Email 7
Trip Start
Jun 29, 2007
1
7
Trip End
Nov 16, 2007
San Pedro Sula,
Honduras
Monday, October 1, 2007
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
