Hasta Luego, Honduras!

Clark Stepp
Apr 17, 2018
5 min read

Yes, Alex is on his toes..

I write this blog from the Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar. Kelsey and I are 2 hours away from boarding a plane to India, the next destination on this year long journey. It feels like we just arrived in Honduras. Time really does fly. We are sitting here reminiscing on the last 3 months and readily anticipating what the next 60 days in India will hold.

I want to start by catching everyone up on the last 2 weeks in Honduras, because so much happened! I feel like we grew closer to Brad, Cristy, Alex, and Clare in the last few weeks than we had the first couple of months. I believe this is a product of us starting to see some of the work God is doing around El Progreso come to fruition. One of the specific ministries I am really excited about that we have just gotten started at the Dream Center in the last month is our youth soccer team. David and I have had a few practices with the boys, and David and Alex will handle the program going forward. As all of the other ministries at Hope Through Him, the point of the soccer program is to share the love of Christ, grow relationships with, and disciple these young men going forward.

We have been working with the boys on their soccer skills. Many of them are already very good; but more importantly, we have been incorporating skills needed to be a successful member of a team into the practices. We then finish practice with about a 10 minute devotional and have scripture that coincides with the days focus. Some examples are commitment, encouragment, and humility. (The scripture from Philippians chapter 2 that portrays Jesus humbling Himself from King to the lowest of servants is one of my favorites in all of scripture. What an example to follow!). David, Alex and I prepared the next 5 devotionals going forward this past week. In addition, we have completed our mission, vision, core values and Alex and David are working on communicating expectations next week. They also plan on having a player from the local professional team coming in to speak with the boys one week. In total, I truly believe this will prove to be an excellent way of reaching underprivileged youth in the city.

Another thing that is cool is on off days you see a lot of these same kids around town roaming the streets. Wednesday night was a big soccer game in El Progreso, and the kids were allowed free admission. These photos are of us at the game with many players from our HTH soccer program.

No, I didn't give him the Ohio State jersey. Totally random. Still awesome though!

June 22 Update

Thursday was our last day at June 22. Kelsey and I have grown very fond of this community throughout our time in Honduras. We were able to get a Bible study started for grades 3 through 6 (this usually means only 5 to 10 infants and kindergarteners are screaming about something as we try to teach the kids about Jesus!). This past Thursday we did John 3:16 and passed out some wrist bands that make it easy to explain the gospel to anyone. The kids were super excited to receive these.

Many of these kids have heard these verses before, so it is easy for it to be just repetitive words to them. We try to show and teach the true joy that comes when we really surrender everything over to Jesus. We teach that believing is loving Christ with all of our hearts and giving all glory to Him because of what He did for us! More on that later.

After getting hot playing soccer in the 100 degree heat on Thursday, I went over to the river for a swim with the guys before we left for the final time.

I love these boys and will definitely miss them. I am excited for David and Alex to continue to grow these relationships as they are with the soccer program. Here are some more photos from June 22 on Thursday.

La Mesa

This Past Tuesday Brad gave me the opportunity to speak at La Mesa. I talked about what a believer looked like. It was a completely new experience for me, but I had fun doing it. Clare translated and did a great job. I wanted the people to know that there is nothing good enough they can do to earn God's grace. God was perfectly sufficient on His own without us trying to pour our "good" into the equation. I also wanted them to understand a relationship with Christ is not a raise of the hand or a church attendance.

Don't misunderstand, we were created for a purpose to do good works for God. The last two words there are key: "FOR GOD." Everything was created by Him and for Him. It is all for His glory. What happens many times in the muddy waters of religion is we make a commitment to Christ and then subconsciously believe if I do this checklist and don't do those things, Jesus will love me more. We make it about ourseleves instead of His glory. This way of thinking totally diminishes the whole point of the cross. We say "I'll serve you God! I'll even die for you!" This is what scripture says:

"nor is He served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since He Himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything."

Acts 17:25

Of course when we have experienced God we are going to follow Him! We will do good works for Him because our hearts and our desires have changed (2 Cor 5:17). I started reading Matt

Chandler's book "the Explicit Gospel" on the flight last night, and he discusses the greatness of God throughout the whole first chapter. On this subject he says "how can a man go back to crackers after he has tasted filet mignon." We have to stop asking what can I do to be better? How can I be "my best self?" Instead, start asking what gives God the most glory? Do that. Worship Him in everything you do. If we don't worship Him all of nature will. God will be glorified. Be part of that by picking up your cross each day.

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.."

Galatians 2:20

Finally, Kelsey and I got to do some sightseeing in Honduras with Clare, Brad, and Cristy on Friday and Saturday!! It was a great way to cap off our time in the country. I didn't think we were going to get any of these things in because of how busy we were. That of course would have been fine since we are on this trip to do mission work! However, I am really glad we were able to see some of these places. The pictures below are from Yojoa Lake, Pulhapanzak, and the beach in Tela. Thanks for reading today. I hope you enjoy all the photos!

YOJOA LAKE