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| Well, I am switching to blogspot because apparently, that is what grownups do. http://thethingsthatarenot.blogspot.com/ | | |
| Update 12/9/07Hello friends and family!
Greetings from Honduras once
again! This has been a very busy and exciting month. Chali returned
home from last Thursday after a very fulfilling time here. Because
Chali's trip was shortened by our sudden trip home, she had to teach her
remaining hairstyling classes in only two short weeks. But she did well
and the girls learned very quickly. They even went on one trip to a
remote village the church often tries to help called Palenque.
Chali and her students cut hair free of charge and also treated many of
the children's hair for lice. It turned
out to be an excellent way to show the love of Christ to those who live in the
area. At the end of the trip, Chali was
very confident with how quickly her students learned and that they will be able
to use their new skills in the future.
I'm excited about where the Lord is
taking this ministry and my work here. I
told you in my last update that I felt God wanting me to work more with the
children's ministry here and maybe be able to even do ministry with some of the
children on the street in the near future.
Well, it seems everyday God is acting on this. This month, I started working with my friend
Gloria's ministry downtown. I am
teaching English to her preschool class every Monday. Most of these kids are from families who
would otherwise have trouble raising money for their education. Not only do they get a good education at
Gloria's for a good price but they get a lot of opportunities they would not
otherwise have—such as learning English.
I am deeply enjoying helping out with this ministry and coming up with
new and creative lessons to teach these children some basic English.
This ministry has not been the only
one presenting itself. Some friends of
Jim and Teri work with street children and said they would love help maybe once
a week as well. Also, there are two
girls from our church who live near a river in town. They are sisters—one in University and the
other in Jr. High. One day, they were
talking to Teri about the river and how there were squatter homes and poorer
houses all along the river. Teri
encouraged them to do something about it.
Well much to Teri's surprise and pleasure, they immediately started to
work on that! Last week they started a
children's program on Saturdays. They
had fifty children on their first day!
Hopefully we will be able to do more with this ministry in the
future. Marilyn and Xiole, the girls who
started this ministry, want to wait at least a month before having "Gringos"
(Americans) join them. This was very
smart of them. Sometimes people in a
poorer area will show up wherever there are Gringos only because they expect to
get something. The girls are trying to
start a ministry there first before they start bringing gifts so as to not create
dependence. I am very excited about all
of the doors that the Lord has been opening.
This month I have had more
opportunities to preach and teach. I
have been going over the book of James every Friday with one of the small
groups. We are starting to see good
results come out of this. If you have
never read the book of James, I encourage you to read it. It is a very practical book with a strong
emphasis that our Christian life should not stop in our hearts but take over
our whole life and bleed over into everything we do. The guys in the small group have really been
convicted by this word in James and have been trying to live their lives
accordingly. I am also starting the
lessons on James in another group as well.
God seems to have been using my sermons also. On Sundays we are going through Acts and the
other day I taught on Acts 4 and how the early Church was preaching boldly even
in the face of persecution. I later
found out that God spoke to Jessie during the sermon, one of the Missionaries'
kids, and she is now felt led to serve God overseas. It is exciting to know that God is using me
while I am here. Keep me in your prayers
as today I preach over Acts 7, the martyrdom of Stephen.
My Spanish is also coming
along. Yesterday I met for the first time
with my new Spanish teacher. She is a
teacher at the University and has offered to teach me Spanish. She is a more challenging instructor and
should help me learn faster. I am
excited as God uses the ministry here and seems to be using me while I am
here. Please keep me in your
prayers. Thank you all for
everything! God bless!
In Christ,
Matt Wilmeth
Prayer Requests:
- Quick
learning of my Spanish
- That
God speaks through me as he makes various teaching and preaching
opportunities available.
- That
God continues to open many doors in ministry here particularly to work
with children and amongst the downtrodden.
- That
God would keep my eyes and ears open for any lessons He wishes to teach me
and for His leading.
| | |
| Home again, home again, jiggity jig This month has been fairly crazy for me. At the beginning of this
month I wrapped up my first stint in Honduras before briefly returning
home for a wedding. Before leaving, I attended a missionary conference
for a weekend with the Riley family. It was great being in the company
of all these missionaries in Honduras and hearing about the work that
God was doing through them. The speaker was simply amazing. He was an
older man and he had story after story of how God had used him in his
weaknesses. He had more than one story of how God used him when he was
sick with tuberculosis in India or more recently when he was dying of
cancer. I am not sure if he had gotten better or if he still had
cancer but it was interesting to hear him speak. In a situation that
many people would find disparaging, he used as an opportunity to share
what God had done in his life with everyone from his doctor to gas
station employee he met in downtown L.A. He viewed his dying as just
one more opportunity to live. He stated that if he could do nothing
else, he wanted people to see how a Christian dies. His words rang
deep within me because my grandfather, Papa Ken, had also been
struggling with cancer for the last couple of years. This was a trait
I saw in him too. It seems that all the nurses admired Papa for that
very reason--he was showing them all how a Christian dies. And no
matter how much pain he was in, they always came out of his room with a
smile. As I thought of how the speaker and my grandfather handled this
disease, I could only pray that God would someday give me that spirit
as well when it happens that death decides he wishes to look into my
own eyes. May the love of Christ always be flowing out of me.
Another thing that stuck out to me about the speaker's words
was how he talked about the kids in this world. He had spent most of
his ministry working with street kids in Manila, the capital city of
the Philippines. He spoke on James 1:27 (my favorite verse):
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to
look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself
from being polluted by the world.
His
particular focus during the weekend was on the orphans--the children.
This rung in my mind as well, because it is the kids in this world that
always get the brunt end of things and they are the ones my heart
reaches out for. I had been thinking about that a lot while I have
been in Honduras, trying to find my niche. The church that I work with
mostly works with University students. Well, after the conference Jim
asked me what we are going to do about it--how we were going to do our
part and help the orphans. I figured out what my role is in Honduras.
I plan on working with the kids. I am going to try to build up the
children's ministry in the church and work especially with the street
kids if I can. Pray that God gives me many opportunities for this and
that my Spanish comes along so that I can minister with the kids.
In the middle of October, I flew home and was there for
around 10 days or so. I attended a friends wedding and spent time with
family and friends. I was also able to spend a little time with Papa
Ken. They had put him on hospice care and I was afraid that this might
be the last before I came home again (I was planning on not returning
home for another three months). At the end of October, Chali and I
flew back together to Honduras. I had written you earlier that Chali
(my sister) was going to come down with me for a month and teach how to
cut hair as well as give free haircuts at the University, downtown, and
in a nearby village. We had a great first week. They kept Chali very
busy. I preached that weekend at a "fogata," the camp fire outreaches
that we have for university students. On Monday we were planning on
going to the beach with the Riley family, so we both stayed at their
house on Sunday night. This turned out to be a good thing. Early
Monday morning we got the call.
At around midnight on Monday morning, Papa Ken ceased to be in
pain and started the next leg of his journey. We flew home that day
and attended his funeral on Thursday. I am writing you from the States
and Chali and I will return to Honduras next Tuesday. Keep our family
in your prayer as we grieve the loss of this great man. Please pray
particularly for my grandma, whom he leaves behind, and my sister as
she returns with me. I thank you all for everything so far. Please
continue to support us with your prayers and thoughts as we head back
to Honduras.
Prayer Requests:
-My family as they grieve the loss of my grandfather, Ken Davis
-My sister as she returns to Honduras and continues her work there
-Safe travels for my sister and I
-This new aspect of the ministry as I begin to focus on children's ministry
-My Spanish | | |
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