Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday
We started off the day Monday hearing Pastor Geovany describe la iglesia's focus on the Gospel and the projects they've developed to connect people to the church and train disciples. An important aspect for them is serving the "most vulnerable"--that is, children. Geovany explained the vast physical and spiritual needs of children in Honduras, from the 40% who are malnourished, the orphans of parents infected with HIV, to the prevalent mentality of salvation-by-works held by adults in the community. Our team was very solemn as he showed a video of a boy named Angel with no legs and one arm, saying that it would be a tragedy for kids like him not to live long enough to hear about Jesus Christ.
Wow...
What I cherish most is the biblical teaching for students at the bilingual school and the daycare in Limón. Many of their parents are not Christians, and especially at Limón, the kids play a role in witnessing to them. Over the summer, I even got to see one of the teachers and a girl talk with her mom about Jesus, which resulted in her deciding to follow Him. It was then that witnessed God's light shining through these kids as a powerful reality to the community.
Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young. But set an example to the believers... (1 Tim. 4:12).
I've been thinking a lot about missionary projects, what's actually biblical and what's not. Here's something I read this morning from Revolution in World Missions:
"The church of God, let me repeat, never ceases to be dependent upon the life of God for it's maintenance. The trouble with the social gospel, even when it is clothed in religious garb and operating within Christian institutions, is that it seeks to fight what is basically a spiritual warfare with weapons of the flesh."
Lord, may our focus ever be on proclaiming to others your good news! Once we turn from "seeking first the kingdom" to just doing "community service," we settle for less than You have for us. Teach us what it means to have the faith of a child.
Limón
Limón is possibly my favorite place in the world. I'll show you just a few reasons why:
Three boys of the malnutrition clinic (Aww!)
John, translator Armando, and some kids about to get hurt
Danny and the other boys are trying to tell me which futbal teams to like
Our favorite recess activity (although I obviously have no skill)
Jose David. Is it okay to have favorites?
Three more of my boys
I spent a lot of time working with Yajira and Oneida at
the daycare over the summer. (See how tall I am?)
This is the place and these are the kids I worked with over the summer, teaching Bible studies, helping with homework, playing, and providing lunch. We were here on Monday for a tour, and I also spent Wednesday and Friday with them. God has really blessed me by putting each of these kids, along with their stories and personalities, into my life.
Pray for them. Pray that they would have enough sponsors so they can continue to come to a place that is safe, loving, and teaches them the Word of God. And pray for another committed worker, because there is already more work than just the few staff members can do on their own. The latter request is based on what I experienced over the summer--I think anyone who God puts there for a time will have plenty of work to do!
Dirma
In Limón I met my dear friend Dirma. She is now the English teacher, a position that has needed to be filled since June. She has strengthened me through many struggles, and her love for the kids at Limón is incredible. Being her friend has given me more assurance that we in America and those in Honduras need each other, if not for any other reason than that from Him [Christ] the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part, (Eph. 4:16, HCS).
Dirma and myself in July
Xiaozhen
No, that's not a Honduran name. Xiaozhen ("shao-jin") is a woman from China studying at my university. We became friends last year when she walked into her first church service because she like the music. Just over 3 months ago, she gave her life to Christ and consecutively decided to come to Honduras with us. When I heard this, I was pretty excited because, as some of you may know, most of my friends in college are Asians.
Xiaozhen with Antony, a son of one of the leaders of la iglesia
But I had no idea what to expect with her.
Xiaozhen is a woman of great faith and love. And she has the gift of speaking--by that I mean she can talk longer and using more obscure metaphors than anyone else I know. She has this incredible ability to appear as sweet and innocent as a 5 year old, yet also as serious and bold as an army veteran. Sometimes members of our team would get agitated with her being notoriously late, and there was a unanimous dread that she would share during a Bible study and talk until we ran out of time.
But in the end, I believe God humbled us all through her. On Monday night during a dinner for all the leaders of la iglesia, Pastor Geovany asked if she would share her testimony. Throughout her 40 minute spiel, I couldn't help but smile from ear to ear during her analogy of a storm to God's love, along with half a dozen other metaphors. As she spoke, I recalled pastors who spoke over the summer about how missionaries need to go to Asia and how places like China are full of lost people. So to see her in front of 50 of us, describing God's love and grace in a way that none of us could, spoke volumes to the church leaders about how God was moving outside of the world they knew. Surely, the places that were formerly considered the "mission field" are now themselves sending out missionaries.
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong, (1 Cor. 1:27).
I could speak so much more about what I've learned from her, but I'll end by echoing her words that God's love is the most powerful and all-consuming thing on earth, and he will guide you step by step if you will reach out Him.
Notes:
- To find out more information about supporting a child at Limon, check out http://www.greatcommissionla.com/child-sponsorship
- To purchase coffee and find out more about Casa Hogar Vida (from yesterday's post), visit https://www.facebook.com/casahogarcoffee
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