Heart of the King Newsletter – 2026 Q2

Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ. Colossians 3:23-24 NLT

Amor Que Redime
This quarter at church we have been studying the parables of the Bible. Each family decided on a parable to discuss with the church. Pastor Jon spoke on the mustard seed; one family did a skit on the Good Samaritan; Gene spoke on Workers in the Vineyard and there were others. Learning from the parables taught us more about how to love each other and the goodness of God. Our focus must not be on ourselves but on helping others just as Jesus did.

On Easter we had a big turnout of kids for church. After the service we had the annual Easter egg hunt with lots of candy. A great sermon and lots of candy-what a sweet day. Also, we had a good turnout for Mother’s Day with a meal to follow so that the Moms could take a break. It is always great to get together with our church family to pray for each other, hear the Word and enjoy God’s presence.

Crutches
Ms. Ada, from our church, mentioned that a lady who lives down the road was crippled and needed help with crutches or a wheelchair. We went to visit and found out she had polio when she was a child leaving one leg crooked and shorter than the other. She has a little house down from her daughters and has to walk the uneven trails to her daughters and to the bathroom (outhouse). All she had was a sturdy stick to hold onto. We took pictures and talked with fellow missionaries who bring down wheelchairs & crutches and they were able to donate a pair of crutches that we gave her. These make her walking easier and more comfortable. Praise God for the way He supplies for all needs. We prayed with her and are believing God will meet her needs & heal her.

Living in Honduras
We are blessed to live in a very nice house owned by a local Pastor. Pastor Cristobal takes good care of us when we need help or have a problem. Recently he and his family painted the outside of the house; it went from bold yellow to a calming beige. They did a great job and the house is beautiful. The wind has been strong recently and a limb blew off a tree onto the fence around the back of the house. Cristobal came over to help remove the limb and noticed there were several other rather large limbs that could damage the house if they came down so he climbed several of the trees cutting off branches. All is well now and we praise God for our house and Pastor Cristobal who built this house with missionaries in mind. God knew we would be coming and I believe God planned it for us.

Pastor Cristobal loves plants and has created a beautiful back yard for us. This year the Easter lilies bloomed 3 times after Easter. In the past years they bloomed only once during the week of Easter. They are so pretty; I enjoy them any time they bloom. The beautiful Bird of Paradise plants have bloomed the past several months, the orange color brightens my day and the yellow and purple orchids are blooming now. The purple ones are my favorite. I know this house was built to glorify God and praise Him; we believe it does. Pastor Cristobal’s church is going strong and are now looking to build a larger church and new parsonage. May the Lord bless him and his church.

Missionary Easter
It’s always fun to get together with our missionary friends to talk, laugh and enjoy being together with fellow Americans. This year we decided to go out to eat instead of just a get together at our house. One of the favorite places to go is St Augustine’s which serves fish & seafood. Since it is not in town but on the outskirt of the city, most don’t go very often. We had a pleasant evening sharing as we overlooked the lake.

Club Aslan
Club Aslan is alive and well! We praise God that the children come out but also for all the volunteers that help each week. The kids love to play games and they listen intently to the lessons each week. A Bible lesson or a moral-life lesson is given each week and we know God is working in the hearts of all who hear. Recently there were lessons on God’s protection and on saving and spending money.

Through nerf games and a “store” where they could spend the club Aslan money, ‘Leones’, that they had earned by completing games and mental tasks; the lessons were put into practice. These type lessons are good for the kids as well as for the volunteers. Praise God for good Honduran leadership guiding some of the lessons as to what is important to teach these kids for their lives.

Easter was a fun time although it rained the planned club day. There always has to be a backup plan and it was used on this day. Praise God many of the kids showed up before the rain came. The story of Jesus’ death & resurrection was shared then it was ‘hunt’ time. It was raining so all the eggs were put into a large container. The kids got to choose 5 eggs which contained a number. Paper bags were packed with candy & trinkets and numbered. As they turned in their numbers, the matching numbered bags were retrieved and given out. The kids hurried out to open their bags and see what was inside. They laughed, played and enjoyed eating the candy. The death of Jesus provides many surprises for us, many blessings each day. As we love and serve Him, keeping our focus on His goodness, we can find many blessings and gifts each day.

Hospital
Every Thursday when we can, Sharon, Gene and I go to the local Public Hospital (there is socialized medicine here) and visit the pediatric ward to pray for the children and their parents. The weather is cool/cold and damp here in the mountains so there are lots of children with respiratory problems every time we visit. Usually there are several with broken bones waiting on surgeries to repair the damage. Then there are those with other issues such as gallbladder, hernia, appendix issues and others. We have also seen those who attempted suicide, those in motorcycle accidents, some abused and even some who were physically attacked beaten up and/or shot. We know God is greater than any of these afflictions and has provided healing, physically and mentally along with spiritual help for both the children and their parents. We are just the hands and feet of Jesus going to share the love of God. A prayer, a hug, a time of ministry, a blanket, a toy, a Gospel tract or coloring pages are things we take but most of all we take the name of Jesus, the name above all! Praise God we have seen miracles! As I mentioned before a girl that drank poison and destroyed her lungs was healed and singing in a school meeting in just a couple of weeks. 3 of her friends that drank the poison died. Children that lay lifeless were moving and smiling before we left the hospital.

A boy attacked and shot twice in the abdominal area was up and walking within minutes. This boy was transferred to another hospital to have a small hole in his spleen taken care of. Please join us in prayer for him and his mother. We don’t understand why everyone is not healed immediately, that is what we are believing for, but God knows the circumstances and sometimes has to work out other details in their hearts or with other people first. We will not stop praying because we have seen miracles and hope come to parents. Some have received salvation, some have renewed their lives to Christ, some have been humbled and rejoice in the Lord. There are Christian nurses that work with these children and they join us if they are in the room. We have been sent request for prayer from other units that have heard we were there praying. To God be the glory! We know prayer changes things, some things we will never see so we will continue on.

Prison Ministry
We are continuing our ministry to the prison in Marcala. We look forward to seeing the inmates and bringing them a message from the word every Tuesday. Many of the inmates at Marcala are still in process for final sentencing. The numbers have dropped from just over 300 to around 250 due to men being sentenced and transferred to other locations in the country to serve out their sentence. This past month, we have been able to add books to the prison library and encourage the men to spend time with God. We also recently donated some Bibles to be held in the Chapel area and used by all. We pray that these men do not just pass the time of day in these meetings but that they receive the word and all that God has for them. Please pray with us for these men to receive complete acceptance and understanding of His word.

TeachMe2Love Academy
The Honduras school calendar is mid-February through mid-November. This allows for the whole family to work during coffee harvest season (November to February). But the private schools, including TeachMe2Love academy (TM2L) use the US school calendar. So, May/June is graduation season. At TM2L this year there was one graduate, Anthony. Anthony was one of the first students in the school when Jon and Alicia started. He has come such a long way, from being the unruly boy who could not talk, to the calm and loving young man who now can speak. He loved helping his class mates and plans to come back next year as an assistant. His graduation was a great celebration.

We continue to help at the school every Wednesday and for special events. The hand of God is upon each of these students and in the time that we have been there each child has improved greatly. Actually 3 of the students were invited to join in a math tournament this year. They did their best answering as many of the problems as they could. Praise God for Jon and Alicia as they have helped these students grow and learn more each day. Most of all we are thankful that God is present and worshipped every day. The children enjoy singing and praying and learning more about God.

Passing of Freeman Willis Sr.
We normally make 2 visits to the states each year. Late December to celebrate Christmas with family and late June to visit family and friends. This year there was an unexpected change in plans, on April 17, we received a call from our family in Georgia. Gene’s 92-year-old father had been admitted to the hospital. He had slowed down a lot over the past few years but was still strong. So, this was a big shock and surprise. He had been suffering from dementia for years but otherwise had been physically strong until the day before when he had shortness of breath after walking a very short distance. He walked into the hospital on that Friday morning because his home nurse suggested he go to the emergency room since she saw swelling and the shortness of breath (typical signs of congestive heart failure). We jumped on the next plane out around noon on Saturday. When we arrived at the hospital in the very early hours on Sunday morning, the hospital staff said his body was shutting down. He passed away on Wednesday April 22. This was not the homecoming that we usually expect traveling to the states but it was his homecoming. Gene’s mother took it very hard. They had been married for 69 years. We stayed with her for a couple of more weeks before returning to Honduras. She has a lot of family living around her to help her through and we call her and the family often to check on how things are going. This is probably the most difficult part of being on the mission field that we have encountered; sickness, loss and the conditions of family back home. Please pray with us for the Willis family and all of the missionaries on the field and their families back home.

Click this link to view the obituary.

Our lives and Ministry
We have learned to do all for the glory of God. Whether we are praying, helping others, preaching or just living life we want the goodness of God to shine through us. As you pray and give to our ministry for the glory of God, we know God will reward you with blessings untold.

We love and appreciate each of you,

Gene and Robin Willis

Heart of the King Ministries