Connect Global Go Serve Change -Blog

Happy Thanksgiving

We are thankful for all of our friends and partners who have supported Connect Global since day one and for all of who have joined along the way.

We care about you deeply and we are grateful for you. We wish you a blessed and joyous day as you celebrate this week.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Danielle Mendoza will be speaking at The Church at Asheville

http://www.thechurchatasheville.com/

Danielle Mendoza

Co Founder of Connect Global

Danielle Mendoza is co-founder of Connect Global, an international non-profit with an emphasis on community development in the education, medical, and public service sectors. 

She along with her husband, Javier, have over 16 years experience in providing solutions such as education scholarships, sustainable food sources, and clean water to underserved communities around the world.  

Danielle found success in the world of real estate early in her career, specializing in asset & property management for several high profile real estate firms.  

Danielle currently focuses on developing long lasting community partnerships, organizational fundraising efforts, and implementing new strategies all which help fuel the success of her charitable work through Connect Global. Danielle and Javier have one daughter, Saige, who is 10 and completed her first international service trip at the age of 4 to Thailand. 

Danielle, Javier, and Saige live and serve in La Ceiba, Honduras.

1. YouVersion Bible (Free)

Everyone is probably familiar with this Bible app. We're mainly including it in our list to remind you to use it! You can download offline versions of the Bible, so there's no need for wifi. The app makes a great pocket Bible; you never know when you'll have the opportunity to whip out Romans 10:9.

You also never know when you'll have some down time (on the plane, on the bus, etc.) to read and refresh yourself.

Download: iOS | Android

 2. Google Translate (Free)

On the plane, on bus rides to and from your hotel/hostel, and even during downtime throughout the day, you can use Google Translate to learn the local language! In my personal experience, locals love it when you make an effort to learn their language. It's a great way to connect with locals, and it shows them that you're genuinely interested in their culture. It's especially fun when you get past the basic, "Hello, Goodbye, Please, Thank You," phrases.

Google Translate is free and you can download offline languages, so you don't need to be on wifi to use the app.

Download: iOS | Android

3. XE Currency (Free)

As you travel on a mission trip you typically run into several situations in which you'll need to use the local currency. Purchasing food in the airport and purchasing souvenirs from locals are a couple of examples.

This currency exchange app can really come in handy in these situations. You can store up to 10 currencies on the free version of the app, which is plenty for a mission trip. XE Currency uses wifi to update exchange rates, but if you "refresh" the app before you leave, you'll have pretty up-to-date rates during the week you're gone. The rest of the app works without a data or wifi connection.

XE Currency is especially useful for quick price conversions back into US dollars. So, if the price of a souvenir is 2000 Kenyan Shillings, you can quickly convert that, which would be about $23.

Download: iOS | Android

4. Entrain App (Free)

Developed by researchers at the University of Michigan, Entrain is a guide that takes user input to give you a schedule that promises to overcome jet lag faster. It doesn't use light sensors or any other automatic input, so it's important that the user submits data—it's not magic!

The science behind the app is that light is the primary diving input to the body's circadian rhythms, so if you feed Entrain your current light input schedule, it can figure out light stimulus that moves your body clock from one phase to another. Detailed math is available in a paper at PLOS:

Download: iOS

5. Connect Global (Free)

Our is packed with up to date content, trip information and other resources to help you grow and stay connected.

With this app you can:

- Watch or listen to messages from the Connect Global Team

- Follow along with our Bible reading plan

- Sign up for events and mission trips

- Read articles and blog posts

- Stay up to date with push notifications

- Share your favorite messages via Twitter, Facebook, or email

- Download messages for offline listening

Download: iOS | Android

6. Duolingo (Free)

Learn a new language with the world’s most-downloaded education app! Duolingo is the fun, free app for learning 35+ languages through quick, bite-sized lessons. Practice speaking, reading, listening, and writing to build your vocabulary and grammar skills.

Why Duolingo?

• Duolingo is fun and effective. Game-like lessons and fun characters help you build solid speaking, reading, listening, and writing skills.

• Duolingo works. Designed by language experts, Duolingo has a science-based teaching methodology proven to foster long-term language retention.

• Track your progress. Work toward your language learning goals with playful rewards and achievements when you make practicing a daily habit!

Download: iOS | Android

7. Mobile Passport (Free - Freeium)

Mobile Passport enables U.S. passport holders and Canadian visitors to save time during the entry process at most major U.S. airports and cruise ports! Securely submit your passport and customs declaration form and access designated lanes in the inspection area.

Mobile Passport plus ($14.99 annually or $4.99 monthly) provides even greater convenience with features to digitally scan and store passports in preparation for your next trip.

Download: iOS | Android

8. WhatsApp (Free)

WhatsApp Messenger is a FREE messaging app available for iPhone and other smartphones. WhatsApp uses your phone's Internet connection (4G/3G/2G/EDGE or Wi-Fi, as available) to let you message and call friends and family. Switch from SMS to WhatsApp to send and receive messages, calls, photos, videos, documents, and Voice Messages. When connected to Wifi this is the best tool for communication in large parts of the world outside the US. It can handle all of your messages including photos, multimedia, etc

Download: iOS | Android

3 disclaimers you should know before downloading:

1) Only bring a cell phone (or iPad or whatever) on your mission trip if you’re not going to get distracted by it. While you’re on your trip, it’s important to be focused on your mission, not Angry Birds and email.

2) Traveling with electronics anywhere in the world puts you at risk for theft. If you’re going to bring your smartphone or iPad, make sure you keep watch over it.

3) Put your device in airplane mode for the entire trip (if you don’t have an international plan) to avoid an insanely high data bill when you get home.

Be Strong in the Lord

The Maternity Home ministry provides Connect Global access to serve both moms and newborns with great care and dignity while sharing the good news of Jesus with our employees, hospital staff and each new mom that we meet.

Connect Global has now surpassed serving 500 Mothers since opening in September 2019.

One of those mothers is Ingrid. She came to the Regional Hospital Atlantida in La Ceiba to deliver her new baby. Her child was very early and underweight. Her new daughter was only 2 lbs and was in need of several weeks of care at the NICU. At this hospital, just under a year ago, it would have been normal to see Ingrid sleeping in the hallways while waiting on her daughter to recover. There was no designated place for mothers who were waiting on their children who needed extra attention and care.

Many times before the Maternity Home was built our team would observe many mothers waiting anxiously for their children in the corridors of the hospital. They were exposed to the elements and staying in close proximity to their children was more important to the moms than their own safety or security.

On September 11, 2019 we opened the doors to the Maternity Home and began hosting these mothers, This got them up off the floor and into brand new beds with access to clean bathrooms, showers, laundry facilities, and 24 hour care by the Connect Global team which includes meals, medications, and newborn necessities when available. When Ingrid delivered her daughter she immediately knew they were in for a long stay at the hospital while her baby gained wait. She needed many specialized tests which are expensive, but vital and our team was able to help her with the resources needed to complete these testsAll in all Ingrid and her daughter were with us for 41 days. By far the longest stay so far.

After many tests, much treatment and many prayers she was able to take her precious daughter, Milagros (which means Miracle), home. In spite of all the health challenges and the state being shutdown due to COVID-19, Ingrid and Milagros were able to be cared for in a clean, safe place and treated with dignity and compassion by our wonderful Maternity Home Staff. We are grateful for the opportunity to share our lives and this beautiful Maternity Home with over 500 amazing mothers and look forward to thousands more.

Connect Global has been blessed by these mothers and their lives and we are grateful to be able to be available to them and serve their families.

"Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. "  -- Romans 12:15 NKJV

This Maternity Home is truly a blessing from God and has already been a blessing to over 500 mothers as of August 1st.

Our team is committed to serving the moms in our care with love and grace. 

If you would like the opportunity to invest in the care of these moms, you can do so by making a donation online, or by planning to come on one of the several mission trips we have scheduled. 

We would love for you to be a part of this life changing ministry. 

Connect Global Maternity Home Ministry Fund

Thank You for Your Support, every dollar donated goes to help us operate the 24/7 ministry here at the Maternity Home.

Our team provides 24 hour care which includes, preparing and serving hot meals, processing donations, cleaning, and ministry in the form of prayer, and providing items for the moms to help them recover and make their way back to their own home.

This Maternity Home allows Connect Global the access to serve both moms and newborns with great care and dignity while sharing the good news of Jesus with employees, hospital staff and each mom and their children.

The Connect Global Maternity Home team was able to be a Blessing to members of the community in a rural very underserved area.

The Connect Global team from the Maternity Home in La Ceiba was able to make several treats and sweet eats to share with the children in the community.. Our team was joined by Restoring Life Church from La Ceiba. They were able to pray with and bless almost 200 kids.

Thank you for your generosity and compassion.

This is only possible because of your continuous support.

"One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him. 14 When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. 15 I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” 16 Then he took the children in his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them."  -- Mark 10-13-16

Maternity Home Update

Thank you for all of your prayer and your support! 

This Maternity Home is truly a blessing from God and has already been a blessing to 207 mothers as of January 10th.

Connect Global Maternity Home Ministry Fund

Thank You for Your Support, every dollar donated goes to help us operate the 24/7 ministry here at the Maternity Home.

Our team provides 24 hour care which includes, preparing and serving hot meals, processing donations, cleaning, and ministry in the form of prayer, and providing items for the moms to help them recover and make their way back to their own home.

We are very excited about the next round of Connect Global Mission Trips for 2020. 

At Connect Global we love taking both new and repeat team members on trips to Honduras and other locations.

Something special always takes place when a group of people from different places, and backgrounds all rally around the unified goal of serving others. 

A Mission Trip is not easy, but we do have fun.

Through sweat, tears, and laughter we take a small group of people and make a huge difference in the lives of those needing a hand up! 

We hope you will go with us in 2020 and jump into missions with both feet! 

The Connect Global Mission Trips are listed here, and you can get more information by clicking the boxes below! 

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The Connect Global Team often comes across a story and situation that just makes sense to offer help. Our friend and National Director Jorge Amador was introduced to Maria through our friends Pastor Allan and Pastor Miguel of CCI Church. CCI Church is very active in opening up their church to the community and offer aide to so many in need near La Ceiba, Honduras.

Maria is a strong and determined single-mother in La Ceiba who will soon have a strong new home to raise her children in. 

Connect Global was introduced to Maria and her need for a concrete home was described to us by CCI Church as well as our own National Director, Jorge Amador.

Maria is a single mom, whose husband abandoned her and their children. She was also recently hospitalized and left with no money to make much-needed improvements to the dwelling she was  left with.

Connect Global quickly decided to get involved in the project to help build her a home. Many volunteers and the pastors from CCI church as well as the local church in El Porvenir were already planning to help Maria in this endeavor so we joined too.  

What Connected Community, our local initiative to work on community improvement projects, looks like. 

Through the process of getting permits and approvals for our Maternity Home in La Ceiba, Jorge was able to mention this home project for Maria to our Lawyer, Alejandra. Alejandra was very excited about the project and she wanted to see the progress of the home and to meet Maria in person.

Unlike many women in Honduras, Alejandra has been able to make progress for her family and develop herself professionally in order to become a well respected and successful lawyer in La Ceiba. She wants the same for Maria.

When Alejandra saw the state of the home, and met Maria, she immediatly decided to help as well and called her friend, the Mayor of El Porvenier, the town in which Maria lives, and they have generously offered to provide the roof to complete the project when it comes time to finish the house.

It is so great to see the community come together and all collectively say YES to helping someone in need.

No one person involved could have completed this project alone, but together we are going to be able to give Maria a home she can raise her family in with out fear of breakins, cave ins, or disease from the elements. Maria now will have the opportunity to focus on developing other areas of her life and on the well being of her children. 

Connect Global believes in creating opportunities for people to be able to develop into the best version of what God has planned for them.

We have created opportunities by sponsoring students at a Christian school, teaching others how to build fish farms, and this time it meant helping Maria get a home. Everyone who has been involved though finances or volunteering have made a life changing impact in the life of Maria and her children.  

We are happy to co-labor with generous leaders and pastors such as Allan and Miguel. We are happy to work with integrous people such as our Lawyer, Alejandra. We are thankful for our partner and friend Jorge Amador for being empowered to go and make a difference in the lives of so many like Maria.

We are also grateful for You and the support you generously give to make stories like Maria's turn out so positive!

We will update this post as soon as we get the home completed and share with you other opportunities like this we have been working on. 

Do you have a story like this one?  

Maybe you have been able to serve someone in need that changed their life. Perhaps, you were the life changed by someone else's generosity? 

Share your experiences by commenting below or by emailing us at [email protected].

We would love to hear your story! 

Help us complete more projects like this new home for Maria.

There are many community driven opportunities to make a difference. Together we can change lives. Thank You for your support of Connect Global's Partners &  Projects. 

Thank You for Your Support

The Connect Global Team has been connected to and partnering with Pastor Nahun Flores since 2004. He and his family have served their community of Honduras and the Garifuna People very well over the years. We support him monthly to continue his ministry from Cusuna to Trujillo and all points in between.  

Our friend and Partner Nahun Flores in Trujillo 

We love supporting Pastor Nahun and His family. They are hardworking and passionate about the work they do. Pastor Nahun is gifted as a speaker, teacher, and singer.

Recently our National Director, Jorge Amador, was able to visit Pastor Nahun in Trujillo as he was leading local Garifuna children in worship and teaching in the town park.

He sent us these photos of Pastor Nahun faithfully committing his time to work that God has called him too. He also works a marketplace job where he has the opportunity to see the tourists who come to the coast of Honduras and he has been faithful in that work as well.

If you would like to help support the work that Pastor Nahun and His family are completing, you can give a donation here.

What is Your Passion? 

Share with us your passion for ministry and helping others. Do you sing, are you a medical professional? How have you used your gift and skills to help those around you?

Share you experiences here by commenting below or by emailing us at [email protected]. 

Connect Global Partner Pastor Nahun Florida

Thank You for your support of Connect Global's Partners &  Projects. 

Thank You for Your Support

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship."  -- Romans 12:1 NIV

I recently spent a week in Honduras working with some very dear friends.  On our second day I had the opportunity to drive for several hours with Pastor Nahun Flores.  His truck was having some trouble and we needed to take it to the service station three hours away.  We had a great time traveling and talking about life, family and ministry.  During the ride I shared with him a worship song that has been very touching and encouraging to me.  It's a great song of worship to God.  I listen to it every day. 

Once we arrived at the service station we discovered a few extra items on his truck that needed repair.  Fortunately we were able to get all the expected and unexpected items taken care of for him.  When we left we had exceeded his expectations and he was blessed.  I know because he told me so. !

So which part of the day was worship?

Like most people I know, I love worship music.  I love the feeling of an outstanding team hitting that right chord, that perfect key transition, powering out that awesome chorus.  Like most people I know, I literally get goose bumps when the music is just right.  The song I played for my friend brings me to tears almost every time I hear it.  I love to experience worship music. 

But the faith Jesus calls us to, is about more than an experience.  Life with the Christ is not as much about what I can experience from Him as it is about what I can become with Him. 

The excerpt from the book of Romans says that my life can be lived out as a sacrifice of worship to God.  It's amazing that my simple, seemingly small life can be worship to the God of the universe. 

Don't get me wrong, it feels a lot better to sing out a great worship ballad then it does to pay for car repairs.  So, at times, true worship feels more like work, or ... sacrifice. 

The Connect Global Team is very excited about the progress of the Maternity Home fundraising as well as the building and construction efforts.  Updated: November 7th

Together we have been able to raise over $102k towards our Maternity Home in La Ceiba, Honduras.

We began raising funds for a desperately needed place for moms and expecting moms to rest just before and immediately after giving birth and are only weeks away from breaking ground. 

We just traveled to La Ceiba with a team of 13 at the end of October. We were able to publicly dedicate the land at the hospital for the Maternity Home. I am very excited about the project coming together and to be able to share this progress with you! As we were there praying over the land and the project, we received the approval for construction. This is a huge step forward as we have been waiting most of the summer for this process to be approved. 

We are headed into the Rainy season for Honduras, which may delay some of the work, but we were expecting a slowdown for winter and we know the timing is perfect and being worked out on our behalf.

Thank you for all of your prayer and your support! 

If you would like to make a donation towards the project before the year ends please click here. 

Our local contractor/architect, Eduardo Oviedo Jr.  has done a fantastic job getting the plans ready and we are excited to be getting closer to ground breaking. 

Connect Global Maternity Home Fundraising Update

Thanks to the overwhelmingly generous support we have received we will be making plans to break ground in 2017. We have been talking with several professional contractors in La Ceiba to finalize building standards and firm up a potential start date. We will inform you of the details when they are complete.

Thank You for Your Support

CJ and Teri Palmer give a quick Video update from La Masica

Here is a quick video update from our visit to Little Lambs Children's Refuge in June of 2016. Thank you to CJ and Teri Palmer of PrepareMyMission for sharing your perspective on video for us. 

We are very excited about our next round of Group Mission Trips for 2017. 

We always love taking both new and repeat team members on trips to Honduras and other locations. Something special always takes place when a group of people from different places, and backgrounds all rally around a unified goal of serving others. 

A Mission Trip is not easy, but we do have fun.

Through sweat, tears, and laughter we take a small group of people and make a huge difference in the lives of those needing a hand up! 

We hope you will go with us in 2017 and jump into missions with both feet! 

The Connect Global Mission Trips are listed here, and you can get more information by clicking the boxes below! 

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CONNECT GLOBAL WATER WELL PROJECT 

A Tall glass of water—On a hot summer day there's nothing more refreshing.  The simplest of drinks can be the most thirst quenching, especially when it's exactly what's needed.  Until it's unavailable.

This is the case for the residents of the Honduran village of El Tamarindo.  Around 600 men, women and children live without regular access to this most basic life-sustaining drink—Water.

I have witnessed first hand the living conditions of these wonderful people.  Their faucets do not produce.  Their basin are empty.  Their town is dry.  In the village there are 2 privately owned water wells, both of which are drying up.  They are shallow wells drawing only small amounts of surface water, being used by everyone in the village.

Connect Global is committed to sharing the Gospel of Jesus through collaborative and sustainable solutions.  Through partnership with the local Water Management District, local businesses and local churches Connect Global is able to drill a deep water well in El Tamarindo.  This high capacity water well will be connected directly to the community's existing plumbing system providing water to every home, every family, every child for many years to come.

The community has offered land and committed to build a secure well house.  A local business, Agrolibano, has offered to provide a high capacity water tank.  Connect Global has committed to drill a deep water well and supply a water pump.  In the very near future the people of El Tamarindo will have water.

You have a part in all of this. 

This 100' deep well is going to cost $6500 to complete.  So with every gift of $65 we can drill 1' deep.  With a gift of $650 we can drill 10' deep.  With a gift of $1100 we can drill 20' deep.  

We invite you to join this collaborative and sustainable project.  Together we can share the love of Jesus and a tall glass of water with the people of El Tamarindo.

Thank you.