Pray!

I recently read an article stating that Honduras is the most dangerous country in the world.  I know, quite an opening, right?  I don't tell you this to make you fear for me and my friends living in this country.  I actually feel very safe and the school protects us well!   You do not have to come to Honduras to experience danger, as danger exists in every country around the world.  However, despite all of the stories I have heard from other teachers, I at times "forget" the dangers in Honduras.  This past week a father of a student in 3rd grade was shot while on his motorcycle.  (Thankfully, this man is recovering and should be heading home this week.)  My eyes were reopened to the sad reality of living in Honduras.

Like I said, I am not writing this to scare you, but I am writing this as a challenge to pray for my brothers and sisters in Honduras who have to live in light of this dangerous reality on a daily basis.  This student's story really hit home as I do tend to forget the horrific tragedies that occur in this country every day.  Honduras needs Jesus.  Honduras needs hope.

Today in church, our pastor was preaching on Matthew 5 and the importance of being salt in a sugar craving society.  People are always wanting us to sugar coat the truth, or in attempt to please people we do not stand for what we believe in.  He challenged us to live every day as the SALT of the earth, not sugar.  (I know, it does sound kind of funny!)   As he was preaching, he shared stories of Christians who are being persecuted for their faith here in Honduras.  I had always heard of persecution in the 10/40 window, but no one ever told me of persecution in Honduras.  This gang infested area is kicking all Christians and pastors out of the area and closing down churches.  Several pastors are refusing to leave their homes because they have a desire to reach this area for Christ.

I was moved to tears this morning as I heard these countless stories of "unsung Christian heroes" living here in Honduras!  I ask you to pray for this country that I have grown to love.  Pray for believers who are literally being a light in the darkness.  Honduras needs love and peace that only the Father can give.

My prayer continues to come from Habakkuk 3:2, "Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of Your deeds, Lord.  Repeat them in our day, in our time, make them known; in wrath remember mercy."  Precious Lord, reveal Your face to Honduras!

Wherever you are, be all there!

Yesterday, I hiked to the top of the mountain where I live.  At the top, I found a big rock and sat overlooking the city of Tegucigalpa.  As I sat, I contemplated the thought, "Wherever you are, be all there."  It is easy to let the anticipation of the future or things of the past dictate our present.  I have been blessed to have traveled all over the world.  God has worked in and through me in ways I never would have expected!  The blessing of traveling and ministering in 5 of 7 continents has also allowed me the opportunity to develop many different friendships around the world.   I am continuously grateful for these blessings; however, I often find myself thinking and dreaming about those people and places.  When I am home, I dream of Africa.  When I am around the world, I dream of life in the United States.  I dream of these places simply because I have fallen in love with the people there.   Recently, I was asked if I ever feel  homesick.  As I thought about it, I am homesick.  Homesick for heaven.   I will always be longing to be with those I love in other parts of the world.  Only in heaven will I be truly at home, as I will be worshipping Jesus with those I love all around the world.  How exciting to think of worshipping God with so many different cultures and people!

While I love traveling and loving on people all over the world, Honduras is my new home!  It is my goal to be ALL here this year.  As I was sitting on this rock yesterday, my heart was bursting with a love for Honduras and a desire to intercede for this country.  Yes, this "African" girl is falling in love with Honduras!  I do not know how long I will be here, but for now I will live to love and pray for these people!  My prayer yesterday was based on Habakkuk 3:2, "Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord.  Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy."  Lord, save Honduras!  Reveal YOUR face to these people.  May the "scales" of their blindness fall from their eyes!

There will always be anticipation of the future or memories of the past.  However, wherever you are and whatever you might be doing, be ALL there!  Invest your time, energy, love and prayers to those you are surrounded by TODAY, for we don't know what tomorrow will bring.

"Jesus is our comforter"

As you may have read from my facebook post, this week has been quite an exciting one!  For those who know me, know my love for adventure and desire to be challenged.  Little did I know how "exciting" and challenging this week would be.  I am not only a 3rd grade teacher, but I am "mom", comforter, counselor, disciplinarian, maid, the handyman, entertainer, spiritual mentor and advisor.  Any teacher or mom out there will understand the need to fill many roles when dealing with children of any age.  At times I love playing all of these roles, and at times I doubt my effectiveness in these.  However, each day brings a refreshed desire to depend on God to meet my students needs!  

Every day I try to instill in my students the desire to seek God and depend on Him for everything!  On Tuesday, I had a little boy come up to me complaining his head hurt.  Now, I don't know about most students in the world, but mine LOVE going to the nurse.  If they sit wrong in their chair, they complain that they might have a back problem and need to go.  After a few days of constant interruptions in wanting to go to the nurse, I instituted a "rule".  "We only go to the nurse if we are bleeding, going to vomit or going to die."  (I know, it sounds funny, but so far it is solving the problem of always wanting to go to the nurse.)  My student kept coming up to me at the beginning of the day, complaining and since he was one that did not usually want to miss class, I figured it was probably a legitimate concern.  10 minutes later he returns from the nurse stating he was given a couple of pills to help with his headache.  Problem solved, right?  What he did not tell us was that he hadn't eaten any breakfast, and you all know what happens when you take pain medication on an empty stomach! :)  After I realize he hadn't eaten anything all day, I quickly try to get some crackers for him to eat, hoping it would settle his stomach.  Unfortunately, I was too late.  As I look up from the front of the room, I see him starting to cough and proceded to throw up all over his desk and the boy next to him!  I quickly jump into "mom" mode and hand him the garbage can while trying to console this poor student.   As I am holding the garbage can I see the boy next to him starting to gag (because he was just thrown up on.)  Another student is in the back yelling, "LALALALA!"  Another student says, "Miss, this smells I think I'm going to be sick."  Another girl unpolitely shares, "If he keeps throwing up, I am going to throw up on him."  Needless to say, my classroom erupted in chaos.  As my panicking students are sitting in the room, I tried to calm them down by telling them to breath deeply.  That did not work as well as I hoped, so, what is a teacher to do?  Thankfully, we were in the middle of Bible class.  I said to my students, "The Bible says we can come to Jesus in times of need and he will comfort us.  Open your Bibles and start finding comfort in God's word."  A student responded, "Miss, where do we look?"  "Well, begin in Genesis 1, I guess."  One little boy began reading Genesis 1 aloud as the class followed along.  When my student would throw up, he would just read louder!  "Miss, I am not finding comfort!"  "Keep reading,"  I replied, "It will come!"  Finally, a student shared, "I guess if God created the world, He knows everything.  I guess He would know we need Him now."  

I am pretty sure my whole class thought I was nuts!  Honestly, I thought I was crazy for telling them to read their Bibles as I try to regain control of the class and comfort my sick child.  However, how great that they were able to begin practicing using the Bible in times of need!  Once I got past the initial feelings of all that was happening in my room, I began to laugh.  It honestly was a hilarious moment in our classroom!  

I was also challenged by my students.  They sat and read while I took care of the mess!  One boy even took the initiative to read the Scripture to the class (he will probably become a pastor one day;).  How often do I go to the Bible when my life is in utter chaos?  How often do I just sit and read the Bible when my world seems out of control?  A funny moment in my third grade class caused me to reflect on my spiritual walk as well.

And may you find comfort today in 2 Corinthians 1:2-5:

"Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows."

Challenges

My classroom is often a very funny place, due to the language barrier.   Last week, we read a story about sea creatures.  On one of the pages we read the following sentence: "Perhaps we can go to the beach tomorrow."  One student raised her hand and asked, "Miss, what is 'perhaps'?.  I explained that perhaps meant "maybe" or "likely".  I wrote the word on the board and we brainstormed other sentences with this word.   Little did I know how much they loved this word, but how quickly they would forget its meaning.   The next day, students submitted their homework, which was comprehension questions based on our story.   I received some interesting responses.  One question was "What is a baby whale called?"  One little girl wrote, "A baby whale is called a perhaps."  Another little boy answered, "Perhaps a baby whale is called perhaps."  (He was getting closer!)  Another question read, "Why was the character like the turtle?"  One little girl responded, "They were both perhaps."  I think we might need to review the meaning of "perhaps"! :)  They are so funny!  I got a good laugh from their responses.  At least they were trying to use the new word!

This past week I have been watching my students grow in their excitement for the Bible and God!  It is always so encouraging to hear students say, "Miss, I love how the Bible is always filled with good things for us!"  or "God must REALLY love us!"  It is so exciting to watch their love for Bible increase.   Although we had some really great moments in 3B, it was a more challenging week as well. I often felt like Solomon trying to sort through problems and determine who was right and who was wrong.   On Friday, I had two sobbing uncontrollably over another students words.  Two of my boys started fighting during indoor recess and another boy was upset for feeling left out.   It was an exciting time in my classroom.  There were times when I would just pray, "Lord, give me wisdom to help these students solve their problems. "  It is so hard to know who is telling the truth sometimes!

After a long week at school, the fun did not stop.  I am a small group leader for 9th and 10th grade girls.  The school puts on a high school youth group type program for the students, since many don't have any church activities.  I have 5 girls currently, 4 of whom are MKs at the school.  At first, I thought it was funny that I was put with the only 4 MKs at the school.  After praying about it, I really feel that the Lord can use me and my co-leader to help them grow.  I have never been an MK, but I have been a PK and I understand some aspects of growing up in the church and having parents involved in ministry.  The one challenge for me is the fact that these girls are SO smart!  They want to learn more and I just feel unequipped to lead them.  I know God is calling me to step out of my comfort zone to lead these girls, I just pray I may be open to His leading in this small group.  Please pray for these girls to know God in a new way and grow deeper in their relationship with Him.

I immediately left small group to head to my church for a young adults small group.  It was all in Spanish, but thankfully my friend, Jenna, was able to help translate for me.   As you all know, the language barrier has been difficult for me.  On Friday night, I was able to understand some of the lesson, which was huge!  God is at work.  I absolutely love my church and am so blessed by my new friends there.  I pray we will continue to grow in our friendship and challenge each other in our life with Christ.

As I am learning daily, "God does not call the equipped, He equips the called."  May I remember these truths during the challenges and continue to see His calling for my life!