Helping Hands Blog

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

I have mentioned how much I miss the special times I spent with my dad at LOGOI’s office. I am very aware of the blessing God gave me to have my own personal Bible teacher and theologian in the office next door. He’d smile as I entered his office (often with a nice Cuban coffee) and off we’d go on my own personal seminary class. Like my grandfather, Elmer Thompson, whom I think only sinned once or twice his entire life (I’m joking…sort of), my dad seemed to me to be on that

M y Uncle Paul (my dad’s youngest brother) has been a lifelong missionary. Like my father, he was born and raised in Cuba and dearly loves his Cuban brothers and sisters. In February of this year, he traveled to Cuba to try to help and encourage them in these days of trouble and turmoil playing out on the world stage. The following are excerpts of a letter he sent regarding his experience: “I felt something eerie when I landed in Havana. It was hard to identify, but something

E ach school year, my wife has to get her picture taken for the yearbook along with all the children . Teachers and administrators get a special photo postcard with the word “ Welcome ” splashed across it in big letters. I think she looks great in all of her postcards, but of course, she usually doesn’t like how her photo turned out. That means I have a nice collection of “ Welcome ” postcards. One of my favorites is propped up on my desk. I sit down in my chair, turn on the

S o begins the song I used to sing with my dad called, “God Spoke.” The song continues to talk about how David did listen “and he slew Goliath with a tiny stone.” It then moves on to talk about how Joshua also listened and saw the walls of Jericho fall down “because he listened to the Lord." It’s a fun little song that gets stuck in your head. While it was made for children, the simple truth of “how we’d all be better off ” is profound. The chorus goes like this: “God spoke t

If you can handle some rather intense heat over the summer months, learn a bit of Spanish, and understand the “fideicomiso” banking rules...

Many are surprised to learn that basketball often rivals the popularity of futbol (soccer) in Argentina. Since the 1950s, Bahía Blanca has been the top city for Argentine basketball producing such NBA players as Juan Ignacio “Pepe” Sánchez (Philadelphia 76ers) and Manu Ginóbili, a four-tie NBA champion with the San Antonio Spurs. To our knowledge, our Bahía Blanca national missionary, Erick Hernandez, never had any NBA aspirations, but he is one of our incredibly talented “p

M any of us have the phrase from Psalm 139:14, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” in a picture frame hanging on our wall. It’s...

M y dad loved Cuban coffee (affectionately known as cafecito). Dad thought the best time to have a cafecito was at breakfast,...

I recently attended a rather non-traditional wedding where the family tree, as they say, had extra branches. Both the bride and groom...

Cuba is never far from our thoughts. Our ministry there is (almost) completely run by nationals — just the way it should be. Even so, we...

“God sees everything you do,” said the little plaque hanging over my father’s bed growing up in Cuba.

“What day is it?” asked Pooh. “It’s today,” squeaked Piglet. “My favorite day,” said Pooh. “Even if you are on the right track, you’ll...

Our world has so many troubles. Everywhere we look, it seems there is conflict, corruption, and injustice. Peru’s President, Dina...

For their missions conference last month, I was asked to give the Sunday morning message for a wonderful church in Alabama. They have...

King David danced. He was “leaping and dancing before the Lord” as the Ark of the Lord was returned to the City of David (2 Samuel 6:16).

Dear LOGOI Family, Every January, LOGOI usually allows me to brag a little bit about my marvelous family, which now encompasses 55...

Over this past year, we have been working on a very special LOGOI book titled An Unexpected Love Story. It’s the story of how my mom, a...

“I was depressed for seven years,” Maria Piedad Mesa de Echeverri begins her story. “I was seeing psychologists, psychiatrists,...