MY REDEEMED SOUL REJOICES

Fugata Deluge

Last night we all went to the park that is just a few blocks from our house for a fugata (bonfire). There are 105 steps to the top. I counted them. Last time we did this there was a pretty good size group from the church who came. This time it was an even bigger group. Someone took a pickup out to Yarusin and Crucitas and loaded the front and back with church members from there. The plan was to have a time of prayer, singing, a little preaching, some fun games and to eat something. The first four things went great. We got in line to get our food - tortillas, refried beans, part of a tamale and chorizo (which looked suspiciously like wieners). I don't eat weiners or hot dogs. I can eat most anything but those things kill my stomach, so I gave them away. The problem came when it started sprinkling, then pouring. I got under a tree and continued to eat tortillas and beans mixed with rain. I was hungry and I don't like to waste food. Its a little weird to be eating while you are getting drenched by rain.

We decided it was time to pack up and get out. The lightning was flashing and we were up on top of a mountain. It didn't seem like the smartest place to be. I stayed behind to try to pick up some of the trash. (What is it with people that makes them think they should just throw plates and cups on the ground)? I was doing okay until my eyebrows got soaked and the dam broke and all that rain went into my eyes.

I started heading down the hill with the stragglers. The rain was coming down so hard that there were rivers of water coming down the steps. At the bottom we were helping each other climb over the rocks and through the streams to get to the road. I helped a few folks across, said goodbye and started walking the three blocks to our home. I really felt sorry for the folks from Yarusin and Crucitas because they had to ride on the back of the pickup in the drenching rain for twenty minutes and then walk home once they got to their village.

Just as I got inside the house the lightning hit real close. I don't care much for lightning as I was struck (indirectly) and knocked unconscious when I was a kid. I stripped down to my undies and went to find a towel still thinking of those folks who were in the back of the pickup getting soaked.

Well, such is life here in Honduras. During the rainy season we get wet. There wasn't really any solution to the problem except maybe thinking through the decision better about having an outside gathering during the rainy season. Maybe we learned a lesson.

Moms and Granddads

Last night we had our Friday night small group. One of our regulars is a member of the church we attend. His mother and grandfather came to our study. That doesn't seem so strange or unusual to most of you but here in Honduras, it is. My Spanish still leaves a lot to be desired so I'm not positive that I got everything right but if I did I understood the grandfather to say that he hadn't seen his daughter in eleven years. He said he hadn't seen Selvin since he was six. Selvin is now married, has a son three years old and another child on the way. He and Yulie (pronounced Julie) are legally married and attend our Saturday night group of newlyweds.

The reason this is so strange is because it is common as houseflies here. A man starts a family, stays with them for a few years and then finds someone else and starts another - often trading time between them. One family may or may not know about the other until years later. Most worldly men would probably think this is a pretty good deal except for the expense. It isn't God's way. I know a lot of people don't think God knew what he was talking about when He laid down the rules about one man, one woman until death do us part but after seeing the torn up families here in Honduras it is clear that God knows best. (Not that things are much better in the rest of the world).

Our goal as we work on our project Building Strong Families is to change this culture of thinking. It will be better for the couple, the children, the church and the community. May God help us.

Opening Up - The Blog - Again

I never actually closed this blog. I just haven't written anything here. But I'm thinking maybe I'll use it as an outlet to my ponderings. I fasted for three days a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to pray about our financial situation here, about my good friend, Dave, and his recovery from a stroke and for my son, Jared, as he works in disaster relief in Joplin, Missouri, where a tornado struck recently. The fasting went okay. I've done it before. One thing I noticed was that my nose gets finely tuned to odors - especially bread baking. I'm not sure why because the bread here is pathetic. No matter what shape or form it has, it all tastes the same. My wife's friend mentioned that she complained about this in one of the bakeries. Their response - "you are not from around here are you?" She isn't. She moved here from a town about two hours away, where they apparently know how to bake bread.

Our finances improved this month. Dave is back home recovering. My son is working, he says, in a bubble. He's doing a lot of the coordinating of relief groups. He hasn't even seen the damage from the tornado. He's more in danger of going crazy dealing with volunteers than getting hurt using a chainsaw. He told me yesterday (over our MagicJack) that he met with someone from the circus that had already been scheduled to come through town before the tornado came and that she wanted to use her elephants to help clear up debris. He couldn't allow that, of course.  Its against town ordinances.

My wife and I had a long conversation a few days ago. Would our first year have been less stressful had we not come to Honduras on half the money that we knew we needed? Of course it would, just like your life would be less stressful if you had the money you needed. Not having it though helps us depend on God more for what we really need and helps us decide what it is that we really do need, not just what we want.

Enough pondering - for now. My soul rejoices that I even have the ability to ponder anything.

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog.  My soul rejoices that you have come for a visit. This blog is about my family and me as three of us live and work in the beautiful western highlands in Honduras.  We'll be working with a team of Hondurans, Salvadorans, North Americans and a Dominican Republican to help plant, grow and edify churches throughout the Occidente area.  We'll be helping with medical, dental and eyeglass brigades from the USA.  My wife and I are specifically working on a program called Building Strong Families in which we plan to help weak marriages become strong, good marriages become better and prepare young people to make a committment to God to remain chaste until they marry.  We also want to help the many single parent families who struggle to raise their children in the right way. Take a look at the photos to the left and you'll see what we do.  From Santa Rosa de Copán, I'll be writing about what's going on in our lives and what's going on in my mind.  Enjoy!!!

When the Rabbi Says, "Come"

I wrote my "Wisdom and Revelation" earlier this week because I had read a beautiful passage in the book of Ephesians. God has made my soul rejoice again by blessing me with one of those coincidences he throws my way occasionally. Our congregation of believers has been watching the entire video series by Ray Vander Laan called "That The World May Know".  It is one of the best video series I've ever seen. I told our members that since few of us would be able to visit the Bible lands this series would be the next best thing to being there. Vander Laan takes us to the sites, shares with us the culture and makes applications from them to our own day and our own lives. Every congregation should see this series and it would not be a bad idea for every household to have them in their DVD library. They are rich.

My coincidence has to do with the one we watched this Wednesday night. After reading that great passage in Ephesians and coming to the conclusion that Paul was trying to get the message across to his readers that they should be reading and paying close attention to what he wrote along comes Vander Laan and tells us the importance of the scriptures as it pertains to becoming a disciple back in the days of Jesus. As young people studied in the synagogue and decided to be a disciple of a rabbi they needed to know that "There is no building block more important to discipleship than the building block of the Bible, the scriptures...."

After a wonderful description of Jesus choosing his disciples from among those who had not "made it" in the continuation of their education, Vander Laan pictures Jesus looking at those who had decided to pursue the family business instead of becoming a disciple of a rabbi because they did not "have what it takes" to be a disciple and he says, "Come, follow me. Be like me." But what does it take to be a disciple today? "Without being immersed in the text, which is the only way I know of to know the rabbi [Jesus], how will we ever know him well enough to be with him and to be like him?" 

Vander Laan doesn't just emphasize the scriptures. He states that God must be at work in the individual through the Holy Spirit but the passion must be there in the heart of the disciple. We must ask ourselves "How badly do we want to be like Jesus?"

You need to take a trip to the Holy Lands with Ray Vander Laan. It will deepen your understanding of the Bible and the culture in which Jesus grew up and fulfilled his mission. The quotes above came from the lesson "When the Rabbi Says, 'Come'" from volume six of "That The World May Know". The entire series of eight volumes - forty-five lessons can be purchased together.

Faith Lessons DVDs, Volumes 1-8 Collect all 8 Faith Lessons with historian and teacher Ray Vander Laan, and experience actual places where Biblical events took place! Ray's historical and geographical teaching will add context and depth to your understanding and application of the Bible. Leader guides are included with each DVD. Participant Guides are sold separately.

A Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation

I've been studying the letter to the Ephesians. (For my non-Christian friends who read this blog Ephesians is a short letter found in the New Testament of the Bible.  It was written in A.D. 62 by the apostle Paul to a group of Christians in the city of Ephesus in Asia Minor).

The verse that got me thinking is Ephesians 1:17 "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him...."  The sentence goes on for several verses but I began to think of the phrase "a spirit of wisdom and revelation."  How were these people to have or get wisdom and revelation?  They did not have the New Testament (it was in the process of being written at this time).  They may or may not have had portions of the Old Testament.  How were they supposed to know the will (desire) of God for their lives?

The gifts of the Spirit may have been the answer.  People in the early church had supernatural gifts. The gift of prophesy likely wasn't what we would think - the foretelling of the future - but rather the ability to share a message - to preach or teach.  The gift of tongues would have been similar except that it would have been necessary for someone to interpret what was said. But would either of these have accomplished Paul's desire - that the Christians at Ephesus know the will of God?

The situation in another church in another city makes me wonder.  Corinth had all kinds of serious problems.  They also had the above-mentioned gifts yet Paul still had to write letters (1st & 2nd Corinthians) to tell them what the will of God was.  Why didn't the Spirit say these things through those who had the gifts?  I don't know the answer to that question.  What I know is Paul wrote them a letter to tell them the will of God, which makes me believe that what he was suggesting to the Ephesians was that in order for them to know God's will, they should read his letter(s).

The same would be true today.  Think about history for a moment.  When was the (so-called) church at its worst?  Was it not when only the "clergy" had access to the scriptures?  When did the church start on the road to recovery?  Was it not when the common people were given the scriptures in their own languages?  Even before that, wasn't one of the great reformers, Martin Luther, great because he opened the Bible, read for himself and challenged the religious leaders of his day?

We live in a time when people are downplaying the role of the Bible in understanding the will of God.  Won't this lead us down the same unhealthy path that lead others to error and misinformation?  There are those today who speak of the errors and contradictions in the Bible.  They no longer believe the word of God is inerrant.  With what does that leave us?  The Spirit leading each person down his own personal path?  Don't misunderstand.  I believe the Holy Spirit works mightily in our lives but the tool he uses the most is the word of God.  The inerrancy of the Bible is of utmost importance if this is true.  An abandonement of the scriptures will only lead to darkness.

The great apostle Paul wanted Christians to read and understand what was the will of God.  There is no reason to believe his message would be any different to us as it was to the Ephesians or any other churches to whom he wrote.  As you and I seek God's will for our lives let us make the word of God, the scriptures, the Bible the core of that understanding.  In doing so, we supply the Holy Spirit the tool He needs to give us "a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him." My soul can rejoice in that, can your's?

Elephants Don't Need No Help

What's your favorite road trip memory?
Submitted by Birch Counseling.

That would have to be the time we were in Yankari Game Reserve in Nigeria when the clutch cable broke on our car while we were going to see the elephants. We traveled for two days from our home in Ukpom to get to Yankari. The first day we took the tour on the "tour bus" or the back of a dump truck - ate dust for a couple of hours but it was okay. We saw a few animals. The next day we show up two minutes late and the tour bus has already gone so I ask the ranger if we can drive through in our car. He says yes, if we will take a guide with us. So, my wife and three kids get in the back seat and off we go.

We were doing okay until I felt the clutch cable break when I changed gears. I figured we would be okay as long as I kept the car in second gear and drove slowly. We were fine until one of the kids shouted "elephants." I popped the gearshift into neutral so we could get a good look and we did. There were several elephants around us. They were mostly just minding their own business and then we saw a young one cross the road in front of us. It was followed by a very big parent. We were ewing and awing until it stopped and turned toward us and flared out its ears. I thought, "That elephant ain't happy and we ain't in the zoo."

Do you know how fast a car goes in reverse when the clutch cable is broken? It doesn't - at all. We were stuck. I couldn't get the gearshift into reverse and the elephant started charging us. He (or she, it didn't matter) would run toward the car, stir up the dust, flare its ears and make this load bellowing noise. Then it would back up and do it again. The guide and I jumped out of the car and tried to push it backwards. My wife jumped in the driver's seat and began revving the engine and honking the horn. The horn had been drowned out back in the rainy season and sounded like a mouse squeaking. Two lessons learned - elephants are not afraid of mice and two men can't push a car backwards in sand no matter how much adrenaline is flowing.

We jumped back in the car. The guide tells us the elephant is calling the other elephants (like it needs help to squash us like little bugs). One daughter is screaming. I tell the other daughter to get the video camera. The guide tells my wife, "You have my permission to make her be quiet." She keeps screaming until the guide says, "She is calling the other elephants." She stops abruptly. My other daughter has the camera going but the guide says, "Forget the camera, we need to get out of here!" Guess he's never heard of a National Geographic moment. I rev the engine and jam the gear and by God's grace it goes into reverse without killing the engine. I back up for a couple of miles before I feel safe enough to stop.

We are finally out of danger. So we push the car enough to get it into second gear to head back to the base. I'm feeling pretty good until the guide mentions that the salt rocks are ahead and there are usually more elephants there.

I Taste, Smell, Hear a Memory

When we moved to Nigeria, West Africa I was pleased to find there were lots of fruits growing all around our house. There were bananas, pineapples, papayas, mangoes and a few others.  One was of particular interest.  Just outside the kitchen window was a cherry tree or perhaps better described as a cherry bush.  It was about fifteen feet tall (that's five meters in Nigerian).  The branches were big enough that the kids could climb up them, which they did when the cherries got ripe.  The cherries themselves were light green as they grew, then turned to yellow, then orange and if they were allowed to get fully ripe, a beautiful red color.  The unusual thing about them is that they were fluted, i. e. they had ridges on them.  Each cherry had eight to twelve ridges.  I don't remember counting them.  I'm relying on my memory here.  Which brings me to my point.

The first time I bit into one of the cherries, I “remembered” the taste.  I had tasted that exact taste before somewhere, but that seemed next to impossible as I had never been to Africa before (except for a quick trip a few months earlier but the cherries weren't ripe then).  I couldn't remember ever having seen a fluted cherry but the memory of the taste was definitely stored in my mind.  The mystery wasn't solved until about three years later when I was visiting family in Alabama and I was telling them about the cherries.  My brother said, “Oh, Aunt so and so had some of those in her yard in West Hollywood, Florida when we lived there.”  Here's the thing.  I don't remember anything about living in West Hollywood.  I only know I lived there because my birth certificate says I was born there and my family tells me we did.  I do have a picture of me sitting on a pony but that's not a real memory.

My point is simply that even though I have no conscious memory of living there my mind had somehow stored a memory of a taste of something and when I tasted it again I remembered.  I think that's fascinating. 

Tastes, sights, smells all stored somewhere in the mind waiting for some trigger to release them.  And so, a little over thirty years after I had a cherry in West Hollywood I had another one in Nigeria and remembered it.

I once wrote an article entitled “I Smell a Memory.”  I wrote it when we lived in Argentina.  Every time I smell bread baking I am reminded of Buenos Aires because the bread stores (panaderias) always grabbed my nose and tried to pull me in to buy something.  I remember Mecha's panaderia where my wife bought our bread and all the good memories of sharing our lives with Mecha and her family.  

We usually associate memories to things we see but I'm convinced that some of our strongest memories are not sights but smells and sounds and tastes.  Not all those memories are good ones but the best ones remind us of home and family and friends.  God is good.  He made our brains in such a way that they can store things up only to surprise us with a deja vu moment years later and miles away.  Wish I had a fluted cherry about now.

God Is Great, Fear Is Good and People Are Crazy

I like the song my title is based on because it reminds me that someday my millionaire friend is going to leave me an inheritance.  Not something I deserve, he (or she) is going to do it just because they are gracious.  And I will use it to honor him (or her).

I like the three points, too.  God is great.  I've talked about it here on my blog.  He has helped me in so many different situations that I cannot believe how much He cares.  Its pretty amazing to think that the creator of the universe would have any concern for little ole me – but He does and I know it. He is great and He's proved it multiple times to me in my life.

But why would I say that “fear is good?”  For one, fear keeps us out of trouble sometimes.  It might not keep us from doing something thrilling (like skydiving) but it makes us be more careful if we do that thing that might otherwise be dangerous.  There is such a thing as having a healthy fear of God. There is a warning that God gave us that goes something like, “If you are considering hurting a child, it would be better for you if you would tie a huge stone around your neck and throw yourself off a very high bridge.”  If people really had a fear of God and what He said wouldn't they reconsider doing anything that would harm a child – from child pornography to molestation to even getting a divorce if it was going to harm the children?  Granted fear isn't the purest motivation, love is.  Love would accomplish the same thing but in a much better way than fear but if fear is all you have to work with – use it.

People are crazy about a lot of things.  People are crazy about money, crazy about love, even crazy about beer (remember the tastes great vs less filling commercials?)  People are crazy about God, too. Why would anyone refuse to have a relationship with someone who could and would be happy to give them immortality?  Isn't it everyone's dream to live in a perfect place forever?  And if you are thinking about sitting on a cloud strumming a harp and singing hymns you have a wrong concept of immortality as God wants to give it.  Do I know what its going to be like?  No, but I can imagine that someone who can make a universe like we live in just by speaking it into existence can probably create something in which we can be eternally happy and never bored.  I look forward to finding out what He has in store.

Meanwhile, I'm waiting on that millionaire.  There are children to feed, school uniforms to buy, medical clinics to run and a hundred other works to be financed.  I'm looking forward to helping them.  While I'm waiting I can use what I do have – my hands, feet and my back to deliver food, build houses and schoolrooms.  God is great - all the time, fear is good - sometimes and I am a little bit crazy - all the time.

Nigerian Heroes

I saw some great heroes in Nigeria.  Chi was one of them.  She cares about her own people.  Even though she had a PhD from the USA and could have had a financially successful career she decided to return to her home country and help by establishing Right Steps.  Chi saves women who have been cast out of their homes.  She takes them and their children to her compound and begins to teach them how to make it on their own.  In a country with little economic benefit she still teaches these women how to start and build a business.  Chi gives them lessons in parenting and life and helps them believe in themselves.

Another hero is a man named Friday.  He was the electrician on the campus of our school.  He had the ability to  repair many of the machine problems we had on campus.  After he graduated he began a program that would help inmates re-unite with their families.  Often, an entire village would join together to forbid a former inmate to return home.  Friday meets with the inmate's family, then with the village elders and convinces them to allow the inmate to return home.  One of the ways he is able to do this is by telling them that the inmate has graduated from a series of courses he has taught. The courses cover topics such as parenting, anger-management, how to be a good husband and many other topics.  Friday even provides the inmate with a change of clothes and shoes so he can return to the village with some dignity.  

Another hero is Cliff.  He is an American who began working at a hospital in Nigeria several years ago.  He and his wife could never say no when an orphan was brought to their home.  One by one their family continued to increase and there are now over twenty children being cared for.  Unfortunately, Cliff's wife, Pam, died a few years ago of cancer.  Cliff has continued to care for the children and as each one grows he or she is given the best opportunity that Cliff can afford to give so that the child can be successful  in life.  It has been a struggle for him in many ways but his love for the children continues to make a difference.

Each of these people do what they can to make an impact on the country of Nigeria.  There are many people throughout the world who need help.  Chi, Friday nor Cliff throw up their hands in exasperation and say, “What can I do?”  They do what they can for whom they can.  Just like the starfish story, it makes a difference to this one.

I hope I can be like them in Honduras.  I want to make a difference in the lives of those who need help.