The dozens of boxes in the back are large amount of clothes we were taking to those who have nearly nothing in this world. Even though we had a lot to share, we quickly realize it wasn’t enough. Many were turned away which broke our hearts.

Why would we be willing to pay money to spend a week in a 3rd world country … riding on a hot bus … giving up the comforts of home, just feed & serve others? Because someone needs to do it (John 13:34-35).

How about you next summer?

I’ve been blessed to have all my boys with me in Honduras this week. I’ve got to serve food to hungry people at the dump with Taylor by my side. I’ve built a house with Parker and watched him as he loved on little Honduran kids. I’ve mixed concrete and carried cinder-blocks with Connor as we built a cinder-block house together. And, I’ve worked along side of Cooper in one of our medical clinics.

What an awesome week it has been to serve other and do it along side my children. Honduras has blessed the Morgan family.

I like the part of the verse above that says, “like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth.” My boys are my arrows in my hands, and my ministry as a father has been to “aim” those arrows in the right direction.

What better way is there to “aim” arrows than serving others in Jesus’ name?

As with any arrows you aim, there comes a time when you have to do the hard part… let go. Arrows aren’t for saving or storing for display, but there for letting go.

I’ve got two sons that I’ve been aiming for 18+ years and next month I’ll be letting them go. Sad? A little. Proud? Beyond the shadow of a doubt.

The Morgan boys

I’m sure when Dee gets home he’ll make it up to Susan. But, all in all, he’s one of my heroes for coming to Honduras and serving others in the name of Jesus.

Happy Anniversary, Dee & Susan.

This was the first time I’ve tried to some-what organize a medical clinic. We came with suitcases and suitcases full of medications. I thought we would have more than enough to do two medical clinics. But Tuesday we saw so many people that we gave away almost every medication we had. As great as that was, it put a dark cloud over today, because today we were to go up into a little village (even poorer than the first) and do another medical & dental clinic… but we had no more meds.

Yesterday my doctors told me, “We’ve GOT to do the second clinic, so buy the meds here in Honduras, and we’ll figure out a way to pay for them later.” So yesterday we went shopping, spent a thousand dollars we didn’t have budgeted, just so we could do another medical clinic today. I love their faith and I love the fact that needy people will be blessed today because of them.

(I’ll tell you more about our activities from yesterday a little later today.)

Line at the Medical Clinic

The baby was 2 weeks old and the momma brought him in because she said he was sick. When our doctors saw him he they immediately noticed that the baby was lethargic, dehydrated and jaundiced. To make a long story short, the mother’s milk had never come in, and because she had no money for formula, she simply had not been able to feed her baby. For the first two-weeks of this baby’s life, the baby had nothing more than a few drinks of sugar-water and was practically starving to death. It didn’t take long for the doctors to figure out what was wrong and immediately they sent a crew to the market for formula and milk.

The baby ate and was sent home with plenty of extra formula to last for a while. There’s also a plan to send more formula their way. One of the doctors guessed that they baby wouldn’t have lived another week without food.

When asked, the momma said the baby’s name was Jesus, and she told them, “I’m so glad I named my baby Jesus.”

Lea holding baby Jesus.

Haley loving on a sweet Honduran child. She and others were building a home for this child and her family.

Eric did a dental clinic all day today. An estimated 400+ were treated by doctors and dentists today.

A hungry boy who was fed at the dump.

Nate spent a time in the children’s cancer center. They colored, played games and just hung out.

We had one group that went and started working on a cinderblock house. Another big group built 2 wood houses for families. I went with a big group to the dump today where we fed 200.  Another group stayed in and spent the day counting, organizing, and labeling pills and meds for the medical clinic tomorrow.

The dump today was especially rough. It’s been raining so much lately and the rain has run through the rotted trash and pooled up in lots of areas. The smell is as bad as I’ve ever experienced. Nauseating. BUT … the good was that people were fed and tomorrow is going to be incredible at the dump. Tomorrow we’ll take three medical doctors and a dentist (all from Childress) and we’ll go do a medical clinic right across from the dump.

We’re tired tonight, but blessed. Thankfully they’re calling me for supper right now… so I’m going to go eat. We’re having my favorite … Carnita’s.

Thanks for taking time to read about our little excursion to Honduras, and most of all, thanks for the prayers.

~Trey

PS – For by buddy, Richardo … I got to drive again today … incredible. Passed a semi on a blind curve. I’m honing my Hondruan driving skills.

This dirty and hungry work crew built two houses today.

Our flight schedule for our trip was to be: Dallas-Fort Worth to El Salvador to Tegucigalpa, Honduras. All went well yesterday until we got El Salvador last night. When we went to board our last plane for a quick flight to Honduras, there were not enough seats. Somehow our airlines had overbooked the plane and we were told that three people were going to have to stay behind and catch the first flight in the morning.

Unfortunately my 8 year old son, Cooper was on the “stand by” list, along with one of my deacons and his wife, John & Amber.

Lea was a little panicked (okay, a lot panicked), but they allowed me to trade places with Cooper. That left the three of us, John, Amber and myself, to stay behind last night while the rest of the group went on to Honduras.

Our airline put us up in a nice hotel, plus fed us both supper and breakfast. We’re scheduled to fly out in about an hour.

Our group made it fine last night to Honduras. I’ve heard that they all slept well, will have church this morning and then go to work. One of our projects today is to tear down a little (18×18) run-down home where a family of four lives. Then we’ll be building a nice new one later this week.

Hopefully, John, Amber and myself will be catching up with the others by noon today. Although it was a little setback for us, God took care of us fine AND we got to see San Salvador, El Salvador.

Thanks for you prayers. Much love,

~Trey

(A little girl and her puppy, that I met at the dump last December.)

Our group of 46 from Childress leaves tomorrow for Honduras. We’ll spend 8 days building houses, feeding the hungry, working at the dump, doing VBS, doing medical & dental clinics, loving on kids and telling others about Jesus. I’m excited about the trip.

I plan on sending updates on our trip through twitter and facebook. I also plan on updating my blog with stories and pictures each evening. That’s the plan … but being in a third-world country, that may not happen.

Many of you have offered your prayers on this trip. We covet them.

Thanks for your friendship,  ~ Trey

(Sweet little kids from the Casa de Esperanza children’s home.)

I told those going to Honduras with me, that I’d post this video today. I’m not trying to scare them, I just don’t want them to miss part of the excitement of the trip.

The runway our plane lands on in Tegucigalpa is the second shortest major airport runway in the world. Because the runway is surrounded by mountains and because it’s so short, the pilots have to have special training to land there.

Now, before you watch the video, let me say this to make you feel better … if landing a big jet airliner on this runway was risky or extremely dangerous, all the major airlines that fly into Honduras wouldn’t. And, even more importantly, you’ve got an amazing God that takes care of you … so trust Him.

Take :52 seconds and watch this.

Once when she called about a homeless man she’d seen at the McDonald’s needing help, I jumped in my pickup and went to check on him.  When I got there I said, “There you are, I’ve been looking for you.” He responded, “How’d you know I was here? Did an angel tell you?” I said, “Yes, a little blonde headed 18 year old one.”

I leave this Saturday for Honduras. As many of you know, I’ve been asking for beanie-baby stuffed animals to take with me. I have a a TON that we’ll pack up and take with us when we go. Those little stuffed animals will be given to a little boy or girl in the hospital there in Honduras. The hospital is not a good place to be for a child, especially in a third-world country.  The last time we visited the hospital there, we saw lots of really sick kids whose eyes lit up by the gift of a simple stuffed animal.

This past Sunday, Amie told me she was wanting to donate her beanie-baby collection she’d been saving. Before bringing her stuffed animal collection to the house, she spent the afternoon putting a ribbon around each of their necks with a little hand written note that said, “Dios Te Ama”, which is “God Loves You.”  With them she gave me this note:

“I know that there are tons of children at the hospital that are really sick, but I want to ask you to give mine to the ones that are doing really bad and need to know that God loves them. (I know that every child there needs to know that, but I feel that God is pushing me to do this for the really really sick ones). If you could please do this for me I would really appreciate it. Even though I can’t be there in person, I know I can still work through God, and can get my beanie babies to them with your help.”

I’d just like to say that I want a heart like Amie’s.

Parents … practice what you preach because there’s no fooling your kids. They are smarter than you think.

This morning was Childress’ Old Settler’s parade. The boys and I rode in the parade so we could throw out candy with little VBS invitations on them. As I threw out the candy, I couldn’t help but think about the crazy parade I were in a few years ago …. and the embarrassing thing that happened. Here the story…

A few years ago while preaching in Tulia, I was also serving as a volunteer paramedic for the Tulia ambulance services. One Saturday, my buddy Scotty and I, volunteered to go to a little town called Kress about 10 miles away, to drive the ambulance through their parade and throw out candy to the kids. Since we actually provided ambulance service to this little community, the hospital thought it’d be a good idea if we showed up for their big annual parade.

After picking up our 3 very large bags of candy that the hospital provided us, we were off. Neither of us had ever been to the parade in this little west Texas town, but when we got there neither Scotty or myself were very impressed. When we lined up for the parade we noticed that there were lots of vehicles like fire trucks and police cars, but there was hardly any people there for the parade. Actually, only a handful of people had shown up. I remember thinking, “You’ve got to be kidding me. I gave up my Saturday for this sorry parade?” When the parade finally started, we turned on our sirens and lights and waved to the people who’d actually shown up. We threw out a few pieces of candy, but soon realized we had tons of candy and no one to throw it to. We finally noticed one little boy at the very end of the street. He was actually the only kid we’d seen. So Scotty and I decided, “Let’s don’t take any of the candy home. If the kid has showed up for the parade, let’s reward him.” So when we came to the end of the street where the one lone boy stood, we waved him over and started dumping huge handfuls of candy right in front of him. When we finished dumping all the candy out the window, we left one of the largest piles of candy any one kid has ever had. That kid was blessed with more than he’d ever be able to eat. And by the look on his face when we started throwing candy at him, I know he must have thought we were the greatest guys in the world. We left that little boy everything we had, three very large bags of candy. We knew he was going to need a much bigger sack than the one he had.

What we didn’t know until about two minutes later was that where we were was not where the people actually gathered to watch the parade. The street we’d been on was just the starting street. When we turned the corner, there were all the people. Hundreds of people had actually shown up. Kids were everywhere screaming for candy, and we had none. We had nothing left to give. We had thrown everything to the one lucky (and very surprised) first kid on the other street. The rest of the parade we just waved, laughed and threw out rubber gloves.

I later got to thinking how God blesses us with so much more than we’ll ever need. As His children, He makes sure we have the spiritual necessities that we need like forgiveness, grace, mercy, love, peace and other things as well. But He doesn’t stop there; he also pours out physical blessings in our lives and gives us more than we ever deserve. He simply blesses us like we’re the first kid at the parade. He shovels more into our lives than our little bags will ever be able to carry. The difference between God and our three bags of candy we gave out at the parade is that God never runs out. Ever.

God is good.

“Because we don’t usually have to depend on God for food, money to buy our next meal, or shelter, we don’t feel needy. In fact, we generally think of ourselves as fiarly independant and capable. Even if we aren’t rich, we are “doing just fine.”

If 100 people represented the world’s popluation, 53% of those people would live on less than $2 a day. Do you realize that if you make $4000 a month, you automatically make one hunderd times more than the average person on this planet?  Simply by purchasing a book, you spend what a majority of people in the world will make in a week’s time.”

Here’s the part that punched me in the throat…

“Which is more messed up — that we have so much compared to everyone else, or that we don’t think we’re rich? On any given day we might flippantly call ourselves “broke” or “poor”? We are neither of those things. We are rich. Filthy rich.”

The above quote is from the book I’ve been reading called “Crazy Love” by Francis Chan. Maybe it’s because I’m headed to Honduras in a week and a half, where human poverity is evident daily,  or maybe it’s just God working on me, BUT those words really stung when I read them.

Here’s what God has to say about this:

“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.” ~ 1 Timothy 6:17-19

Peter had me cover everything from ministry, to cancer, to having a great sex life. I invited you to come read …. PART 1 IS HERE and PART 2 is HERE.

I need accountability that can only come from another man.

Just last week a friend and I were discussing how easy it is for men to fall into the temptation of being unfaithful to their spouse. We had just heard about a church leader who had crashed and burned in his relationship with his wife, children, and God. Later that day, my friend sent me a text message that went like this: “You and I’ve got to understand that nobody’s exempt from Satan’s schemes. Let’s me and you make it our goal to finish strong in our marriage.” That was exactly what I needed to hear.

Men need other men in their lives to encourage them to be real men who love their wives, children and God.

But, doesn’t it’s always seemed that women make friends with other women easier than men make friends with other men. Men seem uncomfortable having close friendships with other men. I heard a man say once, “Oh, men can golf together, fish together and play cards together, but don’t ask men to pray together or encourage one another spiritually. Men are much more comfortable just watching the game and exchanging high-fives when the team scores. But sadly, most men have missed out on spiritual blessings because of their inability to make close spiritual friendships with other men.”

I totally agree.

A man needs brothers in Christ who know him authentically and who are committed to spur him on towards integrity and becoming all that God created him to be. The bottom line fact is that an isolated follower of Jesus is extremely vulnerable to the temptations in today’s world and to the enemy’s schemes. When men choose to go-it-alone spiritually, it’s tough. “And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart,” (Ecclesiastes 4:12). Everyone needs a friend …

• The Lone Ranger had Tonto
• Batman had Robin
• Superman had, well no one, but you’re not Superman!
• David had Jonathan.
• Jesus had his friends, the apostles.

We need to be men who are willing to share spiritual struggles and victories with other men whether it looks macho or not. Besides, men, we’ll all have six men to carry us when we’re dead, so who’s going to carry us when we’re alive?

I will admit that I have been blessed with some very close friendships with men in my life. Men that have held me accountable and prayed with me. I can’t imagine what it would be like not to have that in my life.

Here’s part of Taylor’s newsletter that he wrote to those that have helped support him:

“I end my AIM time here in the month of July … and this fall semester, I will be starting college at South Planes College. Reflect with me over these last 2 years of my life: With your support I have built a solid foundation on Jesus. I have given these last two years of my life to full time ministry, and I would trade it for nothing. The Lord has been molding me and shaping me like a jar of clay. Again, none of this would be possible without you.

Of course, Lea and I are proud of Taylor, what he’s done and who he’s become.  We’re excited that he’ll be closer to home. We’ve especially missed him these past two years at holidays, vacations and family get-togethers.

I’m flying into Miami on Monday and then we’ll start driving back to Texas on Wednesday. HERE’S THE MAP of the the route we’ll be driving. Any suggestions on what or who we should stop and see on our trip home?

The following video is a documentary on the dump in Tegucigalpa Honduras, and the dump ministry that takes place there. My friend Andy Hubright has been working on a documentary about the dump for a few months. He shot all the scenes for the following amazing video on his iPhone. The video is a short version of his documentary, and is not the finished product. The long version of the this documentary will possibly be out soon. If you would like to be notified when the full version is done, send an email to hubrightat@mail.lipscomb.edu or “friend” him on facebook, Andy Hubright.

Also, understand that there are some graphic scenes in the video.

The video starts about :18 seconds in…

Yes, work!

A truly happy marriage never happens by accident, instead it takes time and effort.

According to the national average, a couple will spend $17,500 and copious amounts of time on their wedding. But how much do they actually spend on their marriage?

A husband and a wife who are willing to put lots of time and energy into building a strong marriage, can have the kind of marriage they want.  Whether you’ve been married 2 months or 20 years, the best time to start building a strong marriage is today. Start today by committing to your spouse, “I want us to have  a great marriage.” Don’t neglect your marriage for years and then wonder, “I don’t know what happened.” Instead, put some time and effort into your marriage.

If you’ve spent years neglecting your marriage and your spouse’s needs, here are some things that will help…

• Don’t give up.
• Commit with your spouse to starting over today. Commit to putting time and effort into restoring and building a great marriage.
• Seek out an expert, a Christian marriage counselor.
• Educate yourself. Find some books on marriage and read them together. Here’s a list of books Lea and I have used to better our marriage. Reading together is one of the best things we’ve ever done.
• Invest large amounts of time and effort into building a great marriage.
• Get out of town … without your children. Spend a weekend away with just the two of you.
• Be patient. Things don’t always change overnight. Can you imagine a man who has spent years neglecting his health, all of a sudden going to a doctor and saying, “Make it better … quick.” Doctors can’t fix years of neglect overnight (and sometimes not at all). Fixing years of neglect to your physical health often takes months and years of hard work and discipline to get your body back on track.  The same is true if you’ve neglected your marriage.  It may not be able to be fixed overnight, but with time, hard work and discipline … you can get it back on track.

A good, happy, healthy, strong marriage doesn’t happen by accident … it takes work.  Invest some time and effort into your marriage today.

I’d love to know, what are some ways that you and your spouse invest time and effort in your marriage?

Some buddies and I loaded up a while back and drove to Dallas to hear Shane Claiborne speak. I remember him asking a question that just rocked my “religious” world. He asked, “How can you and I worship a homeless man on Sunday and ignore one on Monday?”

The tough answer is … we shouldn’t.

Matthew 25:32ff:

“Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why:

I was hungry and you fed me,

I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,

I was homeless and you gave me a room,

I was shivering and you gave me clothes,

I was sick and you stopped to visit,

I was in prison and you came to me.’

“Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’

Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’

“Then he will turn to the ‘goats,’ the ones on his left, and say, ‘Get out, worthless goats! You’re good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because—

I was hungry and you gave me no meal,

I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,

I was homeless and you gave me no bed,

I was shivering and you gave me no clothes,

Sick and in prison, and you never visited.’

“Then those ‘goats’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn’t help?’

“He will answer them, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.’”

• Are you sharing with those in need?
• Will you be a sheep or a goat?