This page has been created to share with you how we find the Lord active in our midst. Our goal is to give you a taste of what we are experiencing through thoughts, pictures and the like. Please feel encouraged to comment on any post or contact both of us by email. We will also update our Pray-Requests with hopes that you would be willing to offer these requests to our faithful God. May our Heavenly Father’s guidance, Christ’s peace and the Holy Spirit’s ministry be alive and active in you.
Part 1: Brokenness
Every Tuesday we (usually Kristy) teach “Bible values” to two sixth grade classes at a local school. One month ago at Union Biblica’s weekly Monday devotion we were told that there was a chance school would be suspended the following day. Sure enough, as teachers stayed home to strike there was no school across the country.
The following Tuesday Kristy went to the school. Like many weeks she found the large gate at the entrance locked. She proceeded to call the teacher so that she might be let in, but discovered instead that the teachers were still striking.
“Do you know how long this strike will last?” Kristy asked.
“I do not know, you have to listen to the news at night to know if there will be school the next day,” she replied.
Therefore, the children had now missed over a week of school, and it was uncertain when classes would resume. Yet we must also remember that students here are in school for a total of four hours each day; this is close to half of the time students spend at school in the States. There is no potential to make up lost time. Rather, the children are being sacrificed. They will simply never learn what they have missed. It would seem the basic and foundational intelligence of each child (reading, writing and arithmetic) will have holes.
This was one month ago. To this day school has not resumed. Not only does it remain uncertain when classes may resume, but as we write there are now daily skirmishes ensuing between the army/police and teacher protesters in the capital. Each day the violence rises one notch, this was yesterday. And if you’re wondering what will eventually happen with the students… when a similar lapse in school occurred last year in the wake of the presidential coup, every student simply received a passing grade at the end of the year.
Such brokenness with an uncertain end is, unfortunately, an accurate description for many (seemingly all) of the major sectors of this society. For example:
Public safety: Depending on the source, Honduras is either the second or first most violent (by homicide rate) country on the entire planet. In the past year for every 100,000 people there were 67 homicides. For a reference point, last year the United States came in at 6 and the global average was under 10. Furthermore, as recent as 2005 Honduras’ number was 35; the number doubled in four years!
Government: Corruption’s roots run so deep… that it appears much of the political scene is a puppet show. And since the puppeteers are the few profit-focused persons who own all of the major corporations, the Honduran people like pawns are consistently sacrificed in strategic moves to make a buck (well, a Lempira).
Despite everything, we work with Hondurans that are moved by their faith, by their hope, and by their Lord’s calling.
Before we go any further with this post, we are interested in hearing your thoughts. What might you imagine to be a faithful and measured Christian response to brokenness? We are interested what you think in general, not necessarily just for us. Please add your voice in the comments (click on “leave a comment” below).
Where has July gone?
As we look forward to our third night in a row in our own bed, we can sit back and reflect on a very fruitful month of July. It actually began in late June as we helped situate and lead a group from Wisconson. They worked in schools and also led a camp (in which Jonathan was the worship leader). Then as July began we received a team from IMPACT, a short term missions preparing and sending organization of the Santa Barbara Presbytery. We worked alongside a group of five energetic women to bring the Word of God to the children of Honduras through songs, puppet shows and crafts. For two weeks we traveled with the team and worked in 7 different cities across Honduras. We worked mostly in schools. Union Bíblica already has established relationships with these schools through volunteers (over 300) nationwide giving Bible classes once a week like we do in Siguatepeque. The work that IMPACT does in these schools is very useful on one hand because it strengthens important relationships between the principals and Union Bíblica. And on the other hand it opens doors for Union Bíblica to work in new schools as others learn of IMPACT’s work by word of mouth . The work in the schools also serves to encourage the volunteers that already work there and give the kids something special that they don’t normally get to experience that at the same time teaches them about God.
A week into the time we were hosting IMPACT, we received a group of 31 people from First Presbyterian Church in Richmond, VA. The leader of this group was the church’s youth pastor, who also happens to be a good friend from seminary. Our work with this group mostly consisted of the pre-trip planning. However, it was wonderful to see how all the hard work of planning played out as their group did a large construction project at the Union Bíblica camp as well as programs in schools in Siguatepeque. The staff of Union Bíblica was very pleased with the work of both these groups. As both groups left the same weekend they both ended up at the beach for a day of relaxing at the same time. Therefore we were able to spend a little time with our friends from Richmond. Planning for months ahead of time up to the last minute, then hosting the groups when they got here, gave us a fresh perspective of the other side of planning mission trips. (Taking 36 gringos to Burger King in Honduras is no easy task!) But the new insight will definitely serve us well as we no doubt will be State side for many more mission trips down the road.
We saw both groups to the airport then hurried back to Siguatepeque to the final games of the soccer league. The championship game was very passionate, wet (as you can see in the pictures), and ending with emotions fit for the World Cup (many of the kids cried). Then that night Jonathan lead the worship service for our church’s 25th anniversary celebration.
The day that followed we had to leave the country for our 3 month immigration requirements. Three hours by car, and two hours by boat later… we arrived in Placencia, Belize. We spent our mandatory three days in Belize trying to recuperate a bit as we prepared for events to come.
The same day we returned from Belize began the annual national conference of Union Bíblica. Jonathan led worship for the conference and we co-taught two seminars for the conference entitled “Being a teacher like the Teacher” (it has a nicer ring in Spanish). The seminar included first a comprehensive overview of the entire Biblical narrative to discover the missionary attribute of God, and learning how we are all called to be missionaries in our own context. We then presented four scenes in Mark that presented keys for teaching and doing ministry in the manner of Jesus.
As soon as the conference ended, we headed off to the coast for a trip to the Cayos Cochinos islands off the coast of Honduras with the staff of Union Bíblica for the annual staff retreat. It was a wonderful time of continued relationship building with the people we work with. Yet truth be told, by the time we landed back in Siguatepeque (two days ago) we were definitely ready to spend some time in only one place for a while.
On our plate for now we have preaching (Jonathan Sunday), Sunday school teaching (Kristy) and three weekends of camps on the immediate horizon. (See prayer requests for more specificity of prayer needs) Please browse the new photos for scenes from the past month…
A week after all the incidents we wrote about in our last post happened, Kristy found herself with the task of writing a lesson on hope for the kids in the soccer league. This was not an easy task given the recent experiences of coming in contact with the depravity of this fallen world. But in this society especially, it is hard to see hope for many of these kids. The chances of them rising from poverty are slim and so the chances of escaping the cycle of violence and desperateness even slimmer. Sometimes we need to be reminded as Micah 7:7 says “to watch in hope for the Lord.” Our God is more powerful than the violent and desperate world. We have had the opportunity to be a part of several ways that God’s hope and love are being shown to the youth of this country.
June and July are packed full for both Union Biblica and the church we work with. We feel like we have been going non-stop since our last blog! In addition to our normal weekly responsibilities, we have had the opportunity to be involved with some great events in the past few weeks.
As we briefly mentioned in our last blog, we spent two weekends doing camps for teens and young adults who work with HIV/AIDS patients in their communities. It was very encouraging to see such enthusiastic, gifted young people that give selflessly to their communities.
We spent one weekend doing a camp for 6th graders from all over Siguatepeque. This weekend was an opportunity to openly share Christ with these kids. They all came from classes where Union Biblica has volunteers in place teaching Biblical values every week. But in these classrooms times we have to be careful to not openly evangelize. So at this camp through games, worship times and Bible studies we pray that these kids were reached by the Word of God and that the seeds planted in their hearts will grow.
Our church’s annual conference for adolescents also happened this month. The theme this year was “A Heart Conformed to the Image of God” using the life of David for the teaching times. Churches in the denomination from all over the country were invited to send their teens to participate in this event. About 200 teens showed up and it was a great weekend of fellowship, fun, worship, and hearing God’s Word.
Last week we were invited to spend the week in Tegucigalpa with North Avenue Presbyterian Church of Atlanta. (Home church of good friends from Princeton, Patrick and Kate Jinks) We joined them in what is now their 10th year of working with a small village outside Tegucigalpa. NAPC helped relocate these families after Hurricane Mitch. The houses, previously situated alongside the riverbed, were wiped out by the hurricane. NAPC has helped them rebuild their village on higher ground with better constructed houses and a water system. The village is very poor and does not have electricity. This year we joined NAPC in doing VBS for the kids and a women’s group for the women of the village. We were also happy to lend a hand in the old language barrier area. It was wonderful to spend the week with good friends and see first hand the rays of hope NAPC brings to that little village.
Our busy 2 months continue (see prayer requests)as we look forward to short term mission teams starting to come in less than 2 weeks, one being from our own Presbytery! Feel free to browse the updated photos from the activities mentioned in this blog.
Our eyes have been opened wider through a series of difficult events that occurred within the life of our church here this past month. A few weeks ago a young man named Emilio, who grew up in the church and whose sister regularly attends our Sunday school class, was shot and killed. Several stories circulated about what happened, but regardless it was a shocking blow to his family at home as well as his church family. A few days later the son of an elderly woman in the church committed suicide.
We experienced the church come together as a family twice that week. In the case of Emilio, many church members stayed with the family all night waiting for the body to arrive at the church. Others also got little sleep as they handled the details of the funeral and burial which took place the following day (a typical ministry of the church here). In both instances the majority of the church canceled whatever they had going on to be with the families at the funerals and burials, and each were half-day events. We did not know either person, but we learned more about the “ministry of presence” as we walked alongside the families and church members during their suffering through both of these tragedies.
Two weeks later we were blessed by the visit of Jonathan’s parents. Yet during their stay we were once again confronted with the brokenness of our fallen world. We all attended the normal Sunday evening worship service. The last twenty minutes of the evening’s gathering were set aside for some planning of an upcoming conference. Jonathan and his dad left a little early so his dad could meet some of the guys Jonathan plays basketball with weekly.
Soon after they left… a man walked into the sanctuary with a gun and began demanding purses and wallets.
Everyone was very calm and held up their purses and wallets. However, the man soon lost interest in those as he noticed the two computers in the front that were being used in the service. He made a beeline for those treasures; one was unfortunately ours. By the time he made it back to where Jonathan’s mom and Kristy were sitting his non-gun arm was too full to carry anything else, so he left.
As rattling as this experience was for everyone there, in this very moment the church recognized God’s hand of protection. This was powerfully displayed when, as soon as the man was out the door, the congregation raised their voices together in a song called Tu Fidelidad Es Grande, (Your Faithfulness Is Great/Large). We learned later that apart from the laptops no one suffered much loss. Several people removed their cell phones or cash secretly before handing purses over. Our own loss with the computer continued to be realized over the next few days as we remembered different things that we had stored on the computer were now gone.
Over the next few days we talked and processed with other church members about what had happened. There were several people who expressed the need to pray for this man who was desperate enough to rob a church at 7:30pm, without even covering his face (a known step for most robbers). In the course of talking to people, we learned that our church was the 5th church in town robbed in the last year and a few of them by what appears to be the same man. Churches are largely unguarded buildings where groups of peaceful people with wallets, cell phones and often sound equipment meet at night. They, we, are an easy target.
Knowing all the while that their possessions were the target rather than themselves, many people were nervous about going back to church the following Sunday—as to be expected. Yet as passing time continues to heal the shock of the evening’s events, and as people begin to take a few more safety precautions, the body of Christ here continues to gather with a strengthened faith in worship of our sovereign God.
A few days after that Sunday, someone broke into our pick-up truck while it was parked outside the gate to our building (between 7:30-9:00 pm). The person broke the lock on the sliding back window and left with the stereo—unfortunately not so carefully or efficiently extracted—and the battery charger for our camera. Once again (as with the laptop) we were aware that these are only material things, but all will eventually need to be replaced. Yet more than the loss of possessions we felt a stinging blow to our (apparently false) sense of security. We always lock the truck behind the gate at night. That is a rule here. However, people often leave the car outside for periods of time when, for instance, you have to take someone home later… as we did. Needles to say, you will now not find our car outside and unattended for five seconds.
This month our eyes have been opened wider, both quickly and rudely. Though not just our eyes, we also feel growing pains within our minds, hearts and souls as well. We now have a deeper insight into the lives of the Honduran people living in a country suffering from economic hardships and political corruption. We have potently experienced a unique aspect of our call here: walking alongside the body of Christ in Siguatepeque, rejoicing when they rejoice and mourning when they mourn. We understand what Henri Nouwen experienced while he spent time in Latin America. Namely, that you can go and live in an impoverished culture, that you can even have experiences that move you closer to empathy, but it will also fall short of complete empathy. We never find ourselves in their exact position. In our time here we can be ready and willing to walk with the people, to make life-long friends, to listen to their stories, to pray with them and to love them. But when it comes down to it, even when the affects of the desperate and corrupt state of their country touches us, we still cannot fully empathize with their situation. Even as we are experiencing some of what they experience, it is still only our reality for one year. They have no choice when it comes to their situation. At the end of the year they will not go back to their comfortable lives in the States. This is a heavy weight to bear.
Even if we can’t fully empathize with the people here, we have learned from these particular circumstances and continue to see hope shining in different ways. We are both growing because of what we have experienced here. We are already tasting some first fruits of the trials: seeing and feeling. We are noticing a much deeper sympathy that moves closer to empathy with the people here. Again, not quite complete empathy, but certainly closer. And related, we will never be able to read the psalms or Job as before. Perhaps you yourself has passed through such times that make Holy Scripture seem like it is alive to the point that it has a heart beat, that you can feel the blood in its veins as you move form verse to verse, and even notice that some of this blood has dripped upon you as you are reading. As we gain better understandings of the desperation born out of Honduras’ poverty, we further comprehend the importance of Union Biblica’s work. Perhaps of greatest importance: how the reach out to the children of this nation, the next generation, with God’s promises.
Hope. We have been amazed and encouraged as we worked last weekend, and will work this weekend, with teenagers that have dedicated their time to work with Compassion International. These youth are dedicated to spreading HIV/AIDS awareness. The Lord is working mightily through them as they open their lives to the Lord’s call. The selflessness and passion of these young people is hope.
We have been blessed to be a part of the faith community here for these past four months. In this last month we have felt both blessed and inspired by the faith, fellowship and hope our church community has demonstrated in times of trial. Our eyes have been opened wider to the reality of the desperate situation here that spans the country as well as most of Latin America. We ask that you would come alongside us in prayer for this country, this community, and this Body of Christ as they sing:
Tu fidelidad es grande Your faithfulness is great
Tu fidelidad incomparable es Your faithfulness is incomparable
Nadie como tu, bendito Dios No one is like you, blessed God
Grande es tu fidelidad Great is your faithfulness
What have we been up to lately? Well…
As many of you know, we have to leave the country every 3 months for at least 72 hours to satisfy immigration requirements. Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua have a border agreement that makes it fairly easy to move between any of these four countries. However, it also means that for us to leave the country, it includes all four of these countries. So, the next closest country option was Belize. We spent a relaxing, though sometimes unbearably hot without AC, mandatory 3 days on a little beach in Belize. (See most recent pictures)
Back in Sigua, we had the opportunity to visit a school in a nearby town and help out a former Union Biblica staff member with her class there. She invited us to lead their chapel service 
then do P.E with the kids. The school was the nicest we’ve seen in Honduras, and the children were very well behaved. We knew it was a private school, but the kids did not seem like they came from wealthy enough families to pay for a private school. We learned from the director that this school was funded by an organization in the U.S and the kids do not pay anything to go there. Everything down to their uniforms and books are paid for. We asked how they decided who was admitted to the school, since with such great facilities and program, many would want their children to attend there. The teacher we were working with informed us that only the children from the absolute poorest families in the community were admitted to the school. The teachers are all volunteers that love the Lord and the kids, and are committed to this project without pay. What an amazing ministry! We were grateful for the opportunity to be a part of it. (See photos)
In the life of the church here, we have continued our weekly rotation of young adult Sunday school teaching. Jonathan has had the opportunity to preach in the general service as well as give the devotional during one of the weekly prayer meetings. We put on a Saturday retreat for the 15-30 year olds at the church to help build relationships between them . It was a great day of fellowship and Bible study centered on what it means to be a missionary in one’s own context. We talked about the fact that you do not have to go to a different country to carry out the Great Commission. click here for video we put together from the days activities.
Jonathan’s work with the newly formed worship team is progressing. They are beginning to try their hands at thinking outside the box of the normal scheme for planning their worship services. Jonathan has been working well with this challenge of helping them consider what they do and why. This often proves difficult, as the people are very accustomed to doing what has always been done and doing what they are told to do (without thinking). While there is still a lot of work to be done, we are beginning to see the positive effects that come when someone is challenged to peer deeper into the depths of faith and worship. The members are showing great excitement with the opportunity to put their own creativity into planning, especially the young women involved.
This past week Kristy did a training session with the coaches of the 8 soccer teams participating in the sports ministry on giving Biblical values classes to the boys each week. They are working with very impressionable 12-15 year old boys. Some of them are involved in the churches that have formed teams, but many are drawn from the neighborhoods in which the churches are located. The overall theme of these Biblical values lessons is “How to Be a Man of Integrity.” The individual lessons cover values such as courage, loyalty, strength, responsibility, etc… The idea is that in this society, like many others, men have a great deal of power. Even if they are not in politics they run their homes, jobs, social circles and churches. But with this power comes great responsibility. The hope behind these lessons is to help the boys start thinking about this responsibility through Biblical lenses, and therefore possibly better their own future and that of the community.
This weekend we have been asked to participate in a pastor’s conference. We will be leading a two hour segment on “The Kingdom of God.” We look forward to this opportunity and are praying that we might offer a healthy and appropriate time of learning.
All of these activities coupled with our normal responsibilities have kept us feeling busy, but joyfully so. For continually updated prayer requests, see the Prayer Request page on this blog. Thank you for your continued prayers and support. Your comments and conversation on here is always welcome! Lastly, click here to check out this video we took from our town’s celebration of “The Day of the Worker.”
If your Easters are anything like ours have been all our lives, they include getting up in the morning, putting on that special outfit you have picked out for Easter and looking your best for Easter morning church service. Everything is very festive; often pictures are even taken of everyone looking their best to celebrate Christ’s resurrection.
This Easter was a bit different for us this year. We traveled with Orlando and Silvia to a small village beyond the 
capital called Güinope. Orlando had been asked to preach all weekend, as the church had recently tragically lost their own pastor. We reached this village after several hours of driving, the last hour solely on dirt roads climbing up into the mountains. Easter morning there was a sunrise service planned. We woke at 5am only to realize the electricity was still out from the night before and there was a problem with the water tank at the house we were staying at, so there was no water. So, in contrast to the usual pageantry we are accustomed to at Easter, we got up, dressed in the dark, hoping that the clothes we were putting on matched. We fixed our hair as best as possible, put on extra deodorant and headed out to the sunrise service where the praise team improvised without electricity. Well, we thought to ourselves, that was an interesting Easter morning… probably the closest we would get to that first Easter morning.
We have learned while we have been here that while this particular house had a tank that provided running water that just wasn’t working, a very large percentage of Hondurans live without running water most of the time. In conversation with Orlando and Silvia on the ride home, we learned that many people in our church only have running water twice a month. When they do have water, they fill up a very large basin and make that water last until the next time it comes. Their showers consist of using a bowl to dip in the bucket to rinse themselves with. This was a humbling and sobering thought…
As we spend more time here, we continue to learn more about the extent of the economic hardship people face here. We continue to be surprised at how the lack of financial means does not stop the people here from doing ministry within their own community. Two immediate examples come to mind. We attended a meeting for all the Sunday school teachers of the church. The meeting was mainly to plan the coming events for the ministry. However, it was brought to attention that one of the teachers discovered that one of her students does not attend school because he does not have enough money for a pencil and notebook. After discussing the problem for a few minutes, the group of Sunday School teachers and leaders decided that if they were going to do their job as a church, these kids could not slip through the cracks. Then and there they formed a committee to investigate the situation and needs of each student that was attending Sunday School to see how they could help.
Second, during a recent youth service led by young adults, it was announced that the next week’s service was going to be held at a woman’s house that used to attend the church. She has several children and is very poor. The young adult leaders explained that they were going to include this woman in fellowship by bringing the service to her since it’s hard for her to make it to church. They also explained that they were going to bring food to this woman and her family the day of the service. They encouraged the youth to sign up by themselves or with a partner to bring some basic food goods to this woman. Within about five minutes, the white board was filled with names and pounds of this or that.
Both of these instances really stuck to us. Often when we are asked to do something, to give of our time or our money, our first thoughts are one of two: no I don’t have any extra time or money, or what’s in it for me? A common realization when returning from a mission trip to a third world country is, “Wow, these people have nothing, yet they are so happy!” It is one thing to be able to be happy with nothing, it is quite another to happily give when you have nothing (Mark 12:41-44). What we have observed here, especially in these two situations, has been a beautiful picture of the body of Christ actually being Christ’s hands and feet, reaching out to make a difference in the lives of others.
Hola, Como estás? We certainly hope the answer to this question is more or less “bueno.” Do send us a note letting us know the latest with you if you have a free moment! It is a nice break to set aside a moment to check in. We have now been here for over two months. With such time we have now found ourselves in many positions to observe. Below we want to touch on a theme of particular interest to us and to most—we estimate—who are journeying with us here on the site.
In the last couple of weeks Unión Biblica hosted two teams from the States. Both teams stayed at Cerro De Luz, our beautiful camp here in Siguatepeque overlooking the city. Both teams were here for about a week. Both teams left an imprint on Honduras by means of accomplishing tangible acts of service. One team was medical professionals, the other helped out around the camp. However, only one team seemed to realize (or perhaps care enough?) that they would leave more than this one imprint. Only one of the teams honestly purposed to navigate their time in such manner that each imprint they left… would bear the Servant’s image.
So in what specific ways did they make imprints? Well, how did they react when the first stop on the way to Siguatepeque from the airport was not “authentic” food, but Wendy’s? How did they react when the food served at the camp was not within their normal diet? How did they handle differences between work styles either at the camp, when they went to schools, or in the medical clinic? When things were different, when expectations went unmet, how would the team respond?
Now as we look back on these two teams, and the many short-term teams we have either been around or been a part of in the past, each seemed to align themselves with one of two fairly easy to categorize groups:
1) A team that goes to openly serve.
2) A team that goes with a self-defined service.
1) A team that first asks, “how can we serve?”
2) A team that first asks, “where can we provide this particular service?”
1) A team that leaves their hosts feeling both refreshed in their ministry and feeling served.
2) A team that leaves their hosts feeling worn out from serving the short-term team.
1) A team that comes to learn first, and tell when asked.
2) A team that comes to tell first, and rarely learns (or teaches effectively).
Many teams fall into the second category (unfortunately at an expense to their ministry, their hosts, and the their ability to grow). It is not hard to be a 2. After all, having come up with the money to take the trip, sacrificing our time to come to a new country, and having something valuable to offer… do we not rightly arrive with a sense of entitlement?
Considering such questions that probe the motivations of our hearts and minds are one of the most important things we could do in preparation for a short-term mission trip. We need to consider these questions, and listen for the Servant’s answer Phil 2:5-8. After all, was not Jesus a “short-term missionary”?
Phil 2:5-8 through a short-term missionary filter:
Your attitude should be the same as that of Jesus Christ:
who while being entitled,
did not consider his entitlement something to be acted upon,
but made himself nothing,
spending his time from home as a servant (akin to a slave for Paul),
being made into a short-term missionary,
And being found as a short-term missionary,
he humbled himself,
and became obedient to the whatever, whenever, and wherever.
Here are some details of our recent happenings to close up:
After having a bit of a rough start, the UB soccer league 2010 is up and rolling! It takes quite a few reminders and phone calls to make meetings happen, but we finally have 7 churches signed up. The season started on Saturday with a time of praise and prayer before the first game. We are excited to see how God works in the lives of the children of Siguatepeque through this ministry.
We started teaching weekly Biblical values classes at a local elementary school this week. A beautiful bunch of kids and we look forward to being with them weekly this coming year.
We traveled to the coast this weekend (3 hours) to give another training session to another group of new volunteers that will work in the schools. There was a good turn out and they were very receptive. Of course we didn’t mind the added bonus of being able to spend a few hours on the Carribean while we were there!
Kristy is looking forward to a few relationship building coffee dates with girls in our Sunday school class this week. And Jonathan is looking forward to one-on-one meetings with the members of his worship class as a final evaluation/teaching time as the worship class wraps up.
Alright, thanks for checking in with us (don’t forget to check the new pics and prayer request list)… And we really would enjoy hearing from you!
Buen día to all!
First off we are pleased to report that we continue to be doing well. In case you are wondering, in mid-February began what they call “Summer.” Yet instead of the typical lack of rain coupled with hot sunny days, we have been enjoying cool days (80ish) with beautiful clouds. For those of you digging tunnels through the white stuff falling from the sky, feel free to come visit for a respite. We’re pretty sure they have never heard of such foreign devices as a “snow shovel” or an “ice scraper” here!
With the open invitation officially on the table (no matter where you are reading this from), please continue on below to hear a bit about the recent happenings since our last chat.
This past week we traveled to the city of La Paz (about an hour away) for Kristy to p
rovide another training workship with Union Biblica volunteers that will give Bible classes in the schools. Jonathan and another UB staff member taught the group a new song they can use in their lessons and we taught them team building activities they can do with their students. The day went well and the volunteers were appreciative of the training time. We are planning to travel to Marcala (about 2 hours away) on Monday to give the training to the volunteers there as well. There have been rumors of the coordinators of the children’s ministry on the coast asking for us to come do a training there… and as we wouldn’t mind going to the beach, this doesn’t sound like a bad deal. 
Also, Kristy led her first Sunday school lesson with the 18-21 year old class. She had fun doing it and the there was lots of great participation from the group. It is fun to see the creativity and the depth of thought that the students have about their lives and spirituality. She is currently working to set up coffee dates with a few of the girls from the class this week to start deepening discipleship relationships.
Jonathan h
as thoroughly enjoyed working with the Thursday evening worship class. The last part of our time is for those who wish to be part of the music leadership team for the church (as you can see in the photo to the left). Yet the first hour each week is worship education. This coming Thursday will be a kind of culmination of the past month as each participant will be bringing a worship service that they have created. We are anxious to see what they develop. Jonathan’s approach has been to have them investigate pertinent Biblical texts, and push them to explore deeply. The result has been such remarks as, “one thing that this text contains is the realization of our unworthiness in God’s presence, and a confession. We do not seem to take this seriously in our worship.” God at work. And looking back Jonathan had to contain himself when this was said. We have been privileged to watch God use Scripture, to be sure through the Holy Spirit, caress the wet clay as the great Potter. As stated above, we are quite anxious to see the art gallery on Thursday evening…
Yet there has been a serious challenge… the Union Biblica sports ministry has been having a harder time taking off this year than we would have liked. We are finding that it is difficult for the churches to find someone to commit the time to coaching and working with the kids during the week. However, Orlando attended a monthly citywide pastors meeting last week to drum up some interest in the ministry. After all, it is a great idea for a ministry: drawing kids in from the neighborhoods to play soccer, and having the opportunity to teach them Biblical values once a week and connect them to a local church. We had a meeting Monday to try and get things off the ground with the potential coaches, and it was very encouraging! Many churches asked for one week to confirm their involvement, yet it appears we will be hosting 8-10 churches. Or in other words, this ministry would be a consistent presence to around 300 kids.
What a blessing each of us have been given as the Lord called us to partner with him in God’s mission. As Jesus prayed, “Santifícalos en la verdad; tu palabra es la verdad. Como tú me enviaste al mundo, yo los envió también al mundo.”
