Tuesday, 10 November 2015
7:00 am- Wake up, quiet time, read
8:00 am- Breakfast
9:00 am- Team prayer joined by the pastor and our translator, Maria
9:10 am- Begin ministry by walking to the house of a member of the community
—From 9:10 am – 1 pm we visit 7 different families offering a story, a word from the Bible, and prayer. The houses we visit are often chosen by the pastor ahead of time. We spend a lot of time praying over the very sick, doing Bible studies for those who physically cannot make it to church, and inviting people to church.
1:00 pm- Break for a wonderful lunch prepared for us by the pastor’s wife
2:00 pm- Help prepare the church for the service at night
2:30 pm- Personal time- time to relax, reflect on God’s word, spend time in prayer, read a good book (Some days we have to use this time to prepare a sermon or message for the church service that night)
5:00 pm- Dinner time
6:00 pm- People start showing up for church
6:30 pm- Church service starts. Tuesdays and Thursdays are worship nights so they play worship songs and pray for around an hour followed by a 15-20 minute message. At the end of the message, they call up everyone who is in need of prayer which ends up being the entire congregation. We are then asked to pray over each person individually. It is a really unique experience.
8:30 pm- Church service ends. We spend about 15 minutes shaking hands, giving hugs, and saying goodbye to the members of the church.
8:45 pm- Team time! We listened to a sermon from home and debriefed the day.
Our ministry has looked very different in Honduras than it did in our first couple months. We are staying in a remote town called Machaloa, about half an hour from Santa Barbara. It is a gorgeous, mountainous area filled with every imaginable shade of green and a people yearning for deeper relationship with Jesus. We spend our days traveling from house to house asking if people need prayer and sharing any word that God puts on our hearts. In the afternoons and evenings we either spend a couple hours teaching the local children English and holding Bible studies or we prepare a message for the church service taking place that night. This month we are staying at and working with a church called Iglesia El Renuevo, a Casa Del Padre Internacional church. It is our first month doing only relational ministry and it has been a great change of pace. We have gotten to know the community well and I think this place has definitely made an impact on all of us.
Our first week here the team faced extensive spiritual warfare. We have been introduced to many new challenges this month like praying for healing for people that are extremely sick, needing to be prepared to give a last minute sermon, and experiencing prayer and church services in ways we have never seen before. Our team has encountered struggles with our own health, terrible nightmares, and hearing voices outside our windows as we sleep. Even though these things have been difficult, it has brought me to a place of being better able to rely on God. I have read and understood my Bible more than I have in the past and I am thankful. God has definitely helped us find more comfort where we thought it wouldn’t be possible.
Prayer Requests:
-As we have gotten to know and care more about the community, I ask that you be praying for the wonderful people of Machaloa. There is a lot of sickness and hurt here, but I know God can fix it! If you would like specific names and situations of people to pray for, message me and I would love to send them to you!
-Pray for our team that we can continue to grow together in our relationships with each other and our relationships with God. Please pray for the spiritual warfare we have faced and praise God that he will be triumphant over the darkness
-Pray for the squad as we will be on the move again in just a couple weeks!
