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