The Masterpiece We're Living

Life always seems to be so up and down, why does it do that to you? Why does it show you one thing and do another? Unpredictable. We can cure cancer and can land on Mars but we still haven’t figured out how to predict the future. We think we’re so smart, so capable of anything.

Why is life so confusing? So many ropes tugging at you, pulling you in every direction. Which one to take? The road is dividing before my eyes. Why make plans anyway, there is no way to be certain of anything. The only thing certain is uncertainty. Is there more to life than this. 

Is there a limit to the limitless? A stirring for the restless. Something deeper here. Can one fathom the unfathomable of life? Is there an artist for this canvas? An author for this story? A director for this play?

If we are the spot on the canvas, the character in the story, the actor for this play than shouldn’t we live like we are? If we know the director of this tale, then what is there to worry? We know how it ends, it is alright in the end. In the end we get rescued by the prince. In the end the veil is lifted and we see all thing clearly. Looking back at the story everything makes sense, it’s only in the moment that we cannot see past our predicament. 

When you’re not sure you like the picture just wait, it’s not finished yet. He’s still painting the canvas. When you’re stuck in a tight spot and there’s no way out, don’t give up, in the end you are rescued. When you are not sure who you are and how to act, don’t worry, your character is not finished. In the end everything is alright. The wrong is undone, the evil destroyed, the monster comes to an end. This fairy tale turns out alright, and everyone knows that tension is what makes a great story. When you’re on the edge of your seat waiting to turn the page, knowing that he will get out of the scape he’s in. It’s exciting, it’s an adventure, it’s the masterpiece that we’re living in. 

English Vintner

It's life here

Well, well, I am sitting in a comfortable home in the city of Mbale, Uganda. Internet is fast, good food around me, and fun fellowship with the people surrounding me too. Once a month the OPCU Mission has a get together, the two missions, one in Mbale and the other in Karamoja have a meeting and talk about the work that each individual is doing. It is usually a two or three day visit. Last month they had the Mission meeting in Karamoja and the two families from Mbale OPCU came up, this month the Karamoja team came down. Some of us came down on Wednesday, and the rest of us on Thursday. We enjoyed fellowshiping and meeting each other over dinner Thursday night. Friday morning the meeting starts at 9am and goes until 4:30pm, or so I've heard. With plenty of breaks for coffee, lunch, and snacks.

So, now that you know where and why I'm here I'll tell you what I did. I slept at Bryce's house last night with Jesse and James. Jesse and James are two MA's who work at the Karamoja compound. Bryce works for Bob Wright drilling bore holes for wells all over the country. He recently bought a house in Mbale and that's where I slept last night. Despite the fact that I brought single sheets for a double bed I slept alright. The room cooled down nicely with a breeze, and the mosquitos were kept at bay thanks to a mosquito net. For breakfast we drove to a hotel that had a cafe, we got fried dough and some mandazi's which are a mixture of meat and other vegetables wrapped in dough and fried. It was pretty tasty, I must say. After the quick meal we drove back to the Webbers where we had dinner the night before to pick up Sarah to drop her and James off at a hospital in town, I think they're doing some kind of one day interning or something. They both work at the medical clinic in Karamoja.

After dropping them off we came to the Tunega's house, where the meeting was. Taryn was gracious enough to let me use her lap top while she met with everyone else. I was able to get on email and facebook and some other things. You know what I've found out? The less you're on the internet, the less you want or or can think of to do when you get back on the internet! Seriously! I find myself checking gmail and facebook and after 10 minutes thinking, what else do you do online anyway? I guess it's like any addiction, once you're off it long enough it doesn't have the same draw as you thought it did when you were on it. It's cool though. At 10:30am the Wright kids, Bobby, Anna, Mary and Kipsey and I went into town. We took pikis to town and went into a thriftshop. I got a shirt for working, since I don't have very many, and it said Eat Fresh Eat Local, which struck a chord with me. It turned out to only be 1000 shillings, which, is very cheap. (My exchange rate was 2400 shillings to the dollar). After the thriftshop we went to a grocery store and got a few items, I picked up some black tea and biscuits. Then we went to market, the place where you barter for everything. I wasn't planning to do very much shopping but I wanted to get some gun boots. I bartered down a little for them, but I'm sure I could've done better, oh well, I just stimulated the economy a little more in Uganda. Then the guy wanted me to buy a shirt, I was interested in getting a Uganda jersey to remember the country by (I got a Honduras jersey when I was there). He picked it out and told me the price, I got him down a little bit and bought it, then he wanted me to buy shorts to go with it. Well, I wasn't very into getting matching shorts, just not my thing, but, he insisted. First 15000 shillings but he brought the price down to 7000. I figure if I don't where them I can donate them to One7 ministry where they are always taking clothes to give to their kids and give away to people who really need them.

It's fun though. I found out that it cost me about 11 cents a minute to call home. I thought it was much higher than that. I calculated it out after I talked with my family for 50 minutes on Wednesday night. I also found out that I brought a lot more money than I needed. I guess some people spend a lot when they go places, but I tend to be thrifty when I can, for the sake of being thrifty but I've also been convicted by David Platt to spend money, or put money where it really makes a difference. As someone put it Live Simply so others can Simply Live. I think I'm going to have at least 500USD leftover. So I've been praying about it and asking God what he wants me to do with it. I don't feel like putting it into my wallet for my personal spending, that doesn't feel right. So, I might be using it to fund a Jesus Wedding Feast or some such event, or just use it to bless the poor and the homeless where God shows me. After my plane ticket and shots and the initial cost of living on the compound it was a bit less than what I was suggested to raise, so that's where the extra money came from.

I realize as I'm in Mbale that the city of a country is so much different from the 'country'. Up in Karamoja is a much different place than here in Mbale. In Karamoja people are living on much less every day than in the city. You grab a piki all the time here, but in Karamoja it is still largely centered on agriculture. People have to rely on their own means of growing their beans and other staples and vegetables. In the city, people have higher paying jobs and buy everything. I don't know which I like better. I use to think I was a country kid, and in a sense I think I still am. But as I've grown to love community and people, I really like city's. Especially third world markets and such, they're all very similar. Honduras, Peru, Uganda, I've been to market in those three countries and it's pretty much the same, and I love it. I love the dirt, the guy who's sitting in the middle of the sidewalk and you have to step over or around him. Fresh bananas being sold by that lady over there. A kid walking down the street drinking from a bag of water, yes a bag! Sure they all have differences but a third world country is a third world country.

Being a farmer in the US is much different than being a farmer else where in the developing world. In the developing it's a way of survival, in the US where there are so many options it's much more one of the many vocations, or even a luxury, as we see hipster trending organic farms pop up all over the place selling high prices quality produce. I like the city, I like the community, I like being close to people, but I also like the country, I like being able to garden, farm.

Lately I've been doing masonry work with the Ugandans who work for Bob. Which means mixing cement and wheel barrow it into the house and scoop it into basins and hand up to the roof of the house where we're building a wall. The perimiter of the house needs mason work done from where the top of the wall is to where it meets the roof. Finding rocks that fit, are straight and don't fall off the wall onto is the challenge.

The stars here are amazing. Jim Knox pointed out to me the Southern Cross constellation last week after an authentic Ugandan meal which consisted of butchering chickens for it and ended with a dance party.

The rainy season hasn't started yet. I mean it has, but it's stopped. Which, is nice for the rich people who drive cars and drive down to Mbale, but for the poor who are cultivating the land it means no food. It's time to plant beans and everything else, and without rain there will be no food. It rained for 3 days last week but it stopped again, so who knows what the rainy season will look like this year.

I'm listening to music right now as I write this, actually Science and Faith by Script. But what I recently found out is that I love music. As in, LOVE! After being away from home for 5 weeks and with no computer or other device to listen to familiar music I realized that I crave it so much sometimes. I actually sometimes call Londa in Jinja when she's on her computer to play me a song over the phone because I miss it so much! :) I love blasting music over our speakers and having instant access to whatever music I want. It really is a blessing, a luxury. I took it for granted until I'd gone without it for 5 weeks. You know, you can go without a lot of things for a little while. You can forget your phone and laptop for a week of vacation at the beach, but you come right back to it when you get back home. It's so different when you actually settle into live somewhere without those luxuries. The mundane can become the norm. You have to figure out what to do, fill that time with something else. It's sometimes frustrating to be without it, because, sure everyone likes to think of getting off the phone or laptop, but you don't think of giving it up. And when you're away from something for 12 weeks, that's long enough to know what it's like to give something like that up. I know what it's like to go somewhere and be without something. I'm constantly asking to borrow a laptop for my needs. I don't have it at my finger tips. I can't play music because it will slow the internet down (in Karamoja it's a high commodity ) .

But life is good. It's more down to the basics. I'm doing a lot of reading, and since I read the dozen or so books I brought in the first 4 weeks I'm just reading my Bible. I'm seeing how fast I can read through it, I think sometime in May I will be finished, which is sooner than my goal was. I wanted to finish before I left, but I'm going to finish before then. I found that reading the Bible chronologically as it's put in the order it's printed makes me crave the New Testament. It's not that I don't like reading the OT, but I have a craving for the story of when Love walked among us, in the four gospels. And the writings of Paul and the letter of James and Revelation. I like the big picture I'm getting as I read through the Bible this quickly and I think once I've done it at this pace it will be easier to read larger chunks at a time after this 'bible bootcamp'.

Well, this is longer than it was suppose to be, but maybe some of you will enjoy it. I know it's a lot of ramblings, but I'm just putting my thoughts down as they come to me.


English Vintner

Uganda

So, I've been in Uganda coming up on two weeks. The flight was long, but not bad. Met several people along the way who made it more enjoyable.

During my wait time in Charlotte airport before I boarded I met someone who was flying to see her son who was in the ICU for an accident involving his abuse of alcohol. But that she believed God was faithful and was praying that He would use this to bring him to himself. I told her what I was doing and she prayed for me. It was awesome to get that experience with another believer.

I flew to Newark and flew out of there just as the snow was coming down (many flights after mine were canceled due to weather) and flew to Amsterdam. I had a layover there, and met some other white people flying to Uganda. We talked about what eachother was doing there, as it was obvious we were all going to that small country of Uganda and since we were a minority, we instantly felt some kind of community.

I got to Uganda around 11:30pm and had to get my visa, which was simple enough. I walked around customs and arrived outside with a hundred Ugandans with signs waiting for people. It was very humid and very hot, and plenty of bugs flying around. I didn't see Al, the pastor picking me up so I found someone who let me use his phone and I called his number. He picked up and we soon found each other. I walked with him out to his car. I called my Mom and let her know I was alive and well.

We made our way to the hotel nearby and settled in. It reminded me of a Peruvian hotel I'd stayed in. Sleep was enjoyable and welcome, I even got a shower.

I woke up Tuesday morning after 5 short hours of sleep. We got up, packed everything and drove on our way. Traffic was horrible but we got to where we needed to go and eventually got to where we did our shopping.  One of the stops on our long drive to Karamoja was to see Londa very shortly to drop by a few items and say hi.

We made it to Karamoja around 6:15pm and I met the people who were there. I ate supper and went to bed. The next day I met the other people there and got settled in. I worked with Bobby, Bob Wrights son clearing out debris and knocking down wooden trusses in the Okkens house.


So...what does a typical day look like for me?

I wake up when it gets light. Well, that's not quite true. Most nights are so hot that I wake up throughout the night and try to get to sleep again. Around 6-6-30am I wake up and read my Bible and have devotions, I've started running with Jim Knox some of the mornings, and want to do it more. Around 7-7-30am I eat breakfast, usually two or three eggs. At around 8am I head over to Bob's place to see what I'm doing for the day. I work from 8am to 12pm and take a one hour break for lunch. Then I work from 1pm to 5pm. I then have about an hour and a half to shower, read, relax before supper. Several of the nights we eat at the missionaries houses and other times we eat by ourselves. Between 9-10pm I head to bed.

I hope to update again, but I can't depend on internet or electricity. The rainy season is just now beginning so that will make everything more interesting.


English Vintner

Uganda

I say goodbye to the US and say hello to Uganda in 3 days. I fly out of here Sunday afternoon and arrive in Uganda late Monday night.

I have not been as open about this trip before because of multiple difficulties, too much to try and explain here.

I am going to the northern part of Uganda, Karamoja (I believe) where I'll be staying for 3 months working. To be honest I don't know exactly what I'll be doing, I'm leaving that up to God. His agenda, not mine. I believe it involves some agriculture, learning skills useful for the third world mission field, and seeing the church in Uganda.

I want God to show me even more where and what He wants my life to be for him. I am feeling nervous and excited at the same time; it will be my first time flying alone, and it's a long flight (16+ hours). But, God didn't call us to feel comfortable all the time, and I believe in a God a lot bigger than my own comforts and familiarity. I'm expecting big things from this trip in my personal life with God.

I will not be taking my computer, phone, or such, and I don't know that writing letters is very good, unless Harry Potter lent you his owl. I will have access to someone's computer at the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Uganda Mission (the organization I'm going with) and should be able to post blog posts from time to time and maybe keep up a little on facebook.

God provides for His children, and we just have to believe. It was hard at times to believe that all the money would come in for the trip, as I never sent out any letters and only asked a few people for money, but God graciously gave me the $3700 for the trip, which included me putting in every penny I could earn working at the Stone Table Restaurant. So, I head off to Uganda, debt payed off, but not much in the bank for my return. Living for a God who is bigger than me and my own pleasure.

Pray for me, that I would listen to God and be a blessing and help to those around me. I want God to use me for His purpose and glory through this adventure. I want to come even closer to God, fall even more in love with Him. Pray that He would give me wisdom as this may be something He wants me to do long term. Pray that I give God all the glory in the way I live and love everyone I meet.

Thank you for those who have already prayed and will pray, I pray God's blessing over you. Thank you to those who gave financially, I believe God will bless you so that you can give even more away for Jesus!

I love you all very much!

English Vintner

Pain

Why does pain come? Why do our bodies literally shake when we wracked with grief? Why do we have to endure this? I don’t know. Sometimes I just don’t know. But in hard times there is only one person to truly put your trust in, and that’s Jesus. Jesus went through it. He knows what he’s inflicting on us when we go through these things. He feels it to, and he’s walking us through it. 

“Life is just pain without death.” I don’t know where I heard that, or if I really did come up with it myself, I can’t trust myself when I come up with something, it’s usually borrowed from something. But I think in a lot of senses it’s true. Life is pain, unless there is death. Is death an escape? Death is the passing into greater light. Into greater happiness, and out of this pain. Life in this world is pain, sometimes more often for some, but everyone experiences it. And the only way out of this world is death. We’re here for a moment, and with our Savior for eternity. We leave this life of pain through death and into a far far better place than we have ever known. To borrow a little from Dickins.

To love is to hurt. I don’t why I don’t just shut myself up from everyone else. Stop making relationships with people, because one day, they will die. Things will happen to them, and when it hurts those around me, it hurts me. We love by opening up our hearts to them, and when pain comes it cuts deep. Am I just a fool giving my heart away? It is better to have loved and hurt, than to never love and never feel the pain. So if that’s a fool, I’d rather be a fool. 

English Vintner

Where I'm At

I’m outside the box. So when someone tries to put me in a box, it is irritating and I will change so as not to get put in that box. I don’t like doing the conventional. I think differently than a lot of people I know in many aspects. I’m different, and I have to be okay with that. I’m an artist.

I was offered a job earlier that would allow me to be making almost double what the standard public school teacher makes, which would be a good job and everything, but I hesitated. Why? Because money just isn’t that important to me, and I want to make sure I have my priorities right before I start getting a lot of money. I want my life to be centered on ministry for Jesus first, and then a job. I am paranoid of job security and lots of money right now, I don’t want that for me right now. I read so many times of missionaries and others who live on just enough so that it is obvious that God is granting them their daily bread, and, I want to strengthen my faith in the God of the universe, and I want to make sure I am not living the American Dream. 

To be honest for a long time a life in the country away from everyone farming away was my ideal, and in some ways I still think about that. I’d love to go to college, but I can’t justify $40,000 a year to get a really good christian education and dorm life experience, and so I wait. 

I want to tithe several of my years to the Lord. I don’t know if he has me in missions over seas all my life, but I want to spend at least a few years in service to the Lord overseas, giving me a bigger picture of the Church, and seeing God first hand in third world countries. It will change your perspective, you will pray more, you will think differently. 

So what am I doing now? Limbo? I’m working 25 hours or so a week doing what I love, my favorite art, cooking. Making a little above minimum wage and putting every penny towards my next mission trip three months in Uganda, March through June. I am depending on God to bring in the other funds, as I’m not really asking people publicly for money. I am depending on God to come through and provide all the money I need to go.

Why don’t I settle down, get a good job, a wife and stay put? I don’t know, if I knew God was calling me to that, I would submit, but he’s put other things on my heart. I read and see daily people hurting, all around me, so I try to get involved with the poor. I am so concerned about making sure my priorities are right before getting any job that makes a lot of money, that I don’t have a ‘job’ yet. 

God has called me to this path, and, it’s not about me, it’s about Him! If he wanted me to study at college that he would show me that path, if he wanted me to settle down he would lead me there, instead, he has other plans for my life! So I’m excited to watch what God will do with my life! 

English Vintner

Honduras, pt 2

----------------------------Nov. 4

I didn’t realize it was Sunday today until 8pm when someone mentioned it and I whispered to Jether “Is it really Sunday?” We got up around 6am and had quiet time, reading Bibles and praying and journalling. After a while we went to a nearby house and ate breakfast: pasta and beans. After breakfast we walked to the water source, around 2-3 km I believe. It was very fun walking and talking. We got to the source and it rained some while we were there. We prayed a blessing over it and started walking back. We stopped at a house and talked and ate some fruit; star fruit and tamarand. We got to the village and I, Jether and Braden started kicking a ball around with some of the kids. After a little while we started on the path back, loaded up with tools. On the way down we stopped at some wild coffee trees and ate a few berries, and I dipped with some coffee leaves. They contain a higher percentage of caffeine than the beans. 

We got back and Jether, myself and one of the teenagers, Olin started throwing water bottles around to each other. It was a fun game. After we finished the game we ate lunch, rise and beans. I am really enjoying the food here, albiet the saltless corn tortillas are a little bland on their won. After lunch we went down to a small soccer field and played soccer. I did surprisingly good as goaly. The game was really fun. After soccer we came up and did a childrens program. We colored plastic stainglass crosses with sharpies, and sang/taught them songs. For the final activity we got a parachute and had fun putting squeaky chickens in it, everyone at the edges of the parachute shook it up and down violently. A hilarious game. After the childrens game we did something for the adults, Brian gave a little sermon and we sang a song we knew. Jether played the guitar and I played the case for a drum. After the program we settled into little groups to talk or play. We talked a lot (me, Jether and Lynnea) with Olin, which was cool. We ate supper, which it was pretty dark at that point and hard to see much. We ate and then talked, shared a little about our highlights of the day. Then we meandered to the house where we were sleeping at. We talked with one mother who said her daughter had diarreah, and I mentioned I had charcoal, which is good for something like that. Her daughter is 3 months old and some people on the team weren’t sure it was good for her to have it. I’m not sure if it would be bad, it doesn’t really have any bad side affects, and I’d be more ready to give that than any drug. It’s hard not having access somewhere to instantly find the answer to, like on google. 

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Just read the last part of Joel. It is so awesome! 

 “Eygpt shall become a desolation and Edom a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the people of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land. But Juda shall be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem to all generations. I will avenge their blood, blood I have not avenged, for the Lord dwells in Zion.” 

Beautiful; the love that Jesus has for us, his people.

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The bond that you feel between two people is amazing. Even though I don’t understand the language very well I’m still able to communicate fairly well, especially with Olin, the 16 yr old from here. He is pretty cool and is very fun to hang out with.

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Noah’s Ark is a symbol of symbol of the final coming. When Jesus comes back the door will be shut, and only those who are inside and put their trust in Jesus, will be saved. Only those who were in Noah’s Ark were saved. All those outside died. 

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This is to the least of these. This is serving the poor. This is living a life of serving to those who are in need. Helping them, serving them. This is the life that I want to live. One of satisfaction. Obedience to God’s word. Serving the least of these.

-----------------Nov 5

I slept very well last night. I slept in a hammock, I was surprised that I slept so well, because it’s been such a long time since I’ve slept in one. Yesterday we got up aorund 5:30am and got dressed, read our Bibles and made ready for the day. We got together with the locals and paired off with them as work partners. I’m getting a nice tan here. We all filed off to where the water tank will be and started trenching. We sectioned off around 30ft per section, and dug it out to around 20” deep. Once you were done a section you would move on to the next section. We ate breakfast around 9am and lunch around 1pm. Around 2:30pm we stopped digging and started backfilling over the newly layed pvc pipe. We had around 40-60 people working and we got a lot done. I’d say a good 1200ft of pipe done, which is quite impressive. 

After work we came back and hung out for a while, I played soccer, or more like kicked around the ball doing tricks with it. After that we went to the other house where we have meetings and had a met together. 

After the meeting and some songs played by Jether and I on the drums we ate supper. Rice and beans with some cheese! After supper I talked as best I could with some of the kids around my age. We wrote down each others names on our hands. While I was digging the trench I came across this huge taranchilla. It was at least four inches long and a couple wide. When we were first starting the day this 79 yr old chick came by to help out. She said she’d walked an hour from her village and she was working working just as hard as the next person. She said the kitchen was too boring. haha

I can’t get over how beautiful this place is! Surrounded by mountains, beautiful sunries and sunsets. Deep in the heart of Honduras, doing God’s work.

How blessed I am to be here on this trip. Definitely harder than other mission trips I’ve been on. If you want to experience third world povertty, get to know the people, and work hard, go on a water project. I had a good time hearing Jay and Brian talk.

Jay has done 18 water projects and has lived here for 2 years. He’s planning to eventually move down here.

Right now what I really want to do is learn spanish. More than anything else right now. I want to do what Londa is doing. I want to learn spanish so badly right now. I want to learn spanish and then come and live in Honduras for a few years doing ministry. I’d love to work with street boys, but also up in the mountains with the locals, farming. 

A rooster just crowed directly at me. 

English Vintner

Part 1, Honduras

So, here is the first part of my Honduras trip. I will do the best I can to keep it up, Lord willing I will have the rest of my journal from my trip up on here. Forgive any spelling or grammar, at this point I'm crunched for time and if it's up it's more than I can say. I'd love to hear feed back if you have it. To Him be the glory.

Honduras, like Peru, but greener. Is that a word? Anyway... The smell of diesel fuel fills the air when you’re driving around, the streets packed with busses, motorcycles, and odd vehicles carrying people everwhere. We started with 15 people in our group from the States, somehow we fit all our luggage and everyone into that one white pickup truck. Pile in the luggage and pile in the people, haha.

There is poverty here, but it surprised me how good some of the cars people were driving. I guess it’s like being in the slums of any city, you see the rich and the poor, both sides of society mashed into one city. Unlike Pere there are very few labeled taxis. There are a lot more busses and cars that are takis than actual taxis. Of course, maybe this is my limited experience in Peru, I don’t know. 

I’m praying for Christ to show me what He has for me on this trip. Why I’m here, seeing what I’m seeing, doing what I’m doing. This is a special opportunity, I want Him to show me more of Himself through this trip..

Would I be content to live here? Would I be content to trade places with someone here? Questions that we are asking our selves as a group. Do we trust Jesus enough? Speaking of Jesus, this group LOVES Jesus! It’s been neat to see it in them.

We ate lunch at Burger King in Tegucigalpa, the capitol where we flew in, getting in around 11:30am local time.

We read exerpts from the book Radical and heard a sermon on it tonight. 

Let’s risk it all. For the sake of our children, our lives, for the sake of 1 billion people, let’s risk it all! 

[Will we die in our religion, or die in our devotion?]

A fire will only last as long as the fuel is there. So is passion and zeal for Jesus. Don’t quench it, add more to it. Stir it up! 

You go to the need. Follow Jesus outside the camp. It means going to where the prostitues and drug dealers are. We’re made Jesus a clean and more respectable Jesus than the Jesus of the Bible. But that’s not who He is. Let’s look at Jesus for who he really is. The Jesus of the Bible is going to the dirty and poor. He is going to the outcast, those who society has thrown out. God’s plan for this world is through us! 

The only real thing of this world is Jesus! If he’s not our one and all than we have none at all!

Father, make me a bold witness for you! 

What does it mean to be followers of Christ, really? We have to be obedient.

Is Jesus enough for me?

We have to first be content with Him. What does He really want?

[Entire Abandonment and Absolute Faith]

We’ll have to put extra effort into showing the love of Jesus. These are hard people. Pray for unity, for compassion, for a miracle. be bold, be out there. They don’t have  hope, or are not putting trust in it.

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[To love is better than comfort]

I feel so in love with this country and the people here. Right now all I want to do is ministry here. Work with street boys, learn the language and have relationships with people.

----------------------------- Nov. 2 

We woke up after a good nights sleep and ate breakfast. We woke up around 5:30am which felt like 7:30am. I slept with my mini sleeping bag on the concrete patio outside. Surprisingly it was pretty comfortable.

I am so in LOVE with this place! I can’t believe how much I already love everything. I love the community that you feel as a team doing this kind of thing. We all sleep in the same room, use the same two bathrooms for all 20 of us. I can’t wait to see what God has next for me this week! He is so good!

The team is 15 members from the States, 12 from a church in Minnesota, and my two cousins Lynnea and Jether and I. We met 5 more people from Honduras. Three of them are American missionaries. One of them is Larry Smoak’s niece, who’s family lives in Brazil. She’s around my age I believe, her name is Lillian. There is another girl who is around the same age, her name is Blair and she’s taken a semester off from college to come to Honduras, she lives in Norfolk, Virginia. Mary is from the church where the rest of the team is from, and she’s been in Honduras since January. Joel and Erick are two Hondurans who came down as well. Joel has some mental health problems but loves Jesus, and Erick is around 24 years old and speaks a bit of English. All five of them came down from a small village, Las Mangas outside La Cieba, where there is a campus for people to stay for periods of time. They help with an orphange, the school, and it’s what Larry Smoak started.

Last night I met someone who’s name is Steven. He is from Indiana, but is working with a mininstry called Micah Project 2.0 and they do a street boys project, taking in boys off the street. He’s pretty legit. He is really cool, speaks spanish seemlessly, and is just fun to hang out with.

John 12:23-26

“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternity. If anyone serves me he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”

When you plant a seed, you lose using that seed for bread. You chance that that seed will grow up and produce many more seed out of the plant, but it means thinking long term. In the short term the wisest thing would be to make flour and bread out of it and eat it. We focus on the gain.

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I am absolutely in love with this country and the people here. I love being here. It is so awesome.

[We have to prepare for the miracle] 

[God’s ability, but my responsibility]

You have to believe. Take the nest step. Obedience to Him.

How do you know if God is talking to you? Try the door, see if it is locked.

The food here is delicious. I love experiencing culture through food. Rice and beans. Tons of carbs! We’re sitting around talking about Jesus and the far away sound of Honduran music plays in the background. I feel such a close bond with the people here on the team. I had a nice talk with Blair at lunch time, got to know her better, learned about her family and life. 

-------------------------------Nov. 3

It is Saturday, we’ve had our first night in the village. Last night it rained while we were sleeping. I was in the spot that had a hole in it, and had to move my head to get out from the drips. I was also hot because I slept in my sleeping bag the whole night. I sweated all night long. But I’m loving it. I really am. I’ve been using the word bonito, but they say I can’t use it quite the same way as I use it in English. I like to use the word beautiful for everything in English, I love the word. 

It took us a good 4 hours of driving on good paved roads and than rocky dirt roads with huge pot holes to get to the village where we parked our vehicles. The last 1/4 mile is so steep that almost no two wheel drive car can get up it. But the Honduran driver we had driving the other vehicle suprisingly made it up no problem. We unloaded and the village of La Vainilla came and took most of luggage and carried it for us. 

It was about a 20 minute walk down to La Vainilla. We got here and unpacked a little bit and than hung out with them. I played soccer, or real football with half a dozen of the Hondurans from the village. A good ice breaker kind of game. The girls on the team played with the real young children and wives. We ate lunch there, plan rice and beans. We gathered into a group and we all said something. The president and treasurer of the village and all the men and women said something, thanked us for being there. Then we took turns saying things to them from our group. After that we ate supper and talked as a group. We shared our thoughts and what we thought about everything so far, than we lay down tarps, get bedding and everything ready for sleeping which took a good hour or so.

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I read the first two chapters of Philippians this morning and was struck again at Christ’s humility comind down to be one of us, not grasping equality with God a thing to be counted. In one sense we are a little picture of that. Coming to this village, eating what they’re eating, sleeping in their houses, seeking to break down every barrier as possible to show Christ’s love to them.

The sun rises high and bright and it’s hard to believe that I’m in the remote mountains of Honduras.

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A poem that came to me this morning, pertaining out trip here.

Honduras

Over gravel, dirt and dust, 

through the shadow, I will trust

Wild mountains, rugged trails

Before morning, the cock wails

Surrounded by beauty and by love

All good gifts come from above

We’ve come to dig, but first we’ll see

Make Christ evident in me

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An observation. The people dress like in the States, often skinny jeans for the womena dn typical clothing for the guys. It’s not like because they live in mud huts they wear dirty clothes or old clothes. A lot of these people are wearing all the top American brand names. I don’t know where they get the clothing, but it’s the same style as America, with maybe a little Honduran flair. :) 

They have parasitic grass growing on the powerlines from the moisture of the air. Crazy!

I am always struck by how well you can still communicate with words. I realize how weak I am in Spanish, really next to nothing. I know greetings and some nouns. I feel so helpless at times. But it’s when I can’t use words that I smile. I find myself smiling at these beautiful people all the time. :) I can’t belive how much I love and will miss these people when I’m gone. It already feels like home here. It all fells so comfortable, and I’m so use to it all already.

Sitting on the dirt next to newly made friends. Playing football with them. Sleeping in their community, eating with them. Walking with them.

English Vintner

Honduras

I'm still processing my trip.

Three weeks in a country is enough to learn the culture and lose your heart to it. That's what happened. I loved the people I met, the culture, the country...

I loved to see what God was doing there and it was amazing to see Jesus shinning through in so many moments of the trip.

I took a detailed account of the days, and my thoughts, and hope to put onto electronic form my journal for people to read what my trip was like. 

I'm not ready for America, and I'm not ready for the fast pace. I don't want to check my email or get sucked into facebook. I just want to live with the people I'm around and laugh and dance, and cook and love with them. That's what Honduras was, away from a phone, internet, any earphones, it was an amazing time of being away from all that, and certainly led me to more quiet time to think and write and process.

"This is true love, you think it happens everyday?" -Princess Bride

Much love to all, forgive me if words fail me when you ask about my trip. It's more than you could imagine, you "had to be there" in some sense to fully grasp it.

English Vintner

Food

I'm reading through Bread and Wine by Shauna Niequist. She talks about how essential food is to good hospitality and conversation. The center point of it all.

Food should not be just a 'fuel' we consume to stay alive, but it should be the place where families come together to eat together. Supper is more than a time to pack in some calories, it's a time to reunite with family members, talk about the day, enjoy fellowship over good food. Food should be delicious and should be enjoyed. Good food and drink will make a wonderful party, providing good atmosphere for conversation.

The job of a host is to make people feel at home. Be able to be at ease in your home. Good food, and making people feel comfortable is essential to put people at ease. Food makes memories happen, it's what makes those perfect nights with friends. Food is not the real reason for parties and hangouts, it's simply the medium for fellowship and conversation with friends. It should be good, it should have thought put into it, people should love it, but it's only the medium to make the wonderful memories with family and friends. Think back to wonderful gatherings with family and friends, they center around holiday meals and food for a reason. Thanksgiving wouldn't be the same without the food, but the fellowship is what will change us and make us grow more and help eachother. Christmas is centered around food, but it's the time of being together that makes it so wonderful.

Food, as God made it should be nourishing to our bodies as well as pleasing to the eyes and mouth. We have to balance these and when we do we find the beauty in them. Food is an art, it's one of my favorite art forms because I'm so good at it. I find more delight in cooking than other forms of art like painting and music. I find myself in my element when I'm in the kitchen and things just come together and happen as I work. That is the joy of cooking and food.

So find the beauty in food. Make it, eat it, enjoy it. Find people to share the food with, food means fellowship, we're not meant to hoard it and eat alone, but with the people we love. So find someone, break a loaf of bread, and find the beauty of it.

English Vintner