Central Residents Start Honduran Mission

Article by Mia Freneaux
Photo from Liz Kirkindoll, Women from Los Pinos are pictured
    Liz Kirkindoll, owner of Flax Fabrix here in Central, and her husband Dale were independently reading the same Bible Study when they felt the Lord leading them. Career high school teachers, they each felt that God wanted them to reach out to people in an entirely different way.  What followed was – well – miraculous.
    "We independently arrived at the same conclusion: that God wanted us to teach those who didn't have the advantages of those we'd taught before," Liz shared.  "We looked first into Cuba, where we've been on several mission trips, but it was not possible."  This was in August of 2014, in October of that year they were presented with two separate opportunities: Honduras and Haiti. 
    Flashback several years to where Liz had been selected for an elite Masters Program at LSU.  "There were only 12 of us chosen, and one of the women and I really hit it off.  She would talk about missions in Honduras, and I would share about Cuba."  Then Liz and Dale started attending Healing Place Church.  "Almost every Sunday, someone would mention 'Papa Jack'.  It wasn't till 3 years later I learned his last name – Dyer – the same last name as my good friend from grad school." said Liz. 
    Liz found out that "Papa Jack" was her friend's father in law.  "Jack Dyer had been a very successful engineer who raised Arabian horses.  One day God spoke to him and told him to sell everything and move his family to Honduras.  He bought a large plot of land and was a missionary there for over 23 years.  His property now is home to a school, a hospital, and a church.  In Register Magazine recently honored him in their 25th anniversary edition."
    Jump forward to October of last year, with Liz and Dale meeting up with Jack's son Daniel and his wife Lorena, who pastor a church in  Honduras.  Daniel is president of the Association of Prison Ministries in Honduras and founder Prisoners of Hope, International and the pastor of Casa de Oracion Familiar in Tegucigalpa. "That's where Dale came up with the vision," Liz remembered. "There are 23 prisons in Honduras.  We envisioned partnering a prison with a nearby church, with the goal of creating workrooms in the churches that would create textiles.  With our connections in the fabric world, it was a natural outgrowth. Local residents and prisoners would be taught sewing skills, giving locals an opportunity to support their families and prisoners a job once they were released."
    That same month, Pastors Duilio and Ligia Canossa of Victory Harvest Church and Radio Amor here in Central introduced Liz and Dale to a lady from Central America, Luz.  They immediately hired her to train her in sewing, and she has been working for them for over a year now.  Her dream is to go to Honduras and lead the teaching effort. 
    In January, Liz and Dale flew with Daniel and Lorena to Honduras to pursue their vision.  There they met Mariza Castejon, the warden of the National Women's Prison.  With their help, Liz and Dale decided to focus on that prison in partnership with a church at Los Pinos, which served a very impoverished congregation.  It was decided to work with the women of the congregation to teach them sewing skills while their children were at school.
    "Living Seams" was chosen as this mission's name, reflecting the scripture where Jesus tells the woman at the well He could provide her with water that would satisfy her thirst forever. In July,  Liz and Dale returned to Honduras.  There, Col. Orlando Garcia, the Director of the Institute of National Penitentiaries, gave the "Living Seams" Ministry a letter sanctioning it to operate in Honduras.  This grants "Living Seams" the ability to work in Honduras no matter what changes to the government may occur.  6 prisoners have already been selected to participate. 
    In Honduras, heavy emphasis is placed on spiritual growth in the rehabilitation process.  As a result, their recidivism rate is very low.  "Living Seams" has five goals:  teach a skill, character development, financial management, professional workplace skills, and Bible Study to guarantee personal success.  The Bible Study has already been put into place in the prison; creating the workshop in the church is an ongoing project.  "We need furniture and machines to create the workspace," Liz confided, "We are depending on the Lord to provide the way." 
    This past year, Pastor Daniel Dyer in Honduras and Pastors Duilio and Ligia Canossa in Central were independently given the same message: that Honduras, and her prisoners, would become a light to the nations.  For Liz and Dale, it just confirms what they already know in their hearts.
    For more information on “Living Seams” Ministry, contact Liz Kirkindoll at Flax Fabrix – 810-3188.