wow, is God amazing!
Sorry for taking so long to post this. I got back to Sioux Falls late Friday night (11:30 pm) and have been recovering from a cold and working since then. We were given journals while in Honduras, I’ll post of copy of that here. Each day were given a verse, reflection questions, and space to write. I’ll duplicate all of that here. Sometimes I paid attention to the reflection, most of the time I didn’t, but it will be obvious what days those were
Sunday, May 17
Scripture: Philippians 4:4-7
4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Reflection: As you embark on a 13-day trip to serve Christ in a new culture, what thoughts are going through your mind? Are you nervous, excited, scared? What aspects of the trip are you most looking forward to? What are you most worried about?
I’m not one for journaling, but here it goes. I’ll start by admitting that I am writing todays entry on Monday. :) I’m not really sure what to expect these next two weeks, but I’m trusting God to do what He will do. I know God has me here for a purpose. I have no idea what that purpose is. I assume (or was assuming) that it was to grow my faith and teach me new things. I’m not so sure that’s the case, especially after getting back from Pursuit last Friday
Monday, May 18
Scripture: Joshua 1:1-9
1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea [a] on the west. 5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6 “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Reflection: What were you thinking as you stepped off the plane in Honduras today? Were you feeling strong and courageous? Why or why not? Do you believe that the Lord is with you?
It’s been quite the day. We woke up at 3:00 am this morning to head to the airport. Our plane departed at 6:00 am to Houston, then to Tegucigalpa. We touched down there at about 11:30 am local (I think). We then headed to buy souvenirs (way over priced), then to eat at a chicken restaurant. I don’t remember it’s name, but it translates “wild chicken.” It was really good. I’m not sure what time we reached the orphanage, perhaps 1:30 pm. After settling in a bit, we started playing with the kids. They were a blast! We played football (soccer) mostly, and some basket ball, taught them to arm wrestle, alto cinco (high five), and who knows what else. I still have no idea what to expect. I’m not sure is means anything or not, but I’m expecting God to do something. It’s 7:00 pm now, it’s bedtime.
Tuesday, May 19
Scripture: Matthew 18:1-6, 19:13-14
1At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2He called a little child and had him stand among them. 3And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5“And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. 6But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
13Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. 14Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Reflection: What has it been like to be with the kids? What have you learned from them?
Lets see if I can remember everything. Jesus came to serve, I wonder if I’ll ever truly understand that. I mean, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the only one who has the right to control us choses not to. No, instead He serves us. Yeah…WOW. We sang the I’m Coming Back to the Heart of Worship song during group time. I’ve under appreciated that song a lot of recent.
The kids are amazing! I’m fond of all of them, but I seem to get along with Oscar really well. He just came up to me and held my hand. That’s all he wanted, when we were singing with the kids, specifically How Great is Our God, a lot of emotions started running through my head. These kids have it really good considering the circumstances. The team of ladies in charge have amazing hearts too. God really is great! And I pray that He will continue to work here and wherever there is injustice in the world.
We also started to dig up the road, where eventually they will pave it. It’s slow work, especially for us Americans, but it was a lot of fun and good bonding. The guys on our team are really good to me
Wednesday, May 20
Scripture: Genesis 12:1-5
1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” 4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.
Reflection: God called Abraham to leave his country and his people and go to a new land. You’ve begun to experience a new culture, a new language and meet new people as well. What has your experience bee like so far?
I suck at loving. I don’t understand how my love humbles Annie. I suck at it. My God, you are might to save. These kids love better than I do. They have nothing compared to me. How lucky! They don’t take for granted the people around them. They love us with all of their being. We don’t speak the same language yet love emanates from them.
It’s raining right now. It’s very gentle, very healing.
A couple hours later: so the Lord is really cool. He wasn’t joking about the rain. Before we get there though, to start group time, we’ve been doing this encouraging thing. Tonight we encouraged both Jordan’s, Caitlin, and myself. These people hardly know me, but thank God for what they said. Amanda even related me to David. So on to the cool part. We started singing and praying and stuff. Then, Rick says it. If you need prayer, speak up. So we did, and we prayed for each other. Healing was found tonight. Sweet.
Amen.
Thursday, May 21
Scripture: Psalm 24:1
1 The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;
Reflection: What aspect of God’s creation has amazed you the most on this trip so far? Reflect on the fact that all you’ve seen is His.
Who is he, this king of glory? The Lord Almighty – He is the King of Glory.
This trip is going so fast. I can’t believe Thursday is almost over already. We just got here. Tomorrow is the last day we can spend with the kids. It will be sad, but I think we are walking them to school in the morning. It still amazes me and humbles me how how great there love is for us. They don’t know us, and we can barely understand each other.
Not really sure what else to say.
Friday, May 22
Scripture: Matthew 25:34-43
34“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
41“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
Reflection: Where did you see Jesus today?
Open the flood gates of heaven, let it rain
Open the flood gates of heaven, let it rain, let it rain
Open the flood gates of heaven, let it rain, let it rain
Open the flood gates of heaven, let it rain, let it rain
Open the flood gates of heaven, let it rain, let it rain
Open the flood gates of heaven, let it rain, let it rain
let it rain
God is amazing. I’m broken, all of us are. It still amazes me how the 18 of us can be vulnerable in front of each other.
The kids are amazing. It still amazes me how much they teach us and love us. May God bless them always.
We got a break from manual labor today, as we finished the road work yesterday. In the morning, a couple of us went to a small village. The rest of us watched High School the Musical 2 in spanish. It was fun. After lunch, I went with the second group to the village and bought some stuff including a sling shot. After that, we got back and caught the end of Enchanted, then Bridge to Terabithia. THen supper, then time with the kids (we acted out the story of Noah), then group time. I love group time. We finished our encouraging thing today. We’re off to El Pariso tomorrow.
Saturday, May 23
Scripture: Psalm 68:4
4 Sing to God, sing praise to his name,
extol him who rides on the clouds [a]—
his name is the LORD—
and rejoice before him.
Reflection: As you prepare to worship God in church tonight, write a prayer of praise to Him.
Church was cool tonight. We are in El Paraiso now. Jordan, Rachel, and Tyler are my room mates. My mind was going wild at church. I couldn’t understand anything they said, but you could feel and see the spirit moving there. I was was again questioning my freedom in things, and was very distracted by these things. You would think after last week, things would be fine, but nope, just different. The power went out during the service. It was raining. It has rained every night for the last couple of days. Healing rain, I think so.
Sunday, May 24
Scripture: Psalm 150
1 Praise the LORD.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.2 Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,4 praise him with tambourine and dancing,
praise him with the strings and flute,5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD.
Reflection: What were the worships like yesterday and tonight? How was it different from what you are used to? How has your experience in El Paraiso been different from your time at the orphanage?
I showered today. First time in El Paraiso. It was actually pretty cool. We used buckets and dumped the water on ourselves. Water was cold, but that was to be expected. I’ve had a pretty bad cold/cough since last night. I slept most of today. There was a football (soccer) tournament today. Americans did alright, but we didn’t win. We helped lead the youth service this evening. The church services here are amazing.
Ben and Tyler were sick today, they had the same symptoms of each other.
Good night.
Monday, May 25
Scripture: Luke 9:23-25
23Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.24For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. 25What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?
Reflection: What has been the most challenging or most difficult aspect of this experience so far?
Today, we visited a kindergarten in the morning and a school in the afternoon. We sang songs, (acted out David and Goliath in the morning), played games with them. Our time was short, maybe half an hour or 45 minutes at each.
We had group time this afternoon too. First time since the orphanage. It was very emotional for me. First, I really suck at treating God like He is enough for me. Actually I hardly every do it. Usually to sin, walk a close line to it, or think about it to much. Then comes the part that really gets to me. The bible says every one of these things is punishable by death. I’m a complete mess. I’ve broken every one of the 10 commandments, probably all with the last couple of days. I almost never get the 2 (love your God, love your neighbor) commandments right. In the midst of all that, God still loves me the same, still chooses to offer His son as a sacrifice for me. It’s crazy and I don’t deserve any of it.
Tuesday, May 26
Scripture: Isaiah 55:8-11
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the LORD.9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.10 As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Reflection: What has surprised you the most about God on this trip? What have you learned about Him?
I write by candle light tonight. The power is out, storming too. Rain, lightning, thunder, cool. This morning we were suppose to go to a school or something, but because of the sickness going around, we ended up waiting for a doctor to come see us. THey got us some stomach pills, and feel really bad, but we are in good spirits. We are glad they didn’t assume swine flu and deport us. Morgan: ”We would be on TV!”
We hung out with compassion International kids in the afternoon. Songs, Bible story, games and toys.
The verse for today really struck me. I still don’t get this freedom thing, but I will live for God’s will, for His thoughts are better and higher than mine.
Wednesday, May 27
Scripture: John 13:34-35
34“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Reflection: What is your host family like? How are you dealing with the differences in language and culture? Despite the differences, are they seeing the love of Christ in you?
I’m staying with pastor Andres, so things arn’t bad. I’m starting to get some spanish down, and communication is easier then expected (thanks to hand actions).
I was sick today, it was the sickest I’ve been on the trip. I tagged along to the school this morning, but slept all afternoon.
Thursday, May 28
Scripture: Matthew 20:26-28
26Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Reflection: What have you learned about serving on this trip? How has He used you?
…
Friday, May 29
Going home! Reflect on the trip. Best experience? Most challenging experience? Best memory? New relationships?
We made it home. We left El Paraiso this morning at about 8:00 am. We left on time, which was cool. Plane ride was fun, we watched Yes Man during the flight. When we got to Houston, I called my mom and told her I’d made it to Honduras safe and sound, then told her I made it back alright.
Overall the trip was amazing and I learned a lot. I want to go back soon, and I hope I get an opportunity to.
Thats all folks…
Well, maybe not. You might have noticed that I left Thursday, May 28 blank. I didn’t journal that day. It was the biggest day for me. I’ll tell you up front there there are not words to fully describe what happened that day. I’ll attempt now to talk about it, but if you want to know more, call me up. I’d love to talk more about it.
There was an earthquake at about 2:30 am that morning. A couple of houses feel down in the city we were staying in. Pastor Andres went to see if there was anything we could do in the morning, but we ended up just sitting around.
That night, before supper, we had some group time. We were talking about how we felt like the second week had been less productive. We hadn’t made as many lasting relationships like the fist week. Many of the kids we saw, we only saw for less than an hour. It was beating us up a little bit. Then, Andres came and interupted us. Note that he doesn’t speak english and there is no way for him to know what we were talking about. Any ways, he sits down and starts talking about how he would understand if we felt like we hadn’t made a big impact. Talk about timing. But he goes on to say how there has been an Italian priest in town, who had brought a lot of money. He was preaching against Christianity, saying christians arn’t good people and really persecuting the church. Many of the non-believers in the city were starting to follow him. The pastor told us how our presence in the city had changed many, especially those we came in contact with (teachers, members of the church, etc) beliefs about christians, how we arn’t bad people, that we do do good. Many had been calling Andres and the mayors wife
We thanked God and praised Him for using us, 18 kids (well, 17 and Rick). All we did was share a little love. And some praise and worship, we ate with all of the host families. They encouraged us, laughed with us (even made some jokes about our eating habits (and how we were the first to put peanut butter on Andres’ mothers famous tourtias, a new greengo-Honduran dish 
). After that, we translated the lyrics of God of this City for them and sang it for them too. Then, the Hondurans got in a circle around us and prayed for. We then got around them and prayed for them. It was one of the most amazing nights of my life. I just kind of turned and looked up at God and told him “You never cease to amaze me.” At this point, things started dying down, and I assumed my purpose in Honduras was coming to an end. It was late, and the bus was leaving at 8:00 am the next morning.
I was wrong.
A little bit later, everyone had gone home. It was Andres, Oscar, Rachel, Tyler, Jordan, and my self. We were sitting out in the courtyard talking, and I’m not entirely sure how we got on the subject, but Rachel ask Andres to share some miracles he has seen. Well, he did.
The stories he told changed my life, right then and there. I was sobbing most of the time, and couldn’t stop thinking about how little faith I have. I also think this is where I’m going to stop my story telling today. I want to you the stories I heard, but text without emotion on a webpage wouldn’t do them justice.
Our great God
I realize I’m not a very good journaler, but I hoped my story touched your heart about how great our God is. It’s my prayer, for both you and me, that God will grants us wisdom, faith, and strength to live for Him, to live like he truly is enough.
Thanks for reading, I’ll be posting a few more fun things in the coming days (hopefully).
Grace and Peace to you,
Amen