Your Prayer Matters: Answered in Honduras

Good morning Everybody!
As I write this update, Cesar and I are back in Guatemala after a whirlwind of travel and stops in both Honduras and Guatemala. The past few days we have been in the jungle of Guatemala for our first PlayStoryEat training with a few of our Kekchi friends. After getting accustomed to the rhythms of the jungle with howling monkeys, bathing in the river, and eating strange food, I feel like I am coming out of an alternate universe!  

The last time I updated you, we were in Honduras with Rick Watson and Frank Molano, but I had not shared any specifics about the happenings there. Today, I want to do just that. Note that in a couple of updates, I plan to highlight more on Rick and Frank's trip. This is just the first part!    

Will the Chaos in the University Affect Us?

The past several months, the National University of Agriculture in Catacamas has been in turmoil. In November, after a student uprising and a house cleaning of the primary leaders, classes were suspended and students lost a semester of studies. In January, a few programs restarted, but the week we showed up (May 19), there were other programs just getting restarted. 

In the past few years we have had great relations with everyone we have worked with, and as of last year, leaders of the extension program had asked us to create a curriculum of improving human values as well as help bring specialists in both agriculture and veterinary medicine to interact with their students and their extension programs. We had asked that you pray about this situation and for both students and faculty friends of ours.   

The first morning there, we went to the University to see who we could meet. The only solid contact we had was with the current president of the student bull riding team. He told us he would get his group together, and beyond that, we had no firm appointments. We had been told that the interim committee who is now running the University would be next to impossible to have any contact with us on this trip.  

The Bull Riders Faithful to Their Word

Prayer with the bull riding team of the National University of Agriculture

Driving onto the campus, the atmosphere was clearly more subdued than in years past. But as soon as we entered the gate, Levis, the president of the bull riders, waved at us and told us where we would meet with the others. After a few minutes, a group of about 10 guys gathered, including Omar, the past bull riders president who graduated last year, and who "just happened" to be on campus that day for his new job with an Ag company. Omar had been with us a little over two years ago in the states when a handful of the bull riders came for an exchange with Texas Tech and spent a week with me traveling to visit cowboy churches in the Dallas-Fort Worth region. It was on that trip that Omar and Luis, another bull rider, had ridden in a buckout at the Denton County Cowboy Church. 

Rick and I enjoyed seeing Frank interact with the students as Cesar prompted him to tell his story of how he had gotten right with God. The guys listened intently as he shared how he had strayed from the ways of his father, a pastor to Mexican immigrants, but that one of the first cowboy churches (meeting at Billy Bobs, a famous bar in Fort Worth) became instrumental in getting him back on track and fostering a call to step out in faith to minister to kids and families in the high school rodeos. 

Frank and Cesar taking a minute to relax and talk with bull riders

In addition to being together this particular day, we got to spend parts of two other days with these guys as we shared more about how the Christian Rancher groups are developing in other places, and we introduced them to our latest tool, a 52-week Cowboy Up Guide (cowboy version of PSE Discipleship Guide) for getting groups started using some of the most compelling stories of Jesus as the primary Biblical material.  

Our team with the bull riders and a couple of professors

After we finished talking with the bull riders, it was about lunch time, so Cesar treated everyone to a baleada (a Honduran version of a burrito). As we listened to their stories, we were encouraged by how in several cases they felt that God had taken care of them even though they had lost a semester of school.

Divine Appointment with a University Decision Maker 

We then decided to see if we could find any of our faculty friends. The main guy we were looking for wasn't at his office. We were about to leave when Ramon, another professor, popped out of his door waving frantically. Ramon was with the group who came this past summer to the Denton County Cowboy Church. After catching up with him, Cesar asked if there were any of the new leaders of the university available to talk to us. 

"If we go now, we might catch one of the main leaders out in the field," Ramon answered. "I think he is reviewing plans for the use of the different pastures for the Bovine programs." Ramon hopped in the back seat of the truck, and within 5 minutes we found Leonel and his assistant out in the field. After quick introductions, Cesar told them who we were and asked if he had heard anything about us. 

"Un poco," Leonel said, "But really I don´t know much of anything." Cesar reviewed how we had come to the University several years ago and how we were working to start Christian Rancher groups in the region. 

"Somos muy agradecidos," Cesar said. "We are very grateful for the way that the University helped us get acquainted with leaders in the ranching and agricultural communities. At this point, we don´t depend on the University for contacts with the cattlemen´s associations and the leaders in the extension communities. However, we want you to know that we are available to serve the university in some way out of a sense of gratitude for the past relationship." 

"Probably the area that we need the most help with would be in veterinary medicine," Leonel answered. "If you have friends from the United States willing to come work with us, that would be great." 

Within minutes we had an agreement to keep in touch about these kinds of projects for the future. "Do you need to clear this with anyone else on the main leadership committee?" Cesar asked. 

"No." Leonel said. "I have the authority to proceed without any problems." 

As we walked away, Cesar and I looked at each other and smiled. "Just another day at the office," I said. 

"Yep." Cesar replied. 

10:02 Prayer

Please ask God to prompt more Cowboy Church people like Rick and Frank to be mobilized for a continued harvest in Honduras. Continue to pray for (and thank God for) the connections at the University. Please ask God to call veterinarians to Latin America and ask God for wisdom in planning the veterinary trips in the future.   

Invest

Thank you for your continued generous investment in making sure that "Every person in the Americas has a friend who loves Jesus."

Engage

Please pass the word to anyone with agriculture or veterinary skills that they better get a passport and get ready for an adventure!

If you're in the Kansas City area, please join us for the PlayStoryEat Experience June 23-24 at Open Range Fellowship. More info in the next update.

Talk to you soon! 

Steve 

PS...You can mail checks to:

Daybreak International, 11628 Oakmont St., Overland Park, KS 66210

On PayPal, you can give using the email daybreak.international@gmail.com.

On our websites, you can give at www.PlayStoryEat.com or www.DaybreakInternational.org.

Divine Appointment on the Road to Honduras!

Hi Everybody!
I am currently in Catacamas, Honduras, with Cesar, Rick Watson, and Frank Molano. Rick and Frank flew into Honduras yesterday (Thursday, 5/18), and today was our first day of activities here. We met with some of the bull riders from the National University of Agriculture and one of the top officials of the University and have great news to share. But since we will be adding to that story in the next few days, I won't report on that just yet.

In the last update, I mentioned that Cesar and I would be driving from Guatemala to Honduras. On Tuesday, when we were heading for the border, Cesar noticed how much my head was bobbing and said, "Esteban, what do you think if we stop to swim and take a rest?"

"Okay," I said, thinking I was more interested in taking a rest, but I didn't say that.

Stopping to Swim and Relax...

"We have time to cross into Honduras tomorrow. Let's see if staying at Valle El Dorado would be cheap enough for us to stay tonight," Cesar suggested. This is not a normal place for us to stop, because it has a water park and is more of a vacation spot for staying a couple of days to enjoy the amenities. But I didn't object, thinking about the fun we had there with my family about 10 years ago.

Fifteen minutes later, we were standing neck deep in one of the swimming pools, and Cesar asked about some of our cowboy church friends in Texas. I was busy talking about several of those he knew when a man snuck up behind me in the water and asked, "Are you misioneros?"

A Divine Appointment...

"Si," Cesar answered, somewhat hesitating.

"My name is Otto Morales, and I am a pastor and the president of the local pastors association, and I thought I overheard you talking about the ministry."

Once we told him that we were on the way to Honduras to work with cowboys and rancheros, he came closer to us and said, "Hermanos (brothers) you won't believe this, but you are an answer to a prayer I have been praying for a week. I hope you don't mind me taking your time with my story."

"Please tell us," I said.

Otto's Story...

"Several months ago, I had been witnessing to some rancheros, and they came to faith in Jesus. They didn't feel comfortable coming to my church, so I started a men's group on Tuesday nights for them. More got saved, and now we have about 50 men who come. Last Tuesday, I asked the men if we should continue the group or not. They wanted to meet at least a few more times. On the spot I said, 'Next Tuesday we will have a special meeting that you won't want to miss. And God will show us what to do with our group.'" 

Then he looked directly at us. "I have been praying this whole week for direction from God and have gotten nothing. But here you are! I believe God sent you to speak to our group tonight."

Two hours later, Otto's wife fed us a delicious dinner and then we went to the men's gathering. Cesar and I shared our vision for PSE groups and demonstrated how we do them. The guys hung around long after the end of the meeting to talk. To a man, they were dedicating themselves to join us in our strategy to reach guys like themselves in the region.

Steve connects with Otto's group of rancheros!

On the Radio...

As Otto took us back to the hotel, he asked if we could be on the radio with him Wednesday morning. (Otto also hosts a couple of weekly radio shows!) Because we really needed to get on the road, we regretfully declined to show up at the radio station. "But I can call you and interview you by phone as you drive," Otto interjected.

Laughing out loud, we nodded our heads and said, "Esta bien. Sounds good." So on Wednesday we were on the radio for about 30 minutes with Otto and got to tell our story to a wider audience.

One of the ironic points that we brought out was the fact that 17 years ago when Cesar and I first got the idea to do something with cowboys in Guatemala, we were about 15 kilometers from Otto's town. The location didn't escape Otto's attention, and he implored his audience with his final words of the program, "Hermanos, we need to learn from these men and fulfill the mission God has for the rancheros and vaqueros to come to know Him."

10:02 Prayer

Please ask God to give clear "next steps" to Otto and his group. We plan to stop and see them again on our return trip home.

Invest

Thanks for your continued generosity. Several this week have begun to invest in the mission.

Engage

Please forward this email to friends who want to fulfill the great commandments and the great commission. The Play.Story.Eat. Updates and the PSE Discipleship Guide may be helpful.

Next time I hope to tell you the story of what has happened today in Catacamas. I can hardly believe it. Thanks for your continued prayers.

Love y'all!

Steve

PS... Investing Information

You can mail checks to:

Daybreak International, 11628 Oakmont St., Overland Park, KS 66210

On PayPal, you can give using the email daybreak.international@gmail.com.

On our websites, you can give at www.PlayStoryEat.com or www.DaybreakInternational.org. 

A Stupid Thing I Did that Mom Doesn't Need to Know!

Happy belated Mother's Day to all! 

As you read this, I am probably somewhere near the border of Guatemala and Honduras, getting ready to get grilled by some nameless border official.  

"Passport Please..."

I know the drill. When I slide my bulging, 8-year-old, frayed, passport under the window, the official will flip through the pages for several minutes searching back and forth through the haphazard collection of stamps I have accrued. Finally, she will find the stamp of my flight into Guatemala last night and nod her head in relief. Then she will get a puzzled look on her face and ask in Spanish, "Donde vas? Que vas a hacer?" ("Where are you going? What are you going to be doing?") "Why would you fly into Guatemala last night only to go to Honduras the next day?"

The grilling will last two or three more minutes. I will offer my spiel of explanations. Then with a final whomp! whomp! I'll get another stamp for my passport collection and enter Honduras. 

Getting grilled by a border official is one thing. But that is nothing compared to the grilling I've received from my mother! Can I get a witness?

I Helped My Mom's Prayer Life... 

My mom comes by this naturally, though. With all the stupid things I have done through the years, I have given her plenty of ammunition for her questions! Truth is, for over half a century I have given my mom a long list of reasons to be a dedicated prayer warrior.  

Since my mom reads every one of these updates with a magnifying glass, today I muster up the courage to tell her of one of the stupid things I did on my last trip.

Confession to My Mom... 

On Friday morning,  February 3rd, I was at Cesar's place in Amberes, anticipating Nola's arrival into Guatemala to join us for the next 10 days. I got up as the sun rose for a morning run. One of my favorite routes near Cesar's house goes up a mountainside on a trail with some beautiful overlooks of the valley. Along the way I have to pass through a couple of clusters of houses where dogs usually bark and yap. 

As I ran through the first housing area, a pack of dogs came running out to bark at me. They had done it to me dozens of times through the years, and all they had done was just bark until I passed their territory. But this day, a tiger-striped mutt chased and then caught up with me and nipped me on the back of my right calf. I stopped and shooed the dogs away with my baseball cap and kept on walking.

After getting away from the dogs, I looked at the back of my leg. I could see that the bite was more like a scratch on the surface of the skin. It didn't really hurt. So I decided that I would finish my run and doctor it up once I got back.

Stupid Thoughts...

As I ran, I thought about the fact that if this dog had rabies, I would probably have to get a series of shots. But it was just a scratch! No big deal, right? 

When I got back to Cesar's and looked at it again, there was a little blood dripping, but I jumped in the shower and quickly cleaned it up. After I got out, I put hand sanitizer on it and covered the wound with a big band-aid.   

I thought about telling Cesar, but I knew that we had a bunch of things to do that day to get ready for Nola arriving that night. Besides, I was overdue for writing an update and needed to get my clothes ready and packed for the next week of activities. So I said nothing. 

Avoidance...

I stayed mum about it at breakfast. Then I went to work checking email and writing. Mid-morning I got a call from Nola in Dallas. She had made it there and was awaiting the flight to Guatemala. I didn't say ANYTHING to her.   

At lunch, I avoided the topic. But a couple hours after lunch, as Cesar and I were gathering ourselves to go to the airport in Guatemala City, Cesar looked down and noticed the band-aid on my calf and said, "Esteban, what happened to your leg?" BUSTED!

Did the Dog Have Rabies?  

When I told him, he got a concerned look on his face, and no matter how much I downplayed it, he knew better. "Esteban, this is not the United States. Street dogs rarely get their immunizations. No matter how insignificant a bite, the dog punctured your skin, and if it has rabies you are infected, and you must get the shots." 

I knew he was right. I should have said something before. Now, because of my withholding of information, we didn't have time to get it checked out. On the way to the airport, Cesar told me that we would need to find a clinic in Quesada Saturday morning before we started the activities with the ladies groups.

Is There a Doctor in the House? 

The next morning in Quesada, we entered a clinic and asked if we could see a doctor. "No tenemos doctor aqui hasta el Lunes." ("We won't have a doctor here until Monday.") After further probing, we found out that if we went to a certain pharmacy, they might be able to help us track down a local doctor. Once there, we learned that he was out of town. After telling the pharmacist my story, she called the doctor. He told her to give me an antibiotic and then come see him Monday.

We also found out that even if the doctor wanted to give me the shots, they didn't have that series of shots on hand. With no other options until Monday, I decided to take the antibiotic and proceed with our schedule. 

Saturday, Sunday, Monday...

We dove into the activities. Saturday was a birthday party for Nola and a meeting with some of the women leaders in the region. Sunday we were in Jalpatagua with a ladies group and a few men from the Cattlemen's Association. Monday, we spent the day with a mayor and his wife in collaboration on future women's related projects. All the while, my bite was healing fine. 

Tuesday...

On Tuesday, we were back close to Cesar's house to meet with longtime friends, Humberto Solares and his wife, Enma, to do a Play.Story.Eat. activity with her class of 9th graders. We were to eat in their home around noon and then about two hours later would meet Enma's class for their last hour of the day. Since we were going to be playing with the teens, Cesar wanted me to look like a soccer player, so I wore my shorts and tennis shoes. 

Steve and Nola sport big smiles with Enma's class of 9th graders !

When we got to the Solares house and sat down to chitchat before lunch, Humberto looked down at my calf and asked "Que paso?" ("What happened?") I then told him about the dog bite. Since Humberto had worked for a former mayor organizing various public health programs, he immediately went into his health care mode. "Do you know where the dog is?" he asked. 

"Si." I answered. "It's about a ten minute walk up a trail from Cesar's house."   

"Esteban, we must find the dog today! Even if your wound is healing, you can't take a chance." Looking down at his watch he said, "We can eat, and then before the class we have time to find the dog." 

After a delicious lunch, we headed out on our search. Since the place was off the beaten path, we couldn't drive. So from Cesar's house, Humberto and I set out on foot. With the sun beating down at the hottest part of the day, I was glad I had my water bottle in hand.

A Wild Dog Hunt...

Finally, we reached the house. As we walked up, the dogs were lazily lying in the shade. "Hola!" Humberto called. "Is the owner of the house here?" Immediately the dogs sprang up and started barking. I looked around and no tiger-striped dog. Soon the lady of the house came out, and we told her of my dilemma. "Are these all of your dogs?" 

"Si." 

"Do you see the dog?" Humberto asked me. 

Here is "Tigra" the dog that bit Steve. ("Tigra" means female tiger in Spanish).

"No." I said, now getting a little worried that maybe I had not remembered as well as I thought. From there we went up to the next house. No dog. For about 30 minutes we talked to people and checked out dogs. Nothing. Finally, when we hit a part of the trail that had no houses, we decided to turn around and walk back to Cesar's. As we came back past the first house, I looked over at the dogs again. "Humberto, there it is!" I declared.

"Are you sure?"

"Si. I'm sure."   

Humberto called out to the woman of the house and told her of my conclusion. Being polite, she waited for Humberto to get through talking about the importance of knowing that her dog was healthy. Finally she said, "Your amigo doesn't need to worry. All my dogs had shots this year. A group came through here vaccinating animals. I think I still have the certificate they gave me."

Tigra's Rabies Vaccination Certificate

Sure enough, she produced her proof. "Hallelujah!" I shouted.

"Gracias a Dios!" Humberto replied. ("Thanks to God!")

 

 

 

The Blessing of Friends Who Have Your Back...

Since that day, I have thanked God for His provision and care. Even though I didn't tell very many people, I knew that people were praying for me and that even if they didn't know what I needed, God did.

Besides the many prayers, I am grateful for friends like Cesar and Humberto who have looked out for me and loved me even when I have been stupid.  

10:02 Prayers...

Pray for safety as we travel in the next few days, and pray that we will be the kind of friends for others like Cesar and Humberto were for me last February. 

Invest...

Thanks for your continued giving. It really is making a difference! 

Engage...

Take a moment to ask the Father who needs a dose of God's love through you today.  Then follow through and love them like Jesus would.

By the way, since that day, when Cesar calls me, he asks if I'm frothing at the mouth or anything. "No. I'm good." I answer. "But I do have this strange desire to chase cats and bark at cars!"

Love y'all!

Steve

PS...You can mail checks to:

Daybreak International, 11628 Oakmont St., Overland Park, KS 66210

On PayPal, you can give using the email daybreak.international@gmail.com.

On our websites, you can give at www.PlayStoryEat.com or www.DaybreakInternational.org. 

Ooops! I Forgot!...A Bank Teller Catches You In the Act!

Good morning all!

One of our newest members on our updates called me yesterday and said "Steve, I'd like to send my $10.02 to you, but in your email you didn't tell me where to send it." 

Ooops! My bad. I will include it at the bottom of this page and will do my best to remember to do that for future updates. 

While I've got your attention, I want to tell you that our bank teller is on to us! Yesterday when I went in to get my cash for the upcoming trip to Guatemala and Honduras, I also made a deposit. As the teller was going over the deposit he kept looking back and forth from a particular check to the deposit slip. "Is there supposed to be two cents added to this one?" he asked. I looked down and noticed that we had left off .02 on one of the checks.

"Yes, I believe we missed that one!" I said. "Thanks!" Since I had already told him about going to Guatemala, I added, "In fact, when you see a funny number with an .02 at the end of the amount, it means someone is praying Luke 10:2 for our ministry--that God would send more workers to help."

"Wow! That's cool" the teller responded.  "Hope you have a great trip!" 

Let's keep confusing our bank tellers! Here's the giving info below...

Love y'all!

Steve

Mail checks to:

Daybreak International, 11628 Oakmont St., Overland Park, KS 66210

On PayPal, you can give using the email daybreak.international@gmail.com.

On our websites, you can give at www.PlayStoryEat.com or www.DaybreakInternational.org. 

Texas Cowboys Make a Difference in Honduras!

You can help!

In our last update, we encouraged you to begin praying the Luke 10:2 prayer at 10:02 am/pm each day and to begin to give an extra $10.02 a month as a tangible prayer for workers to engage in a harvest that is ripe and ready all around us. Several of you jumped on the bandwagon, and we are grateful to you for that! Keep those cards and letters coming! 

As I write today, I am getting myself prepared to head to Guatemala and then to Honduras starting the Monday after Mother's Day. I would like to tell you about a couple of Texans who will be meeting Cesar Gonzalez and me in Honduras for the week of May 18-24. These guys are true heroes, and I want to tell you why.   

Rick Watson, Cowboy Missions Recruiter 

Rick getting ready to serve as the announcer at the Sergio Andrade benefit bull riding event at Denton County Cowboy Church last summer.

Some of you know Rick and have heard me talk about his role in getting some of his Texas friends to come down to Honduras in the past couple of years. This past summer, he was one of the go-to guys helping us receive a group of Hondurans in Denton, Texas. I think Rick has been on about 5 or 6 trips now. He retired a couple of years ago, and in his spare time he has recruited cowboy missionaries through the connections of friends in the American Fellowship of Cowboy Churches. 

Last year on one of our trips I mentioned to you that Rick's wife, Peggy, was in critical condition dealing with the final stages of Huntington's Disease. I ask you to remember them in your prayers. Rick has been faithfully attending to her needs and has a team of family, friends, and caregivers who lovingly care for Peggy as well. Thanks to them, Rick is able to be away from time to time to serve on these mission trips. 

Frank Milano, Spanish Cowboy Encourager

Frank Milano (orange shirt) and Alfredo Andrade (of Honduras) talk with Nick Gas (cowboy pastor and horse trainer) in a break in the action at the Denton County bull riding event put on in honor of Alfredo's son, Sergio, who was a professional bull rider and friend of ours who was murdered a couple of years ago.

Frank is a cowboy of Mexican descent who grew up in the North Texas region outside of Fort Worth, where Frank's dad was a pastor to Mexican immigrants. In the mid 1980's, Frank was the chaplain at high school rodeo events and had a tremendous ministry that saw many kids come to Christ. Today, many of those "kids" are pastors and leaders of cowboy churches. Currently Frank is serving as an interim pastor at a cowboy church near Fort Worth. 

This past summer when the Hondurans came to Texas, Frank spoke to our mixed group of Texas friends, Hondurans, and one Guatemalan. Opening the scriptures, he shared how Jesus said that seeds don't sprout and produce fruit unless they die first. Then he confessed that he felt like God wanted him to follow through on a promise he made that morning and sow some sacrificial seeds in Guatemala and Honduras. Here is what Frank said that day.  

"Six years ago I lost my wife to complications related to her diabetes," Frank informed. "A year or so before she died, a missionary to South Africa had spoken at our church, and I had felt compelled to give a couple of valuable rings I owned to help her out. One of those rings was one my wife had given me a few years after we had gotten married. When she saw me give those rings, I'll be honest, she was not happy with me! But what was done was done, and I prayed that the rings would be useful to this missionary in some way."

"After my wife died," Frank continued, "I got a big check from the life insurance, and for some reason I bought several rings. I don't know why I did it, particularly. I just bought them. But I have not worn them much at all. Today, I believe God is asking me to give up something I value very much in order to die to myself and plant a few seeds in Honduras and Guatemala."

Frank then pulled out four rings and called up Cesar and three Honduran men to the front. One by one, Frank gave a treasured ring as a token of his prayer that thousands of cowboys and ranchers would be won to Christ. As I dabbed my eyes, I looked around and saw others doing the same. 

Next week, Frank goes down to catch up to the piece of his heart that has gone down before him. 

Let's Bring in the Harvest Together! 

"The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field." Luke 10:2

10:02 Prayer

Pray for us as we come alongside men and women of peace who are open to explore what God might want to do in their neck of the woods. During our time in Honduras, we plan to be in two regions. First, in Catacamas, we will be with the National University of Agriculture and with several of our Christian Rancher groups in that region. Then we plan to be with new friends wanting to start new groups near Comayagua. 

By the way, the latest news from the University of Agriculture has not sounded good. To those new to the updates, over the past 5 years, friends from this University have introduced us to leaders all over the country.  In that relationship, we have participated in agriculture and veterinary related projects and have used that as a platform to promote Christian Rancher groups. In the shakedown of the past few months, only one of the key leaders that we have worked with was retained. Fortunately, he is a dedicated Christian who has been a good friend to us. 

1. Pray that our connections with the University would continue to be positive and that they will continue to be open to us working with their extension programs. 

2. Pray that the newest Christian Rancher groups would gain momentum and that they themselves would naturally reproduce on their own by their own initiative.

3. Pray that God would use Rick and Frank's stories to point many folks to Jesus. And pray that the new stories that flow from their time in Honduras will spur on more of our friends to join us in this big harvest in Central America.   

4. Pray for Cesar and me as we drive from Guatemala to Honduras. Pray that we have divine appointments along the way. We plan to see several of our key ministry friends both coming and going. Note that after Rick and Frank fly home, Cesar and I plan to spend 3 days doing Play.Story.Eat. training with our Kekchi leaders in the jungle in Guatemala. 

Invest 

Please consider sponsoring a PSE Missionary like Rick or Frank. The average trip cost is $1600 for a 7-day trip. Any amount is helpful and could be strategic in getting more and more of your friends in strategic places where God wants us to be part of His harvest team.

Engage

Plan to go on a PSE Mission Trip to Central America! Here's what is coming up... 

July 18-23, 2017...Guatemala Dental Scout Team trip and Play.Story.Eat. training

July 24-31, 2017...Guatemala Women's Ministry trip

August 12-18, 2017...Guatemala Medical Clinic Construction Team trip

October 8-15, 2017...Honduras Fair and Rodeo trip

January 5-12, 2018...Guatemala Rodeo trip

Love y'all! 

Steve 

Make a DIFFERENCE today at 10:02 am/pm

The Prayer Jesus Wants Us to Pray ...  

At the Play.Story.Eat. Experience in Kansas City a few weeks ago, an unexpected thing happened. I had just highlighted some of the open doors presented to us for the coming year. I had mentioned the fact that we now have invitations to go to 10 new countries and have dozens of opportunities in virtually every aspect of our ministries in Guatemala and Honduras.  

In sharing this reality, I asked for prayer support like we have never had before. In short, I asked the 22 of us at the retreat to recruit friends to pray Jesus' words from Luke 10:2. Jesus said...

"The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field." Luke 10:2

As an aside, I mentioned that a friend of mine had challenged his friends to set their alarms for 10:02 am or pm each day to remember to pray that God would send out workers into His harvest.

"Let's do that right now!" exclaimed Susan Taylor, a longtime friend of ours here in Kansas City. So a few of us set our phone alarms right then--some for 10:02 am and some 10:02 pm. Every day since the retreat, we have been getting "interrupted" to stop and pray.  

Would you be willing to get interrupted too? And would you take one more step beyond that? 

What is God calling you to do with regard to the harvest?  

God wants you and me engaged in some aspect of bringing in His harvest. In coming updates I want to unfold more of how we can do it together. For today, I want to invite you to do three things...

1. Pray the Luke 10:2 Daily Prayer and invite others to join you. 

If setting an alarm at 10:02 am/pm helps you remember, please join us in that. If you have another time that you regularly can pray, please do. And by all means, invite others to join us. 

2. Invest $10.02 in this endeavor.

On the financial side of things, we need help like never before. This year we are committing to spend more resources to train up Play.Story.Eat. missionaries of all interests and backgrounds to get to the newer countries and the newer opportunities.  

Without going into a long itemized list, we need to raise an extra $38,920 for the first phase of our strategy to go to the nations. Beyond that, we need to raise at least another $10,980 to expand our training online in both English and Spanish. 

To break this down, here's some weird math. Adding up the extras from above ($38,920 + 10,980 = $49,900) and dividing that number by the 415 of us on this update, that equals......$10.02 a month!! 

So if those of us on this update prayed at 10:02 am/pm and then gave $10.02 a month extra, we could be both praying for and providing for the funding to walk through the open doors before us and the plentiful harvest that is calling out to us.     

3. Engage in Play.Story.Eat. Training and Trips.

In addition to praying and giving, consider where God wants you engaged personally. We have all kinds of trips coming up. Pray about that. 

While our training (Play.Story.Eat. Experience) helps you get strategically prepared for a mission trip, please consider engaging in this training for your own increased ministry effectiveness at home. 

Note that we have a Play.Story.Eat. Experience coming up June 23-24 at the Open Range Fellowship in Lone Jack, Missouri. We would be thrilled to bring this same training to you and your church. 

Ready to take the 10:02 challenge? Me too. Let us know if we could support you in what God is calling you to do.  

Love y'all! 

Steve 

PS...You can mail checks to:

Daybreak International, 11628 Oakmont St., Overland Park, KS 66210

On PayPal, you can give using the email daybreak.international@gmail.com.

On our websites, you can give at www.PlayStoryEat.com or www.DaybreakInternational.org. 

I Can't Get Women Off My Mind!

My Problem

I have a problem. And after my trip to Guatemala with Nola, SHE knows I have a problem! Maybe you and Nola can help me with this.

How My Problem Got Started 

For years, Cesar, Bill, and I have been working to varying degrees with some tough guys. Cowboys. Ranchers. Farmers. Motorcycle nuts. Prisoners. Etc. To be sure, in prisons, we have met some of the meanest, baddest hombres you could imagine. In addition, we have run across some bad dudes in Guatemala. There have been a couple of times after an event when someone in the know has told us that we had just spoken to a known narco-trafficker (and we didn't know it).

We have figured that if we present the good news of Jesus to people any which way we can, that inevitably we will encounter some rougher characters. And here's what's funny. The more we are successful in winning the tougher-to-reach men, the more we have women getting excited!

"Whoa up there, Steve! You said women get excited?!" Yep. That's what I said.   

As you have heard reports of our male-dominated events, you might not be aware of how women have strategically helped us out. I don't get it, but many women love these knuckleheads! (I mean, "slower to respond" men!) And they get really happy when their men begin to change for the better.

Latin American Men and Church

Here's some sociological background. In Latin America, women have responded well to church outreaches and the efforts of churches of all kinds. Yet, in many cases, the men have been slow to respond. Among certain groups of men (like cowboys and ranchers), men rarely attend church, because they feel that they don't belong there. Truth is, most evangelical church leaders are scared of cowboys, because they have the reputation of being trigger happy, womanizers, heavy drinkers, and the like. So when church people are scared and resistant to these rough and tough guys, that feeling has helped repel a whole class of people from the church.

Latin American Women Often Feel Alone at Church 

Because of this reality, many a cowboy and rancher wife has resigned herself to attending church for the rest of her life without her husband. But when we have done an event for cowboys and seen dozens of them respond in faith and then get started going to a Christian Rancher Group or a Cowboy Church, the wife is often overjoyed, and comes to thank us for what we have done.

The Women Start Getting Happy About Their Men 

And here's where we started hearing more and more from women. They loved the fact that we play, tell stories, and eat with their guys, but they wondered if we could help them do the same thing with their friends. You might recall a couple years back when, in a scheduling snafu, we had a group of 9 of our North American cowboys show up at a city hall to do a women's event! Cesar and I didn't tell them much of what they would be doing until the morning of that event. I wish I had snapped a picture of the guys at the breakfast table when we told them that our given topic for the day was "Improving a Woman's Self Esteem!" I think a couple of them about spewed out their coffee in reaction to that idea!

Our First Women's Event With a Group of ... Cowboys?!  

Fortunately Cesar had a plan for us to play first and get the ladies laughing. Then we storied a couple of Bible stories. And then our saving grace came at the end of the event when we served a meal to the women with the help of some of their cowboy husbands. One woman commented after the meeting that it was the first time she had ever been served by a man in her life. Women were begging us to come meet their husbands or to come back and do more with their groups of women. 

Ladies Invitations Won't Stop 

So after that unlikely beginning, we started paying more attention to the ladies. For the last two or three years, we have been doing experimental meetings with women in the Quesada, Guatemala, region (where this city hall I just mentioned above is located). There, a core group of women are working with the mayor's office to do micro-business training for women in their region. They teach skills like sewing, cooking, and making various crafts that can be sold to improve the family income. In addition, these groups speak on many family-related subjects, and they also speak up for women and children who are encountering abuse or neglect. Currently, they have about 38 active groups of women in the various villages working together and meeting regularly.

Last summer we hosted 4 ladies from Quesada who came to Kansas City, and some of you got to meet them. They have each started the women's equivalent of a Christian Rancher group. Right now, they are trying to figure out what they are going to call themselves! What they want to do is introduce the Play.Story.Eat. process with every ladies group in their region. In the meantime, ladies from other nearby departments and towns have met us to say that they would like to do the same thing in their regions. We haven't done the math yet, but we believe that upwards of 100 or more of these ladies groups would be open to learning how to start Play.Story.Eat. groups among their lady friends.

Nola's Trip 

"I had no idea what you were talking about," Nola said to me that first day in Guatemala with these ladies. "Now I see why you have been asking for more ladies to come on these trips!"

Note that the best mission trip connections come in exchanges. You teach them something in exchange for them teaching you something. One of Nola's most fun days was the day the ladies taught her how to make tortillas over an open fire.

"I want my tortillas hot and crispy!" I demanded while seated at the table and while Nola was slaving away, slapping out a tortilla.  

"Ooooo!" the ladies reacted, waiting for Nola's response. Nola shook her head back and forth, and, squinting her eyes, looked directly at me and gave the unmistakable "you-better-watch-out" grin!

"Machistas!" cried one of the ladies. "Esteban has become just like our Guatemalan husbands!" And they all cackled even louder.

In spite of my best efforts to the contrary, during those days with the ladies, they treated Nola like a queen, and even threw her a birthday party with tons of food and cake and special dishes. And that has been a little of a problem for me since coming home! She kind of got spoiled! But such is the cross I have to bear.

Your Help is Needed 

Before I dig my grave any deeper with my wife, let me get to the bottom line! I need your help. Can you help me get the word out about these women? Can you pass this email on to others? If you are a woman, would you pray about getting trained in the Play.Story.Eat. method and then go on a trip this year to interact with these ladies in Guatemala?

And if you do come down to Guatemala, could at least one of you bring your husband? I don't want to be the only man demanding hot tortillas! 

Yes, with your help, maybe I can get these women off my mind and into your hearts. 

Love y'all!

Steve

Mysteries Revealed From the Daybreak PSE Summit!

Hello everyone! 

We goofed! 

Tuesday when we updated you on the dental team in Guatemala, we mentioned that there was still room for the upcoming Play. Story. Eat. Experience here in Kansas City. The big reveal? We already had it! Tuesday's update was written last week before the event, but we decided to wait and send it this week--forgetting to strike the first paragraph. Sooooo, if you were getting all geared up to come to KC this weekend, sorry! We have no back-to-the-future trick up our sleeves.  

The First Play. Story. Eat. Experience, March 2017! 

However, that does bring up the question, "How did it go?" Speaking for myself and Bill Burrows, our official Play. Story. Eat. coach, we think it went great! We had 22 of you who came, and the energy and participation was terrific. Thanks to Kenny Warren, we should have some video snippets to use in future training videos on the website. Special thanks also goes to Joyce Burrows, Nola Reed, and Barb Cates for supporting us in the many logistical aspects of the experience! 

News from the Play. Story. Eat. Experience 

There were three things we wanted to accomplish last weekend.

1. Give you a Play. Story. Eat. Experience and a basic understanding of the vision and values that under-gird and inform what we are trying to do.  So much of what we are doing in our projects has to be experienced. We can talk about how we use Play. Story. Eat. to do evangelism, discipleship, and professional seminars, etc., but until you experience it, we don't believe you get the full effect. My job this year is to get better at communicating some of this. In the meantime, we invite you and your friends to experience this with us and help us pass it on to others.      

2. Invite you to consider using this process with family, friends, and co-workers where you live and work. We believe that there are people around you who are not being touched by any current church or Bible study group. They don't have friends who love Jesus. Maybe you are God's agent for doing something about that. We would like to help you do what God is calling you to do. 

3. Change the heroes in the ongoing Daybreak Story. Here is the actual big reveal from the weekend. The future heroes in the story of Daybreak/P.S.E. are not Steve and Cesar. THEY'RE YOU! You are going to be the heroes of God's story as we move into the future. Here's why we are thinking this way.

Why You Will Be The Heroes for Daybreak International 

For years you have heard or read stories about Cesar and me and others in our work who have been slugging away for 17 years in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. God has opened so many doors to us, and it has been incredible. Both Cesar and I could be happy doing what we do for many years with volunteers just like we have done, going to the same places. (Currently that list is at 75+ between Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.) 

But both Cesar and I have become increasingly convicted that to continue doing this ministry like we have done (with us at the center) would be unconscionable, because it would mean that we will not be able to respond to the many invitations coming to us from other countries.

Just on this last trip alone, we received invitations to go to Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Cuba, Brazil, and Argentina. If we had time and money dedicated and the teams ready, with one phone call, we could go right now to any of those countries and see very similar results to what we have experienced in Guatemala and Honduras.

What does that mean? For us it means that we can no longer do this by ourselves. We need to focus on you--on preparing you. In faith, we believe that, ultimately, being responsive to you and whatever God is calling you to do will perfectly align with some of the opportunities that are open to Daybreak.

But what if I’m not a cowboy? Well, what we are finding is that the principles and process we have used with cowboys work with anyone. We believe that almost anything that you could say that God is calling you to do, we could find a way to help you fulfill that commitment. In short, we believe that the principles and process we are using in Latin America are relevant to you here in the U.S. 

So the question is, "Will you play other peoples games, tell your story, listen to their story, and eat their food, no matter who they are?" 

One Part of Our 2017 Strategy Revealed

This year we would like to raise up 250 Play. Story. Eat. Missionaries. Over this weekend we had about a dozen of us say that we will be the first ones. What that means is a commitment to join Jesus in being faithful to His Great Commission (Matthew 28) and being intentional about developing transformational friendships by playing, storying, and eating with people.  

So to bring the Play. Story. Eat. Experience to you, help us out! Currently, we have scheduled the Play. Story. Eat. Experience for September 8-10 in Carthage, Missouri, and November 10-12 in the Sand Hills of Nebraska. We also have it scheduled in Spanish in Guatemala and Honduras.

If you would like for us to come to you, that just might be possible! Let's talk!  

Steve

Coming in 2017--Dental Team Guatemala

Hi Everybody! 

We are excited about our upcoming PSE Experience next weekend and have a good group signed up! We still have room for a handful more of you to join us. Let us know! 

Water Update

The last time that I wrote you a full update, I was down in Guatemala and mentioned some water project needs in the jungle. Since then several called to coordinate efforts to help. Thanks to the generosity of Orangecrest Community Church in Riverside, California, the next one is paid for and ready to go!

And by the way, last week when I called Cesar to touch base, he happened to be in the jungle in a place where he could get a signal on his phone. When he answered I could hear some of my Kekchi friends laughing in the background. They had just finished installing one water system and were driving to town to get more supplies for the second. By the time you read this, the two projects mentioned in the last update should be fully functioning. Jose, one of my Kekchi pastor buddies grabbed the phone from Cesar and told me to tell everyone "Thanks!"  So from our friends in the jungle to you..."Muchas Gracias!" 

More Untold Stories Coming

Since that update, so much has happened in other places. I haven't told you about the day we made a deal with a mayor in the jungle to bring him some cowboys, or the day we ran a 10K "marathon" and played soccer, or the day my wife Nola danced with about a dozen senior men, or the ladies who threw Nola a birthday party, or the mayor's wife who wants us to bring women to teach various skills, or the day we spoke to a school, or about the last day in Guatemala when we were relaxing on the beach and bumped into a Cattlemen's Association President who invited us to bring a rodeo team to one of the largest rodeos next January!  

Excuse me for a minute while my head spins! Okay. I'm back. I get kind of dizzy thinking about all this! And don't worry, I won't try to tell you all of these stories right now! Over the next few weeks I hope to share them one by one.  

Our Heroes from Second Baptist Church in Springfield 

Today I have to tell you about our friends at Second Baptist in Springfield, Missouri. Bill Burrows and I attended their annual missions conference. Here's a link to an interview they did with us on Saturday night, February 25th. Go to the 11:30 mark, and you'll find us. 

For the past 3 or 4 years, Second Baptist has invited us to be among other missionaries to talk with their people about the ongoing ministry opportunities in Central America and invite them to join us in the various projects. Mark Green and Dean Kucharski have been instrumental in leading the charge with a couple of teams that have done both cowboy-related trips and construction on a medical clinic last year. But this year we are planning to add a new twist: dental!

Construction on Medical Clinic Paves the Way for Dental Team 

August 12-18, a Second Baptist team will be going down to finish the clinic at Cesar's place in Amberes. All that's left is laying a tile floor, electrical work, and installing a bathroom and sinks.

In September or October, a dental team from Second plans to go down to inaugurate the building and do a two-day clinic. That team will then go with us to the jungle to do two different one-day clinics in that region. 

Dr. Jose Caceres, a member of Second Baptist and a native of Nicaragua, with his wife Rebecca, is leading the dental team and will be doing a scouting trip in July to lay the groundwork with Cesar. Collaborating with Jose will be friends from I-Tec, a company started in 1996 by Steve Saint.

"End of the Spear" Connection to Dental Team 

Steve's dad, Nate Saint, was one of the missionaries murdered many years ago in Ecuador. The movie, "The End of the Spear," was made about Steve and his dad. We met Steve's son Jaime, who is VP of this company, during the conference.   

Jaime shared how they have created medical tools that can be carried in backpacks to hike into remote areas where medical personnel can use them to provide medical care. He even demonstrated how a 34-pound dental pack turns into a dental chair! Way cool! Bottom line: the Second Baptist team has already used this equipment in other countries and plans to do the same with us. 

Dental Team Needs 

Incidentally, this team will be purchasing and preparing the equipment for this project. Currently we are looking to raise about $3,000 for dental instruments to be purchased in Guatemala when Dr. Jose Caceres goes down in July. After the team uses the equipment, it will be left for continued use. My understanding is that Second Baptist plans to purchase the dental backpacks that their teams can use in multiple projects in multiple countries. For now, they are exploring all the logistics in this kind of ongoing ministry.  

If you have any interest in any of this, or know of someone who needs to be a part of it, let us know!  

Talk to you soon! 

Steve 

PS...If the link above to the Second Baptist video didn't work, here it is for one more try!  Again, just go to the 11:30 minute mark. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ci7yd3Nxag

New Location: Daybreak's Play.Story.Eat. Experience March 17-19

Hi Everybody! 

Our original location was tied to us needing rooms to stay in, and as it turns out, almost everyone who has signed up is either local or will stay with a friend. So...to save some shekels, we’ve changed our location to the Best Western near the Kansas Speedway in the Legends area of Kansas City, Kansas.

New Location

Best Western Premier KC Speedway Inn & Suites
10401 France Family Dr.
Kansas City, Kansas 66111
(913) 334-4440

Schedule:

Friday, March 17 - begin at 6 p.m. (Sandwiches & salad provided at 5:45 p.m.)
Saturday March 18 - 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. with an afternoon break
Sunday March 19 - 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Payment Options:

Experience Cost: $59 per person, including all meals and snacks for the time we are together

You may pay at the door OR online at PlayStoryEat.com OR mail a check to -

Daybreak International
11628 Oakmont St.
Overland Park, KS 66210

Please wear comfortable clothes. Not all our time will be sitting and talking. Embedded into the schedule are times to play (like we do in our work).

It's Not Too Late to Sign Up!

Currently we have about 24 people signed up. We have room for about 12 more to slide in, even at the last minute. To sign up, respond to this email. If you have any special issues, concerns, or questions, please let us know. We look forward to seeing you!

Love y'all.
Steve

P.S. Talked to Cesar in the jungle just as one of the two water projects was installed! In the background, I heard some of my friends hootin' and hollerin'! They wanted me to tell everyone in the Daybreak family “thanks!”