The State of the Union

"So how are things at church?" I'm glad you asked.
It is kind of funny that while the church was the reason that we moved to Honduras, I really never wrote a great deal about the church.
Here are some recent highlights.

• After last year's major project of installing the new roof over the sanctuary, this year we took up a couple of smaller projects. A room was converted into a new and improved nursery. We installed drop ceiling and new lighting in the foyer. We've painted a few rooms. (We did an exterior job on the electrical which was much needed but not very compelling.)

• Just a couple of weeks ago we rolled out a new church logo. Or perhaps I should just say "a church logo" because the church really didn't have one to speak of. If you're one of those facebooky people you've already seen it perhaps. Along with that we got a new church sign and new bulletins. The work was done by a young woman in the church with her own graphic design business.
• We didn't lose too many people at the end of the school year. That was a plus. Often June is a time of good-byes. This year only a few people moved back to the states.
• Two couples from the congregation got married over the summer and then returned to Honduras. I had the privilege of performing one of the weddings.
• We've gained quite a few people recently. Late-summer is a time when many 'new' people are coming into the country for work with the embassies or schools. We've gained a couple of embassy families with children. In fact, after last year when often the only child in Jr. church was Ellyn, this past Sunday there were 15 kids! It probably won't stay that large, but there has clearly been a growth in that area.
• There are several expectant mothers in the congregation at the moment. In fact, between now and March there could be 4 new babies around. Guess we got that nursery done just in time!
• We've been making a concerted effort to get more people involved and connected. Connecting is such a significant part of what the church exists to do. We've recently installed some church mailboxes so that we can connect with one another even better. 
• I preached through 1 Peter during the late winter and spring (by US reckoning). This summer I preached a variety of Psalms. Currently I'm preaching our 'new' mission statement: "Equipping the saints for the work of ministry." Ephesians 4:12. Perhaps more on that later.

All in all things are going well enough. At this point in the year the main challenge is to stay ahead of it all!

The Lord is Risen!

We enjoyed our Resurrection Sunday Sunrise service at Parque España, a small park near the church that overlooks the city. Since Sunrise came at around 5:30am I must confess that it was a "Sunrise Service" in name only; we met at 7:00. 

We were privileged to have the Coro Unido (United Chorus)--a volunteer choir of members from various churches--encourage us with two familiar songs: "Un Día" (One Day) and "La tumba se encerró" (Christ Arose). We joined voices--and languages!--on one verse and chorus of "Christ Arose."

After the early service we ate breakfast together and then had a time of fellowship until our regularly scheduled worship service. 

We hope that you had a similarly joyous celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 The Coro Unido warming up. They arrived at 6:15am to rehearse, sang two songs in our 7am service, then left to serve in their own churches! Thank you!

A view of the choir and the city.

Choir and congregation.

Going Bananas

One of the small surprises that we have enjoyed since coming to Honduras are the bananas. Now bananas are fairly consistently available in the States so we have long been banana consumers. But the bananas here are better. I know that you're probably thinking: "A banana is a banana. How much better could it really be?" Well, I wouldn't say that they are wildly better but we have both commented that the fresh banana flavor of Honduran bananas is more intense than the bananas we're used to. They don't taste different than what we're used to, just more so.

I've been thinking about this because it is a pretty good description of how life has felt of late, not different, just more intense. In ministry there has been an increase in the number and depth of discipleship/counselling opportunities. We are becoming more keenly aware of the regular, ongoing needs of the congregation, needs that deserve greater attention. From dabbling in Spanish, Debbie has begun working more intently on making progress in the language. Parenting could fall in this category as well.

This intensification is not unwelcome (please note double negative). It is a part of life, and indeed, a sign of greater kingdom potential. But it has certainly made us more aware of our need for a vibrant personal prayer life and the blessing of prayer partners elsewhere.

Thank you for how you partner with us.

Well, at least they're not dead...

Pastoral ministry typically includes a measure of illness and bereavement care. The pastor plays a special role ushering people from this life into the next. I don't have a great deal of experience with this, though I know that I don't like it much more than the next guy.

Due to the makeup of the congregation here, hospital and funeral care are not a significant part of my duties. I have attended a wake but funerals are rare. (And I am legal forbidden from performing marriage ceremonies). However, I have already discovered that there is a parallel responsibility: ministry transition care. If that sounds like a euphemism, it is. I could have written "helping people leave" or, as above, "ushering people from this ministry life into the next." This involves counseling people about ministry decisions, helping people sell their belongings, writing references, and taking people to the airport.

So far, I don't like it any better than funerals, but at least they're not dead.

Fired up, powered down

On and off last evening I was hearing noise from surrounding neighbors and neighborhoods. I didn't think a great deal of it until about 9pm when it rather abruptly got crazy. Fireworks were going off incessantly and people were shouting and screaming. At first I figured that there was some festival or other; I have yet to have a real handle on Honduran holidays--when they are or how they are celebrated. Then it occurred to me that there may be a more simple explanation. A brief search online revealed that Club Deportivo Olimpia had just defeated Real Club Deportivo Espana 2-0 in the League championship (3-0 on home-away aggregate). This was somewhat unexpected I believe, because Real España had dominated in the regular season. Olimpia is based here in Tegus while Real España is from San Pedro Sula, the second largest city in Honduras. Needless to say, fútbol  being the official national religion sport and Olimpia being one of the home town favorites, there were some fired up people in town. 

Though I doubt that there was any relation, last night's excess of energy was followed by a shortage today. For the first time since our arrival, the electricity was intermittent this morning at church. The church has a generator for such circumstances but the noise of the generator and the instability of the electricity it provides made for a different sort of service. Fortunately the congregation did not seem too bothered by it and, as most of my friends know, I have a big enough mouth to make up for the lack of amplification.

As I explained in a previous post, today we also said "Goodbye" to a good friend and fellow minister Jesse. It was good to hear him present his decision to the church and to pray with him and for him. He will be sorely missed but we rejoice with the direction that he is moving for the good of the kingdom.

Festivities and "Fare thee wells"

Today Union Christian Church celebrated Christmas with a luncheon and a brief service of celebration with singing and special music. Both, I think, were well received. Midway through the lunch we were afraid that we might not have planned for enough food but in the end I think it worked out. The time of singing was brief but I, at least, enjoyed the participation of singers and accompanists. Thank you!

If December 11th seems early to some of you for such a celebration it would help you to know that the coming week is a week of departures for many. Some, whose ministry schedules permit it, have already departed statesward. Between now and next Sunday many more will follow; this especially applies to those of our number who serve in the various schools in town. Most churches experience attendance abnormalities around the holidays. Ours may very well be the reverse of those experienced elsewhere. So today was not just about Christmas cheer it was also a good day to well wish the many who we will not see for a few weeks.

There is one particular farewell that is tinged with more sadness due to its finality. This week the part-time associate pastor of worship, brother, and friend, Jesse, decided to make his long-scheduled visit to the states a permanent move. There is no way to sugarcoat this: it is a real blow to the church body. We are in a bit of shock. It is sort of like those first moments after you tumble down the stairs: you don't know exactly what your injuries are but you are sure you're hurt. I imagine that it will be some time before the church and the leadership fully understand the extent of what we have lost with his departure. He has done much. He has done it well. He has done it graciously. For that we are very thankful.

So our festivities have an air of sobriety about them but hope as well. We sorrow the departure of a friend and fellow-laborer while rejoicing at the warmth and conviviality shared amongst the congregation in our celebration of Christ's birth. We look ahead to the new year with hope and some uncertainty, but also with confidence in the grace of Christ.

Ministry Profile - New Life Deaf Ministry

As we have mentioned many times, many in our congregation are involved in various types of ministries here in Honduras. It is truly a blessing to be associated with so many quality people and ministries. To give you a feel for the congregation and to introduce you to ways that you can pray for Honduras or perhaps even minister here, we will be profiling the ministries represented in our congregation from time to time.

New Life Deaf Ministry

On Saturday we had the privilege of attending the first sixth grade graduation of Manos Felices (Happy Hands) a school for deaf children. The school is part of a larger ministry called New Life Deaf Ministry or Ministerio de Sordos Nueva Vida, a ministry that includes a church and community outreach in addition to the deaf school. This year's graduation was of particular importance as it represented the culmination of many years of growth. The school has added a grade level every year and these students were in the inaugural class. In the coming year they will be continuing the program by beginning high school classes for the first time.

The needs of the deaf are left virtually untouched here in Honduras. This school and church are among the only ones of their kind. Many families with deaf children are dismissive of their children's prospects and must be convinced that education is worth it. Many deaf are unable to find work and are thus heavily dependent upon family or other limited resources. Accordingly the work of NLDM is extremely important. The school is slowly changing cultural perceptions about the value of deaf persons in human and Honduran society. Among the school's faculty is a woman who was the first deaf Honduran to graduate from the education program at a Honduran university. 

Union Christian Church was privileged to host the graduation ceremonies and further blessed to have the ministry's director, Christy, among our members, as well as one of the pre-school teachers, Beverly. We are personally blessed to count these women as our friends and New Life Deaf Ministry as partners in the cause of the gospel. (And Ellyn has been building a friendship with Carolina, the hearing child of a deaf couple that works with the school. Carolina attends Union frequently.)

We invite you to visit NLDM's website (yes, it's in English) to learn more about this vibrant and important ministry.

Thanksgiving (again)!

We hope that all of you enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday. We celebrated the day with a meal and time of thanks at Union Christian Church complete with turkey, pumpkin pie, and Packer football. (It should be noted that it doesn't feel as much like football when the commentary is in Spanish. Something not right there.) There were over 60 people in attendance, many of them "visitors". It was our goal to expand our celebration beyond the church family and we were happy to have English-speakers from other churches and ministries, members of the Ministerio de Sordos Nueva Vida (New Life Deaf Ministry, a church and school), as well as several Honduran families. Below are some pictures of the festivities. (For more pictures you can visit the church's Facebook page.)

The fellowship hall prepared for the meal

The spread!

The crowd

The more the merrier

This group is watching the Packers-Lions

game in the church foyer.

One happy customer!

I stand corrected

A few posts ago I was subtly dismissive of the church's self-description as "international" and suggested that most weeks that means little more than Americans* and Hondurans.
Just to spite me, I'm sure, this past Sunday we had at least the following nations represented: Germany, Honduras, the Netherlands, Taiwan, the United States, and Zambia. (Not to mention that the church guard is from Nicaragua.)
I enjoy worshiping in such an environment and just watched the people from different places lifting their voices in song in partial fulfillment of Revelation 7:9

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.

* To most people from the United States, "American" is a common and acceptable self-referent. However, when one gets out into other countries on the American continents its sounds inaccurate. Unfortunately, English offers no other demonym for our use. Spanish has the word estadounidense to refer to citizens of the United States, though, truthfully, gringo is more common!

5¢ Tour

Click on the link below to see some pictures of the Union Christian Church building. Several rooms (and not just bathrooms!) were omitted from the tour. You'll just have to come visit to see the rest!

UCC Tour

Getting dizzy on the merry-go-round

As mentioned in a previous post, Thursday was Independence Day and many teachers and others had extended weekends. Knowing that many of them would be enjoying a weekend away I figured that attendance might be a bit lower this Sunday. Oh me of little faith.

As it turned out it might have been our fullest Sunday since our (0r my) arrival. I particularly noticed and enjoyed this fact when we were singing. It is hard, however, to decide what, if anything, that means. After all a certain percentage of today's attendees were members of a team visiting one of the ministries represented by our members, The Micah Project.

We are also in a stage where newer arrivals to the country are visiting churches. So far I am having a hard time getting my head around who exactly the congregation is. What I mean is that visitors who may land at Union are in and out for various reasons and regular attenders are themselves on rotating schedules with other ministry responsibilities. I have yet to sort out who is a "sometimes" who is an "always" and who is a "maybe."

To make things worse, of course, is that they ALL know who we are but we have to work to remember who THEY are!

Conversion

Already one of my favorite aspects of church is that I don't have to convert. What I mean is this. All week I spend energy converting: Honduran Lempiras to US dollars (1L = $0.053), kilometers to miles (1km = 0.62 miles), Honduran time to US time (WI time = my time +1), and English to Spanish and back again (sorry, no formula for this one).

On Sunday at church, however, I don't have to convert because, well, everyone's already converted. (You knew that was coming). Seriously, what I mean is that we speak the same spiritual language. We serve one Lord and read one Holy Scripture and are empowered by one Holy Spirit. That unity and the resultant community is refreshing and invigorating. I don't have to think a great deal in order to figure out how to interact because we have the most important things in common. And that is a great relief.