The Hammill Family
Missionaries To Honduras

The Call

     My name is Nathan Hammill. In August of 2024 the church I was pastoring took a missions trip to Honduras. It was our privilege to work with a veteran missionary that was 77 years young, Bro. Don Hilbun, under the leadership and guidance of mission-evangelist Bro. Duane Moore. We spent 9 days in the Santa Barbara region of Honduras. This was the first time I had ever been to another country for the purpose of missions or any other reason for that matter. As a pastor of 15 years, I had a desire to be involved in missions but only from afar. However, it was this trip that would forever affect my heart concerning missions. Our church was faithful to support and give to missionaries but going to the field and experiencing the work first hand was different. 
     Upon arriving we were met by a group of people from the church there in Honduras. Most of those that met us there were kids from the children’s home that Bro Don had founded. Right from the start my heart was drawn to these people. The next day we were to be in two different churches. In the morning we were in Grand Commission Baptist Church. It was a church with a national pastor who is a great man and solid preacher. In an open air building that would hold 250 plus people there were approximately 20 people. That evening we attended in Go Forth Baptist Church. A church that comfortably holds 100 people and they were full. Understanding the difference was simply the fact that the missionary that used to be at Grand Commission had left the field, my heart began to sink.  I couldn’t help but see the fate of the work Bro. Don had poured 15 plus years into and the visions he had for the future dying with him. I couldn’t help but weep. I began at that moment inquiring of what the plans for the future were and who the next man was only to find out that outside of praying for someone to come there was none. I started praying diligently for God to send someone to carry on this work.  
     Little did I know that two trips later God would inform me that He had someone for the job. It was me. My son, 17 at the time, was burdened for Honduras and was seeking the Lord’s guidance for his life concerning the ministry. During our second trip he found out they had a youth camp coming up and wanted to be there for it. Understanding I couldn’t afford to bring the whole family back, I committed to bring him back. I thought I was just tagging along as the Lord was dealing with him. While on this third trip several things happened that directed me to the fact that the Lord was calling me. It was on this trip that I called my wife and informed her, that I sat down and discussed the possibility with Bro. Don, and told the Lord that if that is what He really wanted I would go. Upon the next few weeks, God reassured me that this was the direction for my life. I never intended to be starting over at the age of 48, yet here we are. I simply want to be in the Lord’s will and I am persuaded that this is His will for mine and my family’s life.

 

Testimony of Salvation & Service

     I was saved as a 14 year old teenage boy. I grew up in a religious family going to a methodist church every Sunday. My momma was a Sunday school teacher and we were involved in the church. However, I never remember hearing about my need for salvation until I went to a youth camp at a nearby church that some of my friends were attending. It was during the services at this camp that God began to convict my heart. On that Friday night after the preaching I called on Jesus Christ to save me. I will never forget going back to the Methodist church the following Sunday and telling the pastor that I had gotten saved. He looked at me strangely, shook my hand, and said, “That’s good.” Needless to say, as long as we were at that church I never grew. 
     Fast forward a few years, and I was invited to go to a revival at Bible Missionary Baptist Church. As a 16 year old boy I went to church on that Monday night. As I left I’ll never forget thinking that is the kind of preaching I heard at camp. I went back every night. The next Sunday I asked my mom if I could go to the Baptist church. She informed me that we had a church and I needed to go with our family. I did, but on Sunday evening and Wednesday evening, I was back at the Baptist church. Wondering why in the world her teenage son was wanting to be in church so much my mother decided to go with me one night. The next Sunday our whole family would go. Eventually this would lead to my entire family getting saved. Bible Missionary Baptist Church became our home church and my parents still attend there today.
     At the age of 17, on a Sunday night in January after the Lord dealing with me for several months I surrendered to preach. At the age of 23 in the year 2000 I married my wife Lisa. Three months after being married, we would be thrust into full time ministry by serving as the house parents for a children’s home/boarding school our Pastor had founded. We would serve there until we became pregnant. Although we would miscarry that child and two more we had already committed to moving out of the children’s home. During this time, I bought a tent and preached anywhere I could . It would be a few years later that I would surrender to travel with an older evangelist helping him with a tent ministry. We would do this for approximately two more years. In September of 2009  I was called to be the pastor of Open Door Baptist Church. We would spend the next 15 years pastoring these precious people.

 

Lisa’s Testimony of Salvation

     I was blessed to be born into a family that knew the Lord and was taught to attend church faithfully from the beginning. My grandfather was a Baptist preacher and made a point to share the gospel with us at every family gathering. Even though I was no stranger to the name of Jesus, I was still lost and in need of a saviour.  I remember the Lord beginning to deal with my heart as a young girl and at the age of 6 I asked Him to save me. I was attending Christian school and told my teacher that I needed to be saved. She shared scripture with me and knelt down beside me in our school office as I prayed. I had the privilege of being baptized by my grandfather. 
     As time passed, I began to struggle with comparing my testimony to others, thinking mine wasn’t as powerful as those that were saved out of gross sin. I didn’t realize at the time that God views all sin as gross and mine needed to be paid for just like theirs. I struggled with doubt throughout the years and began to stray from the Lord as a teenager. I spent several years searching for satisfaction from the world, but never feeling like I fit in completely. I pushed aside conviction, but thankfully the Lord gave me a chance to get right and have fellowship with Him again. 
     At the age of 21, I had the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Jamaica with my church. I had heard the testimonies from previous trips and knew that once I went I would not be the same. That’s exactly what happened. I had the privilege to go on a 2 week trip where nothing mattered but ministry. I didn’t have to worry about bills, work, or relationships. My focus was solely on completing the mission we had set out to do: sharing the gospel with the people of Jamaica. 
God birthed a heart for missions in me that week. I knew from that point on I would never be content not being in the ministry in some form. The next summer I was thrilled to be able to return to Jamaica. During that summer, I also met Nathan and began a relationship with him. I had prayed for a husband to serve the Lord with for a few years at that point and watched the Lord knit our hearts together. We were engaged later that year and married the next. Even from our engagement, we began serving the Lord together and established a commitment to be faithful to church no matter what. We almost immediately entered into full-time ministry and haven’t looked back. Even though we have served in many different facets of ministry over 24 years, our desire to serve the Lord and follow Him is just as strong as it has ever been. I am so thankful, even with my shortcomings, the Lord still has a desire to use me in the ministry. 

Our Family Dynamics

     We have two sons and a daughter, Patrick, Colson, and Jessie. Our oldest, Patrick, was born in 2003 and was adopted. He literally was brought to our house for what was supposed to be two days and he never left. While we have never hid the fact that he was adopted, we have loved and raised him no different than our biological children. He is our first born.  Colson would then be born in 2007 and Jessie, our baby girl, in 2010.
     In 2003 we had to bury my dad at the young age of 48. He had a massive stroke that took his life. This would affect my family greater than I could imagine and especially the life of my only brother. Never being able to fully come to grips with my father’s death he would end up taking his own life at the age of 30 leaving behind 3 children. In 2016 our lives would forever be changed again. We would get a phone call in the middle of the night telling us that my wife’s parents had passed away, both of them. My wife’s mother had died of heart complications and her stepdad would send himself into cardiac arrest giving her CPR. They left behind her adopted brother that suffers from autism. It was at this time that David came to live with us and has become one of ours. He is 34 years old but needs full time care.

Our Oversight

     It should go without saying, and yet in these days, I feel that it needs to be addressed. We are first obligated to and under the watch of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are bound to the Scriptures and the leadership of the Holy Spirit. However we believe that all ministries are sent out from the local church. Our sending church is Open Door Baptist Church in Richfield, NC. We will, also, be under the watch care of the founding missionary of Go Forth Ministries, Bro. Don Hilbun. Go Forth Ministries has an oversight board made up of the following men, Missionary Don Hilbun, Pastor Scotty Rayburn, Pastor John Mills, Evangelist Duane Moore, and Deacon Dempsey Parkes. 

Our Goals For Honduras

     It is our main goal to see souls saved and churches established. But the Lord has specifically burdened my heart to carry on the ministry founded by Bro. Don Hilbun. This involves pastoring Go Forth Baptist Church, overseeing the children’s home, helping to start more churches in the neighboring villages, starting a christian school to educate the children, training the nationals that the Lord is calling to the ministry, and striving to win the lost in the Santa Barbara region of Honduras. 
     We will be joined on the field by two other families that are currently on deputation. The Horton Family will be working in the children’s home. Bro. Jeremiah speaks Spanish and will be a huge asset in the other aspects of the ministry as well. The Henderson Family will have a primary task of establishing churches in the neighboring villages and towns. My son Colson is planning to work with the young men that have surrendered to preach. He will be engaging them in street preaching and other evangelistic outreaches. Under the leadership of Bro Don Hilbun we will be overseeing these ministries while laboring along side these families in the field. 
 

Letters of Recommendation

Evangelist Duane Moore 



Pastor Chris Cantrell

 

 

Deacons of Open Door Baptist Church 


 

Statement of Faith 
Open Door Baptist Church

The Scriptures
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Bible, as it is in truth, the Word of God… (I Thessalonians 2:13). We believe in verbal, plenary inspiration in the original writings, and God’s preservation of His pure words to every generation (II Timothy 3:16, Psalms 12:6-8).  The King James Version of the Bible is the only English version we accept and use. The Bible is our sole authority for faith and practice.

The Godhead
We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections (Deuteronomy 6:4; II Corinthians 13:14).
 
The Person and Work of Christ
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men (John 1:1-2, 14; Luke 1:35; Isaiah 9:6; 7:14; Philippians 2:5-8; Galatians 4:4-5).
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His finished work on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Romans 3:24-25; I Peter 2:24; Ephesians 1:7; I Peter 1:3-5).
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven, and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate (Acts 1:9-10; Hebrews 9:24, 7:25; Romans 8:34; I John 2:1-2).

Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is the Person who reproves the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and that He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption (John 16:8-11; II Corinthians 3:6; I Corinthians 12:12-14; Romans 8:9; Ephesians 1:13-14).

Man
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and that man is totally depraved, and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition (Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 3:22-23; Ephesians 2:1-3, 12).

The Way of Salvation
We believe that the clear message of salvation is “repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). We believe that salvation is “by grace” plus nothing minus nothing. We believe that men are justified by faith alone and are accounted righteous before God only through the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:12; I Peter 1:18-19).

The Church
We believe that the Church, which is the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all born-again persons of this present age which began with Christ and the Apostles, was empowered at Pentecost, and will be caught up to be with Christ at the Rapture (Ephesians 1:22-23, 5:25-27; I Corinthians 12:12-14; II Corinthians 11:2).
We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:27; 20:17, 28-32; I Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11).
We believe in the autonomy of the local church free of any external authority or control (Acts 13:1-4, 15:19-31, 20:28; Romans 16:1, 4; I Corinthians 3:9, 16, 5:4-7, 13; I Peter 5:1-4).

The Ordinances of the Church
We recognize the ordinances of baptism by immersion in water and the Lord’s Supper as a Scriptural means of testimony for the Church in this age (Matthew. 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42, 18:18; I Corinthians 11:23-26).

Biblical Separation
We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord; and, that separation from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices and associations is commanded of God (II Timothy 3:1-5; Romans 12:1, 2, 14:13; I John 2:15-17; II John 9-11; II Corinthians 6:14-7:1).


The Return of Christ
We believe the “Blessed Hope” of our Lord’s return is literal, personal, visible, imminent, premillennial, and pretribulational. He will rapture His Church prior to the seven years of tribulation, and at the end of the tribulation Christ will return with His saints to establish His thousand-year reign on the earth (I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; I Thessalonians 1:10; Revelation 3:10; Zechariah 14:4-11; Revelation 19:11-16, 20:1-6; Psalm 89:3-4).


Our Eternal State
We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46; John 5:28, 29, 11:25-26; Revelation 20:5-6, 12-13).
We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord (Luke 23:43; Revelation 20:4-6; II Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23, 3:21; I Thessalonians 4:16-17).
We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious state until the soul and body are reunited, they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire to suffer everlasting, conscious punishment (Luke 16:19-26; Matthew 25:41-46; II Thessalonians 1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Mark 9:43-48; Revelation 20:11-15).