Hi, my name is Juana Luz Travis (Juanita).

         I was born the 24th of July of 1986 in a little town called Frontera Comalapa in south Mexico. My dad's name is Pedro Lopez and my mom's name is Magnolia Rodriguez. My older brother's name is Augustine Lopez and my younger sisters name is Magnolia Lopez. Ever since I was a little child my family and I moved frequently from one town to another within the state of Chiapas. Most of our moves were because of my mother's health. My mother struggled a lot with her health when I was a child.

         In 1990 my family and I went to live a little town called Totolapa, Chiapas. Totolapa was a small community of indigenous people that did not allow evangelicals to live among them. Despite this a few blocks from our house there was another house where a small group of people that were evangelicals would gather together to worship God secretly. Back in those days my dad didn't want to have anything to do with any religion and he would always refuse any invitation that people would give him to go to church. My mom wanted to go at times but my dad would not allow her to go very often. 

         One day two old ladies that belonged to that little Bible study group of evangelicals asked my parents if they could take me and my older brother to church with them. At first my dad said no but then my mom and dad began to talk about it and they decided that they would let us go with these two old ladies to church. So we got to go to church that day. As a result my brother and I allowed Jesus to come into our hearts and we began to discover who God is. I was between five and six years old and my brother was between six and seven years old when we gave our hearts to God. These two old women were able to see the need to allow children to come to the feet of Jesus and at the same time attract those children's parents to Christ. After this my brother and I used to love to go to church and learn new things about God. God began to use us even as little children. With our small testimony we began to reach our parents because when it was time to eat we would pray over our food and then we would sing to God and worship him. Because of different circumstances that happened in my parents lives God begin to change them (especially my dad). A few months after we begin to go to church with these two old ladies my little sister was born. While my mother was giving birth to my little sister they almost both lost their lives. God decided to give them another opportunity and they both survived the ordeal. After this whenever they both recuperated my dad began to let my mom and my little baby sister go to church with me and my older brother. God was working in the heart of my dad. After a while my dad also began to go to church every once in a while but he was still resistant toward God because he could not understand the need he had for God.

         A few years later in about 1996 or 1997 we moved to a ranch called San Sebastian that is in the state of Chiapas. Close to our new home there was a little church that had services several days each week and we could hear them playing music from our house. As soon as we were able my brother, sister, mom and I began to go to church there. We continued inviting my dad to go with us but he didn't want to go very often and he would ask us if we didn't get tired of seeing each other's face every day of the week at church. Not long after, God began to deal with my dad directly and that was when he saw his need for God and he decided to give his heart to Jesus Christ. I am convinced that God can also use children to bring their parents to Christ. 

         Now that I think back on it I realize that whenever I was between 11 and 12 years old and my brother was between 12 and 13 years old, God was already preparing us for children's ministry. One Sunday in Sunday school the teacher asked me if I wanted to help them during the class. I accepted the invitation and began to help in whatever I could. Sometimes they would leave my brother and myself in charge of the kids for periods of time. From that point on I began to feel God putting in my heart a joy and a desire to share the Word of God to children. God was also preparing my older brother for this same type of ministry and now we are both called to the ministry of winning children for the kingdom of God. 

         A few years later in 1999 we moved to Mexico city because it was the only place that they could treat my mom for the health problems that she had. While in Mexico City we began to go to a Baptist church because it was the only church that was accessible to us. It was not the same kind of church that we were used to but we were hungry for God. During this time they had to operate on my mother and she was not able to go to church with us every time but my brothers and I continued going to church. Then later on when my mom recovered and when I was almost 16 years old we moved back to the state of Chiapas again to a town called Comitan de Dominguez.

 

Soon after we got to Comitan we found a new church and we all began to go to church there!

         

         In the year 2005 I became the Sunday school teacher for our local church. The young people from our church together with other churches began to come together once a week and do outreaches to reach our communities for Christ. We would visit hospitals and take a rice drink, that is native to the area we lived in, to the family members that were waiting on their loved ones at the hospital. We would also go to the old folks home and visit the elderly and we began to do evangelistic outreaches in the Central Park. It was during one of the outreaches that I met my husband, Keith Travis. We had organized an evangelistic campaign to take place in the Central Park with a group of young people that came from the States and Keith, who was a full-time missionary in Mexico, was the interpreter. Keith lived in a town called San Cristobal which is about two hours from Comitan. We became boyfriend and girlfriend not long after we met. During the time of our courtship Keith talked to me about the calling that he had on his life to be a missionary all of his life or until God showed him something else to do. Keith also told me that he knew that soon God would send him to Honduras and then in the future possibly to many countries. After a few months of going together he asked me if I would be willing to marry him and to follow him and to share in the calling that God has given him? He told me that he had nothing to offer me materially but he would promise me that if I was willing to follow him and live by faith that I would see more miracles from God than I had ever seen in my life.

         At first it hurt to think that if I accepted this proposal I would have to leave my family and that I may not be able to see them frequently. I was in love with Keith. I could see his sincerity and the passion that he had for God. God had already planted the seed for ministry in my heart back when I was young so I excepted. After we dated for one year we were married on June 8, 2006 and we went to live in San Cristobal where Keith was living at that time. We lived in San Cristobal for one year and during our time there we began to start Bible studies with a group of Indian people and we started a small church. At first it was hard for my family to understand the decision to marry a missionary. It was especially hard for my mom because she knew that I would be going from one country to the next but when it came down to it she knew that I would be doing the will of God for my life. She knew that my husband and I would be serving the Lord. Now my family is able to understand this calling and they rejoice with us when we see the results that God has given to us in His kingdom and in the many countries where we labor. My family loves my husband and appreciates him. 

         During the time that we lived in San Cristobal, Keith liked to go to the mountain to pray with one of his best friends named Joel. One day while they were up in the mountain praying I was at the house and all of a sudden my heart began to beat real fast and I began to tremble and cry and I heard the voice of God speak to my heart and say: “IT’S TIME TO GO TO HONDURAS!” When Keith got back from the mountain he opened the front door and found me crying. He had no idea what was going on so he asked me what had happened. I told him that the Lord had spoken to me and told me that it was now time to go to Honduras. While he was on the mountain he had been praying that God would speak to my heart and confirm what God had already told him. I was crying first of all because it was the first time that I had felt God's presence so powerfully and second of all because I knew that I would have to leave my family and I had no idea when I would see them again. At the same time I knew that we were doing God's will and that gave me the peace that I needed at that moment. So we went to Comitan to tell my family the news. Afterwards Keith called his parents who were in the States at the time and his dad told him that they too were going to live in Honduras and that God had called them to do a work there. We were so surprised to hear this news but at the same time we were happy to be able to have the opportunity to work together. Keith and his dad began to make plans and Keith, his dad, brother Richard and I made our first scouting trip to Honduras the last part of 2006. We wanted God to show us where to live. In June 2007 the four of us (Randy, Linda, Keith and myself) went to live in Santa Rosa de Copan, Honduras to work as strategy coordinators of a new project called HCPM (Honduras Church Planting Movement).

         We lived in Honduras for almost 5 years together with a group of Honduran brothers. We began to work taking the Word of God to people in different communities. I helped with children's ministry every chance I got. We would have Pat and Richard Crowder and some other missionaries come down to minister to children and I would assist them. In November 2011 we came to live in the States because now our vision was not only for Honduras but it had grown much bigger. Now God has given us a vision to reach the 21 nations of Latin America. So we moved to the US because travel is more accessible and cheaper from the US to other countries. At this very moment God has open us doors to six Nations in Latin America to extend the gospel and we have seen thousands of lost souls give their lives to Christ. In the last six years 5,594 people have surrendered their lives to Christ and 4,735 people have been baptized. The works are located in Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Columbia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and soon Mexico and Argentina. It is a tremendous privilege to be a part of God's kingdom and to be called to this work of making disciples that make disciples for His Kingdom. There is no regret even though at times we do complain about some of the sacrifices that we've had to make. In reality we are thankful because one day there is a reward awaiting us and now we have the satisfaction of being in the center of God's will and of knowing that we are fulfilling His plans for our lives.

         PS. Now as I think about my childhood I can see Gods working. Ever since I was a child God was preparing me for the work that he had for me to do by taking me from one town to another to live. Each time we left home I would have to leave part of my family and friends. God knew what he was doing. Now that I understand this, it doesn't matter where God calls Keith and myself. I am willing to go!