A New Blog

Dear friends and family,

I have a new blog, check it out at: www.meredithljones.tumblr.com Hopefully I will be able to keep you more up to date with this new blog set up.

Thanks for all your support and prayers!

Children's Day

Children's Day 2009 from Meredith Jones on Vimeo.

Though not the best video ever, I posted this because I want y'all to see how FUN my job is!

This video was shot last Friday when we traveled up to the remote jungle village of Auga Fria. We go to Agua Fria every Friday to visit Dona Reymunda, a widow that we work with (more on her later), and this particular Friday happended to be Children's Day. For those of you who don't know, Children's Day is a holiday in Honduras that is bigger than Christmas and your birthday combined! Because of the poverty in Agua Fria, the kids up there weren't going to be able to celebrate this day set aside especially for them, so we decided to help them celebrate! With little gift bags, lots of candy and a pinata we set off from the office for the jungle.

The outreach in Agua Fria started from a church that we work with in Choluteca. The people up in Agua Fria are amazing and have a strong faith in the Lord. My, oh my, you should hear the sweet little prayers of the children! Now, if only I had a video of that... maybe next time.

Anyhow... my job is awesome! Hope you enjoy!

Magi Project 2009

Magi Project 2008 from Mission Lazarus on Vimeo.

It's that time of year again! Time to dust off your old shoeboxes and fill the with gifts for sweet little children in Honduras. Last year we were able to bless 9,500 children in Honduras with Christmas gifts, yet we still fell short. This year we are aiming to bless 12,000 children who would otherwise not receive a Christmas gift!

If you would like to help us meet this goal, leave a comment or email me at: meredith(at)missionlazarus(dot)org for more information.

A Belated Gift

In December I visited my sponsoring congregation and shared with them Marlon's story of struggle and illness. As a result, a group of kids from church handmade Marlon some Get Well cards after his second surgery. They mailed these cards in February. The cards arrived in Honduras in July. We checked the mail box (located 45 minutes away) in August. Just last week Marlon received his Get Well cards, and was pleased as pie!

Please continue to keep Marlon and his family in your prayers. We are patiently waiting for, and prayerfully seeking, a hospital in the US that will accept Marlon for heart surgery. I have no doubt that God will continue to provide for this little guy!

A New Home

a new home from Seth Daggett on Vimeo.

We visited this family in the mountains a couple of weeks ago. 9 kids. 1 mom. A house made of plastic tarp. I cried.

A sister in the local church, this mom knows that God will provide.

Please help us be His hands and feet. Please help us build this family a home.

Medical Brigade 1: Tierras Coloradas

This summer Mission Lazarus is hosting four medical brigades in various areas of need.  Our first medical brigade, sponsored by Mayfair church of Christ, finished up this week in the rural mountain village of Tierras Coloradas... which is essentially in the middle of nowhere.  One hour and fifteen minutes on a dirt road brings you to the village of Duyure, and Tierras Coloradas is 9 km and  35 minutes past that on a glorified ox cart path.  The medical brigade was able to treat 240 patients who would have otherwise had to walk three hours to the local health center to receive treatment.

The Mission Lazarus summer interns got their first taste of medical brigades this week and did an awesome job taking blood pressures, checking blood sugars, translating health consults and providing patient education in the pharmacy.

Mayfair also hosted a carnival one day for all of the kids in the village.  The kids had never seen toys like that before and were thrilled beyond words!  There was juggling, skee-ball, ring toss, bowling, a fishing pond, and face painting... to name a few!

Thank you Mayfair church of Christ for sharing the love of Christ with the people of Tierras Coloradas!

Summer Interns 2009

That's right folks, the 2009 summer interns have arrived! We are full to the gills this year with 12 interns plus my brother David. If you would like to follow their experiences this summer, the interns will be keeping a blog at: www.missionlazarusinterns.tumblr.com