Creative Ping Pong in Honduras

So life on the island is wet right now, very wet.  Rainy season is in full swing which is not so good for a PE teacher without a gym.  So, Ping Pong it is.  I came down with 16 paddles and about 15 ping pong balls because I was told that the school had 3 ping pong tables!!  little did I know that they are about 10 years old and have been exposed to the abuse of teenagers and humid salty air for all 10 years.  Needless to say, they are not quite functional....

We have had to get creative with our tables and learn how to play the cracks in the picnic tables.  The kids don't seem to mind and I think it actually makes the game a little more interesting.  As of now we have games being played on 4 ft long picnic tables, a sheet of ply board and long skinny cafeteria tables.  The ply board table has definitely become number 1.

God's Spirit in the last days!

"Jesus' disciples came to him privately, saying, 'Tell us, when will these things happen and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?'  And Jesus answered and said to them, 'See to it that no one misleads you.  For many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and will mislead many.  You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars.  See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.  But all these things are merely the beginning of the birth pangs.  Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name.  At that time, many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.  Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many.  Because lawlessness is increased most peoples love will grow cold.  But the one who endures to the end will be saved.":

Matthew 24: 3 - 13

Jesus was asked, what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?

We are living in a time that looks strangely similar to the above description given by Jesus.  There are wars and rumors of wars, famine, unimaginable natural disasters, increased lawlessness along with the rapid decline of morality throughout the world.  Whether you believe we are living in the last days or not, you must agree that we are living in a very dark time in history.

It is easy to get wrapped up in the doom and gloom or the fear and propaganda fed to us from mainstream media, but I would like to remind us of the way light shines in darkness!  If you light a candle with every light in house on, the brightness is barley recognized.  On the other hand, if you light the same candle in a pitch black room, the brightness fills every inch.  

We are living in darkness, but you and I are the candles!  

God says in Joel Chapter 2, that He will pour out His spirit in the last days!  The darkness seems to be increasing by the day with terror attacks, war, deception, immorality and so on, but God says His Spirit will be poured out.  It is being poured out, The body of Christ is alive and well!  We are taking ground for His kingdom and welcoming new believers into the family daily.  You are on the front lines and the light of Jesus can touch every life around you if you will let it.  Rocognize that God sent His son to die in our place so that we could know Him and have life now and eternally.  THIS MESSAGE IS URGENT! Please accept the call to

Preach the Gospel

Make disciples

Love God 

Love you neighbor

Pray for the lost and suffering 

God has not given you a spirit of timidity but of power and love and a sound mind! 

Discipleship Roatan!

Jesus' final words to His disciples were: "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.."

- Matthew 28: 19-20

The Lord has not only called us to preach the Gospel, but also to make disciples!  As Christians, we often strive to share the message of Christ with the end goal of leading them to accept the Gospel and receive eternal salvation.  This is extremely important to initiate a relationship with God, but many times we leave new believers there and they do not know where to go next so they fall back into their old ways and just live the way they have always known.  It's like giving someone a gym membership who has no idea what to do, then saying "ok, here you are, go get stronger and skinnier...,,". That usually wouldn't work too well.  They may wander around the gym or try to copy a few other people, but ultimately they would probably feel lost and defeated then go home and not return.  They must be taught, they need to know where to begin and how the machines work.

Jesus tells us to make disciples!  He wants us to lead others into a relationship with Him and into a lifestyle of worship to Him!  We are all called to disciple,  we all have something to give! 

We kicked off our discipleship program with the high school boys at our school last Friday!  We will be splitting all of the high school boys into groups of 4-5 with each male teacher who will mentor and disciple them!  So far we have 100% participation from the young men (25 young men).  We will spend time outside of school building relationship with these young men, sharing our lives with them and showing them how to live as Christian men!  Pray for God to be glorified in our time with them and for God to lead us as we lead these young men!  

Doors Open with Paola

Since we have been on the island it has been a process of adjusting, settling in, becoming a part of the community here, and trying to assimilate as much as we can. Harrison has seamlessly adjusted to working at Kingdom Bilingual as a PE and history teacher. The kids are VERY excited about PE and Harrison has even had parents tell him students are going home to do exercise! This is truly exciting because exercise does not have much importance here. He is truly impacting these children's lives.

Meanwhile, we have hired a nanny for Isaac so that Kendall can begin working at Clinica Esperanza. We looked high and low at several daycares here and none provided care for the hours we needed. One of our good friends, Sarah and Roberto, that live down the road from us suggested interviewing Paola, the sister of the nanny they hired. Luckily, Paola has worked for Sarah before at her daycare and so the reference was very exciting for us. We interviewed Paola and told her what we needed and what we were looking for and she seemed very excited to have a job. So we hired her to start the following week.

Kendall has been staying at home with Paola to show her how we desire for Isaac to be treated, our routines, things that Isaac normally does in a day. It has been great for Paola to get to know Isaac and Kendall and they have really begun to develop a fruitful relationship with one another. Paola says Isaac is "tranquilo", which in Spanish means calm/relaxed. We laughed when we heard that!

Paulo has recently been opening up to Kendall and inquiring more and more about our move back to Roatan. Kendall was able to share with her how God spoke to both of us and told us to move back to Roatan to do ministry with people of the island. She said "WOW, REALLY?". She has asked that same question over and over again, so we think she must be really intrigued at the idea that God talks to his children.

Paola also asked Kendall how many boyfriends she had before Harrison "Cuantos novios tuviste antes de Harrison"? Then she asked "How did you know he was the one to marry"? or "¿Cómo supiste que Harrison era la de casarse?". Through this story, Kendall was able to share how the Lord spoke to her that Harrison was the person she was going to marry. She also shared that God spoke the same thing to Harrison. This had her very excited and she asked "How do you know that God is speaking to you"? Wow-- thank you Lord for placing this opportunity in our lives to open up and share how you've brought us to this place and the ways you have spoken to us. The Lord is definitely stirring Paola's heart and we are so excited to be a vessel that pours into her life an she continues to question what we are doing here and her own life as well.

Pray that the Lord continues to open doors so that we can minister to Paola and be a Light in the Darkness to her and her family. Pray that she loves Isaac well and that our trust and relationship can continue to deepen and thrive as we hope that she will be working with us for a long time.

Fisica

PE in Roatan is super fun and super hot!  The kids are obsessed with Soccer and have really started to enjoy volleyball.  So far we have only punctured one soccer ball which I consider a victory.  When I was here the first time, I went through about 10 in the first month.  I have learned that "american" soft soccer balls last about as long as a balloon would.  I have to buy the hard plastic ones from the local stores.

  The kids are really excited to have actual PE class; before I arrived they didn't have any equipment and were just sitting around during their PE time.  We have now completed a month of fitness testing and started a volleyball unit!  After our first class of sit-ups and push ups, I had parents asking me what I had done to their children.  They were going home and complaining about sore muscles....  We have a long way to go.  

I am now in the process of developing a biblical, Sex Education curriculum for the school with the help of some local doctors and another teacher!  Keep us in your prayers as we plan and prepare to implement this program.  

Also, the students are dying to start soccer and volleyball teams.  I have had some experience with this before and its not as easy as it sounds.  I am hoping to have some teams together by Christmas.  

REALLY, God healed the washing machine

Kendall picked me up from school yesterday and said, "we have a problem, the washing machine is broken, I need you to fix it."  Now I can fix a lot of things but washing machines are not an area of expertise.  Last time our washer broke in the states, I took it apart and didn't get it put back together and working for almost 2 months.  So I get home and our new nanny for Isaac, Paola, is there as well.  So we are all downstairs with the washer and all eyes are on me.  I open the lid, unplug it, turn some knobs, push some buttons and it doesn't work.  Well this was a tough situation because we sweat a lot here so our clothes get pretty nasty and I don't know who I would call to come and fix it.  Also, washing machine repair is not in the budget.  So, Kendall began to pray and I joined in.  With hands laid on the top, we asked God to heal our washing machine.  As soon as we said Amen, the washer turned on and started running without even pressing a button!

Paola, came in and asked (in Spanish), how did you fix it?  So I told her, we placed our hands on it like this and asked God.  She said, "REALLY."  I said yes, God cares about the small things.  We then shared a bit of our testimony with her and were able to ask about her faith.  Pray for Paola and the other people God brings into our lives here in Roatan.  We pray that God's name will be glorified and that those around us will come to know Him and have a relationship with Him.   Also, pray that we don't have any more washer problems.  God is alive and he hears our prayers even about the small things.   

Our Godson, Kendall

This is our Godson, Kendall! 

                  We met Kendall's family in 2009 and developed a strong friendship with them.  Kendall's brother, Pablo was a part of our mentoring and feeding program.  I met him and his friends begging on the street one day and our friendship took off from there.  We ate together, went fishing and worked on reading and writing.  Pablo eventually introduced us to his family of 4 brothers and 3 sisters.  Kendall and I spent time getting to know his mother, Francis and her husband Santos very well.  They all lived in a one room house with no plumbing, but were extremely generous and welcoming to Kendall and I.  Anytime that we would go by, they would welcome us into their house and just want to sit and talk for as long as we would stay.  Not long after getting to know Francis and the rest of her family, she became pregnant.  We were very excited for her, I was even invited to a baby shower.  I was the only male and the only foreigner.  It was my first baby shower so I was way out of my comfort zone,i didn't even know that I was supposed to bring a gift.  

                 

A few months before the baby was born, Francis asked Kendall and I to be the God parents of her new baby boy.  We were very honored and excited, and not knowing what that required of us, we said yes!  She then told us that she wanted to name the baby Kendall.  Names are very important in Honduras so we were extremely honored by her choice of names for her new baby.  When we left the island in 2011, Kendall was only a few months old and we have been eager to see how he has grown.  Yesterday, we were blessed to spend some time catching up with the family and seeing what a wonderful little boy he has become!  He loves to draw, only speaks Spanish and is always smiling.  

Here are a few pictures of us with Kendall in 2011: 

This is the newest member of their family, Nashley

Life in Roatan

Here is an update through pictures from our first 2 weeks back in Roatan!  

Sunset at West End Beach

Preparing for an intense relay race in PE

Cup stack relay

Football in PE

We spent this morning catching up with old friends and meeting some new ones in French Harbour.  We spent about an hour sitting on Carolina'a porch and then walked the community with Pablo and Jorvick. 

Kendall and Shenice catching up at the Sandy Bay children's home 

This is Sindy, we visited with her and many other kids at the Sandy Bay children's home.  Kendall lived there in 2010 and poured into the lives of these kids for a year.  

This is Jorvick, he was a part of our mentoring program when we were here between 2009-2011.  I now have the privilege of teaching him in my 8th grade classes.  He has become a great young man and Isaac loves him. 

Susana and Daniella, in Los Fuertes.  We met these girls in 2010 at the age of 13 & 11.  They were selling baked goods on the street to make money for their family every day from the time they got out of school until dark.  We got to know them and their family very well.  They lived with 12 people in a mud hut and one day asked me to help them get some cement to put down a floor.  With the help of many friends and family in the states, we were able to raise the money to build them a new home.  They are both doing very well! 

Isaac enjoying some play time

Isaac is adapting to the slower pace of life.

This is our neighbor, 'fresita' (little strawberry)

Trust in The Lord!

I arrived in Roatan 2 weeks ago to find out that we didn't have a home for my family to live in.  The home we had been told would be available had fallen through.  Knowing that Kendall and Isaac would be here in less than a week, I began to stress.  I began to get frustrated with the situation and with God.  We have left everything that we had in the states to move here, and now we don't have a place to live.  We had prepared our minds for a little two bedroom house that was going to be just right for our family but then it fell through and I couldn't figure how we were going to find something that fit our situation so well.  I began Looking at multiple properties, which were either way to small, too far away, too expensive or unfinished.  After a lot of prayer the Lord opened up the perfect place for our family.  My former boss on the island recently moved and had been looking for someone to rent her house.  She trusts us and we trust her so she has been able to bless us with a very good price on this 3 bedroom house.  We are now settled into our new home 3 miles from the school where I am working and have an extra room for visitors.   The house has everything we need and more!  The lesson in this situation has been that God has the perfect plan and place for us all.  We simply need to trust him and have faith when the process looks different than we expect!  Thank you for all who have been praying and supporting us!  

Down to Business

Five years ago, Kendall and I were walking down the street in Roatan, Honduras and I heard a woman yelling my name.  I looked down the littered and pothole covered street to see Carolina waving her arms in the air and calling us over.  Carolina proceeded to tell me how she had a dream for herself to write a book all about her life.  She asked if I would help her.  I said yes, but then didn't think much about it.  A week later I was walking down the same trash covered street and Carolina called me over again.  She handed me a stack of crumpled up notebook paper covered in Spanish writing.  She said, "this is my story, can you write it in English."  

Over the next year, we interviewed Carolina and wrote out her life story for her.  We then published the book, "The Darker Side of Paradise," and have been sending her about 20 copies a month.  She is currently supporting her family with the income she makes on her books.  

We came up with the idea to make this a more sustainable business by raising the money to order a large shipment of books, then teaching her to save $3 from each book so that she will be able to reorder her own books when she runs out.  

Thanks to many supporters, we raised $2,100 and were able to order 700 copies of Carolina's book that have been shipped to Roatan.  When we arrive on the island in September, we will help her set up a bank account and teach her to save.  Carolina is very excited about having access to more of her books and about becoming self sustaining!!! Thank you for helping us make this possible

Purchase Carolina's book here!

This is the true life story of a woman raised in poverty amidst paradise. Carolina tells her story of the darker side of paradise. Thousands of tourists come to her home island of Roatan every week, but all they see are the turquoise blue water and white sand beachs of the Caribbean. Carolina describes her reality which is not so picturesque but true for herself and for many islanders like her. Her life has been saturated with suffering, poverty, corruption, and sickness but she has overcome through perseverance and her faith in God. In her own words, "My life is pain, I don't know happiness."

Carolina sitting by her house

Carolina by the canal in French Harbour

"Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us."

1Thessalonians 2: 8

Jesus said, "Follow Me"

"If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me."

Luke 9:23

God has called us to pick up and leave our lives of comfort in the good ol' USA and to move to Roatan Honduras.  We are very excited to return to Honduras and to be God's hands and feet among the people there.  Along with that excitement comes some nervousness, uncertainties, and some obvious discomfort!  (God never said following Him would be comfortable)

We made this decision about three months ago and have already seen God move in and around us.  We have complete faith that He is going to provide for us, care for us, and glorify His name through us.  This blog will be used to share the ways that god is working in our family including the struggles that come with living in a developing country.  It will also be used to share the ways God is transforming lives and impacting the world around us!

Roatan is well known for its beaches and cruise ship ports, but much like other Caribbean islands, it's saturated with drastic poverty.  The tourists come and enjoy the beaches, but rarely see the real life of the locals over the cement walls.  Most of the locals live in unimaginable poverty with no governmental support and very little infrastructure.  The education & medical systems are deplorable and the spiritual atmosphere is very dark. God has called us to step into these communities and bring the light of His life to these people.  God has equipped us and called us to care for the physical and spiritual needs of all His people!  Please follow our blog and I pray that you are blessed by what God has invited us to be a part of in Roatan.  

If you would like to be a part, you can support us through prayer or monthly support: 

www.cten.org/harrisonjohnson

Email me with any thoughts, questions or if you would like to be added to our email update list: 

Rhjohnson44@gmail.com

Roatan, see you soon!

Daniela and Susana in Los Fuertes

Soccer in Los Fuertes

Hitching a ride in Coxen Hole

First time fishing with Pablo, Jorvick and Menfi.  They caught that baracuda with a coke bottle and fishing line.

Menfi

Family in Los Fuertes before we built them a new home with Dwellings.

A day at the beach

Sindy

Guys in French Harbour after mentoring

French Harbour Mentoring

Sandy Bay Children's Home

Baby Kendall, Our Godson

Stephen, Harry, Kendall, and Pablo in French Harbour

Kendall and Carolina Brooks

Girls in French Harbour

Me and Sindy

Jorvick

Me, Daniela and Susana

Me and Menfi

Honduran Baby Gate