Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Mis Amigas

If anyone is interested in hearing about the summer from a different perspective, here are the links to the blogs of two friends who were in Honduras with me.

http://www.yoursarethehands.wordpress.com


http://angiemartin08.blogspot.com/

Friday, August 6, 2010

Llegué a mi casa ayer

Well, I’m back in the states now. It was very sad to leave the community and all the people that I have come to love. During the goodbye party everyone was crying. But there is a time for everything and it was time for those of us who came for the summer to go.

It wasn’t as much of a culture shock as I had expected. I guess I had not been gone for long enough. There are still some things though. Hondurans are, as a general rule, quite modest so after being around that for a while it was strange seeing girls in really short shorts and tank tops at the Houston airport. It was also strange to have so many choices of things to wear this morning instead of one of the seven shirts that I brought with me. Last night I tried to reach for my water bottle to brush my teeth, forgetting that I can use the tap water. I also kept trying to respond to American flight attendants with sí, buenas tardes, gracias etc. out of habit.

Carol challenged me before I left by reminding me that my time in Honduras was not just an experience to file along with my other college experiences. It is meant to change me and transform the way I see life and to help me grow. I know that I have grown a lot and the challenge now is to not settle back into complacency as I return to my comfortable life here.

I thank you for your prayers. Please, always keep the country of Honduras in your prayers. There is so much beauty there, but also so much suffering. It has been a pleasure to share my life in Honduras with everyone. I hope to post a link to some pictures within the next couple of days.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

El último día

As I am preparing to leave the community here in Honduras and return home I have been reflecting on what I have learned and how I have grown. One of the common themes of this summer has been mediocrity vs. holiness. Christ says “you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all you soul, with all you mind and with all you strength.” (Mark 12:30) In other words, with your all everything. There is no middle ground. We either live our lives totally dedicated to Christ or we don’t. It's time for us, both Catholics and all Christians, to become who we say we are: followers of Christ. That means living the Gospel message, even the hard parts about the cross, loving our enemies, etc. What will it take to shake us out of our comfortable lives and wake up to the reality of heaven, hell, infinite love, truth, sin, and mercy? We need to ask God to transform our hearts. I’m not there yet, but I hope that at the end of my life I can say I was a true follower of Christ, lived totally for Him, trusted in His mercy and His plan and did all that is asked of His followers in the Gospel. And I hope I can say that at the end of this summer I am a little closer to that calling. It takes little steps. For instance, finding somewhere I can serve when I go back to school.

Friday, July 30, 2010

The Final Week :(

This week was pretty laid back compared with the last. There were two mission teams in the mountains, but several of us stayed behind at the house. I did not do anything “exciting” this week (cooking, pulling weeds, dishes) but there were still lessons to be learned about finding God in the everyday activities. It is interesting that He had to bring me to another country in order to learn those lessons.

On a different note, I am starting to prepare to wrap up my time here. Next Thursday I will be heading home. I have mixed feelings. On one hand, I am excited to see my family, but on the other, I will be sad to leave this community. Also, negative aspects of American culture that filter into the mountain villages and our barrio (neighborhood) are frustrating enough. The remote aldeas without electricity and TV have a certain innocent joy and natural virtue. I don’t really want to face the fullness of American consumerism and individualism, but ready or not, here I come.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Christ is Found Everywhere

Sorry I have not been able to write for a while. We had the week of mountain mission that I already wrote about, a week to regroup and help with multiple parish events, and then I was gone for another week. This time I was on a team that went to Kukinka, Musula, and three other small aldeas. It was kind of crazy because I did not know that I was on the team until the last minute.

This mission was somewhat more intense than the last. We had to ride the bus to get there, there was no electricity, and we had to walk a couple of hours each day to visit nearby (and not so nearby) aldeas. Again, we had programs for kids, youth, and adults each day, sometimes multiple times in one day because we went to more than one aldea. We also visited families in the parish, especially those who were sick.

I was surprised the entire week by the many places where I found Christ. These aldeas are some of the most difficult. They are isolated and lack basic faith formation. But Christ is still there and His presence was so tangible. In a 98-year-old blind and nearly deaf grandmother, in the strength to get up the next hill, in the simplicity of a people who have never watched a TV, in the joy and generosity of a family that has suffered so much from the loss of a daughter.

All-in-all this mission was more difficult than the last, physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally but it turned out really well. Now we have a high school youth group here and are preparing to take them to a nearby aldea next week.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

La gente es muy generosa.

Last week was spent at an aldea in the mountains called Las Majadas. Each day we put on a child, youth, and adult program for the people of the church there. In this way, it was kind of like vacation Bible school, only in Spanish.

One of the things that really amazed me was the generosity of the people. They have absolutely nothing by American standards and live with the reality that if something happens, they will loose all that they do have. For example, a little boy almost broke his leg while we were in the aldea. If he had, it would have meant that his family would have had to pay a month’s worth of wages just to get to the city to visit a doctor. The people really do have nothing, but they give their all. They fed us chicken (which pretty much only happens on Christmas). The delegate (person in charge of the parish while the priest is absent) did not work for an entire week. The delegate’s children gave up their mattresses so we had something to sleep on without prompting from their parents. I felt unworthy of such generosity.

Friday, July 2, 2010

"There is nothing small in the service of God"

This was a great though somewhat difficult week. God decided it was a good time to teach me some lessons about humility, surrender, and selflessness that are important for everyone to learn, but especially for missionaries.

Most of last week was spent preparing for the mountain missions this coming week. We will be going to five different aldeas with about seven people at each aldea doing five days worth of programming for children, youth, and families. These aldeas are known to be some of the most difficult in the diocese partly because they are so isolated. They are poor and the people only are able to go to Mass once or twice a year because the priest has over a hundred parishes. Please keep us in your prayers that God’s will may be done through us and that we will reflect the love of Christ always. Also, pray that Honduran youth will have the grace of exploring their vocation and responding to whatever God calls them to because there is such a shortage of priests, religious, and holy families here. Thanks.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Another Week

Well, it's my first week back from language school and we have done a lot of different things. Some of the highlights are as follows.
  • Sunday I had to wash my clothes and I am not going to complain about doing it in a washing machine ever again. Then a couple of us went to a youth group that Francisco leads and though I was not much help, I had a good time.
  • Monday is the day of cleaning and it really is a challenge to make a chore into a prayer. We also had a goodbye party for Kristan who was finishing up her time here. I am of the opinion that Hondurans know how to have a great party (with a ton of food).
  • Tuesday was a laid back day. I helped out in the library tutoring kids in the scholarship program.
  • Wednesday was an amazing day because I saw so many little and profoundly beautiful things. For example, in the morning I got to talk with a family that stopped by the mission house. It was a mother and her three children. They clearly had absolutely nothing. In fact the mother, who looked old beyond her years, appeared as if she would crumble into dust before my eyes. But when she smiled, her face looked young and full of life again. The oldest son was probably about eleven and was quite outgoing (and an amazing artist). Then there was a seven-year-old girl who was just adorable in her old pink jumper. The youngest was a girl who was probably about four and just seemed to be taking everything in. As I said, they had nothing, but their faith was amazing and so inspiring. As the mother told me 'I have nothing but God.' One cannot see so many beautiful things and remain unaffected. That night we also had a birthday party for Carol (the community leader).
  • Thursday I ended up helping to plan a retreat we were doing for a local Catholic high school. It is very humbling to take a background job for the retreat and it is probably good for me. I simply cannot share my 'big ideas' or be in the spotlight. Instead, I got to do small tasks and lift the retreat up in prayer. That evening we had yet another party at a home for girls who have been taken out of bad home situations. They were so beautiful in their simple joy even though they have suffered so much.
  • Today we had the retreat which turned out well even though the planning was really last-minute. Please keep those youth in your prayers. Then there was a fùtbol game between Honduras and I think Germany. Crazy!
Anyway, until next time, God bless!

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Clase, Misa, Aldeas, Oh My!

These last two weeks I have been at a language school outside of Tegucigalpa. It has been a good experience learning to speak Spanish better, though it is very frustrated to recognize that I knew how at one point and then managed to forget.

The people here are absolutely incredible and we have been going to different activities with them almost every night. Baby showers, birthday parties, parish get-togethers etc. The local priest also took us to some of the aldeas (little villages) for Mass.

Going to Mass here makes me appreciate this tremendous gift so much more. Many of the parishes in the aldeas only celebrate Mass once a month and people will walk hours on difficult terrain to get there. There are so few priests here (Padre Danielo has 20 parishes) that even that larger towns are lucky to have Mass once a week.

In America we often times have the tremendous privilege of going to Mass and receiving the Eucharist more than once a week but  there are so many little excuses we make to not go. I am just as guilty as the next person of taking the Eucharist for granted , but it needs to stop. As Catholics we believe the the Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith, nothing less than the Body and Blood of Christ.

The people here hunger for Christ, they know how important it is and will literally hike up mountains to get to Mass. Why do we, who often have the opportunity to go the Mass every day, not have this same conviction? What would have happened if the early Christians did not have this same conviction? The answer is somewhat scary because it carries implications for our own times.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Hello from Honduras

Hello everyone. I am finally here after much traveling. This is a beautiful country with amazing people. Unfortunately, the language barrier presents some difficulty. It is then that you realize the importance of a smile or a kind act because these speak volumes in any culture.

One of the first things I noticed on the three hour drive from the airport to Comayagua (other than the heat) was poverty. People lived in tiny run-down homes many of which didn't even have a proper door. We passed many walking or biking along the road because they have no cars. Virtually no one has hot water and I strongly suspect some people don't have running water at all. It is sad, but also seems somewhat surreal.

The strange thing is that the poverty and Honduran culture is right next to things like Pizza Hut and a mall. We stopped by the mall to exchange money at a bank there when we were in town today and it just felt awkward to be back in something so American. It just didn't feel right to be there because we are supposed to be living in solidarity with the poor, or at the very least experiencing Honduras culture. I really don't feel like the American consumer culture is helping anyone here.

I am looking forward to going to language school next week. I also hear that we might get play with the children at a home for children with AIDS run by the Missionaries of Charity tomorrow.

Hope everything is well back in the states. I'll write more when I can since I don't know if I will have access to a computer when I am at the school.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Mañana

Tomorrow evening I fly out to go to Honduras. I am very excited though also a bit nervous. I have never truly been out of the country before (Canada doesn't count). I just know that I will be stretched out of my comfort zone and will hopefully grow a lot.

Our group has been working through reflections based on the encyclical Redemptoris Missio, or “Mission of the Redeemer." One of the excerpts we read was about how "a people's development does not derive primarily from money, material assistance or technological means" though these things are very important. It is also important that a person doing mission work "fosters the recognition of each person's dignity, encourages solidarity, commitment and service of one's neighbor, and gives everyone a place in God's plan, which is the building of his kingdom of peace and justice, beginning already in this life." Basically, we are more than the sum of our material comforts. We are nothing less than beloved children of God. I hope that in Honduras I will be able to live this reality in what I do and how I serve others.

Please pray that we will be able to serve the Lord in whatever way He has called us here to serve. I will try to update this blog when I can to keep everyone posted.

One week...

Well, I have one week left until I leave. I am quite excited, though of course, a bit nervous. I have much to do, and not just the packing, practicing Spanish, visiting friends type of things. It is more important that I be preparing spiritually too, because that it the reason I am going in the first place.

Here are some details about my trip. I will be leaving May 31 and getting home Aug 5. While in Honduras I will be living and working with an organization called the Missioners of Christ. There are four of us going, but we will be joining several people serving for longer periods and also local Hondurans.

I have been thinking a lot about what I am going to do and why. The answer is quite simple, I do not know exactly what I will be doing in Honduras but I go because I feel that I have been called there. I don't know what God wants to do with these ten weeks and I am trying to be open to whatever His plans are instead of making lists in my mind of how I want to grow and what I want to experience. One thing is for sure: it will be an interesting summer!

Monday, May 17, 2010

Hello!

Hello everyone. I am just testing out this blogging program right now, but later I will be using this to post updates of my summer in Honduras.