Our clinic work finished, this final full day was set aside for clean up, inventory of remaining medicine, and a short afternoon excursion. We went to an old Spanish fort. Our tour guide listened to us sing in the chapel of the fort and then had us stand outside to hear how the acoustics carried out into the courtyard. Facing the back wall he began singing incredible and powerful operatic songs. We had to sing again and then he sang again. We won’t remember much concerning the history of the fort, but we will remember always the beauty of the shared songs.
In the late afternoon we returned to San Pedro Sula to spend the night near the airport. We stopped briefly outside the city at the river of me to take pictures of the “river people” area.
We ate at the hotel where we had attended the international worship service on Sunday. On the top floor of the hotel a fine steakhouse provided us with an open air dinner overlooking the entire city of San Pedro Sula, the renowned city of wickedness in our time. From view to view I moved to pray over this city. Pray with us for this city to repent of the greed and corruption and murder that permeates this country and region of the world. We slept in a bread & breakfast owned by the same man who owns the rice factory in Seis de Mayo next to Gathering Hearts Mission which will be the production center when the electricity gets connected. This same owner is responsible for building the little church near the mission where we ministered last Sunday afternoon. Before heading out to the airport our final stop was an hour in the market. We thought our mission was complete. But behold, God was not finished with us yet
(Written now by Bill Dudney) At the market waiting for us was Marco Gomez, the manager of the hotel from Puerto Cortes, 45 min away that we left yesterday. He found a paper in one of our rooms with our itinerary and knew we would be at this market at this time. So when we arrived, he was waiting to see us and to talk to me about the Lord and the emptiness he felt in heart after I talked to him yesterday in the hotel lobby and gave him one of our witnessing tracts that we brought. I told him then about knowing Jesus in a personal way. He said he thought he was a Christian yesterday. When we were leaving the hotel I was telling Sarah that I believe Marco is going to become a strong believer and influence many for Jesus. And we both said to him that we will email him and stay in contact. So suddenly he appears in San Pedro Sula wanting to talk to us. He said this morning he was compelled to come and talk to us about the emptiness in his heart. So we talked some more about the Lord and being in relationship with Him and he was eager to pray a prayer of commitment to be a real follower of Jesus and let Jesus be Lord of his life. We all rejoiced in this and feel in our hearts that the Lord is going to use Marco in a great way. It was a true miracle of the Lord directly speaking to Marco after our witness encounter in the hotel lobby. It is so joyful and fulfilling to see Marco come so eagerly to Jesus with this deeper commitment. I gave him what follow up materials I had and he plans to come to Gathering Hearts to help with translation work with other groups in the future.
So we had a day of joy serving the Lord today in Honduras.
Over the last three days we have seen 116 people in the medical clinic and dispensed 78 pairs of glasses in the eye care clinic.
We have taught in the private and public schools. We have led English language training in the mission center school.
We have done crafts and teaching to 80 or more kids today alone as families waited to see the doctor. Eight people coming through the clinic received Christ for the first time and many others got a new Bible. Women came to hear Bible teaching on life struggles and additional training on how to sew a backpack has been provided.
It has been like a three ring circus complete with a monkey who lives down the street from the Gathering Hearts Mission Center. We are happy and we know it! How about you?
I heard Perla singing today; a year ago she couldn't even smile. Last night I took a walk through the streets of Seis de Mayo. It's been a while since I've been there for any length of time. The first person I met was the young man - he let me buy him a bag of chips. He's got a lot of potential, but he begins drinking on Saturday night and doesn’t quit until Monday morning. I invited him to join our carpentry class. I also met a new friend who is heavy equipment operator; and another who is a public account. I visited with Sonia; Gladys wasn't home. A man from Texas has started a project in Chamelncito and needs two ladies to teach. These ladies both have children and are unemployed. I dropped by Otilia’s house and discussed, among other things, the upcoming visit from the OSU engineering students. The village council is working with them on the water filter project… We had quite few in church yesterday; all of them children. Carson and Winnie presented a lesson designed just for children.
THOUGHT FOR TODAY: Yesterday, except for our own church here in the village, we stayed home and just rested. I can't remember ever spending a whole day just resting. I probably have taken Sunday off from time to time but felt guilty if I wasn't doing something spiritual. One thing I observed is that celebrating a true Sabbath has some very practical value. As I was sitting completely idle, I considered solutions to long standing problems, new ideas for ministry, insights on Scriptural passages, and so on. God knows that if we don't take some time off we will continue missing the obvious. Maybe that's why God made observing the Sabbath one of the commandments.
2/26/2012 Last night Nicholas and I went to a home cell group pretty far up on the side of the mountain by Campana. I knew most of the people there, but hadn't known where they live. Nelson lives there also. There was much praying, singing, and a short message by Oscar Chavarrina, the man who gave his heart to Christ while he was in the hospital having been left for dead. It was a very spiritual service....
Thursday the FUMC group visited the fort in Omoa. One stop on the tour is a church with great acoustics. After our group had sung hymns, our guide walked to the front of the church and sang a song of his own. I think we were all shocked to hear his voice. It's not unusual for someone here to have a gift from the Lord that is never developed because they have given up hope of ever being able. Sometimes only a few dollars would make possible the impossible…. I spent much of the morning finding jobs for Carlitos. The FUMC team went home yesterday - we had a busy and profitable time.
THOUGHT FOR TODAY: We have started having a prayer meeting in the village church from 6 to 7 AM every day which has been a rewarding time of fresh thoughts and insights.
So much is happening. The group went to ICF for church yesterday and then we had our service here at 3. More people than we’ve ever had. Marcus said people started lining up at 5 am; clinic starts at 9. Yesterday the secretary of the village council came from Sies de Mayo for a meeting. Turns out she is an RN and will come everyday if we need her. We need her!
The rest of the group from FUMC arrived yesterday. Beto drove one of the vehicles to the airport. He hasn't made much progress as a driver so thanks for your prayers. Today we spent the entire day in the villages going house to house inviting the people to church tomorrow, praying for those in need, and giving out clothes. It was a wonderfully rewarding experience for all of us.... Yesterday the teachers were preparing materials for the children's program on Monday; Perla and Carlitos stuck right with them to help.... Oscar Chavaria came today for Dr. Dudney to take a look at his throat; it has not closed as we thought it would. It looks like we will have to take him back to the surgeon to get it closed. You'll remember that Oscar is the one that was slashed multiple times with a machete, including his throat, and left for dead. He was not a Christian at that time, but now is probably the most zealous you will ever meet. He has a fourth-grade education but today read to me from the Psalms, and he reads as well as I'd. This is truly a miracle of God!
THOUGHT FOR TODAY: A number of years ago while working for a Christian institution, I started a newsletter for managers. It included employee of the month; management tips; pertinent legislation; and my favorite part, a short article I wrote on living the Christian life. I can remember where I was sitting in my office when I realized we had been doing this less than two years and as far as how to live the Christian life, I had nothing more to say. From that experience I learned an important lesson. I'll share more about that later.
Yesterday was payday; thank God again, we had enough to cover it.... Jerry and Connie Presley arrived today to get things ready for the rest of their group from First United Methodist Church In Tulsa that arrives tomorrow. They will provide medical care, presentations in public and private schools, eye clinic, construction, veterinary care, etc.... Since we arrived back in Honduras, life has been pretty typical: our dryer has quit completely; same for the air conditioner; we had problems with the white van yesterday, and so on and so on.....
THOUGHT FOR TODAY: Peter vowed he would be true to Jesus even at the cost of his life; but Jesus knew better. Before the rooster crowed, Peter had disowned Him three times. It is clear from the account that Peter didn’t know his own heart (Jeremiah 17:9). Do you know your own heart? Do I know mine? What would I really do in the situation Peter faced? I have to admit, I'm not sure. A good place to begin getting insight into that question is by reading some of the accounts in Extreme Devotion published by The Voice of the Martyrs.
I met with the president of the village council yesterday concerning the OSU water treatment project. I was troubled to hear that she's having a difficult time getting the people to participate. They're saying that they have used the dirty water for so long that they become immune to the diseases that it causes; it's too much work to pour water into the filter during the day, and they think $25 is too much to pay for one of the filters; OSU engineering department will pay the rest. Remember, that purchase would last for several years and yet they are willing to pay a dollar and a half every day for a 3 liter bottle of Pepsi. I think we may have a problem with priorities…. We continue to get things in order for the group that will begin arriving tomorrow. I think we have some really good projects and activities. Today we are going to San Pedro to tie up some loose ends and pick up Linnell Fields and a couple of her friends.
THOUGHT FOR TODAY: I continue to be amazed at how much more I get done just by getting up an hour earlier. It seems like I am getting almost twice as much done. I keep bringing it up because if I don't, I know from experience that within 30 days I will have backslidden to my old ways. I know from further experience that I won't get everything done. I've had to take the position that if it's important it will come forth as an issue; if it doesn't come forth as an issue, it probably isn't important.
Yesterday Cheryl got involved in a couple of things that she's been asking me to do for quite some time, and I hadn't done it. After I took her suggestion and went over to the manufacturing facility to take a look at some doors and other things, we got more done in the next few hours than you would imagine. Alfredo and Nicholas went to Puerto Cortes and bought lumber and a number of other supplies. Later on in the day we talked about other projects, and I think we're in pretty good shape for the group that arrives on Thursday…