Sunday was a great day of ministry.  Elizabeth, Emily and I went to three churches, two in Coxen Hole and one in French Harbour.  I led morning worship and preached at Ebenezer Methodist Church which started at 10:30 a.m.  There was a crowd of about 65 people and we had a great time in the Lord.  I shared a new order of service from the Methodist Worship Book, this always cause people to feel a little uncomfortable.  If you change things up they often don’t like it, but I remember a proverb of an professor at my seminary in Atlanta, “Never do anything, always!”  A copy of the order of service can be read here.  The subject matter of the sermon was from Ephesians 5:15-16 (NRSV) Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil.  The message was well received with us reminded that we are to be diligent about doing God’s work.

Next the girls and I went for lunch at Pizza Inn and had a great time talking and laughing.

We then went to Wesley Methodist Church in Coxen Hole.  We were among the first to arrive at the church and we waited for the Harvest Service to began.  Harvest is a celebration in August and September where all the churches celebrate how the Lord has blessed us in the past year.  For my readers from the U.S. it would equate to Thanksgiving services in the U.S. with the addition of a church fund raising aspect.  As the crowd gathered in the church we were welcomed by the smell of sugar cane that was tied into arches and ran the aisle of the church.  The front of the church had baskets and piles of fruit; avocado, mangos, and pineapples.  The decorations were meant to remind us of the Lord’s blessings.  The service consisted of the normal elements. hymns, I read the scriptures, and the Circuit Superintendent, Rev Juan Simpson, preached a sermon.   Following the sermon the traditional march began.  The tradition does vary a bit from church to church, but it consists of a slow shuffle by a group in the church that comes to the front of the church, sings a song and then have donations to the church, often in envelopes pinned to their clothes, collected and counted.  The conclusion of the service, which can take several hours, will be with the totaling of all the march offerings and then a hymn and benediction.  The crowd at this event was over 300.

The service which started at 2:30 ended at 6:00.  We ran to the car and headed for French Harbour because I was scheduled to start preaching there at 7:00.  We made a quick stop at our brand new fast food outlet on the island, Wendy’s.  Wendy’s is not cheap food on Roatan, hamburgers start at $5.00.  Then we were off To Fellowship Methodist, where we were met by the loving congregation of this French Harbour church.  Fellowship will be having their Harvest Program on Tuesday, August 18, so I preached a sermon discussing, how “God made us all, and God is Good.”  Which is a line from a favorite Harvest hymn sung during this time of the year.  The service ended at 8:15, it was a ten hour day of ministry, but the girls and I enjoyed it.  Yes God is Good.

This is a Sermon on Hebrews 11 that I preached at a Camp Meeting Service a few weeks ago.

Yesterday. I recorded my sermon at the Bethany Methodist Church, Jonesville, Roatan, Honduras.  You can click on the link below to hear the sermon.

March 12th the Ambassador from the U,S. came to Roatan to meet with U.S. citizens living here.  I gave a short Voicemail report, press play below.

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

When I was in the U.S. this pass December recovering from my broken wrists I was asked by several people “why are you going back?”.   I have thought about this a lot, and the answer is simply because I am called to be in Honduras.  A calling is a funny thing, it is something that catches you and holds you.  It is something you cannot easily run away from, see Jonah for consequences from running away. 

The truth is a robbery could have happened to me on the streets of Tampa, or Atlanta, or Jacksonville as easily as it did on the streets of La Ceiba, Honduras.  Even as I experienced the terror of the robbery I felt God’s presence, he saved my life, the pistol did not fire.  The shopkeeper and the security guard rescued me as God’s angles guarded me.  God is Good!

This afternoon I am sitting on my porch listening to the sounds of the village I live in.  Down by the stream women are washing clothes and hanging them on a line that is stretched between two trees.  Just beyond the stream the boys are playing soccer, yelling and arguing if the ball is in or out in Creole and Spanish.  Two puppies from my dog, Gabby, are sleeping beneath my table and I am preparing my sermon for Sunday.

Perhaps someday God will call me elsewhere but for now there is a sermon to write.

Rev. Robert Wood
Gibson Bite, Roatan, Honduras

On February 13th – 14th I will be joining Tony Dungy, former Head Coach of the Indianapolis Colts and James Brown of The NFl Today on CBS at the Impact For Living, A Conference For Men.  The goal of the conference is to encourage men to live a life of world changing impact.

The conference is being held in Tampa, FL and  the cost is only $45.  I want to encourage all the men that support my ministry to attend.  I will be sharing about my life and our ministries with those that attend the conference.

If you are a woman and are receiving this email, encourage the man in your life to attend as a Valentine gift to you, I am sure it will change his life.

To learn more and to sign up for the event go to www.impactforliving.org .

Rev. Robert Wood
Gibson Bite, Roaton,Honduras

Yes, I have had an adventure over the last seven weeks, I was injured running from robbers on the streets of La Ceiba, Honduras the day after Thanksgiving. I was walking on the street early in the morning looking for breakfast when two guys on a motorcycle grabbed me and put a pistol to my chest. I jerked away and ran towards a small store yelling "Bandits, Bandits!" in Spanish of course. as I ran I fell on my wrists breaking both of them. A man that worked at the store dragged me in the store, hid me behind the counter, locked the door and turned off the lights. After the bad guys left he took me to the hospital.

I had surgery that night by a Cuban doctor who did the best he could the save my hands, his goal was to stabilize them so they blood would keep going through them. Of course the operating room was nothing like you would see in the U.S., open windows and bugs flying around. I stayed in the hospital in Honduras for five days and then my father came and took me to the U.S.
In the U.S. I went to Gainesville to the Shands Hand Center and was seen by a Dr. Chesney. he is considered one of the top in the field. I asked him to tell me how many places was the wrist broken, he said that the left was broken in four places and that he could not count the number of places the right one was broken, it was shattered and fragmented. The surgery done in Honduras on the left hand had been successful except that one of the screws used was too long and is going through the bone and into the joint. He also said that surgery was mandatory on the right hand if I was going to be able to use it in the future. Four days later I had surgery.
Since the surgery I had a lot of painful time of therapy and recovery. I have had to learn to move my fingers again, and I am trying to bend my wrists. Things are not going as well or as quickly as I would like. My parents took great care of me during this ordeal, and I thank God I have godly, loving parents. My Mother was caring for me as she was undergoing Chemotherapy herself.

On January 15th I returned to Honduras for a few weeks of being with my people, my churches have not had a service since I was injured and they were very concerned and need to see me. My cousin, Dawn, God Bless her, accompanied me on the trip and has helped me continue my therapy.

I will be returning to the U.S. on February 11th, I have been invited to speak at leadership conference that Tony Dungy is doing in Tampa and following that I will be having further surgery on my hands.
Please keep me in your prayers!
Bob

The morning of Friday November 28th, I was walking on a street in La Ceiba, Honduras looking for some breakfast. I had gone to La Ceiba for a medical check-up the day before and was to return to the doctor that afternoon for the results of those standard blood test people over 45 have to get. As I walked a few yards from my hotel two men on a motorcycle grabbed me by the shirt, and one put a pistol to my chest and said "Money" I jerked away quickly and ran like a scared rabbit. I ran for a small store yelling "Bandits" in Spanish and as I was approaching the door I tripped and fell breaking both wrists. I was pulled into the store by the shopkeeper and hid behind the counter till the bandits left. I was taken by taxi by the shopkeeper to a local hospital where that night I had surgery.
I spent 5 days in the hospital.  My father came to La Ceiba and helped me to fly to the U.S. for further treatment.

I saw a hand specialist at the University of Florida who said the doctors in Honduras did the best they could but that I would need more surgery to use my hand. I will be having another operation this coming Thursday, Dec 11, to try to put together my shattered right wrist.

I am currently staying at my parents outside of Ocala, Florida.

Thank you for all of your prayers and concerns!
Bob

Bay Islands Voice - News on Roatan, Utila & Guanaja 

The article of our local magazine, written by U.S. citizens, tells of the recent Electric Company protest.  I wrote a letter to the reporter that you can read below.

Mr. Tomczyk,

I read your article “Hurricane Mob” about the RECO protest of October 2008 and feel that a clarification and some education of Honduras culture is needed for foreign visitors and residents of the island.  As a U.S. citizen of island decent I think I understand why foreigners have difficulty understanding how protests work in Honduras.  In the U.S. you write a letter, call customer support or simply move your business elsewhere, but we have our own traditions here.  There is a tradition of the working classes protesting by “taking the streets”, it is their way of expressing their anger and frustration at perceived government and corporate injustice.  Traditionally, protestors setup barricades that in your article you called “a checkpoint”.  These are not checkpoints where you show your papers and pass through, they are protest lines that you are not to cross.  Violating the protest lines, driving through them or limiting them is cultural equivalent to restricting the people from the ability of free expression.  Equally in these situations it is customary for the security forces to step back and to allow the expression of anger and frustration.   Police forces normally allow, as it were, for the steam to be released on the situation  and the pressure to return to normal.

The incidents of violence that you report in your article, while unfortunate, seems to be a lack of education of our foreign guest and residents.  Their failure to understand Honduras and to show respect to our traditions and culture is unfortunate.   Next time there is a protest show respect, stay home!  

Rev. Robert Wood

Roatan, Honduras

Two Tropical Depressions in One Month!

It has been a difficult month for the people of Honduras. Over the last four weeks there have been two Tropical Depressions which have caused severe flooding for the coast damaging approximately 80% of the roads and many of the major bridges that connect the cities of Honduras. The flooding has displaced as many as 250,000 people on the coast. On our island of Roatan we had some landslides and road damage but no deaths due to the storm. The storms did affect the economy of the country and our island, cheap food has become scarce and prices have risen even for the basic food source, rice and beans.

Power Problems

Roatan has had additional problems, our Electric Company sent out bills in October that were about 80% above normal. With the other economic pressures people were very frustrated and started street protests. To give you some idea of the cost, one of the members of our church a 71 year old widow who lives in a small house with four light bulbs, a radio, a fan and a refrigerator, received a bill for the month of $139. The protesters blocked roads for much of the month which caused the Cruise ships to start to skip their port call at Roatan. This, in turn, affected the economy as many people work in tourist related businesses. The owners of the Electricity Company turned the power off for 40 hours and are continuing to turn it on and off, even after the President of Honduras has stated that the problem must be solved in the next two weeks or the government will take over the company. Pray that peace is preserved.

Street closed by people in protest of Electric Company.

Ministry Retreat

On October 26th, we had a retreat for all those interested in training for the ministry. Fifteen people came and explored their “Call” for ministry. This will be the base for our students that will attend the Training Center starting in January. Praise God for placing on these individuals the desire to train for ministry! God is a God of Multiplication!

Funeral for a Mayoral Candidate

In the midst of all this turmoil Elkin Woods, who had attended our church in Coxen Hole, was murdered on the street below the church. Elkin was a leader in the community and was running for Mayor. He was shot by another man on the street who disagreed with Elkin's views. Elkin was always concerned about the good of the people and especially the poor. I had worked with him on our project to minister to the street children of Coxen Hole. It was raining on the day we held his funeral, about 400 people filled the church. I conducted the service with Rev. Juan Simpson.  Elkin left behind a wife and five children, he was 39 years old.

Ministry is not always easy. As a missionary to one of the poorest countries on earth it is often about sharing in the hardships of the people you are serving. Please continue your prayers and financial support to the minister.

Sermon note for October 5, 2008.  Sermon was given at Bethany Methodist Church and Fellowship Methodist on the Island of Roatan.

Bob Wood

http://cid-f95b37afe878f313.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Public/Standard|_Bul|_Part|_1|02.doc

My mission work is based on the Island of Roatan, Honduras where I serve the people of the Methodist Church of the Caribbean and the America’s as a teacher and minister in the ten churches on the island. Honduras is one of the poorest countries on Earth. The churches here struggle to pay their bills and to support the one minister they have, Rev Juan Simpson. The work of 10 churches and a school of nearly 400 students is more than Rev Simpson can handle alone. My work is to assist Rev. Simpson as the second minister on the island.

It is great to be part of a denomination where I have a family of church members who care for me as I care for them. They have showed God’s Love for me as they have ministered to me over the past few months through my illness and the difficulties that life brings. I recently felt that love as I was part of a united service of four of our congregations. Each church brought their choirs who came up front to sing and give their offerings, as they passed me I was given a hug by children, women, and men. It was a great affirmation about how the church values my ministry here. They are unable to pay me in the wealth of the world but I was rich with heavenly gifts.

Rev Simpson as recently added new tasks to my workload, of Bible Studies and Preaching assignments. I will be using my teaching skills to prepare men and women for ministry in two institutions. The first institution is the School of Lay Ministries, Rev. Simpson has asked me to organize and direct training courses for Sunday School Teachers, Youth Workers, Church Leaders, and Lay Preachers. This training will be vital to the growth of the churches and the Saving of the Lost! I also have been assigned to be a part of the staff of the Theological University. This school would equate to a Bible College in the U.S. for students who desire to go into full time ministry. The Institute is a recognized University in Honduras and is based in the city of San Pedro Sula; a new satellite campus will be started in Roatan at our Methodist Bilingual School on January 30. I met with a committee of leaders of other denominations and representatives of the school and they have asked me to be the professor of Old Testament.

I am excited by these new opportunities to share what God has given me with the people of Honduras. I believe that this will expand the Kingdom of God in this country!

Please continue to Support the ministry with prayers and funds,

In Christ,

Rev. Robert Wood
Roatan, Honduras

This is a Video about a recent visitation where I was able to share God’s Love and Grace with a woman in Coxen Hole, Roatan.

I am rejoicing with the rest of Roatan! 

RECO our local power company has been purchased and revamped with new generators.  In the past 18 months power outages were the norm in French Harbour.  The new generators are suppose to bring us a consistency power sources.  The first 24 hours has been great!  It is like returning to life in the U.S.

We pray that this will bring consistency to our churches who have had a hard time having night services because of the outages.

Robert Wood

French Harbour, Roatan, Honduras

Dear Friends,
It has been several months since I have been able to sit still long enough to write and update you on our ministry in the Bay Islands.

1. The churches continue to flourish as the Lord blesses the work. We baptized six people in January at the Fellowship Methodist Church in French Harbour. At the Bethany Methodist Church in Jonesville we had five people pray to receive Christ as their Savior. We have been unable to continue the evening programs and Bible Studies for the past two months due to problems with the Electric Company.

2. The Island of Roatan has suffered greatly due to problems with our Electric Company, RECO. There have been periods of time when we have been without electricity for up to 20 hours during a 24 hour period. This affects so many areas of our lives - - evening church services, water, food storage. Our people have suffered and continue to suffer. Pray that this is solved in the next few months and the Island can return to normal.

3. Boy's and Girl's Club activities are continuing but I have had to greatly reduce the size. We were caring for 70 children and had a staff of six. I tried to keep it going at full strength as long as I could and at great personal sacrifice but I found it too costly to continue. The one club site needed about $3,900 a month to pay for staff and buy food for the children. Our donations were considerably lower than that so I have limited it to a staff of two and only 20 children are allowed to enter. This has been a heartbreaking decision for me. We are waiting on the Lord to guide us in what to do.

4. I am teaching five classes at the Methodist School in Bible and Christian Education.

I thank God daily for your support of our financial needs and pray that God will bolster our strength daily as we seek to do his will.

Please keep our family in your prayers!
Bob Wood
French Harbour, Roatan, Honduras

The news from the United States for the past week has been about a coming Recession.  I am not an expert on finances but I can tell you that God speaks about our personal finances in the Bible.  Today I was looking through some old files and found a sermon I preached in April of 2001 titled God's Plan For Your Finances.  I can assure you that when I have followed these principles in my life my stress and fears are relived, when I do not follow them I worry and fret.  I want to acknowledge that I learned these principles from Rick Warren, Pastor, Saddleback Community Church.

1. The BBE is a translation of the Bible that uses a very limited vocabulary of about 1000 words.  Most of the people we minister to in the Bay Islands speak several languages and there English education is often very limited.  I find the BBE to fit our needs well.  During Bible Studies I am spending my time explaining the meaning of God's instructions in the Bible instead of giving lessons in English vocabulary.  I find that when I use other translations from the KJV to the NIV I become an English teacher instead of a Bible teacher.
2. I have permission to use the Bible in Basic English without concern that I am breaking copyright laws.  I asked permission to use the BBE from Cambridge University Press and this is what I received:

   
   from: Linda Hart <lhart@cambridge.org>
   May 11, 2007

   Subject: Fw: Permission Request

   Dear Robert,
   Thank you for your enquiry. The rights to the Bible in Basic English are public domain in the US and therefore you may use extracts freely. It would be a good idea to include an acknowledgement of the source in your work.
   Best wishes
   Linda Hart
   Permissions Controller, Legal Services,
   Cambridge University Press
   The Edinburgh Building
   Shaftesbury Road
   Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK
   Telephone 01223 325120
   www.cambridge.org

If you want to know more about the BBE and what I have discovered using it look for me on Windows Live Messenger at mmibobwood@hotmail.com or email me at bob@revbobwood.com

Last night I started the long drive from French Harbour to Jonesville. The road winds across the top of the Roatan mountains and looks down on the beautiful coral reef. I have driven this road many times before but last night was different. This trip had started on Sunday morning when I met with the small congregation of women and children, all the men are at sea and most will not return until Christmas. I announced Sunday morning that I would like to start having Bible Study at the church on Tuesday nights. As I was speaking a small older woman rose from her bench and said "Minister, I am 82 years old. I have been coming to this church since I was in my mother's arms. I was baptized in this church and I am here to tell you, we'ves (sic) never had a Bible Study in this church."
I pondered the health of the church as I turned off the main road for the 25 minute drive through the mountains on a dirt road down to the shore. No Bible Studies for 82 years. The church was started in 1852 but like all eleven churches on the island of Roatan they have never had a minister of their own. The norm has been one minister shared by all the churches. So programs like Sunday School, Youth Group, Children's Clubs, Vacation Bible School, have been nonexistent. Most of the time the minister would visit once every six weeks and the other weeks the people were on their own, perhaps a layman would lead a service, perhaps not. Jonesville is so remote that often they were forgotten or were simply not accessible. I can better understand that problem now because on the previous Sunday I had to have my borrowed truck towed from Jonesville to French Harbour for repairs.
I wondered what they might know of the Bible, I had decided to start with Genesis 1 and move through the major stories of the Old Testament. As I pulled into the village the lights were on in the church and the crowd had already gathered. Children as young as nine and adults in their nineties were in the congregation. I started by asking if they had any questions about the Bible that they wanted to ask. One young woman rose and asked what does it mean in the Bible when it says the "baptism for the dead". I learned the Mormon's have been working the town better than the Christians.
Following the Bible Study each one came and thanked me for coming and said they desired to learn more and want to see me next week. But the truth is they were thanking you. Your gifts and prayers are what make the Bible Studies at Jonesville possible. There will be those who enter the kingdom because of your gifts to our ministry.
During the summer months giving has been lean and we are in need of more funds to handle the moving expenses. If the Lord has blessed you please send support to

First United Methodist Church of Dunnellon
21501 W. Highway 40
Dunnellon, Florida 34431

Make checks payable to FUMC and in the memo section write HONDURAS.
Thank you for your support and prayers,
Bob Wood