Burgess Road Baptist Church

December 2020

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello from Honduras, and may we be among the first to wish you a Merry Christmas. It is crazy to think about all that has happened in this most unusual year. Thank you all for faithfully praying for our family and ministry. As many of you know, November began with a lot of excitement because we were just beginning to have in person services again. The spirit within the church family has been wonderful, and so very encouraging as we continue forward.

But the biggest news is that we were hit with 2 major hurricanes about two weeks apart. I sent out the special update mid-month before we realized that we were going to be hit by the second storm. Both brought mass flooding of the 2 main rivers that pass through the valley here. The lingering week of rain has slowed the receding water. Thankfully we have had several days of sunshine (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday), and the waters are receding. Again we thank the Lord for his protection through these storms. There are thousands of people who lived in some of the worst flooded areas who have literally lost everything. Hopefully this next week we will be able to get into the homes of some church members to begin helping them clean out everything that was lost. Many of you have already given to help meet some of the financial needs of those most affected and we want to say a huge thank you. From the funds that have already come in we are looking to also help another church that was completely flooded in a neighboring city. Basically, the entire congregation had their homes flooded, so the needs are great. Being a third world country the rebuilding process has many additional challenges and will be long for the many who have lost homes, livelihoods, and all that they could not carry.

There have been some unusual blessings that have come from this emergency situation; one has been seeing the heart of our church family. We have been receiving donations of food and clothing that we have then been able to take to multiple emergency shelters throughout the city. We have also had some great opportunities to present the Gospel along with the donations. In the days and weeks ahead we pray that Christ will be exalted in all that we do and that many would place their eternal security in Him as Savior.

Thank you again for your prayers.

From Honduras,
Nate and Cori with Mykenzie, Grant, Blake and Sav

PRAYER REQUESTS

• For the Lord to help us continue to grow in our Spanish speaking abilities, and be able to better minister for the Lord.
• For the Lord to give wisdom as we navigate the changes to have in-person services.
• For continued spiritual growth in our church family.
• For continued tenderness to the Gospel, and that people would turn to Christ.
• For the recovery process in the aftermath of the hurricanes.

September 2020

Praises

• Housing while in states
• Use of vehicle
• Ministry Opportunities

Prayer Requests

• Jon’s salvation
• Support to come back up
• Leave soon for Costa Rica
• Arrival-quarantine/get settled

1 Corinthians 4:2
Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

A steward is an investor/servant. As stewards we are to invest in peoples lives. The biggest investment we can make is giving them the gospel. Most times serving others will open the door to them being willing to not just listen but to hear. People need to know that we care. Only 2% of salvations are at church, so 98% of our ministry is outside it! Jesus is the answer for the world today. Let’s be the best stewards we can be with His help.

August has come and gone in a blur. Almost every day we have had opportunities to help someone in one way or another. Many churches in our area have building/maintenance needs and call us to help. Neighbors need handrails on their steps or sod installed. Church members have honey do lists. Partner pastors need help in several areas of the church and at home. There is not a lack of things to do, but let’s not just be busy. Let’s be sure our ministry has eternal significance. Meeting physical needs can open the door to spiritual needs. I believe we can see all through the scriptures how Jesus did it.

We have been in contact with many of our partners and have been able to give in person updates and preach. Some just want us to come for fellowship or activities. We are still in the same temporary house and still have the same borrowed truck. Our monthly support has gone down approx. 25% this past month. It does fluctuate a little here and there but not normally like that. We pray it comes back up soon. Our flights for Sep 3rd have been canceled again and left open for now. Costa Rica is allowing U.S. states in but so far only 12 out of 50 and Florida is not on the list yet. We are more than ready to be there, BUT, not sure when that will be as of this writing.

Kevin finished his marital arts instructor course, hoping to add this to our missionary training center curriculum. We went tubing with the teens in our sending church and our kids were able to have a couple of play days with their friends lately.

Please, please continue to pray for us, send us texts / messages, e-mails and continue to give monetarily so we can go and then stay.

In Christ,
Kevin and Sonya McCoy

September 2020

Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and for our family. This has been a very busy month. After arriving in the States we have been able to spend time with my family as well as report back to churches in Indiana and Florida. The time with family was very busy but also very good. Our kids have been thoroughly loved on by family and friends. We are still looking forward to seeing Cori’s side of the family this month and our kids’ love tanks will be overflowing by the end of it I am sure. We will get to spend a solid week with Cori’s parents and several of her siblings are making plans to visit as well.

Also, we have been so encouraged through the fellowship with our supporting churches. With the strict measures in Honduras right now, we are still waiting to be able to have in-person services, so our first in-person services in the past 4 1/2 months took place as we reported back. With all of the negative headlines in the news, there is great hope for America because Gospel centered churches are still striving to proclaim salvation through Christ. May we continue to seek the Lord and pray one for another as a nation.

Back home in Honduras, church is still only on Facebook. But we trust very soon we will be able to meet together corporately again. Just last week, they lifted weekend restrictions allowing a very select percentage of the population to circulate on Saturday and Sunday. But as we wait on God’s timing, we are so thankful that technology really does enable us to stay connected. Even from the States we have been able to continue recording our virtual kids’ class (for Facebook) as our ministry partners continue with the virtual church services (from Honduras). These are incredible times with incredible opportunities to serve the Lord and share the Gospel.

In September we will travel to Texas and visit a couple of churches and then head back to Kentucky where we will prepare to fly back to Honduras at the end of the month. Honduras is now requiring proof of a negative covid-19 test prior to entry into the country so please pray that our entire family continues to stay healthy and we can make our scheduled flight.
 
Prayer Requests

• For the Lord to help us continue to grow in our Spanish speaking abilities, and be able to better minister for the Lord.
• For the Lord to give wisdom and open the doors for us to have in-person services once again.
• For continued spiritual growth in our church family.
• For continued tenderness to the Gospel, and that people would turn to Christ.

Thank you again for your faithful prayers.

In Christ,
Nate and Cori with Mykenzie, Grant, Blake and Savanna