#Pray For Honduras

[stupittmoran]

Some of you people are acting like it's still 1502 and it shows In 1502, after spending eight months exploring the coasts of Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama, Columbus beached in Jamaica at the end of June 1503. There, he and his men were stranded for one year. Since the governor of Hispaniola was not a fan of Columbus, he stopped any efforts to rescue him. At first, the natives were hospitable to Columbus, but his sailors stole from and cheated the natives. Finally, after six months the natives stopped their food supply to Columbus and his men. Columbus had one last trick up his sleeve. Columbus had an astronomy almanac by Abraham Zacuto. He noticed there was a lunar eclipse coming up on February 29, 1504. He met with the tribal leader and told him God was angry with native’s treatment of Columbus. He said his God would put clear sign of his anger in the sky by making the full Moon appear “inflamed with wrath.” His trick worked. When the natives saw the eclipse—on schedule, just as Columbus predicted—they ran from all directions to Columbus’ ships with fresh provisions, begging him to pray to his God for protection. Columbus went to the cabin of his ship to “pray,” timing the eclipse with his hourglass. Totality—the period of time when the moon is completely engulfed in Earth’s shadow—was about to end, so Columbus emerged from his cabin and told them God had forgiven them. Just then the moon started to reappear and the natives were grateful. They continued to care for his men for several more months until he was rescued.

[apenitentialprayer]

Pope Francis’s June 2024 Prayer Intention: For Migrants Fleeing Their Homes

Loving Father, who welcomes all Your sons and daughters, we pray to You today for the migrants who flee from war or hunger. May they find welcome and new opportunities in the countries that receive them. For hospitality is an expression of love, of that dynamism of openness that inspires us to pay attention to others, to seek the best for their lives.

But we know that immigrants are often seen as usurpers who have nothing to offer, and so this leads to the simplistic belief that the poor are dangerous and useless while the powerful are rich benefactors.

Teach us to be a Church that is a field hospital, to live an even better way of welcoming, to promote a culture of welcome that protects and integrates; to think for and develop an open world, to not judge the usefulness of the person, but to see the value in itself that the person represents; and that the different countries of the world be able to think not only as a country, but also as a human family, because only a social and political culture that incorporates gratuitous acceptance can have a future. Amen.

Mark Seitz, Bishop of El Paso, with a family from Honduras (x)

[eruditetyro]

i went to the after hours bar the bartenders at my regular spot sometimes go to because the loneliness hit hard suddenly, and no one i knew was there, so i picked up a copy of the litmag they keep there along with my beer and sat at an empty looking table with half a beer and a phone on it because there was a chair a polite distance away from these items that allowed me to catch enough light to read. and the man came back who had been sitting there and he told me he only knew un poquito ingles and i told him i also don’t know spanish and he told me he came from honduras and i said long way. and he took out his phone and with google translate told me he was alone here, that he had many acquaintances but no friends here, that he thought maybe i was similar. that he was glad i sat at the same table with him because usually no one would because they are afraid. he told me he was glad i wasn’t afraid of him. he told me god is the only one with him here, everyone else is a long way away. i raised my glass to him. we shared the space, the table, in peace. i told him buenos noches when i left, because that’s about all the spanish i’ve got. anyway. some people are very lonely. a long way from home and not knowing the language and avoided by others, accompanied only by their god. on my way home i caught myself unironically praying for him. i hope he finds it, that thing we seek. i hope he finds it and it feels worth every moment of getting there.

[smodp]

Pray for Haiti, Honduras + Hungary

[jdgo51]

SEPTEMBER 19, 2024

God with Us

Sister Confianza del Señor (Colón, Honduras)

"I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand." - Psalm 73:23 (NIV)

"'I was riding a bus along a twisting highway between cities. The bus bounced and swayed more than usual, and I didn’t feel well. As I tried to pray and hoped I wouldn’t throw up, I remembered that in Spanish, the same word is used for being carsick and seasick (mareos, from mar, the “sea”). I thought of the disciples in the boat with Jesus when a storm arose on the Sea of Galilee. They were frightened — and perhaps seasick — so they woke up Jesus who was somehow sleeping through it all. “Don’t you care if we drown?” they cried. And he promptly calmed the storm.

What strikes me is that though Jesus had the power to calm the storm and obligingly did so when they asked, he was already in the boat with the disciples. God is with us all the time — in the storms of life and on calm sunny days. God holds us by the hand in every moment and is ready to answer when we call for reassurance. When we trust in God’s loving presence, peace can fill our souls, even in the most difficult times."' God's Spirit and presence will carry us through every single day.

TODAY'S PRAYER

"Thank you, God, for being ready to answer when we call. Help us to trust in your continual presence." Amen.

Mark 4:35-40

""35 Later that day, when evening came, Jesus said to them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the lake.” 36 They left the crowd and took him in the boat just as he was. Other boats followed along. 37 Gale-force winds arose, and waves crashed against the boat so that the boat was swamped. 38 But Jesus was in the rear of the boat, sleeping on a pillow. They woke him up and said, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re drowning?” 39 He got up and gave orders to the wind, and he said to the lake, “Silence! Be still!” The wind settled down and there was a great calm. 40 Jesus asked them, “Why are you frightened? Don’t you have faith yet?” Our faith can wane at times and we doubt. We never have to do that. He is forever there. Share a blessing or two, today. Joe

[martinwilliammichael]

A men’s global rosary, to bring back faith to public life (1)

Men from more than 40 countries joined together May 6, 2023, for the worldwide Men’s Rosary, praying on their knees before the Virgin Mary so that men would once again be valued in society and for the conversion of the entire world.

The general coordinator of the Knights of the Rosary apostolate in Mexico, Paco Páez, explained to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that by praying the rosary, the participants “want to bear witness, not because of our virtues, but by getting on our knees asking for the intercession of our Most Holy Virgin Mary, so that she would grant us the conversion of sinners, our own conversion, that of our families, and that of the whole world.”

Through this public rosary, he added, they are praying for “the reign of Christ’s peace in our hearts and in our homelands.”

The Men’s Rosary was also held in various cities in Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Chile, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama, Ecuador, and Paraguay.

Other countries that also participated were Spain, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Brazil, Honduras, Ukraine, Italy, Croatia, Australia, Indonesia — a majority Muslim country — and the Philippines, the country with the most Catholics in Asia, as well as others.

Páez also noted that the prayer is held in the streets “in the hispanic nations of the Americas, which are culturally Christian, to reclaim the public square for Our Lord Jesus Christ, because a lamp is not lit to be put under the bushel basket, but is placed up high so that it shines throughout the house.”

“We want to take up our call as men in the life of this Church, of this pilgrim Church that is also known as the Church militant,” he continued.

Walter Sánchez Silva

ACI Prensa Staff, May 10, 2023 (CNA)

ewtn.co.uk

Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

[jarrodwbrown]

He was unlike any person I've ever met. He was a free spirit but not care free. He did care. He had a level of self confidence and independence that I've never seen coupled so perfectly with humility, kindness and a genuine care for others. His smile greeted you with warmth before he ever spoke a word. His smile invited everyone to be a part of the moment with him. Not only did everyone who met him love him, he loved them back.

His free spirit is what took him to Alaska. An entrepreneur of entrepreneurs, this drive is what led him to buy a boat and start commercial fishing, to build amazing homes in the off season, to guide hunters into the back country, to become a pilot and buy a plane.

His free spirit took him to far flung places like Patagonia in southern Argentina, rural New Zealand, even to Cuba where he would be the only foreigner surrounded by cheering fans at baseball games.

It's also what brought him to visit Honduras for the first time back in 2002, when our ministry was in it's infancy. He dined with me on ramen noodles and hotdogs in the garage turned apartment that I rented as a young missionary. Over the years he would make numerous trips to Honduras to serve with Mission Lazarus. He once drove to Honduras from the US just for the sake of doing it. After a few weeks working with us he continued his road trip south to Panama where he sold his 4Runner and flew home.

He made multiple trips to Mission Lazarus Haiti as well. His first trip was to help with our earthquake relief efforts in 2010 and then returning multiple times to tackle pieces of construction projects at different sites.

He was Kurt St. Jean.

Kurt was the embodiment of good. He was a really good person. He was the neatest person that I've ever known. Kurt was also the brother of my brother in law, Chad St. Jean. When my sister Andrea shared the news with me late Friday night I was shocked.

Kurt died Friday doing what he loved, flying his Piper Cub Cadet across Alaska. Unfortunately mechanical issues brought his plane down in a forested area and he didn't survive the crash. And in a blink of an eye, Kurt was gone. His life was short but it wasn't short lived. He packed more into it than most will who live to be over 100.

Kurt's girlfriend Kristen was with him and she survived the crash but is in very serious condition with many broken bones, a head injury, ruptured spleen and ruptured bladder. Kristen needs as many prayers as she can get if she's going to survive and make a recovery.

So today, would you pray for Kristen? And pray for Chad St. Jean & Andi Brown St. Jean, as well as the rest of Chad's family as they struggle to process their loss.

When I grow up, I want to be like Kurt. Kurt will be missed but he will not be soon forgotten.

[e-devotion]

some of my lists

Lists.  There are all kinds of lists that we deal with on a regular basis.  Some lists are just data collected from life and situations.  Other lists are active and changing.  That would be most like a grocery list or something similar.

I wanted to start this week with a few lists, and I will give you some points to think about at the end.

Oklahoma, Texas, Georgia, Mississippi and Virginia.  States I have lived in.

United States, Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Cuba.  Countries were I have been on mission trips.

Parents, 2 brothers, wife, 3 kids, 2 grand children, so many nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles and so many cousins.  Just a list of family.

Patrick Henry, Salk, Eastwood, Victory, Emmanuel, Criswell, Brewton-Parker, Southeastern, and New Orleans.  Schools that I have attended.

I could go on and on.  But the list that I want to close with is a prayer list.  This one is harder to put together, but it might be the most important of all the list.

Family including my wife and children.  Our church, leaders and all the plans for ministry.  The community we live in as well as the variety of needs.  Heartbreaking things such as those experience war or cancer or other difficult life situations.  Those in need of resources physically and even those who need hope and life from God.  

James 5:16  NASB  

Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. A prayer of a righteous person, when it is brought about, can accomplish much.

Matthew 5:19-20  NASB  

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;

That is enough for now.  So many lists.  So many things that need to be dealt with as well as the things or projects that need to be dealt with.  May our lists show that we value what God says and what He is doing!

[dentedhalostories-blog]

Gabby got on the city bus.

She sat down beside a small woman, a woman so slight she might not have seen her if she hadn’t been looking closely, so quiet she might not have heard her if she hadn’t been listening carefully.

“Cómo estás, Luisa?” she asked.

“Bien,” she answered. “Un poco cansada. I cleaned a lot of rooms at the motel today. Y tu?”

“Si, bien. Un poco cansada, tambien. I scrambled a lot of eggs at the Scrambled Egg. I can’t wait to put my feet up and rest them. What you doing this evening?”

“I’m going to cook supper and take my daughter to help me clean the doctor’s office. Then I’ll rest.”

Gabby put her arm around Luisa’s shoulder.

“Eres una buena mujer,” she said.

“Tú también, mi Amiga. Tú también.”

Gabby got off the bus at the corner of her apartment building.

‘Sup Gabby. How you doin’?” asked Bryant, who everyone called Big B.

He’d just gotten home from his job as a mechanic at Shoeless Joe’s garage.

“Hola Big B! Not much. You know, glad to be home. How was your day?”

“It was all good. The squeaky wheel got the grease, as they say.

“One of these days I’m gonna buy a car and you’re the only person I’m gonna let work on it.”

“Deal. If you need anything, let me know, okay?”

“Sure thing! Same here.”

“I could use some of your steak and eggs,” he chuckled.

“Ugh, anything but that. I’ve cooked enough steak and eggs today for a lifetime!”

“Bet. I’m jus’ kiddin’ wit’ cha. Night Gabby.”

“Night B. Sleep tight.”

She took her key out of her pocket and unlocked the door to her apartment.

It was one room.

There was a holey sofa against the wall that pulled out into a bed.

A small table and a lamp was beside it.

One book, Poems for a Brown Eyed Girl, was on a bookshelf made out of a cut board and two concrete blocks against the other wall.

A water color painting of the Statue of Liberty was above it, the first gift she’d received at a little Catholic shelter on the Texas side of the US - Mexico border between Brownsville and Heroica Matamoros, Mexico.

She’d arrived there barefooted and broken hearted, with tears of hope and sorrow, after the long migration from Honduras to America.

There was no TV, just a battered transistor radio that had belonged to her papí.

The room was simple and beautiful, like her.

She picked up the small book of poems, worn now at the edges from nights and nights of reading.

She turned on the lamp, sat down on the sofa, and stretched out her legs in front of her.

She opened the book to the poem Ode to a Migrant Woman’s Feet.

She read,

feet

are

calloused

and so cracked

rocks in the plowed ground

she walks over the land barefooted

as her abuelo turns the earth with donkey and plow

she has the feet of her abuelo, for she walks beside him down the long rows of beans

her abuelo walks down the rows until his feet are broken and bent by genuflecting to the land or land owners

when her feet are in the soil, it is as if they are the land, as if they hold the secrets of the earth, the mystery of seed, dirt, water

becoming a bean in a pod, a kernel on corn, a beautiful tomato

her heart is in her feet, the land, the mystery her

feet speak, "Estoy aquí," "I'm here"

her feet are our signs

"I'm human"

human

"I'm

here"

She closed her eyes.

She prayed a small prayer to God.

God,

here

I am

barefooted,

open-hearted. Walk

with me, work with me migrant God.

Dust on my feet, callous on my hand, you are here, God.

She listened closely with the ears of her heart.

“I hear, I’m here,” said God in a still, small voice from somewhere far away, somewhere right beside her, somewhere deep inside her.

“You hear, you’re here.”

She smiled.

And God smiled, too.

[elishastjames]

St James Family Update For almost 4 years we have had the privilege to serve Faith Community Fellowship (FCF) as Worship Pastors. June of last year, while we were serving on a mission in Honduras, a woman shared some words from the Lord, stating to: be prepared to come to a crossroads, we would have to make a tough decision, we would be hesitant but not to fear because the Lord would be with us. Three months later, while I was serving on a mission in Bolivia, I, for the first time, felt the Holy Spirit tugging on my heart about Pastoring; during a worship service at Iglesia Kairos in La Paz. I was absorbing every detail of this space, the worship, the people; as I always do, but this time I did so through the lens of a Pastor and it was at this moment that I heard Him whisper to me, saying ‘It is time.’ My heart was beating outside of my chest as I was suddenly overcome with fear because I could not see this for me. I didn’t know what this all really meant and I was too afraid to ask the Lord. I do know that, that day marked my soul because it changed me from that moment on– something unexplainable was happening inside of me. I struggled for several more months with this, before finally letting my Pastors @Steve McCarty and Nick Carol in and thankfully, through their prayers, support and guidance we are following God’s call. Our FCF Family has been amazing!! Thank you for welcoming us with open arms those few years ago. Thank you for graciously letting us serve alongside you as we pressed forward with our Pastor’s endeavor to bring diversity and maintain unity in our communities. Thank you Pastor Steve for your steadfast leadership when the whole world got sick and then went crazy in 2020. Thank you for being so supportive of what I had to offer, thank you for challenging all of us to be Spirit led. You have shepard us well, we learned so much and we will carry that wisdom with us everywhere, always. Thank you for releasing us and covering us, we love each of you so much! Maria and I are excited about embarking on this journey to launch a life giving church in Oneonta, AL… “Church United” - Celebrating Diversity, Worshiping in Unity! We will keep you all updated with progress on with the launch. In the meantime we will travel on the weekends to help raise more support and awareness for the new church, while spending our time during the week serving in the local area and building relationships. Continue to pray with us and for us! Blessings!

[mrtonyanthony]

PRAYER FOCUS: Tuesday, 7th February 2023 EVERY COUNTRY 2023: Pray that every person in each of the following 4 countries will hear and respond positively to the Gospel message: Greece (10,919,459); Montenegro (626,101); Vatican City (840); Honduras (8,189,501). #gcsprayer Full Prayer Diary: https://lnkd.in/eV-cRybg https://www.instagram.com/p/CoU5O7GoQpA/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[teachandwrite-blog]

One of my favorite character descriptions in all of literature is the description of Santiago, the old man in The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway.

You can read the description at the beginning of the 3rd paragraph in the picture below.

It’s a picture of the first page of the story The Old Man and the Sea in Life Magazine from September 1, 1952.

That’s the magazine in which The Old Man and the Sea made its first appearance.

And it’s a magazine that’s one of my most prized possessions.

I have it on my writing table now.

“Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated,” writes Hemingway.

I think about the old man’s eyes each and every day.

I always pray that at the end of the day my eyes, which are the color of the sea, will be cheerful and undefeated.

That’s not easy when you’re a teacher, you know.

There are many parts of a school day that can leave you cheerless and defeated.

But all of those parts were washed away at the end of this day by two simple acts of kindness from two of my students.

Both are kind.

Both are brilliant.

Both are from the farms and fields of Honduras.

One walked through my classroom door at the very end of the day.

I was sitting at a student table playing UNO with three students as they waited for their names and car numbers to be called.

She smiled at me and placed a note on my table.

“Is that for me?” I asked.

She nodded her head, smiled at me again, and walked out the door into the rest of her day.

When all of my students were gone, I picked up the note and read it in the peace and quiet of an empty classroom.

You can read it for yourself in the second picture below.

“Thank you for helping me with my stuff and for teaching me,” it says. “I love you!”

(Btw, the stuff many 9 and 10-year-olds carry can be pretty heavy, for sure)

The other asked me after the bell rang, “Mr. Barton, do you have any origami paper?”

“No, I’m sorry,” I answered, “But you’re welcome to get a piece of paper and some scissors and make your own.

She smiled at me and walked away to do just that.

As I was playing UNO with her classmates she yelled out, “I did it!” and raised her fist triumphantly up into the air.

“What’s your favorite color, Mr. Barton,” she asked me.

“Yellow,” I said.

She walked to my teaching table and grabbed a yellow marker.

She went back to her table and began coloring her creation.

As her name and car number appeared on my Promethean Board, she brought that origami to me.

“It’s and elf,” she said. “It’s for our classroom Christmas tree in honor of you.”

Sure enough, it was the best origami elf that I’ve ever seen.

You can see it in the third picture below, sitting humbly on our class Charlie Brown Christmas tree, which I put up each year with faith, hope and love for my students.

You can also see my reflection in my classroom window.

Please don’t look at the wrinkles around my eyes and across my forehead and think of me as an old man, even though one of my students asked another, “How old do you think Mr. Barton is?” and the other answered, “28,” to which the first student replied, “Oh no way. He can’t be that old!”

Instead, look into my eyes.

You will the color of the sea.

You will see that they are cheerful and undefeated.

All because of two students.

And simple kindness.

All in a day in public school.

[hernandezl28]

IMPORTANT

Hello everyone, we would like to invite you to help in a worthy cause. Just a few days ago, Honduras was victim of Hurricane Eta which has caused a lot of damage and destruction in many areas of the country. Along with already facing many hardships due to the pandemic. Our people are in need. So we decided to create this fundraiser to help the people from the department of Olancho and other affected areas of the country. If you can help even a little it would be greatly appreciated. No donation is too small; every dollar counts or you can also help by sharing this post. All the donations will go directly to Honduras to the “Olancho Solidarity organization”, who will use these donations to purchase food, medicine, and other essential items and distribute to those who need it the most. Pease, there are little kids cold and pregnant woman who leaved everything. Their homes already flooded. So please help us, they need it. Here’s the link if you want to donate: https://gf.me/u/y7xyhr

[fictionalastronaut]

THIS IS NOT A HOLIDAY CELEBRATION- THIS IS A FIGHT. 

SO HERE`S WHAT`S HAPPENING IN HONDURAS, (I’ll try to be as brief as possible) Elections were held on Sunday. The results are usually reported an hour or two after the election process ends. It’s been 6 days and we still have no official report. One of our candidates is our current president, which is completely illegal since our constitution clearly states a president cannot be reelected. Ever since the reports showed he was leading the counts (that were favoring the opposite candidate by 5% before the “system went down”) the whole country has turned into a war zone, because our current president is evidently committing fraud right in our faces. People have been killed for protesting, Entire buildings have been burnt down. Cars turned into ashes. The police and army have been using violence against innocent people who are peacefully defending their vote.

Yesterday at night the “authorities” declared a state of siege, which means no one can be outside their houses from 6pm-6am, basically in order to stop people from protesting. This is what in many countries of latin america has been denominated as a “Cacerolazo” (which consists of banging pans) - since we can’t go out to the streets to fight for our rights, we’ll make our voices be heard from our houses. This is what a rising nation sounds like. 

[junniorstarbreak]

#PrayForHonduras

To be honest I don’t tend to make much political posts for I don’t really dedicate my blog to it as I intended more for inspirational stuff and or art references, but I’ve taken notice on how the #PrayForHonduras has been trending, the fact that people actually care and take their time to aid my country has been a really touching gesture, for those who may not know for I feel none of you are getting the full picture or history (Cause the tweets I’m seeing only shows fires and stuff and people gonna think we getting bombed or something else) we recently had our elections for the future president of Honduras from 2018 - 2022 the thing is one of the candidates, Juan Orlando Hernandez has been a manipulative man climbing his way to power and getting himself elected the previous elections (2013 - 2017) by disbanding people’s votes and ensuring the most for himself (similar to what happened in USA during the Clinton VS Trump elections) after his period as a president he decided to relaunch a campaign to be elected 4 MORE YEARS when it has been stablished within the constitution that a president may only serve ONCE as a president not twice nor get reelected, but somehow he cheat it his way in into this year’s elections representing the Nationalist Party, that aside thankfully most of the peoplw knew how corrupted and dreadful this man was... and WE THE PEOPLE tired of his constant abuse and negligence used our votes to elect a new president who actually heard our voice, who actually cared for us, the candidate the majority of the population voted for is known as Salvador Nasralla who proved to be an honest choice to make us achieve a better Honduras, election day was on November 26th where the votes got counted and we got advice he had won, but the corrupted network that Juan Orlando had built wanted to stop that, the corrupted president made the unthinkable he started delaying the declaration of the presidence ONE ENTIRE WEEK to stall for enough time so he could made a fraud in the elections and start falsifying votes so it would seem he won, but the people ain’t stupid, MY COUNTRY AIN’T STUPID we saw through this and we are fighting against this corrupt man who is trying to become a dictator on our peaceful land, betraying the morals and ethics of my country, betraying the trust of his own political party and lastly proving how corrupted and manipulative he truly is by showing his true colors now that he is cornered for his ultimate treason against Honduras, OUR LAND we are fighting against this utter evil menacing us, who in 4 years and years prior of manipulative destruction has cause more than enough damage to us, we ain’t letting him get away, WE AIN’T LETTING HIM DO FRAUD AND PROCLAIM HIMSELF THE DICTATOR HE IS!

So thank you all who have supported my country in this times of need whether it was through Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, the fact other countries care, the fact other countries are aiding us, is one of the most beauitulf hopeful things I can witness, for too long my people have been hopeless and stepped on but now? We have awaken and we want our country to be better... THAT’S WHY WE ARE GONNA KEEP FIGHTING TILL JUSTICE PREVAILS

[jarrodwbrown]

Lazy Bums

Did you ever know someone who wore their hard work, their hard life or their busyness around on their chest like a badge of honor, as if noone else has a lot going on. You know what I'm talking about, every time you talk to them, if you're even able to get them on the phone, they're so busy.

I think that it all comes down to priorities. Most of us have a lot going on at any given time. Most of us have more on our plates than we're going to be able to clear off any time soon. Often times I get a call and the other person starts with saying, I know you're really busy. That's nice for them to say that but I hope that nothing I've said has given them the impression that I'm too busy to talk to them or that they are any less important than any other task that might be competing for my attention.

I do work hard, I like to think so at least. I also play hard, I really enjoy work and I really enjoy playing hard. I'm not as good at being still. I even struggle to be still, I feel an uneasiness welling up in me, even a bit of guilt. Christ knew the importance of taking time to be still. He was intentional to take time alone, in prayer, after a hard day of work ministering to others. So why do so many of us, as faithful believers, struggle so much with being still?

On a recent trip to Haiti I was reminded how critical to survival hard work is for most in the rural communities that we serve. Most don't have the luxury of taking a week off, going on vacation, or even just a long weekend. Yet, in Haiti, much like in Honduras, you'll typically find families relaxing together in the late afternoon and into the evening. You'll find churches full on Sundays. Perhaps it's a biproduct of the poverty that grips their nations but what if it's a product of Spiritual wealth. What if the poverty in and of itself is what provides the agency to be still and not feel guilty. What if it was the material poverty that is the catalyst for a spiritual wealth that I believe I can only aspire to have.

In the end, as evidenced by these men sawing lumber by hand, the poverty that grips so many nations is not due to a lack of work ethic. It's not due to a demographic of people simply wanting a handout. The geopolitical systems that bound many nations with poverty generations ago are not easily corrected. But Jesus never called us to pursue governmental or institutional transformation, he called us to pursue the one, to be fishers of men. And we can all do that if we're intentional about it, aren't to busy to encourage someone, pray for someone, or to even invest time and energy in pondering how to transform the lives of those who have yet to know what it means to "have life and a life in abundance."