10 Miracles We've Experienced ... February 2024 Update

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

Dear Family and Friends,
We hope this letter finds you well. It’s been a little while since our last update and much has been happening since we returned from our trip to the U.S. We arrived back in Honduras on Dec. 9, just in time to participate in and help lead various Christmas and holiday activities. This time with the kids and staff of the Ranch was such a blessing! 

The beginning of March will mark one full year since we officially moved to the Ranch and began our roles as the Serve Team managers and host/hostess. We are still the only North Americans serving full-time but we are seeing progress on that front with several prospective missionaries currently exploring opportunities to come and serve at the Ranch! Please pray for them to receive clear direction from God about His will for them and, if it is to come to the Ranch, to fully equip them with all the support they need. Though our need for a few more full-time missionaries is great, we can say that the Ranch has a wonderful team of Honduran believers who serve the children very well. Over the last 12 months our admiration for them has grown tremendously. It has been a pleasure to do what we can to support their work by engaging teams and visitors to partner with the ministry to make improvements to the Ranch and share the love of Jesus with each child. God is making so many things happen!  

Recently we sat down and wrote out a list of all the miracles that we had seen over the last year. We would need several more pages to include them all, but here are a few we are especially in awe over: 

1. Our marriage, though we have been attacked by the enemy in multiple ways, has grown stronger. Thank you to everyone who has prayed specifically for our marriage - please keep the prayers coming!! 
2. Seeing our boys learn the language, make friends and grow in their faith. They have made transitioning to a new culture look much easier than it is!!
3. Though the initial call was terrifying, our relief to learn that our daughter Yese and her friend Josh survived a car accident last September with only minor injuries. 
4. Our Spanish is nowhere near fluent, but with intentionality it is allowing us to build relationships with many of the Honduran staff. We also have experienced strong relationship development with the children of the Ranch (it’s easier with them because they speak English!) 
5. A “divine appointment” with a local pastor which has allowed us to provide meaningful off-Ranch service opportunities for two of our teams - and more in the works. 
6. Growing financial support for the Ranch, including several larger donations that will allow for the completion of several important physical improvements to the Ranch in the coming months. (Pictures to come in the next newsletter as many of these projects will be fully realized next month!)
7. One of the Ranch youth, José, committed his life to the Lord and was baptized last November!
8. Getting our Honduran residency finalized (after months of prayer) in God’s perfect timing, just in time to attend a drivers’ license class that another missionary organized - saving us from having to navigate the difficult process of becoming licensed drivers on our own!
9. Incredible Short-Term Missionary support for the ministry. Last year we hosted 7 official (week-long) teams and about 100 total people (full and partial-week team members, prospective missionaries and other guests). This year we currently have 11 week-long teams scheduled plus 5 partial-week teams and several visitors, including prospective and former missionaries, for a total of 270+ guests serving at the Ranch! (Every guest to the Ranch represents monetary support for our operations and/or critical help in the form of work being done that our team otherwise could not do!)  
10. The 270+ visitors this year includes Serve teams from both of our home churches in Florida - Lynn Haven Methodist in Panama City and First City Church in Pensacola - plus some very dear friends!

We could share so much more, but you get the idea… Our God is so good and He supplies everything we need in His perfect timing! We are thankful for your prayers and financial support that allow us to serve here and experience these and many other miracles first-hand, knowing all the while that the best is yet to come! We love you all!

Steve, Kris, Bryeten, Chance and Mac
Steve.Nelson@wgomission.org 
Kris.Nelson@wgomission.org

Want to partner with our family in Honduras?

Financial contributions can be sent to: World Gospel Outreach, Preference Nelson Family, PMB 250, 6068 US Highway 98, Suite 1,  Hattiesburg, MS 39402 or online at wgoreach.org/nelson. To sign up for our newsletter, email Kris.Nelson@wgomission.org. 

Merry Christmas from Honduras!

Christmas 2023, year-end summary... 

This year was our first full year living overseas as a missionary family. Our transition to Honduras began in 2022. After attending language school for 6 months we officially began serving in our ministry roles in March 2023 at Rancho Ebenezer, a Christ-centered foster care community near Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Bryeten (9), Chance (7) and Mac (5), attend school with the children cared for by the ministry. They are thriving in their bi-lingual classes and have so much fun with the other kids during day-to-day and special activities! Our daughter Yese is still living in Panama City and is working at a hospital there. 

We are serving the Ranch as the Serve Team managers and host and hostess, which means we plan and coordinate mission teams and other visitors to come and serve at the Ranch and in the nearby village. We also lead a weekly youth group and help with other things to support children’s services and the overall operations of the program. The Ranch is located on a beautiful 80-acres of mountaintop property. In addition to all the beautiful flowering and fruit-producing trees, there are 3.5 acres of coffee plants on the property. Steve’s favorite mornings are when we wake up to the smell of coffee roasting. 

Living overseas is both a blessing and a challenge. We love the Honduran children we have the privilege of serving. We love that the boys are getting to experience a new culture and learn a second language. We love being part of what God is doing at our ministry (we have many amazing stories of how we have seen Him moving)! We miss our family and friends. We miss some of the opportunities of home - such as organized sports and activities for the kids, safe and modern playgrounds, getting to spend time regularly with friends, worshiping in English with our church families, and being able to receive mail. We are the only North Americans serving at our ministry location currently. Learning the culture and language is difficult, but we are working hard to build relationships and be of service to the Hondurans who work at the Ranch and are doing such hard, holy work. We have committed to serve for a total of 4 years so we expect to be living in Honduras until at least August 2026, or possibly longer, depending on what God has in store for us in the future. 

When we wrote this message we were in the U.S. on our first “furlough.” Each year we are able to come home for a total of 6 weeks to spend time with family and raise support so that we can continue to serve in our ministry. We enjoyed our time stateside and the chance to see many people we love so much. We were able to relax, ride bikes, walk on the beach, spend Thanksgiving with family, attend our home churches, and enjoy the beautiful Fall weather in the South. We were reminded of God’s many blessings and of his plans and purpose for our lives. We would love to have you come visit us in Honduras sometime. If you are interested in visiting or learning more about our ministry, please email Kris.Nelson@wgomission.org.  

We wish you the most joyous Christmas season! 

The Nelsons - Steve, Kris, Yese, Bryeten, Chance and Mac

From top left: Steve and the boys building bunk beds at the Ranch; our graduation from language school; family photo February 2023, Mac with pal Brando; Chance and friend Junior; Bryeten helping with a painting project at the Ranch school; with Reenie and Big Daddy at Thanksgiving; enjoying beautiful Panama City Beach; with big sister Yese; Riding bikes with cousins.

First Missionary Furlough Thoughts

Over the last few weeks we have learned that missionary furlough essentially means cramming a year’s worth of travel, social engagements and extended family time into 6 weeks. Exhausting but worth it!  

We have been to Pennsylvania, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. We have spent time with Yese and many other family members. We have shared about our missionary work with many supporters and friends. We visited with our dog Nellie and the sweet family who adopted her. We have done our best to keep up with the boys’ school work. And we have had a lot of fun! 

Praise God for this opportunity to be home after our first full year in Honduras! We have just under 2 weeks left! Please pray we get some rest so we can return to Honduras ready to continue the work God has for us there. 

Next Stop: USA!

 Dear Family and Friends,

As we write this we’re packing our suitcases for our first trip home to the U.S.! We are very excited for the incredible opportunity to spend six weeks on “home assignment,” Oct. 29-Dec. 9. It will be tough to leave our work at the Ranch, but we are thrilled to have an opportunity to share with so many of you about our first year as a missionary family and the goals we have for the coming years. We’re also incredibly excited to see our daughter, Yese, and many other friends and family, and to enjoy a little rest and relaxation.

During our trip to the U.S., we plan to be in the following locations:

• Oct. 29-Nov. 2 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Nov. 3-10 - North Georgia and surrounding area 
• Nov. 11-17 - Lynn Haven/Panama City, Florida area
• Nov. 18-Dec. 1 - Pace/Pensacola, Florida area
• Dec. 2 - Dec. 8 - Daytona Beach, Florida area 

If you’re in any of the areas we’ll be in and want to get together, please contact me (Kris) at 850.377.5136!

Though we have not had many Serve Teams in the last two months, we have been busy preparing for our 2024 teams, helping out at the Ranch school and assisting with other activities, including hosting kids’ activities and Youth Group in our home and leading Freedom Forever, a curriculum that aims to help kids heal from trauma and find freedom in Christ. Additionally, the boys participated in the local parade for the Honduran Independence Day and Steve and I were able to attend a weekend retreat for missionary couples.  

If you or anyone you know would like to come on a mission trip or explore longer term missionary opportunities, please contact us! We can host individuals, families or large teams. We have learned this past year that there are plenty of opportunities for anyone to serve and honor God here!  

Thank you to everyone who has kept our family in your prayers. We have felt them daily since beginning this adventure of ministry! We are so thankful to be serving here, and for the prayers and financial support that has made it possible. We love you all!

Steve, Kris, Bryeten, Chance and Mac
Steve.Nelson@wgomission.org 
Kris.Nelson@wgomission.org

All Glory to God! August Ministry Update

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:24 NIV

Dear Family and Friends,

We’ve now been in Honduras for one full year! In our last newsletter (early June), we shared that we were excited and ready for a busy summer of Serve Teams. We can now say with much gratitude to God that we could not have asked for a better first “busy season” of ministry. We had several teams who have been to the Ranch many times and others who were serving with the ministry for the first time. Being new on the field, we learned a lot from each and every group! And we saw God move in some really big ways, bringing a lot of joy and energy to the Ranch community. 

There are way more highlights of the summer than we can possibly share in this newsletter! For the kids, one of the best parts was making new friends. The Olson family from Houston came on a family mission trip and our boys had the best time playing and serving with their three kids. Our new friends are already planning to return in 2024 and we cannot wait to see them again!  

For Steve and me, the best part was seeing God at work in the formation of many relationships. Many of our team members were very intentional about having meaningful conversations, sharing their own walk with Jesus, and providing encouragement to the Ranch kids. Additionally, we were able to be part of the first ever Freedom Camp at the Ranch (a camp for children who have experienced trauma to help them find their freedom in Christ), partner with a local church to pour concrete floors for two widows and distribute food in the community, and participate in ministry staff events, including trauma-informed care training and a spiritual retreat. 

We are continuing our Youth Group on Wednesdays with the Ranch teens, and we are now leading a monthly “Freedom Forever” activity with the children 12 and under. Freedom Forever is a follow-up to Freedom Camp, designed to reinforce the gospel truths and support each child’s ongoing healing process. Other highlights of the summer included Missionary Kids Camp (Bryeten attended as a camper and Steve as a servant) and getting to see some church friends from Florida who were serving on a mission trip in another part of Honduras. 

On a personal note, since our last newsletter we celebrated two birthdays - mine and Steve’s. Since mine was a milestone birthday, Steve had some big surprises in store. Months prior he had reached out to many of our friends and family asking for letters and rhymes (a tribute to my Granddaddy, Doc Skelton, who was famous for his rhymes) so he could gather them in a book. Somehow he managed to keep this a surprise from me! He also put together a video with photos which he showed during that week’s Youth Group, helped two of the Ranch girls plan a little surprise party/dinner for me, and he and the boys made me a special breakfast. It was a very full and memorable day!  Luckily for me, Steve is two years younger, so I have two years to try to figure out how to make his 40th even half as special as he made mine. 

Now that the busiest time of the year for us has ended, we’ll be working on some other things at the Ranch. Steve is continuing to lead the WGO Kid Art program and will be helping out by teaching some P.E. classes at the Ranch school this year. He will also continue helping with maintenance and light construction projects around the Ranch. Kris has taken on a greater role with the Vocational Education program and is working with other Ranch staff to enhance that program to provide for more life-skills training for the teens. And of course, we are already planning for future teams. We have eight teams, totaling over 140 people, already on the 2024 schedule, with room for more! Teams can come anytime of year, not just summer. If you are interested in organizing a team to come and serve with us, or coming as a family or small group just to check things out, please contact us anytime!  

And finally, we saved the best for last… It’s time to come home to visit! We will have our yearly home assignment from Oct. 28-Dec. 9. Our tentative schedule is as follows: 

• Oct. 29-Nov. 2 - Pittsburgh
• Nov. 3-10 - North Georgia area 
• Nov. 11-17 - Lynn Haven/Panama City, Florida area
• Nov. 18-Dec. 1 - Pace/Pensacola, Florida area
• Dec. 2 - Dec. 8 - Daytona Beach, Florida area 

We hope to be able to see as many of our friends, family and supporters as possible! We will share more information in our next newsletter or you can text or email us to coordinate a time to get together! 

Thank you to everyone who has prayed for our family, for the Ranch kids and for our visiting teams over the last couple of months! We are so thankful to be serving here in Honduras, and for the prayers and financial support that has made it possible. We love you all!

Steve, Kris, Bryeten, Chance and Mac
Steve.Nelson@wgomission.org
Kris.Nelson@wgomission.org

Want to partner with our family in Honduras?

Financial contributions can be sent to: World Gospel Outreach, Preference Nelson Family, PMB 250, 6068 US Highway 98, Suite 1,  Hattiesburg, MS 39402 or online at wgoreach.org/nelson.

To receive e-mail newsletters, email Kris.Nelson@wgomission.org.

Thank you for your prayers and partnership!

Photos from top to bottom: Enjoying a little family time at Lake Yojoa, one of the most beautiful spots in Honduras; Bryeten and Mac with friend, Davis, who came to serve at the Ranch with his parents and sister; One of our summer teams hard at work serving in the local community; Enjoying dinner with friends from Lynn Haven Methodist; Steve and Bryeten at Missionary Kids Camp; Kris and the kids reading all the sweet letters to Kris in her birthday book; Steve receiving a surprise birthday cake from Ranch managers; Steve and the boys building new bunk beds in team housing.

June 2023 Ministry Update

Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare. Psalms 40:5 NIV

Dear Family and Friends,

The last two months have flown by. Summer is here. Are you ready? We are! We recently hosted our first Serve Team of the summer and we have a pretty full schedule of teams for the June and July. We are excited to see what God is going to do!

As the Ranch serve team managers, Summer is always going to be our busiest time of year, so we made sure to have a little fun in the Spring. We were super blessed with Steve’s mom and dad coming to visit in April! Their visit was a complete surprise to the boys and their faces lit up as they saw Reenie and Big Daddy here in Honduras. We had a great time visiting with them. We spent a weekend at the Ranch and then took a family road trip to visit the north coast of Honduras and enjoy a few days at the beach and sight-seeing. 

After Steve’s parents left, we had the pleasure of hosting Abby and Josh. Abby was a teacher at the Ranch from 2007 to 2011 and she shared many of her memories with us. Many of the older kids at the Ranch now were in first grade or younger while she was a missionary teacher and it was fun to see some of them reconnect with her. Abby was not married then. During this trip she was able to bring her husband and make some new memories. Abby and Josh tutored in the school, led some art projects and helped with coffee cultivation (the Ranch has 2 acres of coffee plants with proceeds helping fund operations). Josh had a great time playing soccer with the kids and encouraging them to learn new skills. 

In May, we started hosting a weekly youth group in our home. We invite all the kids 13 and up. It has been such a fun experience.  Our goal is to give the youth a fun and safe place to seek God in different ways. Each week we serve some snacks and each week we are amazed at how much teenagers can eat, even right after dinner. After eating and hanging out, we usually play a game, listen to some worship songs, talk about God’s Word, and break out into guy and girl groups. Please be in prayer each Wednesday evening over the group. Each month we plan to have a service night, game night and/or a youth-led night. To our musically talented friends, if you would like to come teach the youth how to play some instruments, we could transition from listening to worship music to playing worship music!                      

At the end of May, we hosted a possible future missionary teacher named Kayla from Minnesota. She was such a blessing to get to know during her week-long visit. She spent each school day teaching different classes. We were able to have her at our house for breakfast two mornings and spent a day in the city with her. Please be in prayer for her to receive direction from God on where she should serve.  We are hoping it is here at the Ranch! 

During the first week of June we celebrated Bryeten’s 9th birthday and Chance’s graduation from Kindergarten. We also attended the Quinceañera of one of the Ranch girls, Skarleth. Her mentor parents and counselors did a beautiful job of organizing the celebration in her honor. 

We are excited and ready for our busy summer of Serve Teams. We have teams that will focus on food and nutrition, art/sewing, trauma recovery, spiritual development, beautifying our campus and much more.  Please be in prayer for our teams and the kids whose lives they will touch. 

Thank you for praying for our family and our ministry. We love you all!

Steve, Kris, Bryeten, Chance and Mac
Steve.Nelson@wgomission.org 
Kris.Nelson@wgomission.org

Want to partner with our family in Honduras?

Financial contributions can be sent to: World Gospel Outreach, Preference Nelson Family, PMB 250, 6068 US Highway 98, Suite 1,  Hattiesburg, MS 39402 or online at wgoreach.org/nelson

To receive e-mail newsletters, email Kris.Nelson@wgomission.org.

Learn more: nelson5-afamilymission.blogspot.com or youtube.com/@nmkmissionkidshonduras2346

Thank you for your prayers and partnership!

Photos from top to bottom: When Reenie and Big Daddy (Maureen and Danny) come to visit, we go to as many places in Honduras as possible! Happy 9th birthday Bryeten … we are so proud of the young man you are becoming! Chance with school principal Ms. Brenda and his Kindergarten teacher, Ms. Edna during the Kindergarten graduation event. We love hosting the Ranch youth (13+) on Wednesday nights. Before living in Honduras we had not had the privilege of attending a Quinceañera, but now we have been to three … happiest 15th birthday Skarleth! Steve has discovered his new favorite hobby, painting souvenir items for our Ranch guests to purchase and take home to remember the Ranch. We obviously do not have favorites around here, but Yolibeth is pretty special! Walking home from afternoon playtime, every day is beautiful at the Ranch! Kris has not learned how to make these yet, but when you come visit you’ll definitely fall in love with Honduran pupusas (if you like tortillas stuffed with cheese and a delicious cabbage slaw topping, that is!) 

First Month and a Little More - Life at Rancho Ebenezer is busy!

This is our first post since officially starting our mission work at Rancho Ebenezer! A lot has happened since we finished our time at language school on March 3! 

We moved from Siguatepeque to the Ranch on March 4 and officially began the important work of relationship-building. It was harder when we weren’t here every day! There are currently 23 children under the care of World Gospel Outreach at the Ranch. Our roles here are not directly involved in the care of the children, but through our daily interactions we aim to show the love of Jesus and be a support to those who are responsible for their direct care. In addition to the kids, we have been working to build relationships with the counselors, mentor parents and other adults. This is where our language skills are most needed, as most of the adults only speak Spanish. It’s difficult some days, because we are not fluent, but with time and practice we know we will continue to improve. Our boys continue to show us how it’s done. Bryeten and Chance started school at Ebenezer Academy, the on-site bilingual school on March 6, and they are already making great gains in Spanish, overall academics and friendships. We praise God for their smooth transition back to a regular classroom! Meanwhile, Mac is friends with everyone and is excited to be starting Kindergarten here in August.   

Our official roles here are Serve Team Manager and Ranch Host/Hostess. We moved to the Ranch one week ahead of our first hosted Serve Team, 19 student members of Pine Lake Church in Oxford, Mississippi. We could not have asked for a better first team! This team worked hard and did many projects around the Ranch. But more importantly, they overflowed with love and joy that touched even some of the most withdrawn kiddos. It was incredible to see! 

Two weeks after the Pine Lake team we had two smaller teams come and a returning missionary who used her Spring Break from med school to come and visit the Ranch. The team of six men were from Tech Serve International, a ministry based in Arkansas that provides ministries with experienced volunteers, technical services and support. WGO has had a partnership with TechServe for many years and in just a few short days we were able to see why the partnership has been such an important part of the Ranch. The guys on the team worked on maintaining the road, repaired equipment, installed improved campus lighting and built new bunk beds. For anyone who has such skills, we highly recommend TechServe as an avenue to serve in various ministries around the world! More info is available at techserve.org. Our other team, a team of four high school senior girls and two adult leaders, helped tremendously in our on-campus school, helped us relaunch our WGO Kids Art program, and gave our school sign a badly needed makeover! For more information about Serve Teams, please check out the Ranch Serve Team newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/ServeTeamNews

One of the best parts of our first several teams was that they were all so gracious with us as we learned. We’ve technically never done this before  … though God has truly blessed us with plenty of past experiences and relationships that have equipped us well! Thank you to everyone who prayed for our transition here, and for your continued prayers for all the kids at Rancho Ebenezer, including ours.  

After the busyness of March, we started April with Semana Santa (Holy Week). One of the pairs of Mentor Parents had vacation this week and we were thrilled to be able to help out by spending more time with the children of Casa Honor and Casa Luz during the week. We hosted water games, read books, colored, baked and enjoyed getting to know this group of kids more. 

Also during Holy Week some friends from Language School, the Genrys, came to visit for a couple of days and then we all made a day trip to the city of Comayagua to see the tradition of the Good Friday alfombras (rugs/carpets). People work all night to create beautiful works of art with sawdust or sand on the streets around the city center. Early on Good Friday a procession of priests walk through the city telling the story of Jesus’s death for our sins and praying with the people. As they walk they destroy the carpets, symbolizing the beauty and sacrifice of Jesus. 

Though we have no teams scheduled for May, we have a lot scheduled for June and July so we are busy preparing for them. We also have some very special visitors arriving in a few days - Steve’s parents are making their first trip to Honduras! The kids don’t know yet and we can’t wait to see the expressions on their faces. We plan to enjoy some family time while visiting some of our favorite places so far in Honduras and spending a few days in a beach town on the North Coast of Honduras.

Thanks for sticking with us for this longer than normal update! To close, here are our current praise reports and prayer requests…  

Praises: 

• Our successful completion of 6 months of formal Spanish language learning
• Bryeten and Chance’s successful transition to Ebenezer Academy. 
• Emerging relationships and friendships with our Honduran brothers and sisters in Christ. 
• That June and July are now almost full with Serve Teams 
• That recent Serve Teams have brought much joy while sharing God’s love to the kids here. 
  
  

Prayer Requests: 

• For the people of Honduras as there are currently many wildfires affecting the region. 
• For safe travels for Maureen and Danny as they travel and for our time together. 
• For our daughter Yese as she continues to live independently in FL. We hope to have her come visit soon.
• For teams to plan trips in August and beyond. 
• For more missionaries, especially teachers, to come and serve with us here.  
• For our prayerful discernment of God’s will for us as we seek to serve Him daily here in Honduras.  

Thank you for praying for our family. We love you all!

Steve, Kris, Bryeten, Chance and Mac
Steve.Nelson@wgomission.org  
Kris.Nelson@wgomission.org

Photos from top to bottom: 

Our graduation day from the Spanish Institute of Honduras; Mac with one of his mejor amigos, Brando; Chance and Bryeten on their first day at school; Some of our March teams and the before/after of our school sign; During team weeks, everything is going fine as long as you see Kris with her clipboard; Visiting Comayagua with our friends the Genrys; That is a “carpet” made with sawdust behind the boys; Cindy teaching us how to make Pan Caramelo (delicious sweet bread); Celebrating Día del Padre with the other Ranch dads; One of our favorite activities with teams: Game Night!