Jesus

"I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified" -1 Corinthians 2: 2

Most religions seem to portray God as having the same or similar characteristics that I believe he has. In Sikhism they see him in all creation when spiritually awakened. I would venture to say that God can capture anyone’s heart and captivate them with his creation. When this awakening takes place, that person will grasp and run with whatever belief system is close by. If I had grown up in India and was awakened to God’s majesty in the Himalayas rather than the Rockies, I may be running full speed in the direction of Nirvana rather than the cross. I was taken back by the beauty and vastness of Gods creation while he gripped my heart in Colorado and has continued to do so through the beauty surrounding me each day. I would have been running toward a dead end in India but I would have been blind to any other option because of Buddhism, Hinduism, or Sikhisms close proximity. Who is to say I can’t approach a Sikh or a Buddhist, allow him to keep his religion and his “God” or “Buddah” but offer him further enlightenment with the knowledge and revelation of salvation through Jesus, who most religions already acknowledge as a great teacher. God is God, but without Jesus, it can’t become personal. This would allow them to truly see with the “inward eye,” to have a connection with the God who has captivated them. These religions teach and enforce a standard of living and expectations to reach an inward place of achievement. What Jesus teaches is that the goal is not something we achieve within our own capabilities but something we achieve by connection with the creation and creative power around us. The only way to do this is to accept the help from the creator. The help is Jesus, he is our path, the bridge between us and God. The goal is unity between Gods will and our own, living in that unity is the challenge. Accept the gift, receive the spirit and serve with God. They already believe in the life if Jesus, but they need to know the rest of the story. He died, rose and sent his spirit. Once they know Jesus, God will handle the rest, through his word, through his body and through his spirit. We must connect Gods people with the creator that has captivated them.

I want the Bara.

"Hey teacher, buy me some food." 'What' "will you buy me something?" 'What do you want' "some zambos and a fresco." This was one of my first interaction with Jarbie and Paul. Paul is 12 and in the third grade in the public schools and Jarbie is 11 and in 4th grade. They are black islander kids who live about a mile from me and can be seen anytime at Bojangles or the grocery store. They eat every meal by begging and spend all of their free time fishing, fighting or walking around town. These kids have families and "homes" but no parental guidance, supervision, or upbringing. The other teachers and myself have been able to build relationships with them just through our interactions around town. I talked to Paul months ago about going fishing sometime and helping him learn to read. After a week or so I shrugged off the idea because nothing seemed to be coming of it and two nights ago was reminded that words stick and what I shrugged off, Paul didn't. "Hey teacher, whats up man (wresting ensues)." 'hey man, how is school, are you making good notes?' "yeah" 'How about the reading, how is that coming?' "Spanish is ok but English is too hard" 'How would you feel about letting me help you learn to read English?' "Ok, we never went fishing" 'your right, I still want to do that' "Ok first we fish in the morning then learn to read at night." At 9:30 yesterday morning Paul showed up at the apartment with two of his other buddies, Jarbie and Keko. We proceeded to go "catch em' big Bara"(Baracuda). We took a taxi into town, bought some fishing line and some shrimp on the street. We then took a bus to the west end of the island, bought some hooks, grabbed some coke bottles from the garbage and I was taught the art of coiling line. There is an art form to wrapping fishing line around a bottle and baiting the hook to catch em' big fish. We fished off a dock underneath a restaurant for about 2 hours. The boys caught tons of fish but it wasn't an art that I was able to master. I caught one fish that was about 3 inches long, but I did catch something which is better than usual. The boys didn't catch a Bara but they did catch a big long nose gar and a huge Jack. Both of these fish were immediately carried upstairs to the kitchen of the restaurant. 'What did the cook say?' "Thank you, they let us fish here if we bring them the big ones and sometimes they let us eat here; not outside, inside the restaurant." After our time fishing, we went for a swim, me in my khaki shorts and three black boys in tighty whities, haha it was good stuff. I got to tell Jarbie the story of Jesus and pray with him while the other boys were swimming. It was an awesome opportunity that the Lord definitely set up. He opened up to me and shared a lot of things that an 11 year old boy should never have weighing on his life. It was a great afternoon and I think the boys are planning to come over one day this week and let me help them with their homework. We will see, one step at a time. "we fish first"

Sports, Guitar, Jesus and a bum knee

We have officially begun playing American Football. The day after the superbowl, all PE classes began step one of learning to use a football which is "Don't kick it!" I had to explain that a football is not round like a soccer ball, therefore it does not roll properly when kicked to another student. Regardless of what I say the students still insist on trying to dribble it in the air with their feet and knees. After a week or so of doing drills we are now playing flag football and the students seem to really enjoy it when they understand what's going on (Thanks Matt for the flag belts your church donated). We also recieved 10 brand new footballs a week ago. I called my mom in the states to see if she could buy a couple footballs and send them down to us and she ended up sending 10 free ones. She went to the PE teacher at her school to ask her if she could help deflate some balls to send me and the PE teacher gave her footballs that someone had brought and given to their school for free. God is really loving sports these days. I love the ways he has blessed me and this school. Its a beautiful thing. In other news I have begun to seriously learn guitar finally. My dad bought me a guitar five years ago and it has been played by me maybe twice a year until now. I feel like its finally time for me to learn to play to worship God and lead others into that as well. So keep that in your prayers if you would along with my bum knee. I decided to start training for another marathon about a month ago and within one week, I couldn't walk without 4 Ibprofens. I messed up my knee somehow and its driving me crazy because I can't run like I would like to. I don't know whats going on with it any prayer for healing and patience is needed.
Life on the island has been very good. Some other teachers and I have begun going to an orphanage on the weekends and hanging out with the kids who live there. There are 21 kids total and one woman who lives at the home with them. As you would imagine, they don't have much supervision and definitely do not recieve the attention that is needed. The kids are a little rough around the edges but great and very open to us being there. I am going hiking and possibly iguana hunting with a few of the older boys this weekend. Should be an adventure.

Bling Blau

Here are a few snapshots of life on the island over the past months. Enjoy. I will write again soon, but I'm out of words today.


A nice swim to the cay's


Just a walk on the beach, a friend called this the "Honduran babysitter"


Daddy-o


Taking a walk through town on Saturday I was able to hang out with Christian. He was with his friend building a boat to wade out and go fishing. They were stuffing coke bottles into the cracks of this pallet to make it float and using a stick to push themselves out into the water. It was quite amusing but looked fun so a few minutes later I found myself in the water with them. Haha, I love the ingenuity of kids.


Mi amigos y yo having a day off


I love you too momma

Sweatin' it out

Honduras is hot. My fan broke as soon as I got back after Christmas but it was ok because we were having a week of chilly weather. That did not last. It is now pushing 90’s and I’m sweatin’. But its ok I shouldn’t be complaining; I would rather have this than the cold that most of you are still in. This Monday starts our third quarter at school. I am pretty excited because I have decided to approach bible classes from a different angle. Up until this point I have just been shooting from the hip on class topics to discuss and trying to teach whatever I felt like God wanted them to hear. It has been good but I feel like these next 5 months need a little more structure. We will begin to go through the book of 1 Corinthians with the 9th 10th and 11th graders. I am going to try and treat it more like a bible study for the next few months. I am still working on what I want to do with the 7th and 8th graders but I think we will continue to dig into what it means to be a Christian and eventually start to dig into a book of the bible as well. I am thinking 1 Timothy but we will see. They are hard to keep engaged. Any recommendations are welcome. Ok well in other news, I think every student in the school made and A in PE. I had 4 students not make a 100 on the exam. I hated those PE teachers who tried to make their test’s real hard so that they could feel like their subject was more important. I’m not that guy. I know my subject is important, no need to make someone else suffer for it. We have been playing kickball lately in most of the classes and I think we will begin to do some more team building exercises this 9 weeks. Another exciting thing that has been happening is that I have been challenged to make goals this year. One of those goals is to get more involved in the community around me. Its kind of crazy how we decide to do something but God already has it in the works. This little boy came by our apartments the other day and much like the story of the donut girls, we have begun to build a relationship. He has come by 4 or 5 times now and hung out for a little while last time. I gave him a coke and a soccer ball (thanks Claire, the soccer balls are getting used). His name is Renyairee (I have no idea how to spell it). He is 13 and works all day everyday selling pretty much anything. His normal day consists of selling empanadas in the morning, tortillas in the afternoon, and oranges at night. God is bringing the community to our door step it’s a beautiful thing. Thank you for the prayers. Much love.

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!