A few days out of Teguz and a very Merry Christmas to all!

Thanks to everyone for being patient for this next update. I have been so busy with travel that all communication has been very difficult recently. Here is a brief rundown of some of my recent travels:

Monday (17th) - We left for Copan (Ancient ruins of an indigenous group of Honduras - the Mayans). This was a long van ride that ended up being 12 hours long with stops - this included a stop at a beautiful waterfall.

Tuesday (18th) - We spent the day learning about and touring the ruins, in the evening we travel about 3 hours to San Pedro Sula.

Wednesday (19th) - We toured one of Dole's banana growing farms and then traveled back to Tegucigalpa (another 6 to 8 hours) with a stop and tour of a cave.

Thursday (20th) - We had Spanish and culture class as we normally do on weekdays. As well as much sleep recovery and a lot of laundry.

Friday (21st) - Andy and I left with our host brothers (Carlos and Lemuel) and a friend (Mike) to go to the island of Roatan (part of Honduras) where Mike's family lives. We stayed there until the 24th and then made the 2 hour boat ride and 8 hour bus ride home. One of the beautiful things about living with host families is that when they leave for a vacation, we go with them, so Andy and I had two days on the island (the other two were spent traveling) which was relaxing, although Mike tried to show us the whole island in two days which kept us very busy and less like tourist on the beach!

Christmas has past and for me it was not terribly dramatic or anything like I had expected. My family, save my host brother Lemuel, does not really celebrate Christmas much (I haven’t figured out why yet) so after I ate with my brother and gave some gifts to my family on Christmas Eve, I ventured out with Lemuel to make stops at random houses. I gave the gifts on Christmas Eve because most families here open their gifts at midnight when the day changes to Christmas. Tradition here is to continually eat on Christmas Eve and Christmas day, but when the clocks strikes 12:00am and it is Christmas, there are fireworks all about the city. There are usually small firework shows leading up to Christmas but at midnight Christmas Eve, people set off personal fireworks in the street. I was absolutely shocked at how little attention was paid to safety and how few precautions exist. Fireworks would go on roofs, in bushes, and some kids (they looked to be about 8 or 9) started a newspaper fire on their porch. I guess it’s not uncommon for people to get hurt and for problems to arise, but like all traditions it won't be broken any time soon. My host brother is a fairly cautious person so don’t worry, I was never in harms way as far as I know.

I have to admit, I had thought there would be more focus on the Christmas story and the true meaning of Christmas that seems so forgotten in our culture, but it seems even less focus is here (according to what I saw). Since I didn’t have a traditional Christmas, I had to rely on my teammate’s experiences. Most people said they ate at midnight with extended family then opened gifts, everyone at the same time as fast as possible, and then everyone left abruptly. I hope I can be a part of that sometime just to see the difference from what I am used to generally. In my real family, we always open gifts slowly and take our time so it is obviously very different than what I think is normal. The manger scenes here are very different as well. All the traditional components are there, but then they add everything else they have. For example, its not uncommon to see the shepherds, wise men, Jesus, Mary, Joseph, angels, and animals in a manger scene with Buzz Light-year and a GI Joe present along with a stuffed bunny (or any other toy or figurine they may have laying around). As Rachel said, “Everyone was at the birth of Jesus.”

I was able to read most of the Christmas story myself and reflect upon it personally which was a great personal experience and had a new meaning this year as I spent Christmas away from my family for the first time. On Christmas day, the team got together and did our little gift exchange, ate traditional U.S. Christmas food, and had a good time of reflection together. Rachel did a great job planning all and the girls made marvelous cookies while Andy and I were in Roatan.

A brief update on the team (for more information you can visit our team blog at www.step0708.blogspot.com). We are continuing to settle in and adjust to the lifestyles and families we are part of now. The biggest frustration I think we have is we feel somewhat idle. We study the language and culture a lot and definitely have very full schedules, but we don’t feel like we are “serving” per say. I think that we are all looking forward to language and culture study coming to an end because we are getting antsy to help out and continue to learn from persons in the church. That will be here soon enough so we are just clinging to the fact that we are where we are for a purpose and that we need to continue to focus on our current responsibilities. I’m sure our time to give back will come soon enough, but for now we will continue to learn and absorb as much as possible. My goal here is to learn about another culture, give where needed and when needed, and develop a closer walk with the Lord.

Since they say that a picture says a thousand words, I figure I will add about 11,000 more words to this blog. I hope you enjoy them and I will try to keep pictures coming!

This is the Dole banana factory we toured - yea, I know, that's a lot of bananas! But at least you can see that they clean them real well.

I’m staring down one of my favorite foods in Honduras, a wonderful fruit called "Licha" (pronounced, Leecha).

This is the STEP team at the ruins listening attentively to our excellent tour guide who was partially Mayan. I think Andy’s getting ready to wipe his face as it was pretty warm.

This is the team along with the two nationals that went with us (Angela and Jairo).

We stopped to eat by the only lake in Honduras. I like this picture as it has the rustic feel of clothes on the line with the lake and mountains in the background. The fish they served was fresh from the lake we ate beside.

This is the story of the trip, we had to change two flats during the journey (same tire) and make stops each time at a “llantera” to get the old tire patched – I think it’s up to eight patches in total. This only delayed us a little as Andy and I were able to manage the changes efficiently.

Here are few pictures from Roatan. There is a beautiful sunset and another picture of me in a locals boat with the sunset in the backgroup. The other picture is of me and Lemuel (my host brother) and Carlos (Andy's host brother) in the Carribean Sea at West Bay - and yes, the sea is as clear as the commercials and pamphlets show.

Things are starting to get settled in... I think!

I've been living with a host family for just over a week now and things are settling down and I am getting used to the routine. I generally get up at 6:30a. By get up I mean physically get out of bed and not wake up; my family mom starts stirring and often sings or plays loud music at 4:30a or shortly thereafter and there's a rooster that frequently gets midnight mixed up with sunrise. But after getting out of bed it's time to take a shower. It's very important to shower at least once a day here, if not twice. I tried to skip a morning once and it was like I had committed a crime - I wasn't dirty at all buts that's the culture here - very clean and very hygienic. A shower is either in a shower much like you would imagine, but only with cold water, or on mornings that water is not running to the shower (which has been the case for 6 days now), I fill a 5 gallon bucket from a hose or cistern and use a large dish to pour water over me. I actually prefer this way because I can either control the cold on me or if my family has warmed water on the stove, I can have a lukewarm shower.

After this I have breakfast which is either corn flakes or beans and tortillas. I actually had pancakes with mantequilla the other day which was a nice treat, but very different. I then leave and walk to a teammates house and then we walk to the local church. It’s about a 30 minutes walk for me total (15 by myself). At the church I have Spanish class for 4 hours with one 20 minute break, and then it’s off to lunch at Rachel's house (a 20 minute walk or 5 minute bus ride if we choose, but its fun to walk). We hop on the computers at her house briefly then spend time in culture study. Andy nicknamed the house "English Town" or "Pueblo de Ingles". In the evening we walk back to the church (close to where the Karen's and Andy live) where we split off and Andrea and I walk home. In total I walk about 1 hour 40 minutes a day so that's good exercise with my heavy bag of books at my side. The walk by myself is quite relaxing and I have begun to use it as a prayer time. If the last portion of my walk is too late, I try to get a cab home.

The house I live in is very different from that in which I am used to back home. The family keeps it clean (as do most people here) but being that it is fairly open to the air and older, it’s not uncommon to see critters run about - I actually just saw a mouse a few minutes ago. But like I said, the floors and furniture are very clean. Many things here are fairly progressive and I would venture to say, even with my limited knowledge, that in restaurants they are probably cleaner than in the States. Just one example: I was at a Burger King to watch a soccer game (there are TV's everywhere) and in the course of less than two hours they mopped the main floor four times. I guess if someone comes in and slips they don't have to worry about a law suit going through in court.

I will wrap this up by saying thanks to all those who have bee so faithful in prayer this last week. Without you and your cries to God on my behalf I don't know how I would have persevered. The first few days were overwhelmingly lonely and I learned to trust the Lord in a way I have never had to before. It has been hard but has been a blessing in disguise as I have never used so much Scripture to push through life. God's Word has never been so close to my heart and for the first time in a long time, I can't get enough of it when I have time to sit down and read.

In your free time, I encourage you to read Psalm 18 and just contemplate and ponder the power of the God we serve. It's a passionate chapter, but since it is long, I won't post it here. Here are some other things that have driven me to make it this week.

"Courage does not always roar. Sometimes it is a quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow.' "
- UNKNOWN -

This is my quote to persevere in the language. I have learned much for one week, but have so far to come. Sometimes I feel like I won't be able to speak well even in five months, but I will continue to press on daily. I have this passion to study all the time and I can honestly say, if I had spend this much time studying anything else with as much passion, I could have had two PhD’s by now!!

And my verse for these days:

Isaiah 43:1b-3a

"Fear not, for I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will

not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord. Your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior..."

The team enjoying some beverages at, "El Centro".

We stopped by an orphanage up in the mountains. We visited some of children that Andrea had worked with back in January of this year.

Quick update!

Thank you so much for all your prayers, they have been so important to me these last few days. Since I wrote last we had a short, three day orientation that was very nice and I wish could have lasted longer. On Saturday I moved in with my host family and that was very new and required a lot of faith and will. It has been a tough transition for me. I normally can deal with change well, but it is different when you want to get to know people and you can't even say a complete sentence to them. That is why I am so excited to learn the language, but I have to be careful not to stress myself out over learning - I will take it little by little as fast as I can with God's help.
I can honestly say that I have never depended on the Lord like I am now. In the evening, even though I can sit with my family, He is my lifeline and I have really had some great personal worship times. As far as communicating goes, I did have a good time with my host brother, Lemuel, last night. He is going to school to be a dentist (he is 24) and has an English class in which he had a test in today. I helped him study for about two and a half hours last night and it really helped my Spanish. Lemuel does not speak English as he is a beginner in the language, but he is interested in learning and even more interested in helping me learning Spanish.
Like I said, time is crazy now and it's all I can do to not stress myself out to get an update out, but I promise to write more later. Thanks!

These are some guards (we had to ask permission to take their photo) - they are everywhere (concerts, guarding Pizza Hut, walking the streets, parks, McDonalds, etc.) and we just get used to them.


Here is a picture of my team in a mountain (one of the many) above the city. Karen is trying to fix her hair, but oh well.

It's 74 degrees!!

I have had a day of firsts. I have never left for an airport at 2am in the morning. I have never run out of gas on the way to the airport (but was then able to find a switch to utilize another tank on the van in which we were traveling). I have never been on a plane in which the whole cabin applauded for the captain subsequent to a safe landing. I have never been on a plane where as people left not only did they thank the pilot upon exiting, but congratulated him on a landing well done. If you're wondering why this is the case, Toncontín International (Tegucigalpa airport) is one of the shortest international runways in the world and is located between two sierras. Most everyone who has flown into the airport on a large aircraft will smile in agreement if you mention the dramatic landing. And finally, I have never (to my knowledge) experienced 74 degree weather o November 28. Altogether, this was a great day that has left me very tired.

I am currently at the STEP directors house relaxing this afternoon, using English for one final day. Traveling was quick as we arrived about seven and half hours after leaving Baltimore, MD (which includes a one and half hour layover in Houston, TX); however, traveling was also exhausting and the changes we have experienced as a team seem to be wearing slightly on our energy levels. It is great that Rachel Bowman (our director) knew it would be this way and planned a "day of rest" for us.

Thank you for your diligent prayers and for the interest and support you have all shown. More updates will follow, but I am about to walk to the grocery store and then take a short nap before eating my first real Honduran meal. For those of you who are wondering, I will be staying at Rachel's house with my team and then moving in to my host families house on Saturday. There is so much to take in and I am ready to get going, after my nap.

Home... sweet home.

I'm at home in Dalton with family for Thanksgiving. Training finished strong and well and I think I can say with total assurance that everyone was ready for the break. The staff had a "Love Feast" on Monday night to send us out with a bang. This was a Thanksgiving meal in the dining room that was much nicer than a typical cafeteria meal. The staff were very willing to serve us and it was truly a blessing.

My uncle Dave and Aunt Bonnie Hershberger picked me up from HDC and allowed me to spend the night at their nice home. Thank you.

I will be home with my family until the beginning of next week (either Monday or Tuesday) when I will travel back to Harrisburg and fly to Honduras on Wednesday morning. My flight leaves from Baltimore at 6:00am and I should be in Tegucigalpa, Honduras by 2:00pm EST - it will be 1:00pm local time in Tegucigalpa.

It seems somewhat surreal but I am ready to go - but only after a refreshing Thanksgiving break with my family and some turkey.

5 more days left.

Boy has this time gone fast! I had the opportunity to have breakfast with my Uncle Dave on Tuesday and made the same comment that, "We have had experiences and know that things always fly by, but when they do and your in the midst of it it never ceases to amaze me how true it is."

The last two days have been great as we had Gustavo Ramirez speak again. If you remember from an earlier post he is one that has had a great impact on my life - it was great to see him again and be able to continue that relationship. Late last week we have Steve Shenk speak on "Mission Vision". Steve is an individual with a lot of experience and a ton of stories, he gave that "grandfather" persona of to the rest of training and we really enjoyed having him. It was nice to have someone with experience that was just willing to share with us and provide what I felt was excellent teaching.

As far as I go, things are going smoothly and I am ready to be done and headed to Honduras. This training has been a good and stretching experience for me and I will definitely miss the people and great friendships I have made here; but nonetheless, I stand by my comment of being ready to leave.

I gave my testimony (or SP for "Spiritual Pilgrimage" as they call it here) to the group on Tuesday morning. That was stretching as I shared some that I haven't told other people, but it was good and I am still growing in being vulnerable and open with others, it was tough in a large audience setting.

Well, I just wanted to give a quick update, I need to be going now because we are having a final time that we call "community outreach". Each group develops an outreach for the community and completes the goals and tasks we assign ourselves. My group, STEP Honduras team, chose to reach out to the state reps and senators with personal notes of prayer, affirmation, and encouragement. It was a big job to take on and we are finishing and hand delivering the last of the 250 or so cards.

Thanks for all your prayers and dedication to supporting this ministry

John heads home and I'm in the Bronx

Well, a few things have happened so I'll toss out an update. I have gone from living in S Allison Hill in Harrisburg (where we heard gunshots yet again last night from our home) to living in the Bronx, NYC - where we have barred windows and are 2 blocks from the most active drug exchange blocks in the Bronx - thrilling eh? Actually, it hasn't been a big deal, I just walk in peace and carry myself confidentially and respect others. I've been able to engage in some lengthy conversations on the street and really enjoy the time - but I never underestimate the need for a cloaking of safety from the Lord.

Tonight the group (about 20 of us) served at a shelter. This was different than past experiences because we had to cook at the house and transport food for 150. While several people served, the rest of us made conversation with the men in the shelter. They were almost all in drug rehab and wanted to talk after taking a few minutes to warm up. I was able to use my baseball knowledge and New Yorks passion for baseball to break the ice and have several good, lengthy conversations and prayer with some men at the shelter. I would love to do this again and am starting to be able to understand this urban culture and the problems and lifestyles.

John Mutisya was an HDC guest for a little over a month and left for Kenya today. It was truly a blessing to get to know John - he is a leader of a discipleship training center in Kenya and was here to observe. It was his first time in the states and I pray he was refreshed through it. John and I were able to connect well and discuss much about leadership and discipleship. John offered to host me for a while after STEP if I feel led to Kenya and could assist in the their training program - who knows!!?

Here are a few pictures of John and I (we are pointing to the future in one in case you are wondering).

A Week of Refreshment and Spiritual Replenishment

I prayed last week for a week of refreshment and replenishment - and I was not expecting it to come to fruition like I wanted; however, I had one of the most spiritually rejuvenating weeks of my life!! While I am still physically tired (I really need to just go bed earlier mosts nights), I have entered this week confidently and with a sense of spiritual courage new to me.
The week started off pretty typically, but we had speaker from Kenya named Clair Good. Clair shared a lot of this message from personal experience and stories. I really enjoyed this and it changed many of my opinions on foreign tribal missions and the culture encountered there. Though the traditions (both savage and very spiritual and more "Christian" than you might imagine) had profound impact on me, the speaker that really impacted my faith on a deeper level was yet to come.
Gustavo Ramirez came on Wednesday to share on the topic of "The Father Heart of God". He stay from Wednesday morning through Thursday evening and was a true blessing to the entire group here at HDC. Gustavo has had one of those experiences that makes me really appreciate my family in a new light, I ended up writing them a thank you note I was so touched. He had a major falling out with an abusive and alcoholic father that left him as a child. To make a long story short, Gustavo was able to forgive his father after many years of pain and saw his father on the street one day. He invited him home and told him he forgave him - his father and the rest of his family became Christians (Gustavo's mother was the only other Christian at this time) due to this love and forgiveness (including a drug addict brother). During one of his personal stories about his daughter and some medical issues he had to walk with her through recently, something very strange happened; I had a tear form. Now this may sound goofy to you, but the ability to cry for anything like that has eluded me for so long and my team has been praying for me to be able and open to being broken and humble before the Lord (and I wanted to release the emotion in that way). I shared this with HDC that night and it actually opened the door for me to minister to several others guys that felt the same way.
That evening I talked to Gustavo personally for about two hours. I have also had the prayer of being confirmed by the Lord in my calling to pray boldly and with passion for others and be able to minister in a prophetic way. I feel called and blessed by God this way and I will wholly submit myself to Him to develop these gifts as He sees fit.
That was my last week in a nutshell. I would like to share more with you if you ask sometime, but I need to be finishing now.
Also, in response to previous blogs about the kids that come to play at HDC, we had a yard party here at the center for the community. We had games, bike repair for the children (professional), music (I was one of two DJ's!!), and BBQ chicken for the rest of the community to come and enjoy. This was really a blessing to us and the community. My only issue was talking to one of the kids (about 5 years old I would guess) and asking him to come off the stairway he was not permitted on and it ended by me getting spit on directly in my right eye. This is the respect the kids have grown up with and show - and they know we can't do anything to punish them (which is good since none of us really have authority and discernment in that area).
Sorry to end a great news blog with a negative note, but I wanted to get in some news of the weekend.

Blessings and thanks to all of you!!

Camp Hebron

Well, this is a blog that didn’t come out nearly as soon as I had hoped, but here it is!

At the beginning of last week my team along with several others teams (half of training) went to a beautiful campground for some “teambuilding” exercises. We went to Camp Hebron from Monday morning until Tuesday mid-morning. What we did were the standard obstacle and thinking exercises to develop as a team, create conflict, and find leadership and “follower-ship” abilities when the times are appropriate. Although the night was busy, the biggest impact on me was the hike the next morning – I think (we were not permitted to have watches of any kind of time keeping device with us; even clocks in the eating areas and public areas were removed, but it’s pretty easy to identify morning). We were woken up early (well before daylight) and hiked close to an hour to a beautiful place in the mountains called “Table Rock”. I got to do devotions, eat breakfast, and watch the sunrise in its entirety (usually I only catch the tale end). I found a nice, personal spot on the face of the rock. It was just big enough for me to lie back comfortably, but completely secluded. I had to climb up part of the rock to get there and it was a significant drop on all sides, but the risk was worth the reward. I read my Bible and dozed in and out of sleep for about 2 hours (a very refreshing thing). After that and being very cold part of the time, I returned to the fire I had built with a friend earlier and then the group of about 20 of us hiked down the mountain and back to camp.

After processing the overall weekend for a while (we didn’t have to do process the details of every event then because we had been processing and discussing after EVERY event throughout the day and night), we packed up and headed home to HDC. I got back and slept for a lot of the afternoon (we had “recovery time” because we had hardly rested at all the night before – maybe 2 or 3 hours tops).

It’s funny to realize that was a week ago already because time has flown by. I continue to be challenged daily by the speakers and enjoy the fellowship and deep discussions with my colleagues here.

Please pray that I continue to find refreshment as the training is beginning to wear – I’d like to finish strong! And yes, check back soon for another quick update - and some pictures... hopefully!!

Family Weekend!

Things here at HDC are continuing to go smoothly, but they also remain busy and intense. A great break was this weekend when my father, mother, and sister came for family weekend. They arrived Friday evening and stayed at my Uncle Dave and Aunt Bonnie's home in Mechanicsburg (just outside of Harrisburg). Saturday morning they arrived in S. Allison Hill Harrisburg for the day.

The day started with me giving them a brief personal tour of the training facilities and then proceeded with presentation from each team to the parents - the presentations varied from personal and get-to-know you information to information about the country to which each team was going. To save time, we split into two sets of teams and my set consisted of my Honduras team, the Venezuela and Hong-Kong teams, along with the Missions Interns that train with us.

Our STEP team used a Jeopardy game to present information about us and Honduras - I thought it was pretty clever and worked out well, but that's just one man's opinion. After lunch (which was much better than usual- obviously), I took my family on a tour of the Beef house (where I live a few blocks away) and for a walk around the city that their legs won't soon forget. We parked by the state museum and toured it for part of the early afternoon. We then walked around the capital building which is absolutely beautiful - and as far as I know, one of the most decorated and ornate capital complexes in the states. After that I took them to city island and then we headed back - all in all we walked most of the afternoon and were very relieved to make it back to the van.

For dinner we went to my Uncle Dave's and Aunt Bonnie's home - and it was AMAZING! We had my family, my Mailloux cousins (Matt was up from Virginia and Kelsey was home from Niagara while Phil was home from college!), and nine others from HDC - it's a good thing my uncle had just purchased a new grill earlier in the week (see the pic and be amazed!). Apparently, the 22 total people at there house was a new record for them.

After that truly refreshing evening and getting to watch Ohio State football, I returned to HDC and got to talk on the phone to Joel, my brother, which was also another great part of the day. The next morning I went to church with my family at McBIC (Mechanicsburg Brethren in Christ) where my Uncle Dave is the worship pastor. After church we had a great Irish meal in downtown Harrisburg and then my family left to return to Ohio.

Thanks for reading this, but a special thanks to Dave and Bonnie for their hospitality and thanks to my family for coming out and making this an amazing weekend as well.

Update

Hey all, things have been going to busy here that I hardly have time to update you, but I will try to punch out brief updates more often and not make them real long.

A few things I wanted to let you know is that my hair is returning, I had a one week "head face race" between my head hair and my facial hair, the longer hair gets a Twinkie (I was obviously pulling for the face). The face won, so I was sporting a beard for a while, but that is no longer the case - reason being on Saturday the guys in training planned a "Grand Banquet" for the ladies in training. Things went great and us guys are on the girls good side (we'll see if we ruin that or not ;-)

At HDC, there are many community children that come into the yard during our free time for games and shoulder rides and to be swung around, basically, just to be loved. This is a great ministry at HDC, but a challenging one. Several nights ago was the worse thus far as far as damage to property and disrespect. Most of these kids have no respect for others property - basically, they will make your kids look saintlike. We have had to ask them to leave after they continue to jump from peoples personal vehicles and HDC's vans roofs. We have had a windshield get cracked and hoods get carved into and scratched from rocks and bricks being thrown. The reason we have no power is because we cannot physically escort a child from the property unless a dire circumstance calls for it - when fights break out, the police are called the kids continue as our hands are tied behind our back (if something series does happen where someone is seriously getting hurt, I will intervene, but we have to be very careful with the law - and the families of these kids and the mentality of revenge). That has been the toughest aspect for me as I hate to have to tell kids to leave (and then threats do abound from these 8-12 year olds), but I guess someone has to be the bad guy - so that is my role.

Otherwise, things are good here. The speakers and sessions are good and I enjoy them and learn a lot daily. Most of the speakers are very passionate about what they speak about, but make sure to tell us to create our own opinions and not just take things at face value.

Well, it's time for community outreach in which my group will be bagging some of the trash that is laying around the community - it is filthy and out of control.

Thanks to all of you who keep me updated on life at home and for your prayers. Blessings.

Haircut

Yea, I got a haircut... completely.

Week one in the books - completely oriented? maybe, maybe not.

Week one is done, week two is at hand. Here's a little about the life here at HDC. Their are seven outreach groups in training each consisting of five to six people. In the mornings, we take turns preparing breakfast and my first turn was Saturday, but there isn't much to talk about with that - because cold breakfast was on the schedule (I made coffee and that was about it). We generally have a session in the morning followed by lunch. After lunch and about a half hour of free time (I generally throw the Frisbee or baseball) we have some sort of team activity and then either a session or work duties (cleaning and maintenance of the 100 year old house in which we live). Dinner follows and then an evening session followed by about an hour of free time before bedtime. Intermixed in the days are three short quiet times. We are asked to do our devotions, pray, or journal two of the three times and to do something quiet the other time. There is a brief day, now onto more important things.

I have really enjoyed living with a group of guys dorm style again, it is a very encouraging and binding experience. As mentioned in the last post, our house is in a bad part off town. Just three nights ago we heard what we counted as six gunshots and I heard someone in the community died last year in a shooting. But as was stated by a leader at the beginning, unless you are a drug user, drug dealers, prostitute, prostitute user, or in a gang (none of which apply to me) you will be fine. Though I could be mistaking with the guys I live with as a gang, but that will come later - see interested fact at the bottom.

Several areas I have been challenged are:

• ATL - Ask the Lord time - this is a style of prayer that involves much waiting and is very abstract. I struggle with this because I tend to think much more concrete - which is good and I have had that affirmed. But even though I prefer and find a concrete approach to prayer and worship very effective for me and feel I can worship the Lord best that way, this has really challenged my ability to sit and listen to the Lord. It is tough enough to sit and not do anything for fifteen minutes or a half and hour - but sit and listen to a voice you know you won't hear audibly - that seems nearly impossible for me. Even though I won't take ATL up as a new daily prayer method for myself, I definitely see the value of it and will strive to worship the Lord in this manner as well.
• Living with fifty different personalities - I know I am still a kid in many ways, but college and the "real world" has changed my thinking a lot the past several years and made me thing through why I believe what I do. I really enjoy many of the people I live with, but many are just out of high school and sometimes I can get irritated with them, mostly in not thinking before speaking. I just have to remember how I was as a kid, at that age, and still am sometimes - then, it's easy to work with the younger ones and many times I can be a good example and leader for them.
• Another note on the fact that many of the participants are just out of high school - many times I feel like the staff treats us as if we are all that way. A basic example of this is that when we walk around or head downtown, we have to have a certain number of people in a group and at least one guy (there is always at least one guy in a group I am with - obviously!) for safety reasons. Though this rule is good, a reason for it was, "We are responsible to return you safely back to your parents." Though I have recently moved most of my things back home and lived there briefly, I still have a full sense of independence and SELF-responsibility. I am okay with this for the most part, but it is different and takes a lot of getting used too.
• Food - though the food prepared isn't bad, we keep running out of everything every meal it seems - at breakfast this morning, we had cold cereal, but ran out of milk before half the people got through. This frustrates me as a significant portion of the funds I raised went to HDC and some of that towards their budget for our food. I just don't see how we can run out time after time, especially milk for cold cereal! But that's just me talking, pray that I can have more patience since this is the largest group they have ever had at one training - and that is a blessing.
  
• Lights out - this is the last thing my room has issues with. We have gotten very good at following that rule by now, but the guys in my room all really enjoy talking at night and it seems that we all get good rest (thus far at least) and don't mind others talking at night - but I am learning to understand and accept this policy - it just takes some getting used too.

I am began working on my "SP" (spiritual pilgrimage) which is a fancy word for "testimony" in my estimation. I don't present until November 13, but I realized how much I could miss if I didn't start thinking about it until then. I think I will learn a lot about my life when I think about what has impacted me spiritually - if you have any ideas, let me know for sure, but I think I have a lot of it covered thus far.

I have really enjoyed getting to know my STEP team and how our personalities will work together, but I will write about that later. I have put pieces of this together when I had a chance (yea, it's short but still took three time periods because we keep busy otherwise). I will list some prayer requests below and then a final interesting fact about myself this week.

• I sold my Jeep!! Pray the title transfer will be smooth.
• Pray that I continue to find quiet time with God, and when I do (it's in the schedule), I won't be distracted by other things - even other prayer requests. I need to value my devotion time.
• Pray that I have patience with other as I know others have and have had patience with me growing up.

Interesting fact: pictures will follow later, but as of Monday, September 17 at night, I'm bald.

First day at HDC

My first full day at HDC (Harrisburg Discipleship Center) is complete. I am writing this from my house approximately 5 blocks from the training center (I don’t have internet so you will notice the post time isn’t 11:20p on 9/10 – but that is when I am writing). I also will not be posting anywhere close to every night because I WILL BE needing ALL the rest I can get at night. Aside from the obvious reason for needed to sleep well every night is the fact that I will not have time for naps. The house I am staying at is about a 10 minute walk from the center, and only two leaders have keys and are not at the house except in the morning and evening and for a brief while in the afternoon. Therefore, when we have free time, I stay at the center while other people reside to there rooms for an enjoyable afternoon hiatus. HDC had so many participants that they could house them all on campus – and that is why myself along with eight other guys have been moved.

Let me tell you a little more about my sleeping quarters. It is in the “Hood”. When I say that, I’m not saying that because I grew up in farmland and when I lived in the city, I lived in a clean city and in the nice part – it really is the hood. When talking to people in downtown that heard we were going to "S Allison Hill" in Harrisburg (they didn't know we lived there), we were told several times to "be really careful". We have been instructed to “drive the walk” from the training center to the house we live in as much as possible because of the neighborhood – I really don’t think we would have had problems walking as a group, but this was the request of the authorities so we will comply (and now we get to drive the distance so who’s complaining?). The house is three stories with a living room, kitchen, three bedrooms (my room has four guys living in it) and one bathroom – 1!! We have gotten used to it because it is a very small bathroom at that, but when we woke up this morning, the water was running from the bathroom through the floor into the first story kitchen (and we’re talking another shower down there, not a trickle). Thankfully that is fixed, but gives you an idea of what we are working with.

The best part is that the guys I am living with are wonderful brothers in Christ. I have discovered many personalities that really seem to compliment each other. And one last thing, since this is an all guys house, it has been given a very manly name – so when you hear me refer to the “Beef House” in the future, that this home.

As for the training itself, today was orientation so I cannot gauge lessons, but I am sure things will be great after a smooth orientation today. Let me go over a few highlights of the day.

- My STEP team met together (the are about six or sever different teams training together at HDC) and things really have clicked personality wise and in our ability to relate (I like to call that “relatability”).

- The food isn’t bad, it may not be as balanced of a diet as I would prefer, but I have found ways to maintain a proper diet through this

- I had several opportunities to play Frisbee with some of the other guys and God blessed me with a group of guys that love many of the same things I do – I have my baseball glove out tomorrow, hopefully I get the same results

- And – “The Cat”

I am sure you are wondering about that last one – well, it really isn’t anything special, but was pure entertainment for me and several other guys today. This morning while breakfast was being prepared, I eyed a small cat (gray as a squirrel) crouching down and trying to pounce on one of the many squirrels in the lawn. The cat was very unsuccessful but provided great guy entertainment for about a half dozen of us. But the best part was during an afternoon break when I stepped outside with a Frisbee. I eyed a “large squirrel” across the lawn (a decent distance I must say) and took aim. The disc flew in line and took the intended slight bend to the left as it descended and dropped directly on the squirrel, which turned out to be the cat crouched and ready to pounce. I have not seen a cat jump like this one except on cartoons. I’m talking fully sprawled over a foot in the air, running before it landed on all fours to dart being a fence. This truly was a great moment in my life and has the focal point of some laughs on this first day.

In the future, I will hopefully have more substance to my blogs, but I wanted to share this first day and some of the experiences with you.

If you are interested in "snail mailing"me: send that to: Joshua Hershberger
333 S 13th St.
Harrisburg, PA 17104

You may also call me at 717-232-4224; ask for me; if I am not available they will send you to my mail box (423) and you may leave a message!

You can

Support Letter

This may not be formatted that well (I just copied it from Word), - and yea I know, I didn't have anything to really post yet and this is a lame excuse for a first post... but deal with it - haha.

8/10/2007

Dear blogreader,

Thank you for taking the time to read this as I tell you what the Lord has in store for me in the next months. I will be participating in the STEP program with the Brethren in Christ World Missions (BICWM). STEP stands for Service, Training, Evangelism, and Promoting spiritual growth and you can feel free to learn more about it at:

www.bic-church.org/wm/step and www.step-bicwm.net.

As defined by BICWM, STEP is a program for young adults of the Brethren in Christ Church who sense a calling to overseas ministry. This eight and a half month experience will include two months of discipleship and language training in Harrisburg, PA. Then I will travel to Honduras to continue studying Spanish and the Latino culture while living with a Honduran host family. During this time I will also begin to relate to the local Brethren in Christ Church. After eight weeks of language and cultural study my time will be focused on working along side the local Church leaders or a community organization in Honduras. I will also spend some time serving in a rural community in a variety of ways.

I will be commissioned on September 9 and begin training the following day. I am asking you to pray for me as I prepare for this experience. It will be a stretching time for me and I ask that you please remember me in prayer during this time. In the process of making this decision, I have told my family that I have noticed and felt the power of prayer more than I can remember in my life. If you can help me in this manner, please complete the form below and return it as directed. I want to have as many prayer partners as I can.

I am also in the process of raising the finances that are needed for me to participate in this program. I must raise $11,700 in donations for the program. This amount includes living costs and travel to Honduras and my training as defined by the Brethren in Christ World Missions office as well as a few personal costs that have been approved by the BICWM office as legitimate costs for a trip of this nature. All donations received will ultimately be directed through the BICWM office which covers the costs of the STEP program. ALL donations are fully tax deductible as permitted by law. Please prayerfully consider supporting me for these months through your regular prayers and finances. This amount can seem daunting both to me and to potential donors, but I have figured that it will easily be covered if fifty people are willing to donate $30 a month for eight months (please note that all commitments must be paid in full by the end of March 2008). Obviously, everyone will be impressed to give different amounts, but I think that breakdown makes the task seem much more manageable. My local church (Amherst Community Brethren in Christ) mission’s committee has reviewed my commitment and is very supportive in this venture of mine. BICWM has agreed that my funding should be collected through my home church. The committee will provide the congregation and donors with updates as my trips progresses. All monies donated will be transferred in their entirety towards my trip. Also, please note that BICWM has informed me that I need to have $3,750 in by September 7, 2007.

As you consider supporting me in a financial manner and with prayer, please feel free to email or call me personally with any questions or comments!

joshua.hershberger@gmail.com

330.234.3150 (mobile)

Colossians 3:23-24 Whatever I do, I must work at it with all my heart. I am working for the Lord, not for men. I know that I will receive an inheritance from the Lord as my reward. It is the Lord Christ I am serving.

Thank you so much for your prayers, encouragement and financial support.

In His Service,

Joshua Hershberger

Please return to Amherst Community Brethren in Christ Church by 8/31/07.

Check all that apply

_______ With the Lord’s help, I will be regularly praying for you while you are in STEP.

_______ I am enclosing a one time gift of $____________ toward your financial support for the STEP program.

_______ As the Lord provides, it is my intention to give $____________ toward your financial support for the STEP program by the end of March, 2008. I have enclosed $____________ of this commitment in this response.

_______ Please keep me updated through email as your trip progresses.

NAME: ________________________________________ PHONE:________________

ADDRESS: _____________________________________________________________

EMAIL: ________________________________________________________________

Contributions:

*Make checks payable to “Amherst Community Church”

*Designate clearly on the memo line for STEP program and my name

*Mail form to: Amherst Community Church

Attn: Ministry and Missions Team

8650 Beatty St NW

Massillon, OH 44646