RockHonduras » go

Coming Soon: Honduras LT!!!

Stevi — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 03:58:06 +0000

The long anticipated dream of Honduras Leadership Training is getting closer and closer to reality. An evaluation at the Leadership Training Summit in late October is the next step. Rock pastor, John Drage, sent out the following recently, asking campus pastors to consider promoting the program, pending final approval, in hopes we can launch in Summer 2011, rather than waiting until; Summer 2012.

Our desire (Ed Courtney and me) is to have 10-15 students there in Honduras all summer in 2011. If each campus sent 1 interested, qualified student, we are there. We are currently producing a website, special postcards to pass out to lead people to the website and a promotional video. The church in Choluteca is unbelievable! They have a school, a malnutrition center, a micro finance ministry, a massive HIV AIDS orphanage and outreach, 3 church sponsored businesses and 3 different feeding programs. Lots and lots of opportunities for Americans to kick it!

I’ll try to keep you updated as thing progress. In the meantime, if you’re interested in participating in Honduras LT, email Ed..

Out of Africa

Stevi — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:01:51 +0000

I came across this post on Twitter yesterday, and felt it did a good job of expressing the thoughts of someone returning from a 3rd world country…

Out of Africa
from We Are That Family
by Kristen

I don’t know who I am.

It’s a startling realization to not recognize yourself: My own voice sounds hollow. My eyes hold a distant stare, remembering all I’ve seen in Africa this past week. My thoughts keep me awake at night.

Just days after I returned, I found my husband carefully watching me. "I don’t feel like I know you," he said softly, beckoning.

"I don’t feel like I know me either," I said.

And I cried.

I feel more than guilt for such an easy life, accessible food, clean water and abundance. I feel aware. The blinders are gone. I can’t pretend I don’t know how the poorest of the poor live. I can’t act like there aren’t children who go to bed hungry. I can’t ignore that 30,000 children die each day from preventable causes.

I can’t stop thinking about Vincent, living as an orphan and father, in squalor. When I close my eyes at night, his face is what I see. I see him in his "home" that’s not fit for an animal.

I see the joy of the Lord in his eyes. Peace. I see Jesus.

I think that is what is so hard. I cannot reconcile his lack of every basic need and such fullness in his heart and life. The two don’t mix.

In America, in my town, in my home and heart, I complain about a dirty house, yard work, needing a "break" from cooking or my children. Every basic need is met, PLUS more luxuries than I can count.

With so much, how can my joy be incomplete?

How is it that I can see true peace in one of the largest slums in the world, where the smell of death is prominent and it’s rare in the most blessed nation?

I’m not sure how to mix these worlds together; how to show my spouse all that I’ve seen and all that my heart holds, or parent my kids without guilt.

I don’t know how to find myself again. I don’t know how to return to my everyday life when children still need to be sponsored. But I’m trying.

I am so thankful for this place, although foreign and uncomfortable, I’m not alone. God is right here with me, leading me into new places.

I may be out of Africa, but it will never be out of me.

Read the entire post, with pictures & comments:

http://www.wearethatfamily.com/2010/03/out-of-africa.html

March 2009 Team – Important Info

Stevi — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 12:27:30 +0000

In order for the mission trip coordinator to make all the travel and other arrangements on time, you must:

Apply online by January 30. The application fee is of $100, and it’s a non-refundable deposit to make a deposit for the airline reservations. Please make the check payable to Great Commission Latin America, and give it to the mission trip leader. This amount will be credited to your final trip cost.
Plane tickets will be purchased for each missionary by February 13. You need to have in your missionary account $725 (this amount includes your $100 application fee).
The balance of the trip funds-$805, is due by March 6. The total cost is $1,530. (This cost is subject to change when the airlines increase the fuel surcharge and/or taxes, or if the number of the team’s participants drops below 10 people).

Important Dates

Jan. 30 – $100 non-refundable deposit due
Feb. 13 – $625 first installment
Mar. 6 – $805 remaining balance of the trip due
Mar. 20 – Leave for Choluteca, Honduras

Team Meetings

Thursday Night January 29, 2009 after Rock PWC – 15 minute meeting- Deposit due!
Sunday Night February 8 at 6PM – Dinner at John’s house. Let’s bring our first installment money to send together this day. We will send it together.
Sunday Night February 22 at 6 PM – Dinner at John’s house.
Sunday Night March 15 at 6PM – Dinner at John’s house.

Why Go? (3)

Stevi — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 04:34:22 +0000

From the GCLA Missions site, here is the missions video for 2009:

Why Go? (2)

Stevi — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 05:18:41 +0000

Here is the video from our trip in 2007. Lots of reasons to go!

Why Go?

Stevi — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 05:06:41 +0000

Experiences from foreign mission trips that every Christian should have:

Step out in faith to trust God to raise support
See their gifts and talents used
Experience the spiritual bond with Christians from another culture
See how God is worshiped in another culture
See the poverty, and feel the compassion
See the spiritual darkness, and feel the drive to share the gospel
See fruit of their labor
Come to understand the similarities and differences between the U.S.and another culture
Learn flexibility and the feeling of having your life not in your own control, and trusting God with it.

Learn humility and submission to authority
Experience language barriers and how to overcome them
Experience cultural barriers and adapt to them
Take the risk and share the gospel with strangers
Learn to communicate the gospel clearly
Learn to connect with people of all ages
Walk among the poor, the sick, the dirty, the outcast
Learn to love children and make an impact in their lives
See how big the problems are
See how much bigger God is
See the passion and power of a missions-driven church
Learn how they can be used to meet needs – both abroad and at home
Learn to hear and obey promptings of the Holy Spirit
Learn to tune out distractions
Learn to distinguish Satan’s lies from God’s truth
Experience spiritual attack and rely on God to overcome it
Learn to work as a team and rely on others
Learn to humbly accept the hospitality of the nationals
Learn to live without the luxuries they take for granted
Learn to overcome physical adversities
Experience the liberation of leaving their comfort zone
Deal with the apprehension and possible persecution and opposition from family and friends
Come back home with renewed passion for missions
Bring back and share enthusiasm for reaching out to those in need
Become a catalyst for change at home
Build lasting relationships with team members and nationals
Discover gifts, talents, passions, likes, dislikes, personal deficits, challenges, that they didn’t know they had before.
Begin to look at American culture in a different way
Consider what sort of life changes and adjustments may be needed