Honduras 02/08
This is my first blog post from Honduras. The Powers Ferry Road Church of Christ has agreed to support me to live and work with Daniel Mejivar and his family here in San Pedro Sula/ Quimistan for 3 months, from February 1-the end of April.
Last week was very busy. My flight arrived at the SPS airport late Monday night (so late in fact, Daniel and his daughter Michelle thought they had missed me). Tuesday and Wednesday were spent taking care of some errands and being shown the ropes around here. Wednesday night we visited our sisters Paquita and Mariita. Paquita´s son is suffering from serious mental problems and she must provide constant care for him, which requires her to miss worship frequently, a fact she regrets. Thankfully she was able to visit the church in Quimistan this past Sunday.
Thursday we headed to Quimistan. Every week, we will be living in the Mejivars´ actual home, in San Pedro Sula, Sunday evening-Thursday morning, and we will be staying in a rented house in Quimistan Thursday afternoon-Sunday afternoon. If you´re wondering why the Mejivars don´t just move to Quimistan, their two children live with them in SPS. Son Danny works at a mental health center and daughter Michelle is studying medicine at a university.
This past Thursday-Saturday were spent moving everything from the pitiful rented ¨house¨ Daniel and Digna (his wonderful wife) were using into a better, slightly larger rented house which is right behind the church building in Quimistan. They moved to the new house so the three of us could be more comfortable, and I am thankful, having seen the previous place.
I taught 3 studies in Quimistan. Thursday night was an introduction to the book of Mark, and Saturday night and Sunday afternoon I taught Mark 1. The church meets every Thursday, Saturday and Sunday (1x). We also had a few personal studies. One with a couple named Jorge and Carmen. Carmen was converted a few months ago and she is already bringing visitors to worship. Her husand Jorge is a good man but he is resistant to the idea that his baptism in a ¨just accept Jesus into your heart¨kind of denomination may not have been valid. We had another study with Jorge´s mother, a former evangelical pastor. Daniel decided to study tithing with her and by the end of the study she agreed that this was a command for ancient Israel but not for Christians today.
We also spent a good bit of time with a couple named Umberto and Jobita. They became Christians shortly after Daniel and Digna began working in Quimistan. Umberto helped us with moving and Jobita kept us refreshed with lemonade, a bag full of lemons and a large bunch of ¨chata¨ fruit. Actually, no one could decide whether it was chata or some other fruit, but we ate it anyhow! It looks like a green banana and the flavor and texture are a mix between yucca and plantain. We ate it fried. Yum.
As an illustration of the character of Daniel and Digna, a few months ago Daniel had given me a certain figure as to how much he thought I would need to pay them in order to cover the added expense of me being in the home. After a few days of living with them, he reduced that figure by 50%. They had anticipated needing to provide more expensive food but once they realized I was just fine with beans and tortillas, I got the Mejivar discount! This family has already done so much for me. They bought me a futon for the house in Quimistan even though they sleep on the floor currently. I want to remove that disparity pronto!
Thanks for reading and for your prayers.
Dios les bendiga.
Caleb
Last week was very busy. My flight arrived at the SPS airport late Monday night (so late in fact, Daniel and his daughter Michelle thought they had missed me). Tuesday and Wednesday were spent taking care of some errands and being shown the ropes around here. Wednesday night we visited our sisters Paquita and Mariita. Paquita´s son is suffering from serious mental problems and she must provide constant care for him, which requires her to miss worship frequently, a fact she regrets. Thankfully she was able to visit the church in Quimistan this past Sunday.
Thursday we headed to Quimistan. Every week, we will be living in the Mejivars´ actual home, in San Pedro Sula, Sunday evening-Thursday morning, and we will be staying in a rented house in Quimistan Thursday afternoon-Sunday afternoon. If you´re wondering why the Mejivars don´t just move to Quimistan, their two children live with them in SPS. Son Danny works at a mental health center and daughter Michelle is studying medicine at a university.
This past Thursday-Saturday were spent moving everything from the pitiful rented ¨house¨ Daniel and Digna (his wonderful wife) were using into a better, slightly larger rented house which is right behind the church building in Quimistan. They moved to the new house so the three of us could be more comfortable, and I am thankful, having seen the previous place.
I taught 3 studies in Quimistan. Thursday night was an introduction to the book of Mark, and Saturday night and Sunday afternoon I taught Mark 1. The church meets every Thursday, Saturday and Sunday (1x). We also had a few personal studies. One with a couple named Jorge and Carmen. Carmen was converted a few months ago and she is already bringing visitors to worship. Her husand Jorge is a good man but he is resistant to the idea that his baptism in a ¨just accept Jesus into your heart¨kind of denomination may not have been valid. We had another study with Jorge´s mother, a former evangelical pastor. Daniel decided to study tithing with her and by the end of the study she agreed that this was a command for ancient Israel but not for Christians today.
We also spent a good bit of time with a couple named Umberto and Jobita. They became Christians shortly after Daniel and Digna began working in Quimistan. Umberto helped us with moving and Jobita kept us refreshed with lemonade, a bag full of lemons and a large bunch of ¨chata¨ fruit. Actually, no one could decide whether it was chata or some other fruit, but we ate it anyhow! It looks like a green banana and the flavor and texture are a mix between yucca and plantain. We ate it fried. Yum.
As an illustration of the character of Daniel and Digna, a few months ago Daniel had given me a certain figure as to how much he thought I would need to pay them in order to cover the added expense of me being in the home. After a few days of living with them, he reduced that figure by 50%. They had anticipated needing to provide more expensive food but once they realized I was just fine with beans and tortillas, I got the Mejivar discount! This family has already done so much for me. They bought me a futon for the house in Quimistan even though they sleep on the floor currently. I want to remove that disparity pronto!
Thanks for reading and for your prayers.
Dios les bendiga.
Caleb
praying the Lord will bless your work there!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteCaleb, so glad you are already busy sharing God's word. Praying you will gain new knowledge and wisdom from this powerful experience. Deb Jenkins
ReplyDeleteThank you, Debbie! Missing all of you at PF.
DeleteCaleb, so glad you are already busy sharing God's word. Praying you will gain new knowledge and wisdom from this powerful experience. Deb Jenkins
ReplyDeleteHowdy Caleb. Pray that your work is successful to God's glory. Please tell Daniel and family I said howdy. Lowell Sallee
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lowell. I will tell him you said ¨howdy¨. Not sure how that translates. :)
Delete