Helping Hands Blog

Over the weekend, my wife and I decided to watch “Toy Story 5,” the latest story in the popular animated series. We clicked it on to watch and the familiar instrumental music of “When You Wish Upon a Star” started playing. A strange thing happened. As the familiar song ended, I hit the pause button and looked over at my smiling wife. “Did you feel that?” I asked? She looked at me with wide eyes and said, “Yes!” I looked back at her and said, “I was just ten years old again si

"If you are a coffee aficionado, you might want to try “Typica Mejorado” produced in the high altitudes of Loja, Ecuador. It’s produced from low yielding heirloom varieties and as “Bold Bean Specialty Coffee Roasters” explain, it is known for its “rich crème de cacao sweetness lifted by delicate magnolia florals and bright lime zest, creating a beautifully balanced cup with remarkable sweetness, clarity, and layered nuance.” Wow!" We do love a good cup of coffee, but we prefe

As we have done in previous years, we are now gearing up to present our popular online Bible certificate courses. This is always exciting as it presents huge possibilities for brand new students across the Spanish speaking world for our $45 courses. Enrollment is simple and studies can be done in small groups or individually at their own pace. Of course, we will never turn someone away from studying God’s Word with partial or full scholarships available. We are simultaneously

One of our Board Members a few years back was a super smart engineer named, Bruce. He loved this joke: “There are 10 different kinds of people. Those who understand binary, and those who don’t.” He would then laugh and laugh and I would just stare at him not having a clue what he just said or why that was funny. Bruce is now hanging out with Moses who I’m sure is helping him learn how to tell better jokes. Despite being so different in the way God made us, I always felt Bruce

Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written (John 21:25 NLT). It’s easy to forget that the events written in the Bible of Jesus’ life were the ones recorded so that we would to believe in him. John 21:25 reminds us there was so much, much more going on, the whole world could not contain all the books that would have to be written. Looking back over the years of sharing stories of

I’ve just received a wonderful report from Luzma (Luz María) in Mexico, one of our missionaries of the month. She and her husband are caring for and helping a mother and her daughter who both became widows within two months of each other. At the same time they are preparing for a camp for young people this month as well as an evangelistic event in town. She mentioned the children’s clothes we sent will be part of that evangelistic event. What a lady! She’s a grandma like me…a

I have long been fascinated about names. Just saying someone’s name, for example, instantly puts all sorts of thoughts and images into your brain: their appearance, smile, personality, attitudes, likes and dislikes, and so much more. The fact that it all happens instantly is fascinating. How wonderful is it that God brought the animals he created to Adam to name? Genesis 2:19 says, “So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He b

We just sent a simple message of encouragement to our Spanish audience in the way of a song. It’s called, “Somebody’s Praying,” a song Ed recorded a few years ago along with the Spanish words typed in. The message must be timely as we’re getting many messages from people around the world saying things like, “gracias, precioso, muchas gracias for these words that truly minister to my heart.” Others write back saying, “may God bless you and give back to you a hundredfold.” What

It is little surprise that there are many thousands of pastors and teaching leaders in the Spanish speaking world who have never heard of LOGOI. To give you an idea, there are roughly 69,000 registered evangelical pastors in Mexico. (How many are unregistered evangelical pastors is anyone’s guess.) According to our interactive map at LOGOIministries.org, only 1,651 pastors and teaching leaders in Mexico have registered with LOGOI. Even fewer (446) have registered with us in E

The above quote (or close variation) was a response the great 19th-century evangelist, D.L. Moody, gave to a critic who disliked his methods of evangelism. The story goes that the person complained about his evangelistic approach so Moody asked, “How do you do it?” When the person answered, “I don’t,” he essentially replied, “I like my way of doing it better than your way of not doing it.” I first heard that quote by one of my Wheaton College roommates named Marty. He was goi

One of LOGOI’s national missionaries is a retired pastor in Colombia who is now the chaplain in a prison. What a ministry to have in his retirement! I’m just getting to know him but ask you to join me in prayer for him. His name is Saul Mendez and he lives in Bogota. Many of you also know I am thoroughly enjoying sending children’s clothes and gifts to some of our national missionaries who work with children in poverty areas. Three months ago, we sent a “care package” to Chia

As we prepare this update, Mexico is about to face off against Ecuador in the FIFA World Cup games in Mexico City. The atmosphere across the entire country of Mexico is being described as “electric, a nationwide party with street festivals, mariachi bands, viral fan interactions, and unwavering support of ‘El Tri.' We’ll be watching…perhaps you as well. Roughly 60 miles from Mexico City is the city of Jiutepec with roughly 214,000 residents which makes it the second largest c

Included in the mix of our Bible resources are a handful of beautifully illustrated children’s stories based on real-life experiences from LOGOI’s ministry — often involving my dad. One of my favorites is called “Mateo Won’t Give Up.” After a long day of teaching and preaching at a LOGOI pastor’s conference in Chile, Dad (the late Dr. Les Thompson) was heading to his hotel and decided to stop for a bite to eat at a local restaurant. While he was sitting at his table waiting

Chances are you are unfamiliar with the Biobío Region in Southern Chile. It is so named because of the mighty Biobío River which, for over 350 years, served as a natural impassable border known as “La Frontera” (The Borderline) which kept the Inca Empire and then Spanish Empire from entering its borders. Interestingly, between 1715 and 1820, thousands of miners and ranchers from Biobío helped build the California cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles. The Biobío

We have a wonderful children’s Bible lessons creator who lives in Chile. Her name is Pamela Henriquez Galarce. She has graciously sent us lessons she has written through the years working with children. We just received a new series of lessons titled La Paz (Peace). These will teach children about God’s peace, Jesus who is the prince of peace, seeds of peace against seeds of conflict, and the power of peace and how our words have power to bring peace or how our words can br

I have an office in my home with a nice window to our quiet street. From my window I can see beautiful trees and landscaping from other houses as well as a small park a block away. People are constantly walking on sidewalks, there are lots of young children running around, and every summer, a slow moving ice-cream truck playing tunes attracting children and/or a missionary looking out the window from the office at his home. One of my favorite “window looking” experiences, how

Summer is on its way which means, if you were living in Cali, Colombia, it would be time to have a refreshing icy beverage called a “Cholado.” It is made with crushed ice, a mixture of chopped fruit (banana, apple, kiwi, papaya, pineapple, or mango), sweetened condensed milk, and fruit syrup. People say it is “fruit salad meets slurpee.” You’re supposed to eat the fruit with a spoon, and by the time you’re done, the ice will have melted and blended with the syrup and milk cre

Pastor Carlos Mercado in Minnesota was our national missionary of the month in March. To our joyful surprise, he is continuing with training his leaders. There were 14 who finished the first course in Diaconía and now 18 will study Administración . He is intent to train the leaders as they move out this year to establish their Spanish church and not be supported by the American church. He knows it is daunting and is asking for prayer as they press forward. What a joy to s

L ike this month’s Missionary of the Month, we should all live in “ La Esperanza ” which means, “hope.” Not only is “La Esperanza” a city in Peru, but it is a beautiful reminder of the way we are to live. 1 Peter 1:3 tells us, “…according to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” So let’s go to “ La Esperanza ” and in this case, meet Pastor Luis Mendoza. He serves as an associate pastor in t

As we watch events around the world, Cuba is much on our hearts and minds. It seems the majority of Cubans here in Miami are cheering for Cuba to be free and desperate for change. It is overwhelming for an entire country to be without electricity, gas, food and even water. Ed’s March letter, highlighting excerpts from a letter written by Les’s brother Paul, is very sobering to read. I hope you have had a chance to read it. https://www.logoiministry.org/post/there-is-a-river-w