Jim and Teri are friends who are in desperate need of a reliable vehicle. God has put on my heart to help them fund a reliable used 4X4 vehicle.
Jim and Teri Riley, (along with their 4 children, Jesi, Jenny, Josh, and Jimmy,) have been serving as Missionaries for 23 years in Honduras. Jim is from Kamloops, British Columbian and Teri is from Muskogee, Oklahoma. They were high school sweet hearts in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Together they have started and grown 4 churches, three in the Capital city of Tegucigalpa and one in the north coast town of Balfate. Because of their work, many have turned from lives of abuse, addiction (alcohol, drugs, porn, and sex) to living a healthy, rescued life of surrender to Christ. Marriages that were headed for divorce have seen their relationships restored.
Currently, Jim and Teri are building a Retreat Center on the edge of Tegucigalpa for over 100 families who were farmers for generations and their land was basically stolen by a rich land owner. The Riley family currently live in the partially built Center without running water or electricity, in order to serve this community. Teri drives to the inner city and continues to work with local high school girls where gangs and drugs are prevalent. She also leads women through Celebrate Recovery in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Tegu. Jim also continues to work in the city with men, helping them to take responsibility for their families through transparency groups and mentoring young men as they grow in Christ.
They own two vehicles which are in much need of replacement. Their 2006 and 2008 4X4 Mitsubishi Monteros are costing them more to repair than they are worth. They live on a dirt road on a mountain outside Tegucigalpa. When asked what are their needs Teri writes: "The grey car is out of commission. Just totally died right in the middle of planting coffee plants. Areas of the relief center that we are building which won't be used (mainly due to being on the side of a large hill) we are planting coffee and plantains. This will help cut down costs for food for "campers" in the future. We had gotten 300 coffee plants the day before (8 cents a coffee plant!) Praise the Lord that we got all the plants to the center, dropped off some behind the retreat center and Jim was dropping off the other set for down below the retreat center when the car totally shut down. Electrical issue. Couldn't even roll up the windows. The retreat center is 15 minutes (on a mountainous dirt road) from the main highway to the capital (another 25 minutes to the other church plant). Our cars are a 2006 and a 2008 Mitsubishi 4x4 Monteros as well as a 1999 Ford church van that will be getting out of the shop Friday (it has been out of commission for a year). Since September the 2008 white car has been in the shop twice, the 2006 grey once and now gets to go again. This causes a lot of stress on us old missionaries. Haha. Plus complicates things, causing us to have to cancel appointments and Bible studies at times. Since we live up in the mountains, sometimes we are asked to take patients to the hospital at any time of the day or night. Challenges: It is often difficult to find car parts, sometimes having to get them from the US. And Yes, we are still living without electricity. The electric company has not come out this far yet. So, we rely on a generator and gasoline for power.
Current Needs:
One good used 4X4 vehicle. (Cost is approximately $30,000.00)
Before you give, please pray about your donation. Make sure this is how The Father wants you to use your money to further His Kingdom. Any amount donated, great or small, will be prayed over and we will pray for you individually. Thank you in advance. Blessings!
