Silver linings

It has been a whirlwind for me the past 4 weeks. As some of you know, I spent most of the summer in a job search. I guess you could say I was one of the 10% that became jobless over the summer. The school I worked at had to dismiss more than a dozen teachers/staff due to a decline in enrollment and my search for a teaching job came up short in middle Tennessee.
But there is always a silver lining in every cloud. I am now working at Freed-Hardeman University as a dormitory supervisor for Sewell Hall. I have about 190 guys living in the dorm from all over the place (South Africa; Jamaica; Haiti; Nigeria; Costa Rica; even Texas!). It is going to be a fun and challenging job to say the least. But what a great place to work! Needless to say, I see a “field white unto harvest” of students in which to discuss Honduras!

And even though it is only August, plans have now begun for the 2010 summer trip. The unrest in Honduras continues as the presidential election approaches. I constantly get updates from Mark and Lori Connell about what is going on down there. The mainstream coverage has all but stopped since bigger and more pressing issues closer to home make the headlines. But we are all very prayerful that by next summer things will return to “normal” in Honduras and mission teams will once again begin to enter the country.

A Torch / IRC board meeting is going to take place this fall in the Nashville, TN, area. Although the date has not been anchored down several important items will fill the agenda. The need in Honduras has escaladed and our organizations are trying to meet some of those needs now. Containers are being secured with plans to send much needed food, medicine, and staples to be given out as soon as possible. The poor are hurting more than they ever have because of the unstable political situation drags on. We also need to discuss additional protocol for our trips to insure safety and oversight while we are in the country.

Although the 2010 dates are not finished, I believe that my tentative dates will be Thursday, June 24 – Monday, July 5. We might have to tweak the dates a little bit but hopefully we will be able to work in or around these dates. So go ahead and mark your calendars and start asking for time off from work. It will not be long before the Torch Missions engine begins to rumble again as we get ready for 2010.

This summer marks my 20th year to be working in Honduras. It is truly hard to believe I have had the opportunity to be involved in such a great work for such a long period of time (especially if you consider how often I seem to move from place to place!!!). I have watched Torch grow and stretch its wings in ways that very few can relate.

And as I prepare for my trip I can’t help but to think back on all of the hundreds of people that have gone with me on the trips. Some are now full time missionaries. Others are full time youth ministers. Some are teaching while others are school administrators. Some are working on master’s degrees and doctorial degrees. Some have earned their medical degrees and are now practicing medicine while others are nurses, dentists, and dental hygienists. Some are preachers and deacons and even elders. Some own their own businesses and others are computer experts. Some are presidents of banks and others are engineers. It is awesome to think of the impact all of you are making in your respective fields and in the Lord’s church.

So this year I am going to try to contact our alumni and invite them back to work with us again. It is going to take a while and I might need a lot of help tracking people down. But I want everyone to know you are invited back to Honduras to work with torch again. To be part of the ministry that has changed so many lives. Is the team going to be bigger this year? Probably. Are we going to have first timers? Absolutely. Will it be a challenge? For sure. But with the Lord’s help and a keen sense of purpose, we will do great things this summer in the name of Jesus.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21

Go and be a blessing to others and God has blessed you.

TR