TravelStream™ news feed for member stuthomas3 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/stuthomas3 en-us Copyright ©2012 TravelPod.com Sun, 21 Oct 2007 02:16:32 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stuthomas3/honduras_2007/1191219060/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stuthomas3/honduras_2007/1191219060/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stuthomas3/honduras_2007/1191219060/tpod.html Sun, 21 Oct 2007 06:16:32 +0000 "Be Transformed" Romans 12:2

Email 7 - San Pedro Sula, Honduras

San Pedro Sula, Honduras

Hi all, This is volume one, issue seven of your correspondent's updates from Honduras (I am actually in Costa Rica presently, more on that later). Ministry Update About two weeks back, I sent out an email asking for prayer related to several ministry events. Thank you for your prayers, they were very much felt. The first event I helped with was a movie night in the Garifuna community of Travesia. We showed the Jesus Film in the Garifuna language at a local church. Many children and young people attended as well as parents and other members of the community we invited to come. They really enjoyed the movie, especially as it was in their own language. If you have not seen the movie, I would recommend seeing it because it is very powerful and shows the life of Jesus based entirely on the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament. Last weekend, Cristina, Liz, and I participated in a weekend retreat with Youth For Christ at their camp. In short, the weekend was blessed. 45 young people and three teachers from a public high school came to the camp, which was the first time a high school had participated in a Youth For Christ retreat in Honduras. The theme was God's design for sex, purity, marriage, and abstinence. At the center of the weekend was the cross, which was made real by a hike up a mountain (literally climbing at parts) to a wooden cross at the summit. The students loved the retreat and many committed to waiting to have sex until marriage. Last week Tuesday, I went out to the community of Rio Tinto for a meeting and got to talk with two guys, Jose and Edwin, who I had met on previous trips to the community. I shared some verses from the Bible, and it was really amazing to see Jose read verses such as In Isaiah 53 when it talks about how the coming messiah, Jesus Christ, was the "price of our peace." His openness to the Bible reminded me the power of God's word and the joy of sharing it. Personal Update As mentioned above, I am currently in Costa Rica staying with Cristina's family who live here so that we can return to Honduras and renew our visas to stay in the country until the end of the internship. We drove to a volcano this morning, which I had never done before. Costa Rica is a very beautiful country and I'm glad I've been able to see it. I also mentioned the hike to the cross during the retreat. I thought I'd share my experience in more detail, as it is a good story. I was the group leader with another volunteer named Karina. One part of the hike/climb was particularly challenging, and Karina got separated from our group. I was worried and tried to contact the group behind us with our radio to find out where she was. When they didn't answer I started shouting into the radio. Eventually, Karina made it back to our group, and we continued our walk toward the cross. Sheepishly, I realized I had overreacted and I radioed the group again to apologize, saying in Spanish, roughly translated, "forgive me, I was out of line." The group leader on the other end responded "we're forgiven at the cross." The significance of that simple statement really hit me, and I shared that with my group when we arrived at the cross. Prayer Requests For the relationships that I have formed here in Honduras, that I would be able to make the most of the time I have left to spend with them. For Jose, Oscar, Jose, Edwin, Daniel, and Lina. For wisdom and courage in discerning my next steps. Well, that's all for now. God bless you this coming week, Stuart
]]> http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stuthomas3/honduras_2007/1190137680/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stuthomas3/honduras_2007/1190137680/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stuthomas3/honduras_2007/1190137680/tpod.html Tue, 18 Sep 2007 18:10:10 +0000 "Be Transformed" Romans 12:2

Email 6 Sept 10, 2007 - San Pedro Sula, Honduras

San Pedro Sula, Honduras

September 10, 2007 Hi everyone, This is volume 1 issue 6 of your correspondent's updates from Honduras. Ministry Update The main news is that Hurricane Felix devastated Nicaragua and caused flooding in Honduras last week. Our office responded to the flooding with water treatment kits and heavy-duty tarps for temporary shelters. When we went out to distribute these supplies it was hard to see the reality that those families would spend the night in the rain under blue tarps. On Saturday, we went out to a community where a river overflowed its banks and flood waters reached roof level. While we were there, we talked with a lieutenant colonel in the Honduran military who said that he has worked with Samaritan's Purse before and that we do good work. Our office is also sending relief materials to the north-eastern coast of Nicaragua which was hit very badly. Jonathan, one of my fellow interns, is now in Peru helping respond to an earthquake that occurred in early August. He will be returning to Honduras at the end of September. This past weekend's Youth For Christ retreat was postponed due to a school strike. Instead, we celebrated the National Day of the Child on Sunday with the community of Santiago. We performed music, dramas, and ate cake with the children, which was fun. Personal Update Honduras has been a blessing, and it is really hitting me how blessed I am to have this opportunity, to have the education I have, to have the family I have, the friendships I have, and most importantly, the joy of trusting in Christ's love for me. I have been thinking a lot about the gospel and how central it is to the life of a Christian in believing it, living it, and sharing it. I read a great article recently about this topic and thought I would pass it along: http://www.billygraham.org/DMag_Spiritu alHelp_Article.asp?Ar ticleID=814 I really like it here in Honduras and it will be difficult to leave in two months' time. Next Saturday is Independence Day and we will be traveling to La Ceiba to do some sightseeing. Prayer Requests Pray for those who have been affected by the hurricane in Nicaragua and flooding in Honduras. Pray for the Garifuna Hope project, which continues to face difficulties. Specifically, the community of Bajamar needs prayer. Children there have very little guidance and discipline and our work there is difficult. Pray for me as I discern my future after the internship, whether working with SP, another ministry, more education, etc. Well, that's all for now! God bless you, Stuart
]]> http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stuthomas3/honduras_2007/1188234660/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stuthomas3/honduras_2007/1188234660/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stuthomas3/honduras_2007/1188234660/tpod.html Tue, 28 Aug 2007 14:31:32 +0000 "Be Transformed" Romans 12:2

Email 5 August 27, 2007 - San Pedro Sula, Honduras

San Pedro Sula, Honduras

Hello everyone, This is volume one, issue five of your correspondent's reports from Honduras. As usual, I have divided my report into ministry update, personal update, and prayer requests. Ministry Update The second half of August has been eventful at Samaritan's Purse. I traveled with Monica to the Garifuna communities of Travesia, Masca, and Sarawaina. We held a volunteer training conference on leadership and teamwork and had meetings with the community promoters who lead classes for children on sexual health and abstinence. I have had time to get to know the volunteers and promoters and learn about their lives. The trip to Sarawaina was especially exciting. We traveled by pickup truck, boat, and horse and cart (see video). It was a very peaceful community where life remains simple. On Saturday, Eddie, a Honduran from our church, invited me to his English class to speak about my life. I talked about how God directed me here to Honduras and how we can trust in His grace through Jesus Christ. I shared 2 Corinthians 12:9, which says, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' The other interns and I have been able to spend some time with Mauricio, the Youth For Christ director in Honduras. He invited us to help with two weekend retreats at their camp on September 7th and 21st. I am very excited for the opportunity to be part of that ministry to high school students. Personal Update Eddie and his family took Jonathan and I to attend a futbol match between the city's two rival teams, Marathon and Real Espana. He successfully converted me to be a loyal supporter of Marathon, the team that won 1-0. In this country, there is really no middle ground. You must choose a team. The game was exciting and the fans were time with Eddie, his wife, and two children. They are blessed. Prayer Requests Pray for the two weekend retreats in September, that the students who attend would trust and believe in Christ's love for them. Pray for Monica and the Garifuna Hope project, which faces the difficulties of heavy-handed government oversight and community problems. Pray that we interns would be wise in discerning our roles here in our various projects and know when and how to make suggestions for change. Well, that's all for now. Binilabu Bungiu, (God Bless You in Garifuna) Stuart
]]> http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stuthomas3/honduras_2007/1188002820/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stuthomas3/honduras_2007/1188002820/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stuthomas3/honduras_2007/1188002820/tpod.html Sat, 25 Aug 2007 00:48:22 +0000 "Be Transformed" Romans 12:2

Email 4 August 13, 2007 - San Pedro Sula, Honduras

San Pedro Sula, Honduras

Hi everyone, This is Volume One, Issue Four of your correspondent's updates from San Pedro Sula, Honduras. I have divided the email up into ministry update, personal update, and prayer requests. Ministry Update I have spent a lot of time in the office these past weeks preparing for the second half of the month, when we are going out to the Garifuna communities. My main highlight was meeting the five promoters from the communities. They are very active and joyful women, and it was a blast teaching them group activities which they will use to motivate the kids they teach in their communities. Additionally, I have been helping Monica plan leadership training conferences for community volunteers and developed a Power Point presentation on the Garifuna Hope project for Monica to present in Tegucigalpa this week. After showing the Passion in a community one night, many people asked to have Bibles, of which we had a limited supply. I had been compiling a list of verses in Spanish that explain the Gospel, so I decided to print off more copies in bookmark form. We'll see if I have a chance to give them away. I believe that where my words fail or are insufficient, the Bible holds up. Several weeks ago, Jonathan and I worked together to write a funding proposal for a honey bee project, so hopefully we will get the funding. Personal Update To celebrate Jonathan's birthday on Sunday, we took a day trip to Lake Yahoa near the waterfall we visited on our first weekend here. We found a remote, tropical resort on the lake, rented kayaks for an hour and went exploring. The lake is rather huge, so we explored just one small corner of it but it was an adventure. On the way back from Lake Yohoa, I took a picture of a sign painted on a rock that says "Jesus...Presidente." It turns out that a guy with the last name Jesus ran for president here years ago, and part of his campaign strategy was to write his name all over the country, and the signs are still there (see photo attached). Imagine if one of the US presidential candidates was Jesus. It sure would be refreshing to see. Jesus did say that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him (Matthew 28:18), so he has a little more authority than a US or Honduran president. He reigns! Several weeks ago, God met me in His Word in Romans 12, and I think the first two verses will be the theme of my trip: "Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, His good, pleasing, and perfect will." God has been teaching me a lot about keeping my hands open to Him with everything, not clinging to my own ideas or my own will. Plus, after seeing the movie "Transformers" it's cool to read a verse that says we should be transformed by the renewing of our mind. (Okay, bad joke). Prayer requests Confirmation of Jonathan's food distribution, literacy, and evangelism project. Strength and wisdom for Cristina and Liz who are counseling every day. Clarity of purpose for me here in Honduras and my role in the Garifuna Hope project. Opportunities and the ability to love others and to give testimony of God's goodness and grace. Diligence in Bible study and Spanish practice. Well, as always, thank you for reading. Dios le bendiga! Stuart P.S. A number of times when I have said "God bless you" to people here, they respond with "Amen." It is a warm response and one that I wish were more common in the US.
]]> http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stuthomas3/honduras_2007/1188002760/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stuthomas3/honduras_2007/1188002760/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stuthomas3/honduras_2007/1188002760/tpod.html Sat, 25 Aug 2007 00:47:12 +0000 "Be Transformed" Romans 12:2

Email 3 July 29, 2007 - San Pedro Sula, Honduras

San Pedro Sula, Honduras

Hi everyone, This update is volume one, issue three from your correspondent in Honduras. I've added several more people to the email list so I'd like to quickly catch those of you up to speed. I arrived here in the city of San Pedro Sula exactly one month ago to work as an intern for Samaritan's Purse, a Christian relief organization. The internship will continue through mid-November, at which point I will return home. The main "business" news to share with you is that there have been some alterations to my original assignment. My assignment was to work with five Garifuna communities on the northern coast to help strengthen their local churches in evangelism and discipleship. Due to changes in SP staff and heavy government oversight, SP must focus more directly on the "Garifuna Hope" project, which means that the church program is on hold for now. Garifuna Hope is a community health education program in response to HIV and AIDS. The Garifuna people are descendents of Africans who were brought to the Caribbean by the slave trade. I will be assisting Monica, the project leader for Garifuna Hope, with her work. I will, fortunately, be able to spend some time with the local church leaders, to begin to get an idea of what their ideas and needs are and to hopefully organize some programs with them. All said, I'm glad to have clear direction, since the last several weeks have been slow-moving as decisions were being made. Jonathan and I were able to travel with Monica last week to Travesia (a Garifuna community) for a community volunteer training conference. A side note: one of our duties has been to act as "bodyguard" for Monica when we go downtown, a title which I am rather proud of. The main "personal" news I would like to share is that God has been working in me. These four weeks I have been in Honduras have led me to reflect quite a bit on faith and this past year. If you know me very well, you may know that I have struggled at times in the area of faith and doubt. Yet through this, God has convicted me that I am unable on my own to be "good enough," which is why I need a savior. His grace is renewing and building my trust in His goodness and His plans for me and bringing me to trust in Him more. I'm learning to say with Paul in 2 Timothy 1:12, "Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed..." This reminds me of a powerful 3 minute video that I have seen a number of times called "That's my King!" at this website: http://www.ignitermedia.com/products/iv /singles/4/Thats-My-King If you have a Facebook account and would like to see pictures of the first month in Honduras, here is the link: http://marquette.facebook.com/album.php ?aid=2071432&l=67457&id=2030056 9 Thank you for your continued prayers! I greatly appreciate them. One prayer request that comes to mind is that I will have a servant's heart and be humble. God Bless, Dios le bendiga! Stuart P.S. I realized recently that I was saying to people "Dios se bendiga," which means "God bless Himself." I have since used the correct phrase.
]]> http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stuthomas3/honduras_2007/1188002640/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stuthomas3/honduras_2007/1188002640/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stuthomas3/honduras_2007/1188002640/tpod.html Sat, 25 Aug 2007 00:45:42 +0000 "Be Transformed" Romans 12:2

Email 2 July 9, 2007 - San Pedro Sula, Honduras

San Pedro Sula, Honduras

Family and friends, This begins Week 3 of my internship here in Honduras. First, allow me to review Week 2. Last Monday, Christina, Jonathan, Liz, (fellow interns) and I drove with Monica (Samaritan's Purse HIV/AIDS project leader) to the Northern Coast of Honduras to visit two Garifuna communities, Travesia and Bajamar. The Garifuna people are Honduran citizens who are descendents of Africans brought to the Caribbean by the slave trade. Samaritan's Purse runs an HIV/AIDS program there. Jonathan and I will be working with five Garifuna communities. Our assignment is to help strengthen the local churches and their ability to evangelize, disciple, and provide a moral voice in the communities. We will meet with local church and community leaders to find out what needs they have (Biblical training, resources, evangelism, children's programs, lessons on issues such as morality, health, relationships, etc.) Then we will develop programs to meet their needs. Jonathan and I spent Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday developing and translating a needs assessment survey to use to interview community and church leaders, children, and parents. We also brainstormed some potential programs we can create. Pray for us both since neither of us have done something like this before. On Friday, we interns had the opportunity to work with the animals/agriculture project. We woke up at 5:00 am to pick up 800 chickens, which we then distributed in various communities. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. "So what did you do today? Well, I delivered 800 chickens..." I got to practice driving stick shift on some backroads, which is a necessary skill here. This weekend, we interns traveled to Mayan ruins in Copan with the Andrew (country director), Laura (project leader of Perscription for Hope and married to Andrew), and Joel (project leader of McGovern-Dole school food program). It was a fun trip, although the drive itself was somewhat intense since Hondurans drive as if there is no tomorrow. This week, Week 3, we will be traveling to the Northern coast to interview people in the Garifuna communities. Pray that Jonathan and I would be able to build trust with the leaders and churches, and that our interviews would give us a clear direction for how to serve and support the churches. Pray that we would be useful in our role here with SP. As Week 3 begins, I have had some time to reflect on my experiences. Here are some initial observations: Honduras is in many ways more religious and spiritually-focused than the United States. There is a great openness to Christianity here, which is encouraging. At the same time, there is an unhealthy level of competition and distrust among the many denominations and ministries here. Pray that we would find a Christ-centered church to be involved in. San Pedro Sula, the city where we live and work, is the industrial center of Honduras. As such, the city is very much business-focused. As a result, there is a lack of activities to do here outside of the malls and restaurants. However, the culture as a whole is very welcoming and relaxed. Another observation is the importance of security here. It is not safe to walk outside at night, so we tend to stay in our apartment unless someone picks us up in their car to take us somewhere. It is common to see security officers with rifles or shotguns in front of homes and businesses, an unfortunate reality of life here. On a more personal level, it has been a challenge for me to open up to the experience. My Spanish skills remain lacking, and at times I want to shut off. On a positive note, I was complimented by a couple who overheard me conversing with a young man in Spanish at a market in Copan this weekend. They said I sounded like a Latino. At times, I have experienced what I would describe as feeling a need to "perform" or to "serve" while not feeling the genuine motives or desire for doing so. I have a tendency to feel like I must "make things happen" spiritually in my own life and in the lives of others. Throughout this year, God has been teaching me that it is not my power or ability to be good enough or to have it all together. This reminds me of a verse in 2 Corinthians 12:9, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Christ's power was made perfect in the weakness of the cross, in that he put an end to my sins. His grace is sufficient. The words from a hymn come to mind: "tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just from sin and self to cease; Just from Jesus simply taking life and rest, and joy and peace." I wish you the best this week. Thank you for your emails and prayers. Dios le bendiga! (God bless you) Stuart
]]> http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stuthomas3/honduras_2007/1188002520/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stuthomas3/honduras_2007/1188002520/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stuthomas3/honduras_2007/1188002520/tpod.html Sat, 25 Aug 2007 00:44:04 +0000 "Be Transformed" Romans 12:2

Email 1 - San Pedro Sula, Honduras

San Pedro Sula, Honduras

Hi all, I'm writing this mass email to let you know that I arrived in Honduras this past Friday. I will be working here with Samaritan's Purse for five months. Samaritan's Purse is a Christian relief organization that does relief and development programs such as AIDS/HIV testing, water and sanitation, orphanage support, and food programs. This may be a surprise to some of you, seeing as I just found out about this myself the day after graduating from Marquette. This internship came about through what I would say was clearly God's provision. I applied in March but was not accepted. At the same time I was trying to decide whether to commit to a two year teaching program in Houston. I did not have peace about doing it so I said no. There was a period of uncertainty where I did not know what my post-graduation plans would be, but the day after graduation, Samaritan's Purse called to say they needed another intern. So here I am in San Pedro Sula, a modern city in Northern Honduras. We spent the weekend getting adjusted to life in Honduras. The three other interns and I unpacked in our apartment and went to dinner with the four U.S. staff who work here. On Saturday, we went to a waterfall and climbed under the cascading water to find a small cave. It reminded me of the waterfall scene from the movie Last of the Mohicans. This week is our first week of work. We are visiting all the projects that Samaritan's Purse does here. Monday we went to an orphanage that reaches out to young girls who live on the streets in San Pedro. Tuesday we worked with a school food project called McGovern/Dole. Wednesday we worked with an agriculture project, delivering small palm trees to a remote community. Tonight we showed the video "The Passion of the Christ" in a community. I would greatly appreciate your thoughts, prayers, and emails. I'm planning to send periodic email updates while I'm here. In addition, my Skype account is stuthomas3 if you would like to talk over the internet during the evenings. Pray for me that God would protect my mind and heart and keep me in His grace. Pray that I will remain in God's presence and to be able to share His presence with those around me. God bless! Stuart Thomas
]]>