I am preparing once again to fly to Honduras where I will be serving with a team of people from various backgrounds. Each time I serve overseas I make it a habit to examine the list of people who will be going with me. With this list, I then pray for each person. I pray specifically for their safety, for opportunities to minister to others and for the team to experience wonderful fellowship.

This particular trip to Honduras will be extra special for me because my niece, Brittany Lenane, will be accompanying me. She is a college student in Southern California. Brittany will be in charge of conducting vacation Bible school in about four or five villages in the mountains of Honduras. I just know that she will do a wonderful job!

Our team will also include nurses and physicians who will care for those who are sick and a construction team that will assist in building bathrooms. In my many travels around the world, I have seen that when Christians serve alongside each other, we do so as a family serving God.

We read in 1 Peter 4:10 the obligation Christians have to utilize their God-given talents for the glory of God. This verse states:

“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”

In Romans 12:6-8 Paul lists some of these gifts, which include teaching, encouraging, serving, giving, leading and showing mercy. If we have been blessed financially, we can use our God-given resources to support a Christian ministry or missionaries serving overseas. If God has blessed you with a tender heart, you could volunteer your time serving at a crisis pregnancy center where you could extend mercy to women needing compassion. God has graciously given each of us unique gifts and we must use them in such a way to bring honor and glory to Him.