"For
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes
in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to
save the world through him. John
3:16-17 (NIV)
The above scripture is a well known
memorized and quoted scripture especially suited for this season of faith. As Christians all over the world begin to
focus on this week of “Holy Love;” may we take time to ponder, examine and
remember how we each individually have been loved by God our Father, through
this gift of His Son, Jesus.
This week moves thru a roller
coaster of emotions from the triumphant entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm
Sunday to the Last Supper; bread as His body and wine as His blood…the washing
of the disciples feet; an action of servant hood. Then moving to the quietness of the Garden
with the pain and agony of surrendering to being obedient to the Father’s love
in spite of the betrayal of one of his disciples… the mocking and scourging of
the soldiers…the shouts of the crowd, “Crucify Him!!! Crucify Him!! The pain of the crucifixion… “My God, my God,
why have you forsaken me?” The death of
Jesus on the cross…the darkness of the day to be followed by the stillness of
three days of hopelessness and despair…and then; the empty tomb with the angel
telling the women, “He is not here, He has risen!”
We Christians are Easter people; a
people of Hope and Love. We believe in a
resurrected life that operates out of love.
A love that commands us to love our enemies and to pray for those who
mistreat or persecute us…..a big difference in comparison to other world
religions. In Romans 10:14-15, Paul
tells us… “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And
how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they
hear without someone preaching to them?
And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How
beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
(NIV)
Dearest friends and family, we are
so grateful to all of you for your support of our ministry through your prayers,
finances, and the sacrificing release of letting us go and serve where we
believe the Lord calls. Our prayer for
each of you as you experience this Holy Week is that you will meditate and pray
on the scriptures above so that this Holy Week will be a blessed time for you
and the outcome will be a renewed commitment to go forth into the world right
where you are and make a difference – a loving difference!
Since our last newsletter in
December, our life has been quite busy.
Following is a quick catch up:
On December 13, 2013…Noa Tavita
Joseph Fua (our 9th grandchild) was born to Stacey and Simon. Tina left on the 8th of January to
help Stacey with their three children
and their move to Melbourne, Australia from Sydney. Stacey and Simon are serving on the staff at
the Youth With A Mission (YWAM) base in Melbourne until they go to lead the YWAM
base in Jeffrys Bay, South Africa.
On the 10th of January,
Joe returned to Honduras to begin the second half of the school year at St.
Mary’s. Tina returned to the states at
the end of January and after working through the “jet lag,” returned to Honduras
on the 4th of February.
Our daily life in Tegucigalpa is
very full and constant between school and church. Beginning in November of last year, Tina
hosted a DVD Bible Study by Beth Moore on “Esther” with some of the young adult
ladies from St. Mary’s Church. Upon
returning in February, the group began another Beth Moore DVD study on “The
Fruit of the Spirit.” These young ladies
come from various places (university studies, nursing school, school teacher,
and banking career) all very committed to this weekly time. It is not easy to get to our apartment from
all the different areas they come from because of traffic; but each week the
Lord arranges their schedules and transportation and we are
blessed!
In Nov-Dec, we did a teaching series
on the “Holy Spirit” and will soon begin a teaching series on “Prayer” with the
people from St. Mary’s congregation.
This past Lent we enjoyed the Via
de Crucis (Way of the Cross) each Friday evening at St.
Mary’s.
The Diocese of Honduras is working
on a Christian Education program for all the bilingual schools in the Diocese
and we have been blessed to be a part of this task force. This will be such a blessing to have this
curriculum in the schools.
We have also been privileged to meet
several teams who have come from the States and Canada to work in or around
Tegucigalpa. Some of the teams use our
students as translators. These students
are chosen because of their good grades and their translating skills. Many of them miss from 7 to 14 days of school
to translate and have to make up the work.
We are so very proud of these students.
It is always a blessing to see how God is working.
Our new block system schedule at the
school this year has been such a success for the students and teachers. The extra added time at the end of each
school day for clubs and other activities has greatly enriched the student
life. In fact, one of the highlights of
our school year has been the Talent Show.
The St. Mary’s Talent Show involves all students and teachers, it is not
just individual talent, but collective talent!
This year the Talent Show was at the Manuel Bonilla Theatre in downtown
Tegucigalpa. This theatre was built as a
replica of a theatre in Vienna with the box seats and gorgeous
architecture. Because of the location in
the city, it is not used very much so we were blessed to be able to have a real
stage for this event! We cannot begin to
tell you how wonderful an experience this was for all. You can view some of the evening on St.
Mary’s
Face Book page. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Saint-Marys-Episcopal-School/175736555828511?v=wall One of the highlights for us was the
6th grade hand clap. And the
surprise of the evening at the end was a returning alumna who sang like
Pavorotti….for real!!
St. Mary’s hosted a girl’s
volleyball tournament with 6 other bilingual schools in the area and we (St.
Mary’s) came in second!
As of this writing, we are home for
the Easter holidays until May 6. When we
return to Tegucigalpa, we will be closing out our second year at St. Mary’s
School. Time certainly has flown by
quickly! We certainly could not do this
work without your support, so again our hearts are filled with gratitude for you
who enable us “to go and make disciples.”
Also, as you read through our prayer list, please partner with us in prayer for “Sowing
Seeds for the extension of the Kingdom of God.”
Be
Blessed to be a Blessing,
Fr.
Joe & Tina
Sowing
Seeds for the extension of the Kingdom of God
List of
needs:
1. Scholarship Fund for St.
Mary’s Staff, Teachers, Clergy, and families with special
needs.
2. New roof for St. Mary’s
School
3. Lower and Upper school needs
painting along with the furniture in the preschool and library.
4. Covering for an eating
area
Prayer
Needs:
1. We need at least 200
students for the 2014-15 school year.
2. For the school to get out of
debt!
3. For the needed repairs on
campus to be accomplished.
4. For the Lord to raise up
individuals and teams to come and walk with us at St.
Mary’s.
5. For every member of our St.
Mary’s family to grow daily in their walk with the
Lord.
Personal
Prayer:
1. Good health for
us
2. For Abney’s health and
training at AMDA…American Musical and Dramatic
Academy
3. For all our daughters and
their families here in the States and
Australia
The Rev'd Canon
D. Joseph & Tina Rhodes
2280 Clematis Trail
Sumter, SC 29150 www.win-gs.org
USA 803-469-0720 www.smestegus.com
HN 011-504-977-15431 www.sams-usa.org
2280 Clematis Trail
Sumter, SC 29150 www.win-gs.org
USA 803-469-0720 www.smestegus.com
HN 011-504-977-15431 www.sams-usa.org
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