Email 4 August 13, 2007
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San Pedro Sula,
Honduras
Friday, August 24, 2007
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.
