Honduras 02/15
The past several days were very productive. We had several Bible studies in the homes of brethren and those outside the body of Christ.
Our first stop was at the home of sister Blanca and (former) brother Moises. Moises left the church about a month ago because he wanted to be part of a church that included applause in the worship. We talked with Blanca at her home for about an hour, waiting for Moises to arrive so we could talk with him. Once we decided to leave we saw Moises on the path to his house, stopped to chat with neighbors. He told us he had seen our car parked by the river and we deduce he had decided to avoid going home so he wouldn´t have to talk to us. Blanca and Moises have 8 children and live in a corrugated metal hut. As Daniel said later, it is sad to see people who have nothing rejecting the source of spiritual riches. Blanca remains faithful, however.
Next we visited brother Alex. He had missed a few services lately and we wanted to see how we could help him. While we talked, he seemed distant. He told us he planned to miss Sunday´s worship because he wanted to go visit his grandmother. He almost never gets to see her and his brother was going to give him a ride. We made very clear that this was not an acceptable reason to miss Sunday´s assembly and I gave him money to buy a bus ticket so he could visit her on Saturday. Thankfully, he did that and was present in our assemblies Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. It was a blessing to see him smile and interact with the saints.
Some other studies:
Maria Paola. Even after repeatedly reading 1 Corinthians 14:34-40, this evangelical woman still believes women should be able to preach in the church. ¨They have to have that right,¨ she says. We explained that women are a crucial part of the church and are just as vauable as men but that God has ordained a set order. Unfortunately, her pride keeps her from accepting this. A woman named Marcelina and a man named Julio were also present in this study. Marcelina agreed with Maria Paola and Julio, former husband of Maria, asked for information about the church.
Dionisia. This woman would like to be worshiping with us but her husband forbids it. Apparently he has been abusive in the past and Dionisia fears what he might do. We asked her what he would be capable of if she came to our assembly and her reply was ¨anything¨. Thankfully, we are able to study with her in their home and there have even been studies with her husband.
Blanca (not the sister). This woman has been attending a church of God for a couple of years. The study with her was the most interesting one this week. She can´t read well and is therefore reliant upon her pastors. They told her she can´t eat the Lord´s Supper because she isn´t married, but they do expect her to bring them ¨firstfruits¨every month and tithes every Sunday in addition to other offerings. The more I listen to people here, the more I realize that most churches here are incredibly corrupt. Hopefully we will be able to talk with Blanca more in the future.
This has been a long post already so I won´t talk about other talks we had.
I taught several hymns to the church Thursday night:
A Dios el Padre (Doxology)
Cordero de Dios (Lamb of God)
Sublime Gracia (Amazing Grace)
Cariñoso Salvador (Jesus, Lover of My Soul)
Saturday night I finished teaching Mark 1 and Sunday I preached on the offering.
We painted the house in Quimistan and installed a new faucet in the bathoom. We can actually wash our hands now!
Brotherly love,
Caleb
P.S. My computer here is entirely in Spanish format, including the layout of the keyboard. Please forgive any typos.
Our first stop was at the home of sister Blanca and (former) brother Moises. Moises left the church about a month ago because he wanted to be part of a church that included applause in the worship. We talked with Blanca at her home for about an hour, waiting for Moises to arrive so we could talk with him. Once we decided to leave we saw Moises on the path to his house, stopped to chat with neighbors. He told us he had seen our car parked by the river and we deduce he had decided to avoid going home so he wouldn´t have to talk to us. Blanca and Moises have 8 children and live in a corrugated metal hut. As Daniel said later, it is sad to see people who have nothing rejecting the source of spiritual riches. Blanca remains faithful, however.
Next we visited brother Alex. He had missed a few services lately and we wanted to see how we could help him. While we talked, he seemed distant. He told us he planned to miss Sunday´s worship because he wanted to go visit his grandmother. He almost never gets to see her and his brother was going to give him a ride. We made very clear that this was not an acceptable reason to miss Sunday´s assembly and I gave him money to buy a bus ticket so he could visit her on Saturday. Thankfully, he did that and was present in our assemblies Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. It was a blessing to see him smile and interact with the saints.
Some other studies:
Maria Paola. Even after repeatedly reading 1 Corinthians 14:34-40, this evangelical woman still believes women should be able to preach in the church. ¨They have to have that right,¨ she says. We explained that women are a crucial part of the church and are just as vauable as men but that God has ordained a set order. Unfortunately, her pride keeps her from accepting this. A woman named Marcelina and a man named Julio were also present in this study. Marcelina agreed with Maria Paola and Julio, former husband of Maria, asked for information about the church.
Dionisia. This woman would like to be worshiping with us but her husband forbids it. Apparently he has been abusive in the past and Dionisia fears what he might do. We asked her what he would be capable of if she came to our assembly and her reply was ¨anything¨. Thankfully, we are able to study with her in their home and there have even been studies with her husband.
Blanca (not the sister). This woman has been attending a church of God for a couple of years. The study with her was the most interesting one this week. She can´t read well and is therefore reliant upon her pastors. They told her she can´t eat the Lord´s Supper because she isn´t married, but they do expect her to bring them ¨firstfruits¨every month and tithes every Sunday in addition to other offerings. The more I listen to people here, the more I realize that most churches here are incredibly corrupt. Hopefully we will be able to talk with Blanca more in the future.
This has been a long post already so I won´t talk about other talks we had.
I taught several hymns to the church Thursday night:
A Dios el Padre (Doxology)
Cordero de Dios (Lamb of God)
Sublime Gracia (Amazing Grace)
Cariñoso Salvador (Jesus, Lover of My Soul)
Saturday night I finished teaching Mark 1 and Sunday I preached on the offering.
We painted the house in Quimistan and installed a new faucet in the bathoom. We can actually wash our hands now!
Brotherly love,
Caleb
P.S. My computer here is entirely in Spanish format, including the layout of the keyboard. Please forgive any typos.
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