We made it!

Dear all, We made it safely and smoothly to Kampala!!  The flights and everything went very well.  We are resting today and greeting everyone.  We will start blogging probably tomorrow….  Love to all, Nancy

Reflecting on reconciliation.

"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God."

As broken and estranged from God and from one another, we are in constant need of a savior. In our broken relationships we are in need of the restoration that only He can give.

In the "High Priestly Prayer," (Jn 17), Jesus says, " I am not praying for the world but for those whom You have given me," meaning the believers of that day. Jesus specified to the Father that His prayer was particular to those followers and prayed that they, "may be one, even as We are one." It was His deep desire that Christian's oneness be in Him and in Him alone.  He later extended that prayer to include those who would come later.

So as those who have come later, we are called to oneness with our brothers and sisters in Christ. In Cost of Discipleship,  Dietrich Bonhoeffer says that peacemakers "maintain fellowship where others would break it off." We are called to oneness even when it would feel better to cross someone off of our fellowship list. For the cross and for the sake of the world, we are "partners in Christ's work of reconciliation" to reconcile person to person, people groups to people groups and ultimately people to God. We are called to the one fellowship and thus to the reconciliation found at the cross, where Christ Himself is peace.

I believe that our North Central team has taken the work of reconciliation seriously.  Last year, our motto, "unscripted" led us into unfamiliar territory as we set out to see what God was already doing in Honduras and to participate in it fully. We were lead to connect three groups, La Vega church, Solidaridad and the Isopo community to partner together to bring the gospel while empowering the Isopo community. We had already witnessed God's work in each of the communities, but never could have imagine how lives would change when they united. Because we took that injunction seriously, God has blessed those humble attempts in ways hard to have imagined 12 months ago.

In His prayer in John 17 Jesus prayed preemptively for future Christian believers. I believe he was praying for us, for all Christians who would come beyond his ministry on earth when he prayed for, "those who will believe in me." Quite boldly He asked that we, "may all be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in Us..., that they may be one even as We are one, I in them and You in Me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that You sent Me and loved them even as you loved Me." His deep desire is that believers 'be as one.' In repeatedly asking for oneness He is emphatically emphasizing this oneness. But He doesn't stop there for He states the purpose for this oneness and this is, "that the world may know me."  It is for the sake of the world, that we strive toward oneness in Him.

As peacemakers, reconciling human to human and humans to God, this Honduran team from NC are acting, I believe, within the High Priestly prayer, and within the vision of these past two years. 

Peace,

Leslie Kenney

Practicing humility in Honduras.

On Sunday we worshipped in Isopo.  The service was held on the Isopo school grounds under a canopy on the soccer field.  The LaVega congregation organized the service, providing the folding chairs and the PA system.  It could be considered by some to be a casual setting.

Phil Banta preached and for the occasion wore a tie.  I don't remember ever seeing Phil in a tie but in Honduras preachers wear ties.

Your reaction may be; "So what?  Wearing a tie isn't a big deal."  Wearing a tie may seem to be a simple action but doing so in a culture that values it illustrates how we can honor others with norms that are different than ours.  Phil submitted to the local custom to honor his brothers.

Do we follow this example? If a brother holds a belief different than ours, how do we react?  Do we, in humility, treat him with respect or do we denigrate his belief (and, therefore, him) to our friends, family, etc? Do we dismiss it out of hand? Or do we consider his viewpoint in how we treat him?

The Bible tells us that the two most important things in life are our relationship with God and our relationships with each other.  Let us not let our lack of humility ruin either of these relationships but, rather, put Paul's words to work in our lives: "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourself." (Phil2:3)

Jim B

A common goal with La Vega church.

Recently I clearly saw God’s love displayed when God's people from La Vega church came to work along with us in a common goal of providing VBS for the children of Isopo. It was incredible. When we got together on Wednesday to plan the lessons for the weekend we discussed how we would best work together. They took the lead. We would provide activities and would share the responsibilities of leading songs and prayer. Yet after arriving at those awesome plans, God had some that were even better. We held to the plans for the first night, but the second, the people from La Vega completely took over, which was awesome to watch! It was wonderful to get to work along side them and we learned so much from each other. But better than that, we have developed a relationship and have grown to love each other a lot more. Our common goal of loving the children in Isopo brought us together in a love greater than either of our groups could provide alone. 

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:7-8

Joey Paul

Busy in Honduras!

La Vega church welcomes us as we prepare to construct a tent for the meeting that will take place in Isopo on Friday and Saturday. 

We have 3 goals through this Sunday. These goals include campaigning along side BICA students meeting house to house in Isopo, working along side la Vega church to construct a structure for the meeting, and teaching the children in VBS.
This photo shows Joey Paul in Isopo playing with the children while the meeting structure is built on school grounds.

No Steve is not pole vaulting! This photo shows three groups working together to build the structure that will house the meeting this weekend: local Isopans working alongside Christians from La Vega and North Central. This is a very exciting moment as God unites His people in a common goal. 

We're in Honduras!

We're in Honduras and want to thank Amber and the missionaries working with her for waiting for us at the airport.  Amber has been meeting us at airports for most of our trips, even on the other side of Honduras!  She has been and continues to be a blessing to us.
At Baxter we immediately met Pacheco and Oscar and talked at length about what is happening in Izopo.  One thing is sure, there is a lot of excitement here about La Vega's work in Izopo where they have been teaching, visiting villagers in their homes and spreading the Good News wherever they go. Everyone we meet is glad to see us, as we are them, and incredibly encouraging about our work there in Izopo.  We are looking forward to connecting with LaVega and working again with our Honduran brothers & sisters! We're here!

God is Good!

Whenever we visit the home of Rebecca, I indeed feel at home.  Rebecca manages the kitchen at the church and has come from having literally nothing to having a thriving business.  Since 2001. She has purchased property, built a home and now has more property where she has a large garden.  She plans to have an orphanage one day with a school.  We had the joy of picking produce from her garden and then preparing it in her home.

Picking beans off the vines that is growing up the small banana tree.

Sunday was a very special day as several people from the Wakiso church joined in the services at KCC.  The children lead us in songs that were composed by Mr. Mbazira.  The Youth Group leads in more praise songs.  I had the privilege to share communion comments based on scriptures relating to the eternal hope gifted to all of us by God. Next, we were amazed and overjoyed to see two Muslim women commit their lives to Christ and then were baptized in a trough.

Muslim women commit their lives to Christ.

The Women of Grace and I were blessed beyond measure as they received a new second hand sewing machine and knitting machine.  With the proceeds from sale of their beads in the USA, they were able to buy the machines for developing new income through tailoring.  You may wonder why they would need a knitting machine in this tropical climate.  However, somehow the Ugandan’s actually feel cold at times.  The children even wear sweaters to school.  The women see a great opportunity in sewing school uniforms including knitting the sweaters…as well as other products in need of by Ugandan’s.

Here are just a few of them celebrating God’s provisions.

I always enjoy spending a day with Rebecca and Peter (a church guard), cooking in the church Kitchen.  While we had planned a day for the three of us, a few other single men also wanted to learn.  They learned how to make Polish Perogies, and Cinnamon and Rice Soup.  Both dishes are low cost and can be cooked on the coal cookers.   It was fun to see them start experimenting by stuffing the dough with Ugandan foods like beads, rice, and cabbage.

Another great joy is to see the majesty of God through all of His creation. Even greater is seeing the Ugandan’s enjoy seeing God’s creation in their own country.  This time, we were able to bring Terzol, Isaac, Sheba and Able to Queen Elizabeth National Park.  David was our driver.  One animal that I have never seen at the park is the hyena.  Hyena’s are known to be nocturnal, very illusive and are rarely seen.  David was keen on finding one.  Each morning we would ask the park rangers where we might find them.  They would always tell us that they could not pinpoint where they would be next.  Just as we entered the gates one morning, and asked the guards again, we started driving down a long dirt path.  We were just about to pray that God would lead us to the hyena when off in the distance, guess what was running down the road toward us?  A hyena!!  It was amazing, as we drove toward it, it ran toward us.  As we got a good look at it and watched it run, it took off into the field.  A few minutes later we saw another running another direction. Wow!!  It brought to mind the verse, Isa 65:24 - Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.”  God is Goooood!

Spotting a hyena at Queen Elizabeth National Park.