The Honduran churches wanted more training for their church leaders, and the 10-month Vida220 program seemed too long. What could VidaNet provide in Honduras?
With prayer and hope, the six-week intensive Vida REAL was born. (REAL: Relationship, Experience, Application and Leadership).
We had many ideas, expectations, and pieces of advice, and we knew our goal: to equip people who would be willing to return to their churches and serve together as the body of Christ. But how were we going to bring all of this together? We had no idea. We didn’t have teachers yet, no classes, no outreach location—but we knew that God was with us, and that our desire was to help strengthen the church in Honduras.
When the program finally started, many things didn’t go as planned or expected. To be honest, everything turned out very differently from what we had imagined—but different in a good way. The relationships among the participants were amazing, setting aside age and personal differences. Their humility to learn new things and submit to leadership—especially considering that most of them were older than the three of us Vida220 alumni leaders—was truly inspiring. Through all of this, I could clearly see why we had chosen this passage as the foundation for the program:
Ephesians 4:11-12, “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.”
Our goal was to bring people to the Honduras discipleship base and, together with the staff there, equip the participants to return to their churches and continue growing as the body of Christ—and I can confidently say that this goal was accomplished. Seeing how God used the Honduras discipleship base during this six-week program leaves me wondering: what more does God have in store for this place?
“It has been a beautiful experience—six weeks of living with brothers and sisters in Christ from different places. This motivates me to continue moving forward, teaching all that we have learned.”
-Luis Ramos VidaREAL Participant and Honduran pastor, age 45
Jocelyn Cartageno
Vida REAL Coordinator
