mwilmeth's Xanga

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:54:19 GMT

Well, I am switching to blogspot because apparently, that is what grownups do.

http://thethingsthatarenot.blogspot.com/

Merry Christmas from Honduras!

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 05:08:31 GMT

Update 12/9/07

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 19:45:12 GMT

Hello 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.

Thanksgiving Greetings from Honduras

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 16:29:06 GMT

Home again, home again, jiggity jig

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 21:24:43 GMT

     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

My Update

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 18:50:42 GMT

Hola friends and family!
   Greetings from Honduras! I have been here for two and half weeks now and I am loving it. It is absolutely beautiful here. The city is built on rolling green mountains. The tropical plant life is absolutely gorgeous and showing off its vivacious greens and colorful flowers everywhere I look. The food is phenomenal. It is great to be in a country that likes spicy food and coffee as much as I do. But the best thing is the people. I am enjoying meeting everyone and getting to know them. Fortunately, my Spanish is starting to improve—slowly but surely. I am feeling that this is going to be a good year.
   The Riley's ministry is primarily focused on the University students. A good percentage of the church is made of this group. Tomorrow night I get to participate in my first "fogata," or campfire. They have these once a month and invite the students from the University. It is an excellent way to meet many of the students and start relationships with them. Yesterday, we went to the University to advertise and pass out water. It was a wonderful experience.
   My English also opens a lot of doors. I have already had an opportunity to meet some English students at one of the other Universities in town and the English teacher wants to do more things with me. I was originally scheduled to speak on culture shock in one of his classes but it fell through because it ended up being a holiday. However, he might have me speak in the future. I also have the opportunity to help out at a local ministry I know. I would be working with a friend, Gloria Del Cid, whom I know from working with New Mission Systems in the past, and would be teaching basic English to preschoolers from more of the Inner City area of Tegucigalpa. Gloria's preschoolers are mostly the children of those who work in the market and the services that Gloria provides for them is an education that they would not have otherwise received.
   Please keep me in your prayers as I continue my ministry here and grow relationships with the church and the community. Also pray for speed in my Spanish learning. I head home for a week and a half on Oct. 17th for a friend's wedding. When I return to Honduras my sister, Chali, will be returning with me. She is a hairstylist and will stay here for a month teaching some of the girls at the church how to cut hair. She also has many more opportunities because of her skill and will be kept very busy with everything from teaching to pampering some of the ladies and children downtown or in the villages that wouldn't have otherwise had the opportunity. Please keep her in your prayers as well. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and I will keep you updated.   If you would like to send me mail while I am in Honduras you can send it to:
Matt Wilmeth
Apdo U-9279
Tegucigalpa MDC
Honduras C.A.
You can also call me if you like:
(011)* 504-3294-7327
*For calling from the States.

Thank you all and God bless!

A Change of Plans

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 04:14:40 GMT

So...I know that I said I was going to tell you some stories, but there's been some plan changing. Well, actually there's been a lot of plan changing recently--seems to be an ongoing theme of my life at the moment.

Some circumstances have just presented themselves and I just might be interning with some missionaries I know (Jim and Teri Riley). They live and work in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. They are involved with various ministries in Teguc and are also lead a church there. So, Lord willing I will be working with them for a year. The only kink is that I have to raise about $800 a month and they want me there by Sept. 1st. Heh. I would need at least the first months before I got there. This sounds crazy. Be praying. If anyone knows any churches or anyone who might be interested in finding a mission to support, let me know.

I'll keep you updated.

I'm back!

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:22:51 GMT

Well, I am back. Sorry my communication has been low this summer. I will start putting up stories from this summer now. Stay tuned.

Welcome back to Neverland

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 15:50:59 GMT

Greetings from Congo!

We arrived safely and everything is going well. We are staying at an orphanage and I love it! When we woke up the next morning after we got there, we started to meet the kids. Soon we had 12 excited children climbing all over us. They loved my beard and long hair. It wasn't long before I had children all around me with their hands all over my face inspecting my blond hair. It felt like that scene from the movie Hook where the kids realize that Robin Williams really is Peter Pan, just grown up now. One of the children inspecting his face says: Peter, it really is you!

I feel a lot like that. They welcome me back to Neverland and out of the fast paced world of grown-ups. They welcome be back to Africa, where I have always belonged.

Neither the Drum nor the Dance

Thu, 31 May 2007 00:02:25 GMT

Well, friends, it's here. At 5 am EST, I will be flying out of Lexington, KY and on my first leg to DR Congo. Keep me in your prayers this summer. I will try to be updating this website. Also, if you want to receive my e-mail updates, e-mail me at mwilmeth at gmail dot com. Plus, we will keep a blog updated at our website:

www.theheartofdarkness.org

Please be praying. Love you all.