Greetings everyone!

First of all, I wanted to let you all know that Jarrett has arrived safe and sound here in Honduras. Last week Monday (A week prior to yesterday) John and I drove to San Pedro Sula to pick Jarrett up. We then spent a couple of days hanging out and getting Jarrett acclaimated to the city of Santa Rosa!

Then on Wednesday I went off with Ivan for another few days in Delisius! He took me up to his Milpa (cornfield) which is on one of the highest slopes on one of the mouintains in the village...the view was absolutely breath taking! We could see all the way to Zapote, as well as to the town of Dulce Nombre, and Ivan said that where there are less low hanging clouds, one can see all the way back to Santa Rosa (and that is about an hour or more by car!) Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me to capture the beautiful view, but it was amazing!

We also played soccer on the most awesomest soccer field I have ever seen...it was literally on a mountain top, and it was beutiful as there were other mountains all around! Again, I did not have my camera as I had lent it to Jarrett to take with him to Plan Grande (more on Jarrett in a moment) but it was amazing! The only down side is everytime the ball went out of bounds it rolled a long ways down before it stopped so someone always had to run a long ways to get it! but it was still awesome!

Friday was the celebration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, so they had a special celebration with a rosary, singing, and a full Liturgy of the Word, followed by more singing!

Saturday John and Jarrett met me in Delisus as there was a Sector meeting (as I may have mentioned the Parish is divided up into I think 11 or 13 Sectors, and 3 Zones) and afterwards Jarrett and John and I traveled to one of the most furthest out aldeas Piedras Coloradas (which means ¨Colored Rocks¨). One exciting thing there is John showed us a plant whose name I don´t remember in spanish but in English it means ¨Sleepyhead¨ which basically instantly folds its leaves together as soon as you touch it...we took a video which I hope to post soon (I would have posted pictures today, but my camera is with Jarrett in Plan Grande...which reminds me if you would like to see some pictures NOW there are a lot of good pictures on John´s blog I recommend you check out at http://hermanojuancito.blogspot.com )

Anyways at Piedras Coloradas John had a meeting with the community about the development of the community and it was really neat to see what they have done and their visions and goals, and a lot of John´s role was empowering them to work together and to figure out ways they can accomplish these goals, as well as helping them to prioritize their tasks, as to which ones they should accomplish first. They have developed a plan of what they want their community to be in 5 years, and it was quite exciting to see all they hope to accomplish them, and seeing them make concrete and step by step plans on how they are going to accomplish these things!

That is a lot of what the ministry here is all about and that John emphasizes to Jarrett and I so much, that this ministry, and any ministry in general, is about working WITH the people, not just doing stuff for them, and empowering them to realized they have worth and can accomplish things. It is also about affirming in their gifts and talents, on what they can do, and commending them on what they already have done. I have also been reading a really good book that John recommended to me, called ¨When Helping Hurts¨by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, which is a fantastic book about ministry and about helping the poor, as it emphasizes the development of relationship and focusing on people´s strengths and that it is not about ¨us helping them¨ or us being the heroes to fly in and save the day, but it is really about us walking with them, helping them realize their own worth and empowering them to help themselves, and we work with them, working with them to help them realize their strengths and resources and using what they have to build them up or to build up the community. Anyways, I have been learning so much in that regard, and that is just a taste of all I have been learning...but I would STRONGLY recommend that book (When Helping Hurts) to anyone involved in working with the poor in anyway or anyone who plans on doing any type of missionary work or service in the future. It brings up a lot of good points of things we should consider before we swoop in to do ¨service¨as sometimes our ¨service¨can result in making people feel inferior rather than empowering them and helping them realize their own worth as a child of God.

Anyways, back to things I´ve been doing...after Piedras Coloradas, John dropped me off in Zapote where I stayed for the Sunday Liturgy of the Word. I love Zapote...It has definitely become a little bit of a home away from home for me here in Honduras as the people there are so beautiful and I have built good friendships there, and the light of Christ is definitely burning brightly there! There is a sacredness about their Church as well, now that the Eucharist is there, that every time you enter the people are in such a deep sense of prayer, and so attuned to His Sacred Presence. And there is so much love in the people there!

Anyways, Monday I returned to Santa Rosa, where I have been taking a few days break from visiting villages and doing a lot of reading (of the book i mentioned above) and I have a stack of books I hope to read this summer that John recommended to me.

Jarrett has been and still currently is in the aldea of Plan Grande. One neat thing about that is there is a Music Group there that is well known throughout the aldeas of the parish called the Gran Familia, and, as Jarrett plays guitar, he will probably get a chance to ¨jam¨ with them (as much as you can ¨jam¨ to Ranchero music haha). Anyways, he will update you on all that when he returns! Thursday, we are going out to pick up Jarrett, and then going for a meeting in another aldea.

Next week Jarrett and I will be going to the town of Gracias, which is about an hour away from Santa Rosa, to stay with and observe a priest there, to get a little taste of how a priest does ministry in a different parish other than Dulce Nombre. Also, there are a couple of Dubuque Franciscan Sisters there who we will meet as well!

Anyways, I am off to mass at the Cathedral which starts soon, so I have to get going...but keep praying for Jarrett and I and know you are in our prayers as well. Miss and Love you All!

God bless and keep Living in HIS LOVE and spreading His Light, LOVE, and JOY to all the world!

Your brother in Christ,

Kevin