News - Tulsa Christian Fellowship

TCF sent a team to Honduras in August, 2003.� See pictures of the team's activities here, along with this account of their trip below:

Aug 12: Today was not supposed to be part of the Honduras trip - it was supposed to be the team's first full day home. However, the team spent last night at a nice hotel, having a nice meal in the hotel restaurant, compliments of the airline, because they were made late in making their connection to Tulsa from Houston. They flew home today from Houston, arriving in Tulsa about 30 minutes late, tired, but safe and sound, ending a journey that started 13 days ago.

Aug 11: The team departed about 45 minutes late from San Pedro Sula, arrived in Houston at 5:03, and then missed their plane to Tulsa, which departed at 5:36 p.m. So they didn't arrive home today. They allowed Lisa Sullivan to board with the team, sunglasses, red eyes and all, so the whole team will be home tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon.

Aug 10: The team cancelled all ministry activities today due to an epidemic of conjunctivitis (pink eye) in the area. Two team members (Sarah Wright and Lisa Sullivan) have been infected. Sarah's fully recovered, but Lisa has a particularly bad case, which could mean she will not be able to return with the team when they fly home tomorrow, as the airline will not let someone who's contagious on the plane. She would have to be rescheduled for a few days later. The team leaders did not want to risk another person becoming infected, thus their cancellation of activities for today. Please pray for Lisa and for the team as they prepare to return home tomorrow (Monday).

Aug 9:...from Patty Eland
We enjoyed having one morning to sleep in or enjoy breakfast with our host families. The van arrived in time to get us to Amor Viviente for lunch and preparation for church - a process the involves things such as transforming our dining area into a nursery for children.

We enjoyed the exuberant worship time in the church service, followed by Bob bringing greetings from the team and TCF. Many people surrounded us to pray for each of our team members. We then left the adult service to minister to the children with puppets and drama for the remaining service.

We appreciated the prayers, especially today, because our team has been experiencing touches of illness and conjunctivitis. Please continue to pray for us - for health and effective ministry on the street at Rivera Hernandez Sunday afternoon.

Our young people enjoyed an evening of bowling with the Amor Viviente puppet and drama team.

Aug 8: We began our day with a few bumps in the road. First there was a flat tire on the van. When we got to the school Republica de Cuba we discovered we'd forgotten the puppet prop box. While waiting for someone to bring it from the church we watched some 300 children play games in the courtyard gymnasium. After the second puppet song the props arrived. Whew! The children sang along with the songs they knew and after the program they came to the front to get our autographs. We gave Bibles to each of the teachers and a bag of goodies to each of the students.

In the afternoon we rested and we left at 5:30 for ministry in the neighborhood Carlos de Choloma. We ate our sack lunches at a house where a home group meets then went out to invite people to our presentation. We had a good crowd. Sarah Wright and Eric Dunn gave their testimonies. Afterwards many children came up front to pray. Some adults also came up for prayer. We passed out Bibles, tracts, balloons and candy.

We had a great day despite the rough start!

Aug 7:...report from Stephanie Beck
It is Thursday! Beach day! We arrive at the church and have a wonderful worship - praising God for all He has done. As we get in the car, everyone's spirit is up, ready for a tiring but fun-filled day.

One hour later...We are here! We pile out of the car, put on swimming suits, and off we go...

The sun starts to climb - it's noon. We eat at a beach restaurant. The choices are fish, shrimp, or conch soup. It all tastes very good. Later we travel down the street to the "Castillo de Omoa", an old Spanish fortress built in the 1700's. We go back to the beach to swim some more.

Then at five o'clock, we head out. Heads begin to droop as we head back to San Pedro Sula. Then we are awakened when we stop at Wendy's to eat. We are all longing for a good Wendy's Frosty. Everyone is awake now as we return to our host homes for an early evening.

Aug 6: This morning we visited the home for HIV positive children. These are all orphans whose parents have died of AIDS. We shared God's love through puppets and drama and Stephanie Beck gave her testimony. After our presentation we split up into small groups of two or three children and made gospel bracelets with them. It was a great way to tell them about salvation.

After lunch we had time to go shopping at an artisan's market. We all came out laden with gifts and souvenirs. From there we went to a nearby Comedor to have baleadas, a traditional Honduran food.

In the evening we ministered in Santa M�nica, a new neighborhood, right in front of the house where Amor Viviente will be opening a home group. There was a great turnout, about 80 adults and the same number of children. This is our third evening street evangelism and the TCF and Amor Viviente teams are working closely together to share Christ through drama and puppetry. The new home group will start next Wednesday.

Aug 5:... report from Eric Dunn
Today was just as unique as any other day. This morning was a little more rushed than usual because our first site was at 9:30 am. However, we were still able to eat, worship, and learn about waiting on God from Lisa.

After having shared God's love in the Children's Refuge two years earlier, we presented our new set to the children's delight. Many of us remembered some of the children, I for one. We played futbol (soccer) once again afterward and had a blast. Then we went to a country club where we ate a sack lunch and swam in the enormous pool, enjoying the scenery of the golf course amongst palm trees teeming with tropical birds.

Later in the day, we drove to a home group house and ate nacatamales, a typical Honduran food, after backing a hundred yards up a one-way street. At 6:30 p.m., after inviting neighborhood people accompanied by "bumping" Spanish music, we began our evening presentation. Everything went very well (a big crowd, no problems, a lot of fun, etc.) despite a minor case of exhaustion and nausea. It was a great success, and we packed out smoothly and efficiently.

In conclusion, I thought today was very fun and very fruitful, and I'm glad I was able to document it. Glory to God.

Aug 4: ...report from Chris King
After a refreshing time of worship led by Lisa and devotions led by Eric, the Honduras team showed some elbow grease to clean up the Amor Viviente church following a weekend of activities. The highlight of the cleanup was washing off the church auditorium/pavilion, a most slippery and wet job.

In the afternoon our team prepared for our first ministry site, joining with the team from Amor Viviente. The site was a children's home called Nueva Esperanza (New Hope). For the first time, the 2 teams united to perform joint dramas and puppets. We ministered to between 50 and 60 children, At the end of our presentation, we were able to pray for about three quarters of the kids and hand out bags of goodies to all who were present.

Our evening ministry took place in Barrio Caba�as neighborhood, in the street in front of one of Amor Viviente's neighborhood home groups. Again, joining with the local church team, we performed puppets, dramas, and a stick presentation. About 175 people showed up, and after a passionate altar call by the local home group pastor, several came forward to receive Christ, several contacts were made for future visitations, and we were able to pray for several dozen children and adults.

The most powerful thing I came away with from today is the amazing unity we have in the body of Christ. Despite language barriers and cultural differences, the teams from TCF and Amor Viviente have been working very fluidly together and developing great relationships. More important, though, is that through our bond and our common goal, together we are able to more effectively reach out to the lost of San Pedro Sula. God bless and we'll see ya soon.

Aug 3: ...report from Patty Eland
Arriving around 7:00 A.M. at the church (our home base) we had breakfast, a time of worship (led by Lisa Sullivan) and devotions. We spent extra time in prayer for the Holy Spirit to draw people to the coming outreaches. Mary Lu encouraged us from her own personal experience that God will keep hold of the people and children whose lives we touch. While we were together, church members we meeting in small discipleship groups in rooms and under the large tropical trees on the property.

We participated in the youth group service, a monthly meeting of all the youth in home groups. Stephanie Beck and Chris King did an excellent job sharing their testimonies. Charlene Dunn, Courtney Reed and Chris King performed the "Entangled" skit. They were joined by Daniel Clutter and Logan Schafer in the "Box" skit. In the afternoon we had our last two workshops teaching the Amor Viviente members dramas and puppet songs. That evening we were treated to a special Honduran meal in a courtyard under the coconut palms! A great way to end a busy day.

Keep on praying for the group.

Aug 2: We had a great day today. This morning we did two one and a half hour training sessions with both the puppets and drama. It's been a great joy working with the Honduran group. We're looking forward to taking both groups on the streets next week. This afternoon was the church service. The praise and worship was excellent! The people here worship with such exuberance! Charlene Dunn did a great job sharing her testimony. We also did the stick routine. We ended our busy day with a nice relaxing dinner at Pizza Hut. Hey, we gotta eat!

Aug 1:
TCF missionary to Honduras Dan Coventon reports that the team "had a long a fruitful day today." They spent much of the day in workshops, with the Amor Viviente puppeteers, training them in puppetry and routines. Other team members worked closely with the drama team of Honduran youth and adults. "Tomorrow we start early with workshops in the morning," reports Dan.

July 31 report:
We all made it no problem. Everybody is doing well. We are all settled in our host homes. After a wonderful Honduran meal we spent the afternoon getting organized. Tomorrow (Friday) we start the day at 7:00. We will be doing some work at the church in the morning and in the afternoon we will be doing ministry workshops. Please continue to pray for us. We are all trying to get some good rest tonight so that's all for now.