Go, Listen, Love

A man came to the house of his friend and asked him for some food but the friend turned him away because him and his family had already gone to bed. The friend would not get up and give the other man food because of their friendship but because of his persistence. The person who is asking will receive what he requests because of his persistence. Jesus says in the same way “ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened”

We must ask; there is a role to play for everyone. Many times we as Christians find it easy to sit back and say I will wait for the Lord to give me direction without every asking or looking for it. We go to a small group on Tuesday, worship on Wednesday, and church on Sunday; then feel like we have accomplished our Christian tasks for the week. Being a follower of Christ does not mean go to other Christians, go to church or go to another improvement meeting. Jesus’ call was to follow him to the broken, to those in need and to the ends of the earth. This does not mean that everyone should quit what they are doing and go to Africa of India but the call is clear that we are to love and care for our “neighbor.” Your neighbor is anyone in need; the man in church who just lost their job is your neighbor, so is the guy asking for food downtown and the woman who is working 3 minimum wage jobs with 2 kids and no outside support. The lonely old man who lives down the street and only gets out of the house to get his mail is your neighbor, as well as that college student whose dad cheated on his mom which ripped their family apart, and the rich couple who seems to have everything but you see through the nice car and big house into the emptiness of their jobs and relationships. These are your neighbors and that is who Jesus calls us to love. Some are called to their neighbors in Africa, Asia, South America and other places around the world and maybe that is you but I think more overwhelmingly we are called to the person right next to us. Love them, Show them the way to Christ. This is a challenge because of the investment that is necessary; Jesus never just walked up to someone and began to tell them that they needed to accomplish a list of chores and then would be selected to enter heaven. He went to where the people were and allowed them to come and listen. Many times he would attract them with the power of God through miracles or he would gain their attention by sparking conversation. He asked the Samaritan woman at the well for a drink of water, then waited on her to take the conversation further. He did not force himself on anyone but he took a step out and allowed that person to take a step forward before he continued. In order to share what Christ has given you, you must take a step toward those who God is calling you and allow them to come and listen. Build a relationship and earn the right to be heard. This will look different for everyone and may look different in every situation but what we can all do is look for where God is at work already and go there. Get involved in what God is doing and look for openings to move into relationship with a neighbor. As you move closer to someone and begin to build a relationship, learn to love them by listening, and always pray. Sometimes your weaknesses are your greatest strengths. That person will be drawn to you as you listen and learn, they will be loved and given worth as you do this as well. Open you eyes, open your heart, allow God to pour in as you continue to pour out.

I got a minute

The 2nd quarter is coming to an end. Exams are next week so I have been making a test that consists of questions like: How many players are on a basketball team? and How do you hold a hockey stick? While the students stress out about my ridiculously hard PE final, I have also been creating their final for bible class. They will be writing me and essay that tells their life story. They can tell me as much or as little as they want. There are some guiding questions that have to be asked but the depth to which they go with it is up to them. In order to give them some clarification on what I expect, I have been sharing my story with each class this week. This story includes a great family, a roller coaster of emotions and drama with friends, some empty fulfillment with weed and alcohol, and the ultimate redemption of Christ and his work in my life. Its been really encouraging to see how attentive they have been as I have shared and to see excitement from many of them as they start to write their own stories. I am excited to read what they have to say. That is a quick update on my first week back to the island. I'm going to go now because the sun is out for the first time since I have been back. Much love!

Expected Generation

I have been SLOWLY reading through the old testament and here are some things that have come up. Moses guided the Israelites to the land flowing with milk and honey, the land of Cana. He sent spies to see if it was a good land and what it was like. The lord had told them: “send spies to look at the land that I will give to the people of Israel.” The spies returned and told the people it was an impossible land to conquer because the cities are strong and the people are giants. All but two of the spies brought back this same report. Caleb and Joshua came back declaring something different. They said “the land is great, flowing with milk and honey. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will give it to us. He has removed protection from the Canaanites.” In other words; the Lord said it was ours, we should believe him and go take it. The people were about to stone Caleb and Joshua but the Lord appeared. God said none of this generation will see the promise land but Joshua and Caleb because they did not doubt. Because the people doubted what God was going to give them, He waited for an entirely new generation.
In the same way, I believe the majority of Christianity has neglected Gods promises, Both promises of blessings and suffering. Ignored and doubted his power and touch. We have neglected his reality and desire to know and use us. We are invited to be a part of what he is doing now physically and spiritually yet we have settled for an idea or a good story. He is real and active. He has called us to first believe, listen then to go and do. I believe we are the new generation of Joshua. He is calling us and waiting for us to come. We must go, we must run full speed into the unknown of his promises. If you want to follow Christ and be a part of his story He says to leave it all behind. He said, “Take up your cross daily and follow me.” Bust down the door, cry out for his presence, expect him to show up and follow through. He is ready. Am I?

Kickin' Rocks

So after being here for over three months, I feel like I kind of know what I am doing. The planning is coming easier and the kids seem to be responding to me and not testing me so much. Here is a little catch up on the last month:

!We wrapped up the first quarter of school about three weeks ago. We took an entire half day to watch the Passion of the Christ with all of the high school students. It was awesome to see students eyes become open to the reality of Jesus' suffering.

!We have had one high school girls soccer game and one boys game. Both teams lost their games but played well. We have another game for the girls tom., wish us luck.


!The other teachers I live and work with are awesome and we seem to have a new adventure every weekend. We spent a weekend at a hostel in a very secluded part of the island, We dressed up for Halloween as a local Cell phone company and power company, Spent some time at the beach with the donut girls, went to a floating restaurant and many other adventures that come with being a teacher in Honduras (no seatbelts, plenty of truck beds, mosquitoes galore, new smells, and a very slow lifestyle.)

!I ordered new soccer and volleyballs! I really underestimated the students passion for soccer and overestimated the strength of the balls that I brought. We are down to 4 "nice" soccer balls for the team, three plastic ones for recess, and 2 volleyballs, but reinforcements arrive this week. Thanks for your support. The kids here will literally kick anything. When I won't give them a ball, they will play a game with a bottle, a bottle cap, a rock or anything that will more across the ground.

Writers Block

Sorry I my brain is too tired to write anything meaningful so ill let pictures to the job:


Calling it a day with avocado smoothies, Soo Good!



Family Foto


Pep corner with Mitch Voth



Game time! Thanks to everyone who is supporting me and this school. The money for soccer balls and other equipment has brought a lot of joy to these kids and made my life much easier here as a PE teacher. Much Love


Gotta love em'



Seniors, if you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch with the pups



Donut girls at the beach con yo y Amy



Just a day at the beach

We got ourselves a game!

So we have been having "soccer practices" for about a month and a half now. It has been tough because the players have no discipline and have never been required to practice. Sometimes players show up and sometimes they don't. So last week I wrote up a contract and sent it home with anyone who wanted to be on the team. They had to sign it as well as their parents. The players are now expected to stay at school from 2:30 to 5. The first hour is study hall and 3:30 to 5 is practice. We have had two boys practices and two girls practices. So far every practice has had a full team. The second problem has been that we have no games scheduled, the public schools get out in two weeks and every other soccer coach on the island speaks Spanish. I'm working on the Spanish thing but its coming SLOW. Both of these issues have been stressing me out a little because I felt kinda like I was being thrown to the wolves with a soccer team that had no structure or direction. Its been a blessing to have the students respect our new practice model. It took a lot of chasing kids through the parking lot to make them stay but, its working. So the game thing. Without games, the kids have no drive or motivation to train. I knew we could only keep practices up for a limited amount of time without games. So yesterday while we were practicing, a man was watching us play so I went to talk to him while the players were doing some drills.

He spoke just enough English for me to understand that he was a soccer coach also. One of the injured players came over and helped me with the translation. After a 10 minute conversation of nodding my head and whispering, "what did he say?," we had a game scheduled for next week. So as of now we have our first boys game scheduled Tuesday as 6. Also as I sat down to begin this blog, one of the girls from the team came in and said another school wants to set up a game for next week. They will be sending an invitation to play for Friday of next week. So we got ourselves some games! Things seem to be getting on track with the sports finally, its a beautiful thing.

Aside from the soccer teams things at school are going great. We were using the parachute in all of the elementary school classes and they LOVED it. I mean how could they not.

Dounuts galore!!

So about a month ago, these 3 little girls stopped by our apartments selling donuts. I was so stoked because it was a rough day at school and nothings sounded better than to sit back and eat a bunch of sugar. I think the teachers that live on the hall bought the little girls out for the day. When they went to Amy's apartment, she showed them love through chewing gum. The girls were so excited and had both pieces of gum in their mouths before they reached the door. they came back a few days later and we went through the same routine. This scene repeated itself for about 3 weeks, each time the girls began to stay a little longer and talk a little more. They don't speak a lick of english so it's giving us an opportunity to practice. Amy has taken these beautiful little girls under her wing and has been showing them the love they may have never experienced before. They are now waiting on the steps outside our apartment almost everyday when we come home from school. They usually stick around and hang out for about an hour. Our time consists of playing memory, drawing, learning geography with the world map on the wall, getting smoothies, and a lot of Spanglish. These little girls are 9 and 10 years old and work selling donuts for their mom from the time they get out of school until dark and the entire day on Saturday. They live in a home with 6 other children and are obviously not a part of high society. It has been a beautiful opportunity for us to love them and allow them an opportunity to be kids with our full attention for an hour a day.