Honduras

Hey all,

Annie and I are safely here at VIDA Internacional. Honduras is awesome! 

The trip from Matteson to VIDA was about 42 hours. From Oslo to Miami, things when as expected. The trip from Miami to VIDA, got interesting. The descent into the Tegucigalpa airport was awesome. They had to fly right up into the curve of the mountainside to make a clean approach to land. Tegucigalpa was NOTHING like Havana. New cars, Burger King, Wendy's, Mc'D's, etc. Took us about 4/5 hours to get out of the city, because we got lunch, and had to meet someone to pick up a generator(remember, we are on Hispanic time here. "I'll meet you in 30 minutes" means 3 hours). We drove to VIDA in a small Toyota pickup, most of us in the bed with our bigger suitcases. The fabric suitcases and bags were inside in case it rained, which it did. Well, it poured. And sprinkled. And poured. For most of the 2 hour ride to Suyatal. Someone at a gas station gave us a tarp, which we crawled under and used to protect us from the rain. The whole way, the wind kept it blown up like a parachute. What fun. 

We arrived around 8 pm, and got to bed a few minutes after that. Ever since I haven't gone to bed past 8:30 pm. I also get up around 4:30 in the morning. 

There is a mountain close by, which is the only source of decent internet, if you have a 3G phone, or Thumb-drive Data Device(also 3G). Otherwise it works on EDGE network, which is next to dialup speeds. Its about a 30 minute hike to the point where the internet is on the mountain. Everything else is pretty much dead-zones. 

There is no electricity on campus, unless you have a personal solar station. The other option is to go to the office in Suyatal and power up there. No, there isn't internet in Suyatal.

Tegucigalpa is the largest city in Honduras, about 2 million residents. Telanga is the second largest in our province, and it has 30,000 people. Telanga is 30 minutes away. 

Its my job here as Public Relations designer, to create project proposals, design publicity paper stock (Rackcards, Postcards, Info brochures, logos for different projects) take photos, and update the website. That is, until the current PR director and assistant leave in December. Then, its my responsibility to fill in many of their chores until they find a replacement. I will be taking over the Newsletter, web design, and all the other unspoken tasks of this department. Oh yeah, and to some degree, I'm managing the two mission trips along side the director of VIDA. 

By the way, I'm trying to raise some funds for me to go to GYC and meet some people about my future after Matteson, as well and get a spiritual recharge. I will not be going home for Christmas, so I am hoping that you might be interested in helping towards my trip to GYC! You can click here to help out, and see what progress has been made so far! Please do what you can!

I will write more later, I gotta run and see what I can scrounge up for supper.  Hopefully I can write an update for my time at Matteson these past 3 months! 

God Bless! - Seth 

A Soldier, for God and for Country

Seth Greve - April 5, 2013.

Sitting down and listening to my grandfather share bits of elderly wisdom, is one of my favorite pastimes. Born in 1919, he lived through World War 1, survived The Great Depression, and served in World War 2. He was in the U.S. 1st Air Force, 556th Air Warning Battalion, stationed in Iceland, waiting for the signal to move to the German front lines. During the seven months he spent there, he found the Sabbath truth and became a Seventh-Day Adventist. At the same time, unbeknownst to him, his expecting wife visited a Seventh-Day Adventist church and decided that was where she would attend.

They had been writing to each other, both telling the other their new-found faith, but because of the location of my Grandfather's battalion, the mail did not go through during the winter months. So neither of them knew of each other's discoveries.

So my grandfather began to think about where his life was going. He thought about the choices he would make in the military, and out, as a Seventh-Day Adventist Christian. One choice he had to make was whether or not to carry a weapon, while in action. He went to his company commander, and the disappointing conversation left him even more undecided. When his company received the command to move into Germany, in 1945, he still didn't know what to do. Fortunately, that choice became a mute point, as the company received a second order, to turn and go back to the US. When he returned, after a few miscommunications, he was discharged.

His life from that point on was certainly not easy, but through God's grace, his 5 daughters grew up with an amazing father who loved God, and his family. The youngest of his daughters was the one that chose me as her son (I'm adopted).

Grandpa always has wonderful bits of wisdom for his family, reflecting on his strong relationship with his Savior, Friend, and God. This has made an impression on my mind, and gives me a standard to strive for as I grow in my own relationship with Jesus.

This evening during family worship, (April 5, 2013) he spoke of how he woke one early morning, feeling depressed, and God reminded him through a still, small voice, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." - Hebrews 13:5

Just little things like that, show me what kind of faith one has when they give their life to God.

One Facebook post I recently saw was a picture of a Bible that was marked up, and falling apart. The caption below it said, "A Bible thats falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn't." That is so true. If your relationship is so with God that your Bible needs to be replaced to make it legible, its likely you know God well.