thankful for your continued prayers and support and want you to be a part of our journey.  Please let us know if you are interested in serving on a mission team, becoming a prayer partner or financially supporting our work.

Continuously thanking Him for you,

Hope & Grant Staples

Rise and Shine – What Now?

Well, I gotta tell ya, I never thought it would take us over a month to come home and actually update the blog!  There are so many things I thought this update would be, but it seems it’s gonna be different than I thought.  That’s probably the first thing I will say I learned from Honduras: things are usually NOT going to happen like you imagine.  Our Voyage home was so very different than we expected.  From actually being able to communicate and understand those we came in contact with, to a very RANDOM ride from the bus terminal to our hotel in San Pedro Sula, it was obvious that WE were different in many ways.  One thing is for sure, this summer in Honduras changed our lives, our marriage, our way of life and the eyes of our hearts!  You know the worship song “Open the Eyes of My Heart?”  Well, we are living the lyrics!

There’s not ONE day that goes by for me that I don’t realize how blessed we are to live in a country designed to allow us the privilege of freedom, to protect us from those who would harm us, to provide us with opportunity to prosper and even allow us to balk at the way it’s all managed!  Our worst day here is FAR better than many whose lives touched ours in Honduras. 

Just to give you a brief synopsis of our “NOW,” it’s 5:20 in the morning here in Ridgeland, MS, and like always I am awake at the crack of dawn.  One thing that has changed for me is that I rarely sleep the entire night since we returned home from Honduras.  It was easy to go to sleep at night when you walked everywhere and produced gallons of sweat everyday.  It wasn’t at all difficult to wake up to sunrises that looked like the one above, but it’s just different here.  I can honestly say that I asked God this morning why I was awake and here I am typing!  It’s good to hear His voice in the morning.  I hope everybody will have this experience soon.  It really is a great way to wake up.  You surely don’t need an alarm clock with God.

Like I said, life is different there.  One thing that hasn’t changed about this update is that I wanted to include the people of Honduras.  It’s so funny how you go to be a blessing and to make an impact for the Kingdom of God, but with Him it always seems that you get WAY more than you give!  As you can see from the pictures, we live very differently here in the good ‘ole USA!  Riding in a car (and owning one) is a privilege.  Power, A/C, gas, phones, product accessibility and safe streets are all a luxury these folks aren’t promised.  But if you’ll look a little closer, the faces will tell a deeper story.  They live as best they can.  We didn’t go to Honduras to give them finery, we went to put them under the lens of Christ’s love and see how we can be used to reach them in a more permanent way.  Sure we went to school, learned the language and made some paramount connections with people who are now like family. The deeper story is that we would both admit we’re changed more than the level of change we produced.  Some in Honduras might disagree, but God did a work in us as He did a work through us.  WE CAN’T SAY THANK YOU ENOUGH TO THOSE WHO GOD DIRECTED TO HELP US MAKE THIS VOYAGE.  IT IS THE BEGINNING OF SOMETHING THAT IS GOING TO CHANGE LIVES.

So what now?  Don’t we all want to know that?  Now that school has started and things are beginning to look more like normal,  life has taken a new turn for Hope and I.  After two doctor visits last week, it seems Hope is dealing with a flare-up of an auto-immune disease which we battled about a year ago.  Her doctor isn’t sure exactly what is causing the problems, but Hope has struggled with muscle/joint pain as well as some migraine and fatigue issues.  There have been many tests, and a few new medicines to try thus far.  Our pastor reminded us yesterday that “setbacks are set-ups” and that the enemy will surely try to pull you away from God’s purpose.  Since the name of the problem cannot be clearly defined, let me assure you that we both know the name of the solution!  His name is above every name.  He took our sickness and disease before He even died on the Cross for us.  Jesus gave us a covenant promise for healing.  We are standing on these promises right now, and giving God the glory for what He is going to do.  Please pray with us that Hope will remain strong (me too) through the medical processes and that the Hand of God will do what medical practices can’t.  We will keep you posted on the progress of Voyage of Hope (the ministry) as well as on Hope’s progress. 

Thanks for your continued prayers and support.

Grant and Hope Staples