Honduras Follow-up: Praises and Continued Prayer

Financial Provision: One of the huge praises from the trip was even before we left just seeing how God has provided money for the team again this year. I will be honest that there were times I really was asking myself, "Where is this money going to come from?" Our fundraisers were bringing in an average of $30 or $40 a day, which then had to be divided among 4 people. And each participant needed about $900. Things seemed to be desperate... just the kind of circumstance that allows God's providence to shine! He provided enough money for us, and even more, allowing our ($40 USD/person) visas to be covered through the general fund rather than individually. We left for the trip already greatly strengthened in our faith at seeing God's hand at work.

Safety on the trip. Although we had many changes in our flight plans, God brought us safety to where we needed to be and sleep was all that really suffered. We didn't miss any of our ministry activities. Also, other than being really tired most of the week, no one got sick as far as I know! Praise God! We are still taking our nasty malaria pills as a precaution.

Wonderful relationships with the Honduran believers that we met. Our team especially had an incredible pastor and wife who were sold out to the Lord. They were also among the most humble and loving people I have met in my whole life. It was a blessing to serve alongside them and challenging to be served by the very people we supposedly came to serve! It was also so beautiful to live with Honduran believers and to be able to share life with them for a week.

Team unity Our team really bonded, both among the 30 and especially among the 10. We joked that we were the "reject" group, since the other teams were formed before ours... but really we know that God chose us all by hand, guided us sovereignly to go on the trip and then flourished our friendships while there. Please pray that the relationships formed on the trip will continue.

God's Leading God spoke to many people on the trip, confirming gifts and callings. For many it was their first missions trip and it was thrilling for me to be able to witness their reactions to what God was doing and to observe as their vision of the worldwide church expanded. The people that I had come to serve were now serving alongside me! What an honor to be able to see God's work coming full circle and to be able to be just a small part of that!

Ministry Throughout the week we were able to participate in a lot of ministry projects in the community of La Ceiba called Bella Oriente. The pastor lives there and our presence was able to strengthen both his witness and connections in the community as well as to strengthen the church that he pastors and present to them the challenge of the great commission. Please pray that although we weren't able to be there for a long time that there will be lasting fruit as a result of the time that we spent there.

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If you have read through both my update e-mail and this blog post then I will assume that you are actually interested in my trip and I will welcome any further questions you have personally. :-) Just e-mail me!

The Good News

This Friday in our Bible club I had the privilege of sharing the Gospel with the kids. So, here is the Easter story-- the good news-- as expressed to kids in Mexico:

As I have heard people say before, I need to explain first why the "Good News" is good. What's the bad news, first? The bad news: Even though God created us to be perfect and to be best friends with Him, we were separated from Him because of our sin, which is anything that we do that God doesn't like. (He tells us in the Bible, the book He wrote, what He does and doesn't like. He clearly tells us in the Bible how He wants us to live.)

God's team is perfection, life, everything that is good. He is there with the other people who are also God along with Him: Jesus and the Holy Spirit. That's the team where the first man and first woman (Adam and Eve) were when God created the world and them. But then they sinned and that put them on the devil's team. He has death and sin and sinners on his team. It doesn't matter if you're a rapist, murderer (sadly, the kids I work with at Amextra understand these terms better than I do) or just a kid that disobeys his parents-- if you're a sinner, you start out on Satan's team.

So, if sin is how you get from God's team to Satan's team, what do you need to do to get from Satan's team to God's team?

That's where the cross comes in. God sent His Son Jesus Christ to the world to give us a chance to be back on His team. There was no way that we could get back there by ourselves because we were sinners, not just because of what we do that is sin, but also because of who we are! Just as you look like your parents on the outside, you look like them on the inside, too. Ever since Adam and Eve sinned at the beginning of the world, every other person who has ever lived has been a sinner.

You know that Jesus Christ died on he cross, right? Why did he do that if He never did anything bad in His whole life? Well, He was killed by sinners because bad people hate good people... and Jesus Christ was perfect. While that is true, it's not the whole reason that Jesus died. He died because the punishment for sin, big or small is death. So, God knew that if He didn't send His perfect Son (who didn't deserve any punishment) to suffer in our place, we would be condemned to always be on Satan's team and eventually die not only a physical death, but also a spiritual death of separation from God forever.

So, since Jesus took the punishment for our sin and died, does that mean that Satan's team beat Him? No, because Jesus Christ then came back to life! God is stronger than the devil and Life is stronger than death.

Now, what we need to do is admit to Him that we are sinners and are on Satan's team, but tell God that we don't want to be anymore. We can thank Him for putting His own Son on earth to die instead of us. We tell Him that we accept His gift of life and that we want to follow Him with the rest of our lives, totally turning our back on anything that has to do with the way that Satan and His followers live.

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It was such a cool experience for me to teach this lesson when I did because in a sense I was preaching to myself and I felt the truth of this "old, old story" sink deeper into my heart and penetrate anew every fiber of my being from my emotions to my convictions to my actions. A vivid consciousness of the unfathomable love and sacrifice of Christ makes the celebration of Easter so much sweeter. Reflecting on His death that brought life makes the temporary parting that we experience with other believers so much more bearable. And as I reflect that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life," I am so much more energized to take that truth to Honduras!

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P.S. If I was incorrect, incomplete, or unclear on any of these points, please correct me! This is too important of a message to be telling wrong!

If

By: Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!