ABOUT EXPANDING BORDERS
Who we are
Expanding Borders is a 501(c) 3 Christian organization whose intention is to improve the spiritual and material lives of poor women and children living in rural villages around the Lake Yojoa area. Our goal is to expand the borders of children and the women who participate in our ministry through evangelism, education, and job training so that they may lead lives filled with the Spirit of the Lord and provide them with the tools to care for their children. Our ministry operates a childrens’ home and also teaches children in the public schools by bringing teachers from America to work with teachers in the Lake Yojoa area. The ministry also provides teachers to the rural public schools to instruct the children in some of the critical subjects such as Mathematics, Science, and English.
Mission
Expanding Borders is a Christian ministry focused on sharing the Gospel to all, especially the women and children in the villages around Lake Yojoa. We share our faith in God by being wholly dependent on Him as our provider and Savior. Through faith in Jesus Christ, our prayer is that the women and children we minister to will have hope for a better life for themselves and their families. In this ministry we desire that all of our work is under the guidance of the Holy Spirit using us as His hands and feet.
Vision
Expanding Borders’ goal is to spread the Word of God to all people, so that they may know, enjoy, and proclaim the kingdom of God. As our local members grow spiritually through the Word of God, they will enjoy the blessing that He creates in our lives, changing homes and communities through His grace, and sharing this knowledge and faith with others so that they may also teach the Word of God. As this change occurs, the poverty mindset be transformed into a mindset of living securely in Jesus Christ with hope for a better future.
History
Expanding Borders began in 2010 as Dorcas Ministries, named for the woman Dorcas (Tabitha) in the book of Acts, who served others throughout her life. This ideal of love and servitude for the women she worked with was founder Hemi Alvarenga’s prayer for the women in the ministry. The work of the ministry began when Amy formed women’s groups in the Lake Yojoa area in Honduras with the purpose of bringing the Word of Christ into their lives and to share with them useful skills that could provide income for their families.
Four regional women’s groups started a small stone cutting and jewelry workshop and sold what they made in a souvenir shop. The year 2015 was big for Expanding Borders and brought a variety of new activities. Hemi recalls praying at the end of 2014, asking God that 2015 be the year of harvest for all the hard work the many members had put into it, and indeed He heard her prayers. It was a year like no other. Immediately God opened the doors for her to grow and provide more support for the people in the area. One need that had to be addressed was the inadequate housing of the many women in the ministry, so mission groups were organized to fund and complete building projects on multiple homes in the communities. Expanding Borders also begun an education project, bringing teachers from the USA to work in local schools, both with students and teachers to give support in difficult subject areas and to demonstrate new techniques. In addition to construction, education, and a continuously growing mission, Expanding Borders also initiated operation of a children’s home who’s construction was funded by a partner ministry called Heritage Hills. Heritage Hills continues to fund a large portion of the children’s home operation.
It has been an amazing journey for all who have worked with Expanding Borders, and all the work of God. For it is only through the grace and provision of God that any of the work that has been accomplished was possible.
