STAR Team 2010, Update #4

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Dear friends,

Try to picture 16 of our team members crammed into a Toyota van. Fortunately, we only had to go a couple of miles to the Tabernaculo Baptist Church where I had been visiting the past two days. We had a very special service last night. The teenage girls from our team sang two songs. I preached on Proverbs. I knew I had been assigned to a different church for today so I said my goodbyes to the church. Pastor Raphael was sure I was coming back today so he was a little confused. God gave us an opportunity to share together this morning before we headed off to a different church. I thanked him for his wonderful hospitality and the leadership he shows in their growing church. I gave him a copy of John Mac Arthur’s book on preaching in Spanish and I gave a Bible dictionary to my translator, Alejandro. I hated to say goodbye to them. They have grown very special to me. I think Pastor Raphael must have hugged me 10 times this morning. The hotel staff must have wondered what kind of strange people these Christians are for two 50+ year old men to be hugging and crying.

I was able to visit downtown San Pedro Sula this morning and walk through the market. After lunch, I went visiting with Pastor Ariel of the Louisiana Baptist Church. He is the Honduran coordinator for the STAR Team this year and has done a tremendous job working with the churches, translators, and North American team members. We were able to make three visits. There were no decisions for salvation but two families promised to be get their life right with the Lord and be in church tonight for the first time in months. These are victories that will bring great encouragement to the churches and pastors we are working with.

Tonight, I will be speaking at the Louisiana Baptist Church (Iglesia Bautista de Louisiana). It will be my last opportunity for ministry before heading back home in the morning. I will leave the hotel at 4:45 am and land in Tampa at 4:45 pm. The clock will then start ticking with about 60 hours before I leave for Togo.

I don’t really know the numbers on STAR Team 2010. The count is not finished even if my part is almost over. I already know that 29 dedicated Christians have been motivated and changed for evangelism both cross-culturally and at home. 17 churches in Honduras have been built up and encouraged in the work of church planting that they are doing. These are all churches with a Honduran pastor. None of them have an American missionary or mission funding. I know that several hundred have already made professions of faith. Many more have heard the gospel and are under conviction from the Holy Spirit. Many have made decisions to get their life right with the Lord. We have sowed seeds, we have watered, we have prayed, and we are faithfully expecting God to give a great increase. Only eternity will tell what has been accomplished because ordinary people put their faith in an extraordinary God to the test. Once again, He has demonstrated His power and His grace in a miraculous way.

I wish everyone could experience a STAR team week. I hope these reports give you a sense of what it is like. Thanks for praying and encouraging. Maybe next time, you can go and see for yourself.

Your partner in the harvest,

Evan Drake

STAR Team 2010, Update #3

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Dear friends,

We’re halfway through the week. It seems like we just got going. We have one more full day of house to house visitation tomorrow. Friday is a day off for the team. Part of the team plans to drive to Puerto Cortez, the site of last year’s STAR Team. They will be meeting some of the pastors and church people from last year. You’d be surprised how quickly you can become attached to the pastors and translators when you work together all day. I will be leaving at 7 am on Friday morning to go back home and get ready for the trip to Africa.

I was part of a wonderful service last night at the El Tabernaculo Baptist Church. I had visited all day with Pastor Raphael and truly enjoyed worshiping with his people. They are also hosting a Vacation Bible School in the afternoon so there is a lot happening in their little neighborhood. He sent a car to pick me up for church last night so I didn’t have to ride on the motorcycle again. The skies were completely black so I just knew I was going to get on the motorcycle right about the time the storm hit. Roberto, a sixteen year old young man, translated the message for me. He did very well for his first time translating a message. Many of our people were out from 9 am until after 9 pm without any kind of break. My roommate, Harold Reed, was in a remote church, where the lights went out right before the service. They held the service by the light of two small candles and a flashlight. 9 people were still saved during the meeting. 10 others had made a decision for Christ during the day. Harold, looking like he had wandered out of a war zone, found me talking to some others when he got back to the hotel, asked for the key, and said, “I’m going right to bed!” We’re walking hot dusty roads, pouring our hearts out to people. It can get pretty tiring. Many have commented on how many people are listening to the gospel presentation and respond by saying, “I’m not prepared to make a decision right now.” They are afraid of what others will say, of changing from one church to another, of having to forsake some sin in their lives. It is truly a spiritual battle every day.

I went back to Pastor Raphael’s church today. We presented the gospel this morning in 4 different homes. In every case, the answer was the same – “not now, maybe later.” On our third visit, we could smell a wood fire burning in the courtyard of the neighboring house. At the close of the visit, Pastor Raphael walked over, pulled out some bills and paid the lady some money. She was cooking something in a large pot filled with bubbling oil. It smelled pretty good. I asked Alejandro, my translator, what she was cooking. He said he wasn’t sure what to call it in English. The closest we could get was that she was cooking pork skins. Now, before you think about those things they sell in the gas station called pork rinds, this really was a big hunk of pork skin with a little meaty fat (or fatty meat – mostly just fatty fat) on it. I saw my lunch plans pass before my eyes. I doubt if this is going to break through onto the menu at Wendy’s, but you never know. We went on our fourth visit and proceeded to one of the church member’s homes for lunch. She brought out a lovely meal of Honduran roasted chicken, rice, beans, fried bananas, pickled mixed vegetables, and tortillas. She also made a homemade fruit juice that was delicious. As we were settling in, a knock came at the door. The pork skins had finished their mandatory frying time (like close to an hour) and were being delivered fresh. I was being treated to one of Pastor Raphael’s favorite dishes. Here’s how it works. You take a tortilla and break off a fist size hunk of pork skin. You stick it in the tortilla (don’t ask me why the tortilla helps but it does) and chomp down. It’s somewhere between chewy and crunchy but mostly between fatty and greasy. I grunted with pleasure a few times just to let Pastor Raphael know that I was a true Honduran (I think he had doubts about my manhood after the look on my face while I was sitting on his motorcycle). Fortunately, lunch is followed by siesta, so I leaned my head back on the couch. The combination of grease and starch gave me a very pleasing need to doze off.

Following the pork skin orgy and the siesta, we walked a couple of blocks over to visit a woman named Maria. I gave my testimony and presented the gospel to her and three of her daughters by using the wordless book. I concluded the presentation the way I had been doing all morning with the question, “Wouldn’t you like to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior right now so you can know that you are going to heaven?” Unlike the 6 people this morning, Maria said, “Yes!” So she prayed and received Christ right there in her living room in front of her three girls. Pray for her. She says her husband is an agnostic and won’t be happy to know that she has received Christ.

After a couple more visits, I am back at the hotel getting ready for tonight’s meeting. I will be preaching again at El Tabernaculo Baptist Church. Pray for God to move among the people. It is wonderful to sense their joy in the Lord and their love for each other.

I saw one of the Pastors from two years ago this morning. He is from the Remanente Baptist Church. I spent two days visiting there on my last STAR team trip. Pastor Rene, the lead pastor has not been able to come out this year. He received a phone call on Monday morning saying that he was being watched and would be killed if he didn’t pay 100,000 limperas ($5000) to the criminals who called. He is being very cautious right now. They still had the service last night but locked the doors to the church as soon as everyone was inside. This is Honduras. It is friendly on the outside, but there is danger lurking under the surface. We have heard of a number of people in the churches and their families who have been murdered for a few dollars. Pray for these churches and their dedicated pastors.

I really appreciate your faithfulness in praying for me. Some have given to help with the cost of the trips I am taking this year for Bible Basics Ministry. Everything has not been covered yet, but it all helps. I really appreciate the sense of team that is there. I wish you all could experience the joy of seeing Maria come into the family of God. It is because of you that I am able to be here. We have seen well over 200 people come to Christ already during STAR Team 2010. Many more seeds have been planted and others have been watered. God is reaping a harvest for eternity. Glory to God!

Your partner in the harvest,

Evan Drake

STAR Team 2010, Update #2

July 13, 2010

Dear prayer partners,

There are not very many breaks in the schedule here at Camp STAR Team Honduras. I took off with Pastor Martinez last night for the mission church that he is pastoring. He is a student at the Master’s Seminary branch school here in Honduras. We crossed San Pedro Sula at the tail end of rush hour so traffic was pretty heavy. His little Hyundai had a problem with the front seat so I sat with my knees crunched up to the dash board. A large contingent of STAR Team members followed us since they didn’t all have meetings to go to last night. There were about 75 people at the Tabernacle Baptist Church. They had a very interesting song service. Then I got up to preach. Raoul, a fifteen year old student, translated for me. We both had microphones, but neither one seemed to work, at least not at the same time. I don’t really have a problem because, as my kids would attest to, I can yell if I have to. The Lord really seemed to give me freedom to preach a message on the Pharisee and the tax collector. We got back to our hotel after 9 pm and went to the hotel restaurant for supper. I don’t know if it came from a full day of ministry or the 2 hour time zone difference, but we all crashed without much fuss when we had finished eating.

If our first full day in Honduras (yesterday) was spent taking care of logistics and getting acclimated to our surroundings, day 2 was all business. We had our team meeting at 8 am. Several gave reports of yesterday’s victories. One member of our group who speaks on drug addiction in the public schools had 48 decisions for Christ in 4 schools yesterday. Another couple led 10 members of one family to the Lord in their house last night. The afternoon VBS had fewer children than expected, but 3 children asked Jesus to be their Savior. Many people heard the gospel and several other decisions were made for Christ. Our people are really excited to be here. By 9 am, everyone was assigned to a church or ministry and we were all on our way to some part of San Pedro Sula, a bustling city of about 1 million people. I was picked up by Pastor Raphael. He only owns a motorcycle (a 125 cc variety). My translator, Alejandro, told me that Pastor Raphael was willing to call a taxi if I didn’t want to climb on the back of the motorcycle. I was really worried that he meant that both of us were going to get on the back, but he said he would take me to the community and then come back and get Alejandro. Raphael weighs over 200 lbs and so do I. I am sure that the already tired shock absorbers started groaning before I even got on. There were at least 20 speed bumps on the road and just as many potholes. I was trying to hold my book bag on my shoulder and grip the pastor with the other hand. If he had zigged at the wrong moment, I would have slid right off the back without any trouble at all. We made it to the community called “Philippe Zelaya” where the church is located. Pastor Raphael had arranged 3 visits for the morning and 3 for the afternoon. We talked to 4 unsaved people in the first 4 visits. Each one clearly understood the gospel and admitted their need to be saved. In each case, the person, resisted the call to trust Christ by stating that they needed more time. Pray for Pedro, a fifty year old man who was under deep conviction and for Marissa who said she wasn’t ready to have her life changed. We had 4 decisions from people who were saved but had not been walking with the Lord. Carlos, Angel, Julian and Argentina all prayed to rededicate their lives to the Lord.

At the close of our visits we went by the church, Tabernacle Baptist Church (not the same one as last night), and saw the VBS club in full swing. What a blessing to see our team working so smoothly with the translators God has sent. The kids were loving it. Many lives are being changed this week.

In just about 2 hours, I will be heading back to Tabernacle Baptist Church for the evening service. I will be preaching again, but will have a different translator. If you can picture me on the motorcycle again, pray for traveling safety and for power in preaching. We desire more than anything to see people come to know Christ and get serious about their walk with the Lord. Thank you for praying. The devil trembles when God’s people pray.

Dios ti bendiga. (God bless you – hope the spelling is close).

Evan Drake

STAR Team 2010, Update #1

Buenos Dias from Honduras,

BBI STAR team 2010 has officially begun here in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. All 29 team members arrived on Sunday and have held two orientation sessions since getting here. The group met last night with the pastors of the 17 local churches who are sponsoring the campaign this year. The team met this morning to go over strategy, logistics, and evangelistic methods. The first team members are out doing house to house visitation this afternoon. The first VBS program also kicked off today and a team is giving testimony in a local public high school. There is a lot of excitement in the air. This is the biggest STAR team group that BBI has ever put together. It is a great mix of teenagers and “mature” people, men and women, English and Spanish speakers, evangelists, and lay people. We will gradually add in our translators from the local bi-lingual school and other sources. By the time you get the STAR team members, translators, and church leaders all together, we have over 70 people heading out to do evangelism for the week. Just imagine what God can do through 70 people who have devoted their week to reaching lost souls in Central Honduras?

I am excited to be here. In spite of a lengthy layover in Miami (where we watched the second half of the World Cup final on a small TV in a bookshop with about 100 other people), we arrived last night on an uneventful flight. It was fun to get to know some of our team members during the trip since we actually came in three different waves that really didn’t criss-cross very much during the travel times. The STAR team method is pretty straight-forward. A North-American is teamed up with a local pastor and a translator for the day. The three person team goes into the local church community on pre-arranged visits with people who are in need of the gospel or encouragement in their faith. We visit from 9 am until about 4 pm. After getting freshened up, we head back out to the church for an evening service with the members of the church and any one they invite. A STAR team member gives their testimony and another one preaches. Each church hosts a nightly meeting. On Saturday, a large rally will be held for the all of the participating churches combined. There should be between 500 and 1000 people at the rally. The Hondurans are very open to the gospel. Generally, we have seen hundreds saved in each one of these special weeks in past years.

Our VBS team of around 10 people will be holding two separate clubs, each with potentially about 100 kids. As you can imagine, it takes a lot of planning to pull this off. We brought down several suitcases with VBS supplies in them. I was nervous going through the airport with 48 lbs. of Crayola Crayons wrapped in plain brown wrappers. They quizzed me in the San Pedro Sula airport but didn’t really hassle me about it. I hope to fill the suitcase back up with brown paper wrappers of Honduran coffee for the trip home.

I will be cutting my time short in Honduras. The team is scheduled to be here until Sunday afternoon. I am leaving on Friday so I can get back and get ready to leave for Togo on Monday morning. It could still be a very hectic weekend.

Thanks for your prayers. I am only able to get Internet access through an internet café on our hotel site. I will try to keep you updated as the week goes along. So far the weather has been good. We are certain that Satan is not happy that this week is taking place. Pray for God’s power to be on us and that God would prepare many hearts to receive the truth of the gospel. Thanks,

Evan Drake

Bible Basics International