Where to start

      I do apologize that it has been a while since my last post, but there has been so much going on in my life that I let this get away from me. I would like to start with the most urgent of things, and that being please continue to pray. Pray for peace and trust in my life, I have started to build my budget for the next year on the field. The numbers are staggering and something that I know only the God of the universe can provide, but with that being said fear and doubt sets in on the down days and makes believing that even more difficult. That is where your prayers come in when I am to weak in Spirit it is your prays and encouragement that lift me up to push on. Prayer is the most important form of support, but the numbers are real and financial supporters are also needed. At this point I have got an idea of my budget and for the most productive I could be in the following year the figure is $145,000. This is me doing everything I feel I could possible do in the following year, think of it as a best case scenario. Yes you saw that right I did not accidentally add a zero, but allow me to break this number down. Right off the top I need $30,000 for my personal needs to remain in the country and everyday life, this includes things such as rent, power, water, basic essentials, phone, insurance and food, think of what you use on a daily basis well I need the same things haha. One of the largest parts of my budget is a vehicle, and for you that have been down to Honduras you are aware of the need we have for a personal vehicle. Also my ministry focus is construction, so I am in need of a truck that has a high haul capacity that is 4x4, because the majority of places that I will be working will be deep in the country where paved roads do not exist, and some times roads do not exist. The truck that I am looking at is the only truck that is a ton truck sold in Honduras, that is still small enough to fit the small streets and would be a daily driver. In reality I need a truck for materials and another to do the logistical planning for projects, and I pray someday the Lord provides that, but at this time I feel this is where He has lead me. The Toyota Land Cruiser Truck is $55,000. I know that seems like a lot cause it is, but this is a truck that is proven to last and I believe this truck will last me 10 years for everyday use and after be a great material truck. This is versus the other light duty trucks that I don't believe would last more than 4 years with this type of work load, and still cost between $35,000-$40,000. So over the course of 10 years this option would actually be over double the cost. What about importing you ask? Well at this point the mission does not have its tax exempt status in Honduras, and has been in the process to get this for 4 years so not sure when it will actually happen. First the vehicle must be under 7 years old, and more importantly Honduras determines the value of the vehicle. Then we have to pay a very high import tax after that. So with that being said bringing something like a F350 that cost $25,000 used in the states could end up being $50,000 for a used truck. So that makes up $85,000 I would like to use another $15,000 for big one time purchase tools, such as a concretes mixer, a generator that is strong enough to run a welder at full power, a welder, and materials to build a flat bed trailer used to haul material to large for the ladder rack or truck bed. The remaining $70,000 would be used to buy material and hire local helpers to do the service projects that I believe will allow me to begin to build relationships with the men of villages. This plan will be enough to do 165 days of work which is on average 4 days a week, leaving the rest of my time doing follow up and discipleship with the men that I work with. This would be doing 40 floors, replacing the entire roof wood and metal on 20 homes, and just the metal on 30 cause there is sometimes a need just for the metal to be changed, 5 complete homes 12x16, and 1 open air terraza 30x24 with a concrete pad and metal roof this is typically built at a school that is in need of a dry rec area for the children. Now some of these numbers will change if a team comes to work and they buy tools and materials, but it is hard to rely on that it is an unknown, and all honesty I believe God called me to do this work even if no one else comes to help. So there it is the task at hand and ahead of me and everyone that God has surrounded me with, I have been really blessed with some very gifted folks that are coming to the table and offering their skill sets and gifts that God has given them to serve, and this is something I wanna ask you what talent has God given you to help. I am seeing that others can do a much better job at raising support and awareness to the needs, mainly cause they are in front of the people I have yet to meet on a daily basis. It has become very obvious to me that people need to be reminded of the need, this is a hard task when you live 3500 miles away from most the people able to to help. Life happens and they forget about you, that is where I need your help please pray about this opportunity to be part of what God is doing.
      Another huge thing that is going on in my life as some of you know that could use prayer is that I am getting married. This adds a whole other aspect to what is and will be going on in the future. I don't think that God could have brought a better person in my life than Morgan, she has such a heart for ministry and helping people which is perfect for being missionaries. The thing is though the Bible calls me to be a follower of God, then a leader of my family, and then ministry. Serving on the field there is a constant need and opportunity to serve. It is not uncommon to see this pattern get flipped on end, that is why I would ask you to begin to pray now over this cause I wanna do my very best and honor God with all He has entrusted me with. Also this is a very easy place for the enemy to creep in and begin to drive the wedge, always hard to see when you get things out of order if they are good things that become sinful only because of you putting them in the wrong order. Pray also that I continue to grow in patience, peace and kindness toward her and others, this is an area that I have always struggled with in my life. I know she has a huge heart if she said yes to forever with me and I wanna honor and guard that trust and love, not break it. Also we will be directly on the mission field so that in its self will offer some unique challenges to all fronts of life.

      Now to some what of lighter topics, I was blessed to have spent over a month in Honduras working with various types of ministry. I had planned to do my visa trip in September, and it happened to land on the week that the Houston Men's team from FairField Baptist Church were their to serve. These men were such a blessing and continue to be, they were the team last year that I worked with when God really opened my eyes to how construction could be a real door opener to getting into the lives of the men in the villages. This year with them was no different, their love for the Lord and willingness to serve is such a boost of encouragement and a real refresher to be around. They are such a dynamic team, they really bring so much. they have a group of guys that go into the elementary school and does a building Biblical series the whole week, they bring a group that goes out and server the local farming community threw veterinary, and this year they had two groups of construction teams. I was privileged to work with some of the same guys as last year and it was absolutely awesome. This was the first house that we got to work on the roof was pretty much non existent, and they were using the round part of sawed pine trees as their wall forms for rock and adobe brick in the future.

After we finished this roof I got to translate for the guys, and someone asked the man of the home why he thought we were there? He answered he did not know why we came but was great full for what we had done for his family, which by the way was his wife and four kids in this house. Then it was awesome to share the reason we had come. The following day we had a chance to reframe and an replace the metal on, and also build a door and two shutter style windows. This was a cool job because the house was the home of a elderly man, that is raising his two grandchildren, because the grandmother died a few months ago and both their parents had died a few years ago. He was not there the morning that we got started, but showed up at lunch time. I asked him where he had been? He replied "I was a school learning to read so that I can better raise my grandchildren!" Keep in mind this a man living in a dirt home that had to be at least 70. I tell you this was a huge boost for me to push threw and finish my Spanish school. The little girl had touched the heart of a team that had come a few months earlier. They had paid for her to get a day at the salon to get her hair cut and learn about personal hygiene, they said that it seemed she had not bathed in quite some time very sad. They bought her clothes and a uniform to attend school, and also a bed of her own. The staff said she was a completely different little girl from what she was before. That is the power of love to change a persons direction in life. Which is really what we are doing from what ever angle we can. Share with them that they have worth and that the God that created us also created them and He longs to be with them. The third day was by far the coolest experience I have had to date on the mission field. We drive down this beaten path that is like only 4x4, we get to the road leading to the property and turn to go down it. It becomes obvious that this is a cow trail not a road. We come to a house that a team had worked on the same time they help the little girl, the family greeted us warmly as we passed. then we found ourselves at this large green pasture with cows staked to the ground with 10ft leads around there neck to allow them to feed in certain areas. So we navigate threw the cows and pull up to a banana grove, Juan Louis was like OK we are here. There was nothing haha, he honked the horn and about five minutes later this little man comes out of the woods.

 He leads us up a goat trail to the property where we were going to build a home for a man that had very bad hernia and was not able to work. This day is to hard to explain in words, literally we start digging corner post holes and it is like digging in granite. After a bit I realize that we forgot the string line and line level on the other job, which would have been no less than an hour to get to. So we start pulling out old school techniques to square up this house. By lunch time we had a rough frame, and Sam had brought us lunch from the other job site. He was like wow you guys have really got a lot done. Also remember this is all hand cut and hand nailed work, I was not really aware of what we had got done with all the set backs we had that morning. Well after lunch Freddy and I got started on the roof system, while the other guys started the siding. Not thirty min later a rain storm came like I've never been in before, you could have gotten less wet by pouring water out of a bucket. This did not deter us we were bound and determined to build this house. We slopped around in the mud till about 6. Sure as I speak to you now we finished that house in one day, and it was within a 1/4 square and 1/8 level. If the Holy Spirit was not present that day then none of that would have taken place. One of the coolest things when doing a project like that is that everyone is so chill. Trust me I know what attitudes look like on a job site, when pride runs rampant just another thing I love about these guys such humble servants. We finished off the week with two more projects, and it was just so awesome to get to be part of what God is doing. I got also finish a project that I had started back in July when I was in Honduras last, which was the first of our projects for the new mission compound. It was a real blessing to be able to work with a group of older men from Franklington, Louisiana. We built the metal trusses and screwed down all the nailers for the metal roof, we also built a shed style roof off the back for the bus parking. This was a true test of patience, because the roof material was a product no one had ever worked with and we ran into problem after problem. To the glory of the Lord we finished the roof, and we were also able to pour the concrete floor as well.

 
         I returned to Costa Rica for my last bit of schooling the first week of October. I found that I had more time on my hands since I was doing one on one tutoring instead of regular class. So I went out looking for local projects to be part of. I partnered with some folks here in Costa Rica to help dig some ditches to run what and power. Their ministry is a large childcare facility and also a orphanage with around 60 children and the day program sees over 300 per day. They are also a church on the weekends that all social groups attend from the rich to the poor. The location of the project is located between a wealthy neighbor hood and one of the poorest communities in Costa Rica. I was also able to build some bunk beds for two little boys that had been sleeping on the floor for some time. This was such a cool experience right before my time here is done.

 Yes you heard right it is almost over here and the next adventure begins. Will you pray about being a part of it in any way you can. I will be returning to the states November 9th I would love to meet with you personally or share with your small group, or church. I will also have coffee for sale again and this year I will have Costa Rican and Honduran. If you are interested in my needs and how you can help or need more info email me please. coy@ignitemissions.org This is a link to my ministry page if you have not liked it please do and will you please share not only my ministry page on your wall but my blog as well. www.facebook.com/coydavishonduras I have a huge task in front of me and can not achieve it with out the work of the saints to create a work of the body of Christ, I feel that I have and continue to do my part that the Lord has called me to, what is he calling you to allow the Spirit to move in your heart. I guarantee that if you have the faith to give God will bless you in ways you have never imagined, but you have to take that step out on the water just as I have.

All support is appreciated as this life's work cannot be done with out God and his support through His people. Prayer support and financial support are always in need. If you are able to support financially please visit http://www.ignitemissions.org/#!contact/c175r this will take you directly to the support link. Simply follow the provided directions and add Coy Houston Davis in the memo line. Thank you for your support emotionally, spiritually, prayerfully, and financially.