Sunday In San Fernando

This past Sunday morning began like any other morning. Around 4:30 we woke up to the sound of blaring pop music in the living room of the home where we live. We cooked oats and eggs and then washed dishes and did laundry. We decided to have our quiet time outside in the barangay multipurpose center mainly because we felt like we needed an opportunity to talk with the priest.  

You see, last week we learned that the priest heard that we were staying in the barangay and that he wanted to meet us. So with that news, we wanted to be as available as possible. So call us stalkers, sure… but we had our quiet time where we could clearly view the church. 

Mass started at 9:00 and around 8:55 a man came up to Kristy and me and asked if we spoke Tagolog. We said not very much, of course, and I ran to get Annie so we could talk to this man. We talked with him and introduced ourselves. We told him why we were in the village and what we believed about how salvation is by GRACE through FAITH in JESUS CHRIST. “…not by works so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). He agreed with us!! So we told him that we would like to talk to him after mass was over if that was okay. 

About that time the priest rode up on his motorcycle. We talked with him and just shared the basic information about where we are from and how long we will be in the Philippines. Then he invited us to mass. So we went! We knew that God was opening doors for us and we needed to take any opportunities that He would give us! 

After mass, the priest invited us to lunch. Much to our surprise, he was inviting us to lunch at N.M.’s house. N.M., about one week ago, became a believer and was to be baptized that very afternoon!! 

So we had Sunday afternoon lunch with the priest at the home of one of the new believers that we have been discipling! Talk about bizarre! 

After mass we also talked with the man that agreed that salvation was through faith alone and found out that he is a “faith healer”. So we are going to spend some extra time this week pursuing sharing Christ with him!!  

Later Sunday afternoon we had the opportunity to baptize one girl from our youth bible study and N.M. that was mentioned earlier. 

Wow. God is good. 

In one day God opened doors to share with the barangay priest and a faith healer. Two women were baptized and we finished the night off with three bible studies. 

Praise God for directing our steps.

Praise God for opening doors.

Praise God for changing lives!!

Bizarre Happenings in San Fernando!

Strange things keep happening here and in order to remember them all I keep a tab on my journal with the title: “Bizarre Happenings in San Fernando”. The team and I thought that it would be a good idea to share some of the items on our list for comedic relief 

• People sit down by the spring just to watch us wash our clothes 
• To avoid being a spectacle, we shower by flashlight at the spring before we go to bed. 
• Many people that we invite to bible study respond “later!” and we never see them again. 
• We have a bucket of water that somehow always stays filled. It’s either Kuya that we are staying with that is filling it or God is miraculously keeping it full… It’s very suspicious 
• Solution to any medical problem: Katinko 
• There’s always that one house that blares the radio during the day… we just happen to be living in it 
• Articles of clothing have mysteriously disappeared from our clothes line 
• We found a crab in our kitchen. A real crab 
• It is not uncommon to have thirty children following us at a time 
• Merienda: corn out of a can and graham cracker 
• Somehow Annie ended up calf-high in carabao poop on our way to baptize two women 
• Techno music and or love songs play as we fall asleep at night…

These are only a few of the bizarre happenings here. These moments keep us laughing but they do not sustain us.  Christ alone is our sustainer. He is what gets us through every moment! These funny moments sure do help, though!

House Church & Answered Prayers

The Consorcia health center, where the team
lives and also holds house church.

It’s funny because this post is behind schedule- I was in Consorcia about a week ago- but already God has answered a prayer request I was going to give you. For several house church meetings no one has been coming despite many people saying they would. It was a little disheartening to the team. But this past Sunday God started moving people’s hearts. It started with a Bible study at a house last week. The team was sharing with the wife, and the husband came in and started listening from the doorway. As the study went on, he sat down and began leading the discussion with his questions. The team visited the house several more times, which included a second couple, and they answered all kinds of questions about the Bible and faith. Soon they all wanted to give their lives to Jesus, and then they were the first people to attend the house church. The team was holding back tears as the men thanked them again and again for coming to them and sharing the gospel. One of the men, a former lay leader in the local Catholic Church, said he had nearly given up on God and His existence until the team came in and opened the scriptures to them.

It’s just one of the ways God is moving here. A lot of times we like to think that two months, which seemed like so long when we were preparing for this trip, is not nearly enough time to build relationships and impact lives. One might either expect the baptisms to come in droves, or to not make any at all because you didn’t have enough time to preach. But God works in us no matter what the time is. It reminds me of a verse I heard recently, Mark 4:26-27. Jesus tells a parable in which a farmer waters and plants a seed but doesn’t know how it grows. In similar fashion, though we preach the gospel and have Bible studies, the way God will bring some to salvation is unknown to us. It’s cool to see God moving though while we are still here. Pray that He continues to do so, especially once the team is gone.

-Brian & the Consorcia Team

Living at Consorcia

I rolled into Consorcia one afternoon to a huge health center unlike any I had yet seen in a village, boasting multiple rooms and two floors. The facilities have running water and electricity, and they easily accommodate the team. Consorcia is a sprawling village of over 1,400 people according to last year’s estimates.

The team is led by Kaley, and includes Anna, Charlie, Elina and the Filipina Sharon. On the afternoon I arrived it began to rain pretty hard, and right away Charlie and Anna talked about going out with the kids and taking an afternoon shower with them. If you’ve seen my early posts, you’ll know this is no act of random inspiration; it’s something these girls look forward too.

This group is the only all-girl healthcare group. The team dynamics are clean-cut and sometimes funny to behold- for example, the girls constantly disagree over who will do dishes next because they all think it’s their turn, as if it was a privilege.

That’s just one of their fun stories to tell. I could tell you how the girls were scared to use the bathroom downstairs because of the bumps they hear in the night, and their hilarious bucket solution. Or how they found a spider with a leg span of two hand widths in the bathroom as they bucket-bathed. There is no shortage of comical stories in this village!

There’s also no shortage of ministry in this village. The team has been having Bible studies with many families and sharing the gospel door to door. They’ve been having house church, which for weeks had no-shows, but now has had genuine believers coming seeking the Lord. Almost every night is Bible story night with the many children of the village, including singing songs and playing games. The team goes on exercise walks with the kids sometimes too, holding hands and singing songs and just talking. You’ll see pictures of the team holding hands and giving piggyback rides to the kids, and that’s a snippet of the action and heart of the team here.

Guess who got to name the baby, Juliana?

The children here, like many places, peer in constantly on the every move of the Americans. But here in addition to watching these kids write notes and draw pictures expressing their love and affections. The notes quickly pile up on the table through the day, each bearing a slightly different spelling of the American names than the previous. Even I got a huge stack of the letters during my short stay.

Be in prayer for the people the team is ministering to. They have met many who have eagerly received the word. Be in prayer that during these last days the team would continue to be strengthened by God to do His work. While there is little time left, God is enough to do great things.

I ate great while here, but if there wasn’t enough food for lunch I could always be sure that Anna had enough Clif and Nature Valley bars to fill me up.

-Brian & the Consorcia Team

These girls aren't afraid of playing in the rain

Bible stories with the children

Playing 'open and close the basket'

Going on an exercise walk in the evening

Being surrounded, as usual. 

Brown suger-fried bananas

The view from the balcony where we sleep

The birds who live in the health center, flying
around and nesting wherever they please

Our friend was fetching starfruit for us

The health center where the team stays.

The Unexpected Encounter: I Am Ready

Nine hours later and we had finally reached our destination. We had turned into a dirt road and drove on it for about twenty minutes. Finally we reached the river boat that waited for us by the river. We streamed over to the island of La Fi Fi under one of the most beautiful night skies we had ever seen. The team did not know what to expect but as we walked through the village towards our settlement we noticed a village made up of bamboo walls and palm leaf roofs. The people welcomed us with an amazing crab soup and rice. In a matter of seconds we had been completely emerged in the lifestyle.

The following morning we were awakened at four thirty to go cast the nets at sea for fish. The experience was unreal but there was still more to come. We were completely isolated from civilization. We came to this island expecting to give and serve yet we we received the much more in return. We came into the village to provide medical help, install outdoor stoves in three of the houses, and most importantly to love and share Gods love and gospel. This was our plan yet God had already been working on His plan way before we even set foot in Honduras. 

Installing outdoor stoves

The plan was to remain in this village from Thursday to Sunday but when Saturday arrived we were offered the opportunity and welcomed to stay until Tuesday. The team was not sure about whether to stay or leave. We did not want to alter the schedule or affect the plan but little did we know that God had a greater plan. 

Three houses down the village there was a women who was debating the same thing. She was supposed to leave on Sunday yet finally decided to stay until Tuesday. After much prayer, our team felt that there was more to be done and decided to stay.

The next morning, once again awakened to go cast the nets, one half of our team started the day by working on one of the stoves while the other half had a plan to visit homes. We wanted to visit the twenty houses but God had another plan. Around two thirty in the afternoon we stumbled upon one of the houses and watched as people gathered to listen or maybe just be polite. We talked about the island, their lifestyle, hurricane Mitch which had completely destroyed the island, but there was one topic yet to be mentioned. Little by little many stood up and left. All but two remained, the man of the house and a lady in the corner of my eye who sat quiet, yet listening. The man walked away and there we were, us and this women, Delkis. 

 
We began to speak with her and at first she was non responsive and very quiet. We asked her what church was like at the village and she said that she did not know since she was not from the island but that there was only a Catholic church. We continued to talk with Delkis and met her daughters. We found out that she was supposed to leave that morning but decided to leave Tuesday instead, the same day we decided to leave. God had a greater plan. 

One of the team members shared her testimony. Something she had said sparked an interest in Delkis because not much later, Delkis began to talk and share her story. One of the most harsh pasts I have heard. A past full of rejection from her parents since she was young, abandonment, abuse, locked up for seven years as a hostage, and simple lonesomeness as she went on through life. As the conversation continued we asked Delkis why she thought we were there and she responded: "Because I cannot continue to run away from God.” 

The conversation continued for three hours. More stories about her past came up yet more examples about how the Almighty God had taken care of her and had not forsaken her. By the end of the conversation she said the three words ignite a celebration in heaven: “I am ready.” Delkis had been laughing and smiling during the last hour of the conversation, something she said she had never done. We knew God was working in her. On that Sunday night around six thirty, Delkis accepted Christ into her life and decided to walk in the path of light. We continued to visit Delkis until Tuesday and even took her with us and took her to her next destination hours away.  

We might not know where Delkis finds herself now but we do know that she is no longer alone. She walks with an Almighty God that will not forsake her. As it says in Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Delkis will be confronted with her past and now more than ever be troubled by the evil one but she now walks with angel armies. We had a plan yet He had a greater one- a plan that led to this unexpected encounter of strangers who met in a small island in Honduras and then continued on their journey.

• Pray for the team now that we continue on our journey and have parted from La Fi Fi. 
• Pray for Delkis and her daughters as she continues to walk in the path of life. Pray that God may fill her and encourage her.  
• Pray for the teams safety and health and that God will give us peace in our decisions.  
• Pray that we will continue to be unified and work together for His glory.