Tuesday, February 09, 2010

2010 Teams

Here are our 2010 Team Dates and the origin locations of each of them. There are a few slight timing changes from the past but, not too bad. Please pass this on to friends, churches and anyony that you might think is interested in joining one of the amazing adventures that lie ahead for 2010.
March 20 to 27 Freed Hardeman Team
May 13 to June 8 MTSU Month Long College Team - we will have one week of work in Copan Ruins. This is open to anyone that ever thought that they might like to come and work for a month. Likely to be less than 10 so, a very close "family" work team. Come and be a part of it, it will be amazing.
June 16 to 20 Tupelo team - this is a closed group - sorry.
June 19 to 27 Columbus, MS team. The original team! Awesome people if you are looking for a one week team.
July 1 to 12 South Baton Rouge and "friends" of Kin and Donna. If you have loved coming with Kin and Donna Ellis, they have joined with Blaine and will be coming with the SBR Team. This is an awesome group.
July 4 to 11. "THE OP" Close on the heels of SBR, Overland Park KS is one of our newest teams. They came in late June of last year and are a very powerful and special group. Cannot wait to see what God has planned for this group. They will be joined by several from Topeka.
July 11 to 18 One more brand new team will be the Layfayette, LA team. Can't wait to see what God has planned for this group.
July 12 to 24 MS TORCH! The one that started it all. Come and Join an amazing ministry. Starkville and many others will be a part of this team.
July 18 to 31 MS Mixed - some that cannot come on the 12th will join the group on the 18th and will be in Hondo until the 31st.
July 24 to 31 (possibly 25 to August 1) Childress, TX More "newbee's" a great new Team from the great state of TEXAS. Wanna have an amazing time - come with Trey Morgan's group.
Possible final summer team from OKC. Juily 31 to August 7 or 8.
October - wait on the date - Walnut Creek, CA
Thanksgiving Build week
December 6 to 12 Jesus Banquet week.
So, there you have em. The dates are set. Prices are mostly the same
one week range is $1350 to $1400. 10 days to 2 weeks is $1450 and the one month adventure is $2000. As always, we ask everybody coming to raise $200 above the cost to go to the work funds. Your cost includes all of your air fare, lodging, 2 meals a day, and your exit fee. You are also insured against accidents - so if you get into a major illness or injury, we will be able to ambulance you out of Honduras. You can facebook me or email me with any questions.
Thanks and looking forward to Great Days in Honduras.
Blessed,
Marc

Monday, July 20, 2009

July 2009

July 2009
Here in Honduras, July is typically one that it is very difficult to get a flight - in or out of the country. Most every flight in a typical July is filled with mission groups and others coming to be a part of helping this nation. The reason that the people keep coming back year after year is that most of the folks here appreciate the work and efforts of the visitors from the USA. There are amazing friendships developed between the villagers and the mission teams from the USA. Personally, July 2009 was going to be an amazing month. I had scheduled teams from the 28th of June all the way to the last of the teams departing on August 9. My teams were coming from all over the USA and all of us had planned to make July 2009 an amazing month of work for our Master. Through the month there would have been close to 250 people coming and going - every week from 50 to 85 people would have been here working, building, feeding, teaching, comforting, and serving. We planned to build something like 60 houses, one and maybe 2 school buildings, a small but much needed foot bridge, work on the Santa Katerina feeding center / church plant, feed more than 4,000 families, treat more than 1500 in med/ dental clinics, teach the gospel to many many people.Most of this didn't happen - obviously something jumped in the way and stopped the plan in it's tracks.Everybody following this blog knows that there is a governmental crisis here and that has sent most folks from the USA and the mission groups that come here scrambling for cover. Bringing people here right now just was not a prudent thing so - I cancelled all of the July groups and had to send the end of June group home early. Needless to say, I am not alone. I was in the airport today and there was not another "gringo" there - not one. The lines for the airlines were empty and nobody is coming or going to Honduras this July.I gotta tell you this is a real problem for many of the mountain villages where we work. I was in Nueva Oriental on Saturday and talked to many many of the people that live there and are friends with many Americans. They are so sad that nobody is coming. The community still needs the 30 to 40 houses that the teams would have built there. They still need the food that is desperatly short in many many of the homes there. Nueva Oriental still needs the medical and dental clinics and the people that would normally come to share the gospel. They will really miss the new school building and the bridge that our teams would have built. It is truly sad that a poliitcal mess can do this to the people that the governments are set up to serve.Makes me so sad!Be a blessing to somebody today!Marc

Friday, July 10, 2009

TORCH 2009 NEWS

Dear TORCH,
As you know, there is a mess here in Honduras. On June 28th, the situation became volitile as this small nation made the decision to remove their president Mel Zelaya. Mr Zelaya was doing a number of illegal things and both the Supreme Court and the National Congress approved of the ouster - 100%.
The world has not supported this change and there are factions within the country that continue to cause disturbances - some violent. The US State Department has recommended that US Citicizens not travel to Honduras during this crisis. This advisory continues through the 29th of July.
I would love to be able to tell all of you that none of this makes a difference and we need to move ahead with our July 20 mission. At this time, I just can't. We need to cancel the July 20 - August 2 mission to Honduras. The nation remains unstable, the chance of further problems here remain high, and if those happen, we could see Tegucigalpa and the airport shut down for a much longer period than we have already experienced. Additionally, I am not willing to risk your safety.
We are working with the airlines to determine how refunds, flight credits, etc will work. At this time we just don't know.
I know that some of you would love to say, I am coming any way. At this time, I would encourage you to wait and be patient.
We do have some fall and winter mission opportunities planned and we would gladly move you to some of those groups. Email Terri or me for details on those trips.
You cannot imagine my saddness in making this announcement. Our team is a big part of my life and I have waited as long as possible to make this decision. I am truly sorry that it is necessary.
Be a blessing to somebody today,
Marc Tindall
Ps: People here that depend on groups like ours are still in need of homes and food. Please consider allowing us to utilize the portion of your trip that was to be dedicated to this effort. We will build the houses and distribute the food that would have happened anyway. Thanks for considering this.

Monday, July 06, 2009

Disorder and Decisions

Here I sit in my home in Santa Ana praying for the peace of the day to continue.
As all of you know, there is unrest in Honduras and the result has been the cancellation of many of the TORCH Teams scheduled for Honduras this summer. We are holding the decision on the MS Team until Friday July 10.
We will need to see the country moving toward settlement of the issues that have created the unrest over the past couple of weeks. I believe that there is a 30 to 40% chance of this happening. I wish it were better than that - it just isn't. We are not going to bring a lot of folks here to work if there is any chance that the peace will not remain.
My heart is aching over this and I know that you too are anxious over the unrest here in Honduras. Please pray for the changes that we need to see so that we can make a smart and safe decision.
Be a blessing to somebody today!
Marc

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

2009 TORCH Registration

TORCH 2009
This blog area and will be giving you updates on all you need to know about coming to Honduras in 2009. For those of you coming on the July mission - this post will have a registration for the summer trip. This year's mission will run from July 20 to August 2 and there is an option to add a "BONUS" week. The bonus week will have you departing on August 9th. Feel free to send me a note if you are interested in staying for the entire trip. I will gladly work with those of you that can only come for a week.
The cost of the 2 week mission is $1450, staying only one week will reduce the cost to $1350. The cost increase was necessary because everything has gone up. In the past we only paid $600 to $650 for airfare and now we are paying $800 to 900. This years increase will cover your departure fee - which has just gone up to $34.
2009 Registration
July 20 – August 2 (OR August 9)

Cost of trip is $1450.
TORCH MISSIONS
PO 9222
Columbus, MS 39705
Trip Date____________________________
Email address__________________
Name(As on your Passport____________________________
Date of Birth_____________ Age______
Street Address______________________________________________
Home Phone______________________
Cell Phone_____________________________
Social Security Number_______________________
Passport Number_______________________
City Issued_________________________
Date Issued____________________________
Expiration Date_____________________
Are you a Christian? Yes____ No_____
Name of Church youAddress of Church you attend_______________________________________________
Male____ Female____ Adult____ Teen____ Child____ Single____ Married______
If married are husband and wife on the trip together?? Yes_____ No_____
Adults occupation_______________________________________________
Students academic classification & name of school_____________________
Languages you speak____________________________________________
Foreign Countries you have visited_________________________________
Are you in good physical condition? Yes_____ No______
Are you taking prescription medication on a regular basis? Yes____ No_____
If yes, List medications and conditions being treated_______________________________________________________
Allergies_________________________________________________
Adult T shirt size Small_____ Medium_____ Large_____ X Large ______ XXL_____ Signature & Date_____________________________________________
IMPORTANT Everyone traveling must fill out an applicationThis registration is due ASAP & must be accompanied with a $150 deposit. Airfare of $800 is due by May 1 and the balance is due June 30
Your registration also includes a commitment to raise a minimum of $200 that will be used for benevolence work in Honduras.

Friday, August 01, 2008

Another Great Day in Honduras

Today was awesome. We were all filled with a kind of excitement to serve the Lord again today and the knowledge that tomorrow most of us would be on our way home. It was a sad and happy day. We started off by sending a small group to put a roof on a house for a family. The other two buses loaded up with Bibles and food bags headed out with one thing in mind, feed the people both spiritually and physically. One group headed up to Ojojona to hand out the Bibles and food and the other bus handed out on the way into Santa Anna and in Santa Anna until all the food had been given. Each family also recieved Bibles as well. It was great. After the food was gone the group converged on Casa de Esperanza to play with the kids until it was their lunch time. After the kids went in for lunch both groups headed to the mall to eat and spend a couple of hours then back to the Mission House. We enjoyed a great supper together and then a super devotional. It was a tearful time as we all said our goodbyes and know that in the morning we will all be up early and headed out for the airport. There are 6 who are staying for another great week in Honduras, so pray for them to stay well, stay safe, and serve the Lord.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Thursday's Adventure


Well the visit to Villade Morales went so well yesterday a team went back there today to build a house. It was a great house. When we first started it had begun to mist and then cleared off and was very muggy and humid. Marc and Terri showed up and Marc was able to help with the house and even put in the door before he had to leave for other jobs. Terri stayed to the very end and nailed the window frame and hinges on the window. It was a super house. Again the lady was presented with a house kit from the Columbus group. She was very excited. As we were loading up the bus we handed out food bags to those who were around. It was another great day at Villade Morales.
Another group went to do some work with the mayor of Tegu... They were finished fairly quickly and then came out to the house site.
The others went to make sandwiches to take out to the dump and then were off to the Special Needs Orphanage and then to the Blind School. It was a busy day for all and everyone is having mixed feelings because the end of most of ours trip is over. We are sad to not have more time to do things here and anticipating being home at the same time. There will be six staying on for a third week. We have more to do tomorrow as well as some flying home.