The Things That Are Not

Good news!

2009-10-30T22:29:00.000-07:00

Well folks, I have good news tonight!

Many of you know that the US has sent the big guns down to Honduras to help resolve this conflict. Up to now it has been a complete impasse--a stale mate between two enormous egos. Well the US decided to come down to push their weight around this week. Well, that actually seemed to work! Thursday night October 29th they announced that they were signing an agreement between the two parties and were just weighting on congress to vote. I will write more on that soon. Well in response, the US embassy announced this:

U.S. Embassy Tegucigalpa
Avenida La Paz
Tegucigalpa, Honduras

To: All American Citizens
From: American Citizens Services Unit, Consular
Section
Date: October 30, 2009
Subject: Warden Message: Re-Opening of Non- Immigrant Visa
Services

The U.S. Embassy is pleased to announce that in support of the recent
agreement reached in the political crisis in Honduras, the Non-Immigrant
Visa (NIV) section will re-open beginning Monday, November 2, 2009.
Initial interviews will go to emergency cases and those applicants who
had confirmed scheduled interviews when the NIV section closed August
26, 2009. All other applicants will receive appointments beginning
November 16, 2009.

For the latest security information, Americans traveling abroad should
regularly monitor the Department's Internet website
(http://travel.state.gov), where the current Travel Warnings and Public
Announcements, including the Worldwide Caution Public Announcement, can
be found.

Up-to-date information on safety and security can also be obtained by
calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S., or for callers outside the
U.S. and Canada, a regular toll-line at 1-202-501-4444. These numbers
are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through
Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).

Americans living or traveling in Honduras are encouraged to register
with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate through the State
Department's travel registration website
(https://travelregistration.state.gov/ibrs), and to obtain updated
information on travel and security within Honduras. Americans without
Internet access may register directly with the nearest U.S. Embassy or
Consulate. By registering, American citizens make it easier for the
Embassy or Consulate to contact them in case of emergency.

The U.S. Embassy is located on Avenida La Paz in Tegucigalpa; telephone
(504) 238-5114, after hours telephone (504) 236-8497; Consular Section
fax (504) 238-4357; E-mail: usahonduras@state.gov; Webpage:
http://honduras.usembassy.gov

Yahoo! We were scheduled two days after they stopped giving visas so I imagine we will get a call this week. Praise God!

Car wreck!

2009-10-27T17:48:00.000-07:00

Hello!
I realize that I just wrote you but I have a new prayer request. This morning I was in a car wreck. I was turning a corner on my way to work and I thought I was clear. Unfortunately I wasn't. I hit a motorcyclist and a car. The motorcycle hit the second car as well. The motorcyclist flew through the air. In the middle of the air he turned. The other car described it like he was a cat turning in mid air. He landed on his back and we think just fractured his leg. His helmet had flown off and it was a miracle that he didn't hurt any more. It was as if the hand of God reached down and turned him just right. Also praise God that everyone involved were Christians: the car owner, the motorcyclist, the motorcyclist's brother in law who came to take care of the situation. This could have been way worse. I once scratched a taxi and it was half his fault and the man was irate and tried to take advantage of the circumstance for more money. However, these men were incredibly nice. After the ambulance took the motorcyclist to the hospital for his fracture, his brother-in-law prayed with me and prayed that God would give me a great day despite the accident. They also all decided that we would handle it ourselves and not get transit involved. If the motorcyclist had been injured more seriously, I think I could be in jail now. And I don't even want to think about what could have happened if he had landed on his head. Praise God He worked the way He did and that everyone is ok. Please keep praying for the motorcyclist in the hospital though. I can't remember his name but I will ask his brother-in-law when he calls me. I already paid for the car that I hit ($100). I still need to pay for the motorcycle, the motorcyclist's hospital bill, and for my own car. These bills are tough for me on my salary here along with paying for a wedding and (I hope) a honeymoon. As you remember there is extra money from your support from my internship last year but I dedicated that money to future missions and I don't know if it would be right to use it. Please, I need all your prayers. Thank you.
In Christ,
Mateo

Still need a visa

2009-10-25T19:55:00.000-07:00

Hello friends and family!
I hope this letter finds you well. I am sorry that I leave you all on cliff hangers between updates. When I last wrote you I was stuck in my house due to nation wide curfews after the ousted president Manuel Zelaya came back. The curfews fortunately ended after the first week. At first there were a lot of protests. During the curfews, a mass of Zelaya supporters broke into a supermarket and an electronics store near where Katia lives and looted it clean. Then the new government made it illegal to protest (as well as took certain opposition media off the air). They eventually allowed it again but the streets have been calm since. Zelaya is still seeking refuge in the Brazilian Embassy (about 4 or 5 blocks from my house) and his people have been in talks with the new government's people since he came back. They have still reached no agreement. We have just been in stale mate for a while. I think the new government is just trying to make it to the election at the end of November. Recently it's been very calm and no news one way or another.
Also, many of you have asked me about the prayer request I sent you about my fiance's visa. We want to come to the US for our honeymoon as well as have a reception in the US so that you could all come. However, as I wrote before, the US embassy stopped giving visas. Well, they haven't changed their minds. The embassy is still not giving visas. We decided that in order to plan for everything, we need to know two months before. So if I hear nothing by November 1st, we will make other plans. That means, we have one week for a miracle. Please pray! I would especially like to have this reception so that you could all be there. Please be praying for that as well as our whole political situations. Thanks!
God bless!
Mateo

Hugo Llorens's Letter

2009-10-16T22:44:00.001-07:00

Many of the US has been adamantly vocal against the new government in Honduras. This could allow one to think that the US is also siding with the radical groups in Honduras that support the ousted president. One of the most adament US supporters of the booted president, Manuel Zelaya, is US ambassador to Honduras, Hugo Llorens. That's why I found this letter that he wrote to Zelaya supporting radio station, Radio Globo, when they went on an antisemitic outburst very interesting:

(This comes from the US embassy website )

Letter from Ambassador Hugo Llorens to Radio Globo

October 5, 2009

Mr. Alejandro Villatoro
Owner, Radio Globo
Boulevard Morazan
Tegucigalpa, M.D.C

Mr. Villatoro:

It is with astonishment and incomprehension that I write to you. I refer to a broadcast commentary by your journalist and news director David Romero which was aired on September 25, in which Mr. Romero denounced Jews and Israelis as “people that do damage in this country.” Particularly disgusting was the admiration he implied for Adolf Hitler: “After what I have learned, I ask myself why, why didn’t we let Hitler carry out his historic mission?”

Mr. Villatorio, Hitler’s concentration camps and Holocaust constitute one of the most shameful acts of human history. How can it be that your station employs as its news director a man who does not understand this? Torture and murder were committed against millions of innocent people. Mr. Romero’s commentary makes a mockery of any pretense he may have of solidarity with people who struggle against injustice.

I cannot help but note the irony that you and Mr. Romero came to visit me last week to seek support after your station was closed by the de facto authorities. I have spoken out clearly and will continue to do so that the decree under which your station was closed is wrong. Radio Globo deserves to be on the air. The right of free speech must not be abridged, but with it goes the responsibility to speak truthfully and soberly. Does Radio Globo accept its moral responsibility? Will you join me in denouncing this appalling act that was committed on your airwaves?

Sincerely,

Hugo Llorens

The Biased Media

2009-09-24T22:20:00.000-07:00

I know that for many of you there is nothing more biased than CNN or Fox (depending on which political party you personally align yourself with). However, at least those news agencies have a little bit of overlap. Here in Honduras, we do not have that luxury. The government sponsored TV stations like Televicentro tell one extreme. Then the Zelaya supporting news networks such as radio station Radio Globo tell a completely other extreme. There is virtually no overlap. The only thing that you can be certain of is that everybody is lying. Both sides are constantly contradicting each other and when one is proved wrong they continue as if they had never said it. So, when an international news network quotes a Honduran news source, be very careful. There are lots of rumors and lies floating around on every side. I normally don't like what the New York Times has been reporting on Honduras--they have been heavily biased in many of their articles--but the following article is the best I have seen on how both sides have been lying and stretching the truth:

Battle for Honduras Echoes Loudly in Media by Elisabeth Malkin and Marc Lacey

Keep praying for this country!

Still going...

2009-09-23T23:19:00.000-07:00

Hello friends and family!
Just a quick update. I am still on curfew. But the good news is that they lifted it from 10am to 5 pm today. And they have said that it should end tomorrow at 6am. So that will be 55 hours in all with a 5 hour break in the middle. I was able to get food and get my clothes from the laundromat. Pray that there will be peace. Tomorrow there are supposed to be demonstrations for both sides. And near my apartment! Blessings!
In Christ,
Mateo

My Most Recent Update

2009-09-22T13:20:00.000-07:00

Here is my most recent email update followed by a you tube link from a friend of a demonstration happening while we are in curfew (the police afterwards started raiding homes and my friend heard shots fired).

Hello friends and family!
I hope you are all well. There is a lot going on in the world right now and whether you be in a flooded neighborhood or New York traffic, my prayers are with you. I am writing to inform you of our latest bit of news here in Honduras. Manuel Zelaya, the ousted president, has come back. This took everyone by surprise (the acting president, Roberto Micheletti, even denied it at first.) He is now holed up in the Brazilian embassy (international territory) with the police waiting outside to arrest him. The Resistance (Zelaya's supporters who are known for vandalism from spray painting to blowing up cars and restaurants with molotov cocktails) have been rallying outside of the embassy. Because of this, the government has declared a national curfew since 4 pm on Monday. We are still under curefew and not allowed to leave the house. Supposedly it will end tomorrow (Wednesday) at 6 am but they have already extended the curfew twice. This is very difficult for the many people in this nation below the poverty level that live day by day for money and food. Please be praying for them. Personally I have limited food supplies in my house (though I can afford to skip a couple of meals, unlike my poorer friends here) and all my clean clothes are at a laundromat I can't get to. The Resistence are still holding huge demonstrations in spite of the curfew and the police are fighting back with tear gas and in a few neighborhoods friends have heard shots fired. That includes my fiance's neighborhood. Please be praying. If you can get prayer groups together I would appreciate it. For more info, see my blog:

thethingsthatarenot.blogspot.com

or my twitter:

www.twitter.com/ThingsThatArent

Thank you!
Mateo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDyO-ElWbC8

Return of the King...

2009-09-21T21:44:00.000-07:00

Well folks, Mel has returned.

Mel Zelaya, the ousted president of Honduras has returned:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8267775.stm

Nobody was expecting this. At first the new president Roberto Micheletti got on the air and denied it. But sure enough, ousted prez Mel is back in town. He has been camping out at the UN and the Brazilian embassy. This means he and he followers have been hanging out in Palmira--my neighbordhood! I had to take another route home to avoid the people. Then they imposed a curfew at 4 this afternoon. And it will not end until 6pm tomorrow night! I will keep you all updated. Please be praying. Pray that nobody does anything stupid. Gather groups together and pray for the nation of Honduras.

All images are from the newspaper Dario La Prensa.

Letter to the President

2009-09-01T20:11:00.000-07:00

The following is a letter that I sent to the president:

Mr. President,

My name is Mateo. I am an American citizen living as a third grade teacher in Honduras. As you are well aware, this country has had a very intense few months. On June 28th, many Americans learned about a small country called Honduras and their very sensitive political situation. However, many of my friends and family in the United States had already been keeping Honduras in their prayers for a while. The political crisis here did not begin on June 28th. President Manuel Zelaya Rosales had proposed for the day of the 28th to have what he referred to has the “Cuarta Urna” or “Fourth Ballot Box.” His proposal was to put another vote alongside that of the presidential election as to whether or not they should change the constitution. Exactly what they would change was not specified though it was understood that one part of this revision would be an amendment to the one term limit, allowing Mr. Zelaya to run for future terms. As you are well aware, Honduras (along with other Latin American countries) has had a rough time in the past with dictators who wanted to stay indefinitely. Because of this, the constitution states that if any president tries to change the term limit, they would lose the title of their office. As Americans, we are very proud of our constitution. It should not surprise us that Hondurans feel the same way. As of the week before the cuarta urna, polls showed that Mr. Zelaya had 20% approval (for comparison, that is lower than both Mr. Bush and Mr. Nixon at the end of their presidencies). The Supreme Court declared this vote unconstitutional and the Congress renounced it as well. This pitted one branch of the government against the other two. Unfortunately, the Honduran constitution does not specify impeachment procedures. In what was undoubtedly the wrong move, the Congress used the military to arrest and exile Mr. Zelaya. They then proceeded to the next in line for President, Roberto Micheletti.

I understand the United States’ awkward position in this situation. We have been on the wrong side of coups in Latin America in the past. In the name of fighting communism, we have supported dictators—in Latin American and abroad. At the surface, this situation sounds similar. It does not surprise me that you wanted to distant yourself from our past sins as a nation. However, what has surprised me is the strong tone of the US’s rejection of the new Honduran government. By rejecting it, we are rejecting their laws and constitution. We are telling them that we know what is better for them because we supply them with their checks and food for their poor. This sounds like imperialism to Honduran ears, the very thing you are trying so hard to avoid! I was overjoyed to learn that we are not planning on cutting back more aid to Honduras. By denying food to hungry people, we would have punished the poor for the acts of their government and could have incited a violent rebellion. But I have been disappointed by our decision to cease non-immigrant, non-emergency visa services to all Honduran citizens. I feel that this is punishing the majority for the sins of a few.

I know that you are already fully aware of the situation here in Honduras, Mr. President, and it is not my intention to presume to instruct you. Rather I would like to appeal for the Honduran people that they would have the support of a country that they have relied on for so many years (for the good and the bad that it has sometimes brought them) as well as for a more personal reason. I am engaged to a wonderful Honduran citizen named Katia. We are to be married here in Honduras this December. We would like to come to the United States for our honeymoon so that I could show her the country and people who mean so much to me before coming back here to Tegucigalpa, Honduras in January where we have jobs as teachers. I am not a political man, Mr. President. I am neither Republican nor Democrat—I am a registered independent. I am not pushing one political view over another. I am just a man who is very close with many Hondurans who feel very hurt by the country that they have so often counted on for support.

Also, I would like to go on our honeymoon.

Thank you,
Mateo

Old Fashioned Military Coup?

2009-07-18T23:45:00.000-07:00

I originally wrote this one to clear up confusion from the first one and to expand on some issues brought up by a precious email.

God bless you all for your prayers and concern for this country. Latin America does indeed have a rich (and often violent and abused) history. To understand the present, it is so crucial to understand the past. In much of Latin America there has been political strife over the years. In the 70s and 80s there were a series of political coups (this one included). In the last email I made a side reference to Rios Montt. He was an evil, evil military coup leader in Guatemala. It makes sense to not want to see these types of things happen again. We do not want more military coups. However, this is not what happened in Honduras a few weeks ago. It is important that we are clear on this. What took place on June 28th here in Honduras was not a military coup. It was indeed a coup d'etat because there was no court trial and it was done rather quickly and quietly. But this was a governmental dispute. One branch of the government acted illegally, so the other two branches arrested and exiled him. Also, the coup had been in discussion on the floor of congress on national television three days before it happened. The coup came as no surprise to President Zelaya (except of course for the normal surprise that would come to being woken up at gun point and directed toward and airplane). But this coup was not military ran. That is one of the major differences between what happened two weeks ago and what happened in Guatemala and other Latin American countries in the 80s. The army was simply following congressional orders. Now their only continued roll is providing protection for the new government. The way they handled this was completely wrong. I think they were greedy and power hungry and that affected their judgment. However, the issue at hand is that there is still a lack in a constitutional way to impeach a president here and I believe in much of Latin America. It is important to speak out in the wrongs of forcefully exiling the president (even if you are the other two thirds of the government). However, it is equally important we understand all sides to the issue.
Some have said that whether or not Mel Zelaya is a good or bad person is not the issue here. We should instead emphasize that we have no place for coups anymore and that this must be stopped. I disagree. I think that whethere or not Zelaya acted illegally is a rather important issue. Mostly because most of the Hondurans I talk to think that it is one of the most essential issues. At its heart and at the beginning of this conflict, that has always been the focus.
Honduras is being seen through the eyes of history. It is important to remember that in this "crisis," there has only been one death (which is indeed one too many). Hondurans are traditionally very peaceful people. Before this coup, I used to joke about how the only times I ever saw the Honduran army was when they were directing traffic (they are much more efficient than the police!). The reason people are up in arms is because of what has happened in Latin America and other countries in the past. What Congress is doing with the help of the military reminds too many of our friend Pastor Efrain, military juntas, the CIA's secret evils, and banana companies. To many of the Hondurans, what Mel Zelaya was doing reminded people of the steps that Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez took, or other former "Presidents for Life" such as Dr. Hastings Banda or Robert Mugabe (though Mel lacks the political charisma of such stars). History is a scary thing. However what we have right now is not a battle between Efrain Rios Montt and Robert Mugabe. It is a battle between two selfish, corrupt politicians who are incredibly out of touch with their people. What the future holds we do not know, because, well, it's the future.
Too many errors have been made in history because missionaries, activists, and politicians have assumed they knew what was best for a people without ever asking them what they want. It is indeed important to know whether or not Manuel Zelaya or Roberto Micheletti are corrupt (they are) or which side the people are backing (they are split--though with a majority at least in the two major cities of Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula against Zelaya but not necessarily for the new government). It is important that we seek understanding before taking sides. I argue that it is important that we do not take any sides but the side of Justice (and she's an Independant). As Christians we must learn to speak up for what is right without taking a political side. It is important to know that Mel Zelaya was spending millions of Lempiras (1 mil Lempiras = about $53,000 USD) on the referendum while ignoring those affected by Swine Flu. It is important to know that Micheletti sent soldiers onto the runway to keep Mr. Zelaya from landing on Sunday and when protesters tried to storm the airport the soldiers shot into the air (officially) and killed one young man. It is important to know that the news agencies here are only propoganda for one side or the other. It is important to realize that while the West has chosen to make Honduras a discussion topic for their own political agendas, the sanctions that they put on Honduras will devastate the poor and leave those in government as they were with their glasses of wine and carne asada--that the only thing political that they might accomplish is causing an upheaval that might force humility on the leaders but only after bloodshed. Even peaceful people become desperate with hungry stomachs. As Christians we must focus our energy on prayers, mediation between the extreme sides when we are able, preaching peace to all sides, and getting ready for practical assistence should (God forbid) the situation escalate. I am impressed with President Arias in Costa Rica (the first country without an army) as he tries to negotiate peace talks between two very prideful men. Pray that good would come of this and that these men would learn humility.
Again, thank you so much for your prayers and concern for the people of Honduras. If there are more practical things that can be done I will try to let you know. I thank God for all of you.

The Crisis As I Am Seeing It

2009-07-18T22:46:00.000-07:00

I feel that many of the news organizations have been misrepresenting the situation here--at least from where I see it here on the ground level. It seems that no news agency--either here or abroad--is able to take anywhere near a neutral stance on the crisis here and only paint one of two extremes. I will try to state what I am seeing with as little personal opinion as possible (though I do preach a little bit at the end). I am not a politician; I am not a human rights activist; I am a pastor/teacher. Most of my life is spent around Hondurans and I have a front row seat downtown in the capital. All that being said, here are my humble (hopefully) comments. Honduras is stuck between a battle of egos amongst self-interested politicians and are having to take sides between two corrupt evils. Though (at least here in the capital) a large majority are still choosing the new government.
Mel Zelaya was voted in as a center candidate from the liberal party. He remained a fairly bland president without people hearing too much good or bad about him for the first two or three years. During this last year of presidency, he has moved along more socialist ideals making decisions to join ALBA (a Latin American leftist trade agreement), making use of a lot of rhetoric, and making good use of his Leftist connections (Chavez gives us gas.) His most recent hoorah was the "Cuarta Urna" (the referendum to change the constitution). The Cuarta Urna was a vote (or better said, a survey) to see if the Honduran people would like to vote to have a committee rewrite the constitution. If the Cuarta Urna passed, they would add this vote along with the electoral vote this November. If that vote passed, they would scratch the rest of the election and start over. The specific part that Mr. Zelaya wanted to change is one of the four unchangeable parts of the Honduran constitution--one term limit for presidents. A lot of Latin countries have this specification (or did) as somewhat of a response to elected leaders holding on to power. However, it has never been specified what all this committee would change in the constitution.
The week before the vote of the Cuarta Urna (scheduled for June 28th) things became tense. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court declared the vote unconstitutional. Mel Zelaya declared that he was going through with the vote anyway--meaning he was ignoring the checks and balances of the three branch system and acting illegally. He asked the head of the armed forces, Romeo Vasquez, to assist him in the vote on Sunday. Mr. Vasquez said that he could not follow an illegal order. Zelaya then fired him. Three other leaders of the military resigned in support of General Vasquez. On Thursday, a plane came in from Venezuela with boxes of voting "materials." The vote being illegal, Mr. Zelaya was not allowed to retrieve them. National TV showed Zelaya entering the air force base in a mass of supporters and taking the boxes. That night, Congress met on national television (not a custom here). They re-hired General Vasquez and then discussed in length on whether or not they were going to throw a coup ("golpe de estado"). This was Thursday night. By Saturday, it was estimated that 80% of Honduras was against the Cuarta Urna and people were getting tired of Mel Zelaya. After Congress's meeting I heard people talk of the possible coup very hopefully.
Then came Sunday morning. As you are aware, the vote didn't happen. The military came into Mr. Zelaya's house and arrested him and shipped him to Costa Rica. However, this was not a military coup. The military was only following orders. It was technically a coup--it was certainly not an impeachment!--but it was ran by the government. This had become a showdown between executive branch and the legislative and judical branches. Technically, coups are not illegal in some Latin American countries. I had been told that of Guatemala (Rios Montt still has a position in the government) while living there and also of Honduras long before this current crisis became underway. I am not sure if they have a clear impeachment system. Regardless, they handled it all very poorly. While they arrested and exiled the president, they shut off power for the entire country. We woke up to absolutely no news or lights with military planes flying over head (which we still have flying over the capital throughout the day). They also instituted a curfew and we are still under it (it was 9pm-6am and is now 10pm-5am; this last Sunday night it started at 6.30pm) They turned the power on at noon, and then news channels started to drop like flies. Monday there was only one newspaper on the stands--a popular rag that doesn't have much substance. Now, at least most of the newspapers are back and I think one or two of the tv stations. Though the news has been obviously muted. The news are vastly one sided and often the channels are oddly lacking in any news. However the local ones that they shut off were often propoganda for the other side. There are no center news agencies here.
However, the international news has not been fair on what they have reported from Honduras either. Everything they have been saying is true, but they are leaving out some big truths as well. There have been lots of pro-Zelaya protests--some of them semi-violent (throwing rocks at store windows, robbing Duncan Donuts of their...donuts, that sort of thing). They have not been showing the anti-Zelaya, pro-government protests. These are much, much larger and always peaceful. I have seen both sides demonstrate here downtown and I feel perfectly safe with the latter but the former are very loud and all the shop keepers roll down their gates (sometimes with customers inside) to keep from getting hit with rocks. Though I am against many of the things the new government has done, a majority here (though by no means all) are ok with it if it means no more Zelaya. The new president by the way, Roberto Micheletti, was the President of Congress and the next in line for the presidency legally (Elvin Santos, the former VP, recently resigned so that he could run for president this November). Micheletti is the same party as Zelaya. The other major party and thier candidate (Pepe Lobo) have been oddly silent during the whole crisis. Many of the people here fear that Zelaya was on his way to be like that of his companions--Chavez, Ortega, Castro. Micheletti (though known for being a corrupt man himself) has promised he will not run in November (and we all know promises mean so much in the mouths of politicians...).
Now, many Hondurans feel outraged by the light that they are getting portrayed in the press and by the countries that are condemning them. The shame here is that many of these countries are threatening to cut aid (the US and World bank have already started giving less) and put sanctions. Honduras is the third poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. How does that punish the people who made the coup? The poor suffer for the sins of the rich and powerful. That is injustice. People like Micheletti and Zelaya and politicians using Honduras as a podium for their party, are using the poor of Honduras as tools for personal gain while they suffer. That is sinful.

Email Conversations

2009-07-18T22:34:00.000-07:00

Recently I participated in an email conversation with some friends talking about what was happening here in Honduras. You might find my emails helpful. I have posted them here but edited them so that they are more bloggish. Thanks!

(By the way, I've changed my Twitter address: www.twitter.com/thingsthatarent)

The Coup

2009-06-28T12:19:00.001-07:00

Theres been a coup! Mel was arrested overnight and shipped to Costa Rica. Please pray. More tonight (as long as theres electricity).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8123126.stm

Saturday

2009-06-27T23:46:00.001-07:00

Today was calm. Tomorrow is the vote. Please pray.

Prayer Groups

2009-06-26T22:28:00.000-07:00

By the way, I am asking that you get prayer groups together this weekend wherever you might be to pray for Honduras. You may print, email, or distribute my last blog post to use as pointers for prayer. God bless you all!
Matt

The Situation in Honduras

2009-06-26T20:47:00.000-07:00

Greetings all. I want to use this blog to talk for a moment about what is going on here in Honduras. You may send this article out to help people know what to pray for. I do not claim to be an expert in this, so my apologies if I got any facts wrong or am unfair in any way.

Mel Zelaya is a leftist leader with some socialist tendencies in his last year of office as President of Honduras. The next election is in November. However, Zelaya would like to change that. He has been promoting an international survey for this Sunday that would allow an extra "ballot box" on the November ballot asking if you would like to have the constitution changed. Amongst other unspecified things, this would allow President Zelaya to run again (Honduran presidents are only permitted one term)

The problem is this, on Tuesday the Supreme Court declared the survey illegal (at least doing it so close to the election). Mr. Zelaya decided to go through with it anyway (calling the Supreme Court the "Supreme Court of Injustice." On Thursday, he asked military to help with the vote on Sunday and the leader of the armed forces, Romeo Vasquez, said no. He would not follow illegal orders. Mr. Zelaya then fired him.

The congress met and decided to order Mr. Zelaya to reinstate General Vasquez. However, he refused. The congress also discussed last night whether or not to throw a coup d'etat. They decided against it for now. Hugo Chavez has stated that he will support Zelaya if there is an attempted coup.

Meanwhile, there are protests here in Tegucigalpa and also in San Pedro Sula. There are some dreadful rumors floating around. The country is pretty nervous.

That is the rundown. Here is what you can be praying for:

Nationally
*Pray for peace in this country. That nobody would resort to violence in supporting their cause.
*Pray for the leaders to be calm and humble enough to find an agreement without going to dangerous extremes.
*Pray for the right decision to be made in the country.
*Pray especially that Sunday would be peaceful and that the voting would be fair.
*Pray for unity in the country.
*Pray that the Church would be Christ-centered and loving in our responses. That we would stand against injustice but would not mix company with any political ideal. Pray that the Church would stay wholly the Church and not divided over human things.

More personally:
*That our church, Roca de Refugio, would know what we should do, even if only be a heart of love in a potentially dark time.
*That I would know when to speak and when to be quiet.
*And you can always pray for my upcoming marriage. Thanks!

2008 book list

2009-03-09T16:34:00.000-07:00

So I decided to steal from my friend Marco, and begin writing the books I read over the past year at the beginning of each year. Unfortunately, I am lazy and am just now getting around to it.
Note: These are the books that I finished in 2008, not the ones I started. That would be a different and longer list. I have a bad habit of starting books and not finishing them.

Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck-- I had never read this before. Recently, I've really gotten into John Steinbeck and my family is all from Oklahoma with many having done the disappointing pilgrimage to California and back again during the Great Depression, so I thought it was time to read it. Wow. This is one of the best works of fiction I have ever read. And it was really interesting to read what my grandparents and great-grandparents had to go through. Especially since many in my area now treat illegal immigrants from our southern border much the same horrible way we were treated in California. How quick we forget our past...

Companion to the Poor by Viv Grigg-- I have only read a handful of books that have rocked my world. This was one of them. Grigg, a missionary in the Philippines, decided that the way he and others were doing missions to the poor was not working, nor was it very biblical. He decided to follow the incarnational model of Jesus Christ and move into the slums of Manila to reach those that live there, not just swoop down in his SUV and give away rice, beans, eternal salvation, and toilet paper like everyone else. This book mostly chronicles that time and explains the theology behind it. Grigg helped start multiple incarnational missions organizations, one of the main ones being Servants to Asia's Urban Poor. Because of this book, I checked it their North American branch in Vancouver, Canada this past November. I am still very interested in them and other similar ministries.

Cry of the Urban Poor by Viv Grigg-- This is another book by Grigg that goes into a little more of the practicality of this type of ministry as well as some further Biblical study. He uses many more examples of other inner city ministries in this book.

Pollution and the Death of Man by Francis Schaefer. Excellent book! If you are frustrated by the shortage of Christian books that talk about the importance of taking care of God's world, this is a great one to read! Plus, it's nice to read a book written about the topic before it was faddy to do so.

The Ethics of Smuggling by Brother Andrew-- I don't suggest you do as I did and take this book as your in-flight reading... It might raise some eyebrows. Brother Andrew was a Bible smuggler behind the Iron curtain during the cold war and is still in the biz in closed countries. Unless of course he recently died. Then he's not. He's getting up there in years so I'm not real sure... It's a nice short read and straight to the point.

The Life You Always Wanted by John Ortberg-- I read this book in college, but like most of the many books I had to read in that period and pulled all-nighters to do so, it was a bit of a blur. Good book on spiritual disciplines.

Celebration of Dscipline by Richard Foster-- Another book on spiritual disciplines. I like this one better. It's a bit deeper and more along the lines of the reflective traditions than the Christian bookstore in your local megachurch bestseller. I liked it.

Leading with a Limp by Dr. Dan Alexander-- I ran accross this book in an airport, believe it or not. God had been teaching me a lot how he always uses the weak so that He might be glorified in them. He can use your strengths but he wants you because of your weaknesses. I had actually been thinking that it would be a good idea for a book some day because I had never really read anything on that idea. Then I found this book. It was exactly what God had been teaching me (and much much better written than if I had someday tried my hand at it). I really didn't know what I was getting when I got it, but I am so glad I did. One of the few impulse buys I have made that I felt good about later and didn't even have a sugar rush of any sort.

Love Poems from God translated and edited by Daniel Ladinsky-- A collection of spiritual poems by 12 poets (I believe 6 Christians, 3 Muslims, and 3 Hindus). This was interesting, though a little over the top for my taste. I read in one day at a spiritual retreat center in Canada. I really enjoyed the poems by St. Francis, St. John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, and a few others. However I don't trust the translator's translation at all. There were a lot of anacronisms and it really felt like he kept inserting his own theology.

I truly am independant

2008-10-30T22:58:00.000-07:00

According to ontheissues.org I am this dot:

Collect All Four!

2008-09-12T16:01:00.000-07:00

Two blog posts ago, I mentioned that I had been stolen from, conned, and had then had been robbed. I assumed that this meant that I finally had the complete collection. However, I forgot one: identity theft! I can now proudly say, I have collected all 4 specially marked thefts...

Last Saturday, I realized that I had not paid the school for the next week so I went to an ATM. Oddly enough, not one of the ATMs I went to were working. They all said that I had problems with my card. However, I knew that I had plenty in my account and it was telling the same thing to everyone else who tried to use the ATM that morning. This was even happening with ATMs from different companies. I wasn't able to withdraw anything but I paid with my card at a restaurant on Sunday and had no problems. On Monday, I went back to the ATM and all my money was there and I made a withdrawal without any problems whatsoever. After this, I put the situation out of my mind.

Thursday, a friend of mine told me that she went on Saturday too. Somehow, somebody used the machine (maybe a virus of some sort) and stole her number and was using it as a credit card. Her bank caught it and she didn't lose any money. However, it canceled her card so she no longer has money to live here in Guatemala.

I decided that maybe I should look at my account online...

I was $400 in the hole!!! I had over $400 the last time I checked. That means I lost over $800 dollars!!!!

Yeah.

Apparently they did the same with me but my bank did not catch it quite fast enough. There were a series of withdrawals made Monday morning after I made my withdrawal. however, they did eventually cancel my card. So now even if I had money in my account, I could not use it.

I am currently trying to work with my bank from afar, trying to figure out if I can get any of the money back. Please pray. Also, my family plans on visiting and bring a card or some money so I should be fine. Just pray that it will all work out and pray for anyone else who was a victim--tourists who would be stuck here, locals who would not have $800 to lose. There was even a little elderly Guatemalan lady in front of me in the line having the same problems. It was actually quite a large line.

A List of Some Things I Have Learned the Hard Way

2008-09-10T12:16:00.000-07:00

Never eat sausage in foreign countries.

Don't walk near an open sewage gutter with 50 pounds of rice on your head.

If a ladder looks homemade and dangerous, don't climb it.

Don't skip class and go to the glass walled cafeteria while wearing a pleather trench coat and a unique hat.

Don't make fun of professors' sons who have passed away because they were wearing short shorts in a photo.

Don't walk in Tegucigalpa, Honduras at night.

If traveling in a European city, never trust Spanish women in pants suits carrying petitions.

Just because he's your watchman, doesn't mean he won't steal from you.

Avoid war zones.

If starring in a play, be sure to check the floor for vomit when making your entrance on stage.

McDonald's isn't ever as good of an idea as it sounds.

Don't stay in hotels that rent by the hour.

Don't trust people.

Trust people.

If it's good for you, it's painful.

If it's bad for you, it will be painful.

Passports with stamps from Jamaica, the Netherlands, and various countries in Africa and Latin America make it difficult for weekend trips to Canada.

If you wait a while to update the homefront about difficult situations that occurred overseas, rumors will be rampant.

If you immediately update the homefront about difficult situations that occurred overseas, rumors will be rampant.

If somebody has a lot of interesting stories to tell, the truth is that they probably lead a very boring life and have lots of spare time to make up interesting stories.

Poor kids can be spoiled too.

Don't get too comfortable, things might change.

Don't get too excited, things might stay the same.

No news is good news. Good news is an oxy-moron. No news is an oxy-moron??

The thing that you think you will do in any certain situation is probably the very thing you can be sure you won't do. That's why you want to do it.

Optimists are foolish and pessimists are depressing. Have optimists as your friends and pessimists as your business partners.

Always have someone on your side (that one I've learned by having it, the hard part is just that it is not always the same people you think it is at the time).

Always be on someone's side.

Four months away from your loved one is a lot harder than it sounds. And it sounds pretty darn hard.

Never promise a sequel to a blog post.

I'll write more later...

I´ve been robbed.

2008-07-22T14:34:00.000-07:00

I have been stolen from and I have been conned, but this marks the first time I have been robbed.

I have a large imagination as many of you know. So I had always imagined what I would do in such situations. When I was a kid, it was more heroic and action figure-esque. But as I became more aware of Jesus´teachings (and perhaps gained a better understanding of my own limitations...) my ideas changed. For a while I thought maybe I could call on the Holy Spirit. Sort of what Elisha did when the youth made fun of him for being bald. Then I thought, perhaps that´s not the purpose of the Holy Spirit. So my day dreams changed. My most recent ones I thought of saying in Spanish "I am a man of God, are you sure you want to do this?" and then maybe the Holy Spirit might convict him. This is actually how my mind works.

Well, I was robbed and it didn´t go down like this.

I was walking down the main road at about 8:00 PM and I heard someone walking behind me. Instead of walking faster, I (being a good Oklahoman) turned around to greet the person. Wrong move. A man (whose face I remember very clearly) pulled out a knife and asked me for my cell phone. All I could say was "Oh my gosh!" Only the words didn´t exactly come out and I sounded more like a dog whose tail had been stepped on or perhaps Lou Costello. The knife was actually quite small but rusty enough so that the only thought going through my mind was "I really don't want to be stabbed by that." It didn't helped that I had seen a few ambulences that day and noticed how nobody pulled over for them and it just didn´t seem like a good idea to have to ride in an ambulence going 35 miles per hour.

I gave him my cell phone. He was quite anxious as we were on a main road and I was taking my sweet time. He kept telling me to hurry up. He asked for my money and I gave him all the money I had with me. One lempira and seventy centavos. That´s about eight cents. He looked at me incredulously and asked if that was all. This was not a good night for the poor guy as my cell phone was also the cheap phone that everyone has. He asked for my wallet. At this point I could only respond in English even though I understood what he was saying. I started shouting at him, "I don´t have one!" I was shouting quite loudly and once again we were on a main street. Finally he gave up and walked away. At this point I remembered what I had always daydreamed and was disappointed how I acted nothing like this. So as he walked away, I shouted at him in English,

"I´m a man of God!"

Surprisingly, he wasn´t suddenly convicted and didn´t return my phone.

The Bride who Beats her own Body

2008-06-25T08:48:00.000-07:00

There was once a man marrooned on an island. Years passed by and he eventually gave up on being rescued and began to make a new life for himself. One day a cargo ship was passing by and saw the distressed man on the beach and came to rescue him. As they took care of the man, found him some clean clothes and cooked him a hot meal, the captain looked around and noticed that there were three buildings on the island. He asked the marrooned man, "Are there more people on this island?"
"No," replied the man.
The captain was curious, "Then why do you have three houses?"
He said, "Oh that! Only one is my house. The other two are churches."
Well, now the captain was truly puzzled. He asked the man, "But if there is only one of you, then why do you have two churches?"
The man explained, "That church over there is the one I attend. The other one is where I used to attend, but I left because of doctrinal issues with the pastor."

I heard that joke today. It made me laugh but only because I didn´t cry. It was told in the context of a man describing his distress on going to a small island that weekend with only 600 people. And it had six different churches. Then he went around on Sunday and didn´t see more than 30-50 people in a single church.

I used to be a youth minister in a small town in Northeastern Oklahoma. The year I was there, they had one of the biggest graduating classes they had had in years--18 kids! However, the town had five different churches.

I went to college in the town of Joplin, MO. It´s a town of 48,000 people. And it has 221 churches! During my final year at college, there was a church plant started in Joplin (not the first one in my five years in Joplin). The church´s arguement was that after you factored in the number of churches and then found the average number of seats and then added that together, the number was smaller than the population of Joplin. So the obvious answer: plant more churches! Despite the obvious fallacy of adding together averages or the fact that many of these churches have multiple services, I know for a fact that most of these churches are dying and empty. Why not start with the wounded and bring healing before giving up on them? Should we treat churches like horses, and pull out our shotgun after it breaks a leg? Why do we insist on starting over? Why do we insist on competition instead of working together for the same cause? Why are numbers more important than making sure the people we already have are in authentic relationships with Christ?

I come from the Independent Christian Churches. We are part of what is called the Restoration Movement, a movement that was started as a movement to create unity within the Church. And out of that moment sprung (at least) three different groups of churches. Recently there has been a lot of celebration in our churches that we are amongst talks to recconcile differences between us and the non-instrumental Churches of Christ. And as wonderful and beautiful as that is, that isn´t a step forward. That is just recovering from one of our steps back. We should be on the forefront of creating unity amongst the Bride of Christ, but instead are just another unhealed wound, a surface ulcer on the her skin.

Brothers and Sisters, we have a lot of work to do. But I don´t want this just to be a rant pointing out another bruise on the Beloved of Christ. This is a very important issue. So much so that on the night before our Savior died, he prayed for unity amongst his future believers. He was well aware it would be a problem. But Jesus never prayed without thinking an answer would not be possible. If faith can move mountains, maybe we can act like we are related to our brothers in sisters in Christ. As a mother says to her fighting children while she tries to take a picture of her squirming loved ones, "Act like you love eachother!" So my question is what are you doing to bring about unity in the Church or what would you like to do? Let me know your ideas. Let´s move from talk to action.

Love and Blessings,
Mateo

"For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: ´Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.´" --1 Cor. 1:25-31