In the midst of one of Christianity’s greatest events, the Lord’s final Passover with his disciple’s, we find not only a beautiful pattern for celebrating our Savior’s sacrificial death, but also the harsh reality of human relationships. We often forget that the tragic existence of a traitor was revealed, the disciple’s fought over who would be the greatest, and Jesus foreshadowed Peter’s trifold denial.  This is certainly not the nice and neat package that we celebrate in our padded pews.

Jesus explains to Peter, the soon to be leader of the universal church of Jesus Christ, that he was going to be sifted by satan.  The word “sifted” implies a real beating, the necessary process of getting rid of all that would hinder wheat from becoming wonderful and nutritious bread.  God,  “What is there in my heart that must be beaten away in order to be useful in your plan for the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world.”

Something dangerous has crept into our developed-world understanding of following Jesus.  We have somehow bought into the “health and wealth” subtleties of comfort and entitlement.  No problems or discomfort need to creep into our daily lives. Everything is going to work out just fine.  As a result, we are incredulous when difficulties come and Santa Claus God doesn’t give us everything that we have placed on our Amazon wish-lists.

Dear Friends,

Thanks so much for your prayers on our behalf. The last couple of months have been an absolute whirlwind….very busy…yet very exciting. God has wonderful plans and treats us with such grace and mercy!

BLESSINGS and CHALLENGES!!!

Family:

Hannah has finished her first semester at Pfeiffer University. Please pray for her safety and for the provision of a good part-time job in order to help cover her monthly expenses.

Daniel is beginning to make application to several universities. Daniel will graduate in June, and we are praying that God will clearly guide this decision. Please pray for God’s financial provision as we will soon have two children in college….wow…how time flies!

Abi and Lizzy are doing well and are about half-way through the school year. They are both involved in local dance classes (ballet). Please pray that they will be great influences on their many friends.

Please continue to pray for Kathee’s parents, Jim and Ann Slaughter. Ann is recuperating steadily from her ruptured colon, while Jim is experiencing the results of Alzheimer’s. Jim and Ann just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. Kathee was able to travel to the states using some old Continental Airline mileage….from almost 25 years ago. God knows how to provide long before we know what we need.

In addition, Tim’s father, Joe Hagler, needed to have a heart catheterization and an additional stint placed in order to open a completely closed artery. Thanks for your prayers as Tim’s mom, Dot Hagler, seeks to provide care while dealing with her own health issues. Please pray that God will help us to know how to “honor our parents” from so far away.

CELebración:

Thanks for praying for our new church plant. The last few weeks have been very encouraging with attendance ranging from 85-95 people. We have so many plans, a

nd we are excited about what God has in store. Please pray specifically:

“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Matthew 9:38

Celebración - every Sunday at 3:30pm

Coffee shop:

Please pray for our upcoming plans to create a community coffee-shop, Comunicafé, that will provide a constant location for quality conversations that lead to Christ! Our plan is to be open the majority of afternoons and be run completely by volunteers.

COMMUNITY SERVICE:

Although the primary purpose is to spiritually minister to the immediate community, we are planning to invest any profits from Comunicafé in meeting immediate needs of the local poor. We are looking for simple solutions like these efficient wood burning stoves and home and community water filters.

CHURCHPLANTING PLANS:

Our former church, CFC, and our new church plant, CELebración,

have entered into a partnership to work together in the planting of a new church in Balibrea….about 6 km from our home. The picture shows the proposed building site. Glory to God!!!

EDUCATIONAL EXPENSES

Two of our children are enrolled in online high school education. This great educational opportunity creates an extraordinary financial need. Please pray with us about this need, and please consider if God may have you to help out.

(Several of you have asked us about financially investing in our children’s college education. Our office is prepared to receive tax deductible gifts on behalf of their college needs. Thanks for your concern and generosity).

HEALTH and SAFETY

Please pray that God will continue to bless us with good health so that we will h

av

e the energy to enjoy all that God has for us here in Honduras. As some of you have noticed, Honduras has been in the news lately for all the wrong reason. The 2011 Global Study on Homicide calculated a rate of 82.1 homicides per 100,000 people for Honduras, the highest in the world. By contrast, the U.S. homicide rate is around 5 per 100,000. Thanks for praying.

FINANCES:

2011 was an extraordinary year of ministry, full of challenges and blessings. We believe that 2012 will be a wonderful year of harvest and rejoicing. We ask you to consider how God would have you to invest in His ministry here in Honduras. Thanks for your generosity and obedience to God’s leading.

In Him,

Tim & Kathee

World Reach ▪ P.O. Box 26155, Birmingham, AL 35260-0155

Tel: 205.979.2400 ▪ info@world–reach.org ▪ website: world-reach.org

Learning to "sit"

Nobody likes to wait....

I remember counting the days until Christmas or the agony of knowing that there were still 200 more days until the next birthday.

Hannah and I were talking about waiting this past week. There are a lot of her college details that are still up in the air. She's waiting. We're waiting. We finally couldn't stand it any longer and managed to write a little nervous e-mail. We were told to "not be nervous" and wait...

During the "waiting" conversation, I was also having a good time playing with our new 10 weeks-old puppy, Schnazzy. She is a bright little schnauzer who has become super-motivated by a handful of premium puppy chow. She loves to eat almost as much as I do. So....it was really simple to teach her to sit for a small sample. However, it was not as easy to teach her to wait. She can see the little kibble in my hand and it drives her nuts. She cannot stand the couple of seconds that she has to wait.

So, Hannah and I coined a new spiritual term: Learning to sit.

You know that the good and wonderful thing that God has for you is right around the corner. He has it in His hand. It is perfect in every way, including its timing. But, waiting is driving you nuts. Hang in there, God has a beautiful goal in mind.

James wrote in Chapter One,

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be

mature and complete, not lacking anything.

God is working on your character, my character. His goal is our maturity, our arrival at spiritual adulthood. He is conforming us to the image of His Son.

Sooooo.....SIT!

Another advocate to help you and be with you forever...

I am overwhelmingly convinced that I cannot live in obedience to Jesus. Although He calls me to obey Him as a sign of my love and devotion, I must confess that I have fallen short so many times that I have concluded that what He requires is humanly impossible. Even more emphatic is the reality of Jesus´s own statement in John 14...

¹⁵ “If you love me, keep my commands. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—

Jesus knew that what He was asking would be impossible without supernatural help. In fact, He knew that He would have to send a perfect replacement, one who was divine and perfectly in tune with the will of the Father. The Holy Spirit must completely take control of our lives in order to direct, correct and empower the special abundant life that Jesus has promised.

Are you frustrated with your level of spiritual life, angry at your own lack of discipline and daily victory? Good....perhaps your frustration and disappointment will make you humble and point you to the ever-present reality of the Holy Spirit!

Who would have believed it?

I noticed something interesting this last week as I was studying for the resurrection sermon. I had never paid any attention to the time delay between Mary's encounter with the risen Christ and His appearance before the cowering group of disciples.

The first verse of John chapter 20 reads, “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance”. That certainly fits with our ideas of a sunrise resurrection. However, here is where I made my small discovery. In verse 19 we skip to a much later hour, “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”

Very early in the morning, Mary has a wonderful encounter with Jesus and goes back to tell the disciples. Ten to twelve hours later they are sitting together in a locked room fearing for their lives. Did anyone believe her story? Did anyone actually believe that she had seen the risen Lord or did they discount her story as the result of severe and prolonged grief-ridden trauma on an already over-emotional lady? After all, she was the same lady who poured out a whole year’s salary on Jesus’ feet.

I wonder what the disciples talked about all day. Did they debate the scriptures? Did someone create a biblical defense for a crucified and resurrected messiah? Or did they simply contemplate the different methods of possibly leaving town without suffering the same fate as Jesus?

I wonder why Jesus chose to make them wait. More importantly, I wonder why He makes me wait. How do the uncomfortable moments of waiting and wondering, worried and distressed, contribute to my growth and my ability to continue to trust the Savior?

I am sure that we have all felt this type of intensely agonizing doubt. We all must learn to embrace the reality that the rewards of His revelation (in His time) bring great joy.

“After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord”. John 20:20

New lessons learned...

CELebracion is the name of our new church plant. We knew that beginning something new would be a lot of fun...and from the pic you can see that we were right. However, there have been a few lessons that maybe we didn't see coming.

1) Preaching can be a lot more fun and fulfilling when there is more participation. It can get uncomfortable, but have you ever wondered what would happen if the congregation actually responded to the questions that we place throughout our sermons? What if they actually ask a few questions of their own? Wouldn't it encourage our people to be more engaged with God and His word? Wouldn't it make us have to respond in authentic and relevant ways? We would have to scratch where it itches. We might also get the privilege of simply saying, "Wow! Great question! I don't know. We'll have to study that one together".

2) Also, New christians challenge our religion. Just like week, we were praying for a couple from a new rural congregation. The husband was involved in a hit-and-run accident. He was hit by a motorcycle as he travelled home on his bicycle. His face caught the worst of the damage as he landed on the pavement. The family spent 4 days in Tegucigalpa trying to get the one plastic surgeon at the public hospital to work him in. Eventually, they gave up and came back to Siguatepeque. As the principal bread winner in his home, the family has suffered from his lost wages.

After praying for this family, one of our newest believers stands up and admonishes the congregation, "Is that it? I thought that we were going to be a church of action?" Needless to say, we had to respond. I grabbed a young man's hat and placed it where everyone could give. Our giving was more generous than the usual weekly offering and probably got the family through a week or so of groceries.

Another lesson learned, true Christianity is actually putting the compassion of Christ into action. Praise His name!

Notes on a page...

Last night, I was looking through an old Theology Proper textbook that we used long ago in our Mobile Bible Institute. I noticed that most of the pages had been filled with underlined passages and scribbled notes. About half of them I easily recognized as my handwriting, but the other notes were even more obvious. My dear friend, Jorge Espinal, had written the other notes in his distinctive cursive style.

At different times, both Jorge Espinal and I used the same book to teach different groups of rural pastors. The Mobile Bible Institute was really a fulfillment of his dream (along with Paul Talley) to make theological education available to the poor, bi-vocational pastors of Honduras and Nicaragua. It began in 1994 and continues today in many different countries.

You see, I was on a bus travelling to teach an MBI group last week when I received a text message about Jorge's death. His long battle with cancer was finally over. A large group of us had spent a few hours with the family and friends the night before and we knew that it was only a matter of a very short time. I had been given the privilege a week earlier to actually share a few words with Jorge. It felt like we were saying goodbye and I will always cherish the gift of that moment.

Last night, as I flipped through the pages, I sat in silence, praising God for my friend, his life and his legacy. His notes were not simply written on these pages but also on the reality of my heart....knowing that his kindness and generosity have helped to shape so many of us. Thank you, Jesus....Praise be to your name!