Steph and Erin visiting Mission of Hope and playing with all the ninos
Hola!
I hope that you all are doing well! Life in Ceiba, Honduras has been very different - each day holding new experiences. I am grateful that it hasn't been very hard for me to adjust to this culture - probably because I expected it to be really different (especially when I thought I would be going to Guanaja)... but being in the city, I am not without a lot of conveniences that I have at home: microwave, tv, internet, frig, AC in my room at night, etc... I have become proficient at getting around, and I have learned my way around the city -so I can walk or take a taxi, depending on how far and how much time i have... I prefer to walk, but I feel safer in a taxi. When I'm walking around, men constantly make comments "mi amor" or make noises at us.. but most of the time it is harmless and I don't pay them any attention. Being here has really given me an appreciation for Latinos in the US - as I am in the minority, I speak a different language (most of the time)... it has really been a good experience.. and I will definitely be more tolerant of people who come into the US and do not speak much English.
My apartment-mate (Erin Troxler) has been great - I can't imagine being here alone, I am grateful for another single girl my age. Soon two guys in their twenties will be coming to join the team (in Nov and Dec) so we are excited for more "friends" to hang out with. We are also making some Honduran friends in Language school and hopefully we will have the girls over for dinner soon. Erin has been really homesick and depressed - and I know she would appreciate your prayers. I recently have been really frustrated because this experience has been nothing like I imagined it to be. I have been thinking "what is a missionary" and "why am I here?" - because I didn't feel like I really had a purpose to be here in Ceiba. The MTW team in Ceiba is new - our presence began a year ago - so the team is what is called an "advanced team" - which means we are here to explore where possible mercy ministries could be set up with the possibility of church planting - or if we can work alongside an already established church for some mercy ministry. So the leadership and families aren't doing much (besides a ministry to taxi drivers) and a lot of "feeling it out". It was a really unexpected discovery for Erin, the Guzman family, and me - as we were all origionally destined for Guanaja and just recently moved to the La Ceiba team. I think some good things are starting... and I realize that I have to be really proactive in my involvement in this culture and ministry here. I already feel as though I've been useful to the team, just in suggesting different ways to do things as a team.
SO what am I doing? Well, in the mornings I go to Central American Spanish School - an intensive one-on-one school... so hopefully my spanish will improve drastically while I'm here (even though I've surprised myself and my teammated with the spanish I already know!). Erin and I lead worship for our team worship meetings... talk about a stretch of my comfort zone! But it is a blessing to the missionaries here to be able to have live worship in English every once in a while.
What about the Orphanage? I went out to Ninos de la Luz - and while I was there I really didn't feel like that is where I need to invest my time. The orphanage is for all boys - ages 5-16 - and it is really well run. Erin and Brian (missionaries with MTW) will be working there - and I felt like my time could be better spent elsewhere. I have been praying about where to invest myself, and this afternoon an opportunity to work in a Christian bilingual school - a school for poorer families -fell in my lap. The group that runs this school is called "Disciple Makers" - and the missionary asked me to play my guitar and teach the childern fun songs like Father Abraham... any suggestions? :) She said that they have such a need for help that I could be used in many different ways - really whatever I feel up for. I will help give make-up tests, so teachers don't have to take time away from their classes, I will help tutor English, and I may pick up teaching a science class to third graders.. It is up in the air right now - but I will keep you updated. I am excited about this opportunity.
I also really have it on my heart to help start the street child ministry for the girls in Ceiba. The orphanages are primarily for males, so the girls have no where to go. Last weekend some of the missionaries and I were walking downtown and we saw a boy laying on the pavement ahead of us... I knew he was homeless, and I thought "oh he's just resting there because he has no where else to rest".. but as we got closer, I saw that his eyes were wide open, staring blankly into the sky, and there were flies on his lips and face - and he just laid there... still, with a brown paper bag not too far from his fallen hand. I think the was the saddest and worst thing I have ever seen... I thought to myself "oh Lord, no.. he's dead.." and when we said something, Cathy (our team leader's wife) looked and saw his chest rise. She told us that he was just really stoned and pointed out the paper bag. She told us that that is what the street boys do - they get SO high that they go unconcenscious - and they do it over and over again so they don't have to feel hunger, or worry about life.. or be bored.. But there is places that grab those guys off the street. The girls - we don't seem them out during the day like the guys - they come out at night and prostitute themselves in order to survive. It is so awful - and then some thirteen year old girl prostitute then has a baby that she can't care for. Cathy and I both have a heart for those girls - and so we are looking to partner with the church we attend (Primera Iglesia Bautista) and start a day house for the girls. Please be in prayer that the Lord will open doors for us and that we will take actual steps to start this ministry.
Something I've learned here is that EVERYTHING is out of my control... and the only thing I can do is rely on Christ and remain faithful to what He has called me to do. He has reminded me that I am to make known in Honduras what He has done (Psalms 105:1) - and that these ministries that I am getting involved with are just tools to do that.
I've also realized that I am in a third world country - and I have to be willing to GIVE UP some of the things I have at home in order to be here.. but the Lord has really laid Phil 2:1-4* on my heart - and that living here with the ANTS in my kitchen is part of this experience. I am just thankful that thus far I haven't found any turanchelas!
I guess this email is ridiculously long.. and if you've made it this far - thanks for being interested to read this much!
*If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being likeminded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others. Phil 2:1-4
**For it is God who works in you to WILL and to ACT according to his good purpose. Phil 2:13
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