My Honduran Family

My family is awesome! My four year old sister, Genesis, is a kick in the pants, and the queen of the house! We have fun coloring together, and sometime I do her hair in braids. Technically she is my niece, but I just call her my sister. Last weekend we went to the pool which was a bunch of fun…I think I need to learn more Spanish words about the pool and pool games, to be able to explain to her what I mean when I say “Okay, now jump into the pool, don’t worry, I’ll catch you!” My mama is also very kind; a devoted evangelical Christian. She prays over me every time I eat, and is constantly making sure I’m well taken care of. She speaks some English, which is very helpful when I can’t remember a word in Spanish in the middle of a sentence J My papa is very kind, as well. He found out that I liked avocados, and he keeps buying them at the market for me. He is willing to drop anything for a half Spanglished (Spanish and English) conversation with me. Genesis’s parents live in an apartment behind our house, and often my sister Dianne comes in to chat with me. This is where I get most of my Spanish grammar lessons, and where I also in return give English lessons. It’s fun :)


Tegucigalpa is a fun city…I feel as if there are many discoveries to be made and adventures to be had there. Last weekend I went to the market with some friends; what an experience! I haven’t been taking my camera around because we’ve been told that it’s not very safe to take it with. Next time I think I should bring it with, because the scenes there are hard to describe in words. The multitudes of people, the miles and miles stretch of just venders selling clothes, food, flowers, and pirated movies. It was so much fun, and I gave into buying a pair of beautiful purple sandals. I couldn’t resist, they were only 5 dollars, and I really needed a pair of sandals for class!


And yes, the Spanish is definitely improving 100X every day…I ended up taking a 300 level culture class after not having a formal Spanish class in 3 years! But it is going well, I’m learning a lot. Things will be easier after February is over because then we will only have Spanish class 2 or 3 days a week…where now we have it 5 days a week. The development classes are also going very well, too. Kurt and Jo Ann (program directors) are great teachers and mentors. They opened up their house to us, and it just feels like home, even after only being there once!


The group is also doing well, minus a few people getting sick. Most everyone is feeling better now, though, thanks be to God! I think we are starting to get to know each other better, and we have really good discussions together. The classroom setting is always open for questions and clarifications, which I appreciate a lot.

Perspective

These words by Bishop Ken Untener greeted our class this morning:
A prayer
It helps, now and then, to step back
And take a long view.

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
It is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction
Of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying
That the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
Knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.,
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation
In realizing that. This enables us to do something,
And to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
An opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference
Between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
Amen.

Siguatapeque and Rural Honduras: A Sampler Platter of Baby Steps in Kingdom Work

This brings us to the first weekend in Honduras. The group, along with Kurt and Jo Ann and their family, went to Siguatapeque, which is in a more rural area of Honduras. Following is a reflection journal I wrote…it’s a little long, but at least skim the good parts :)

Our trip to Siguatapeque; what a blast! Cerro de Luz (name of the location we stayed at) was so much fun in respect to the team building that took place. The trip there was lovely, getting to know Noah and Anna a bit more. Upon arrival Melissa, Liz, Kurt, and myself made a fearless, risk-taking team…little did we know that we were destined for falling! On a high ropes course about 30 feet in the air, our poor bodies endured three traumatic falls; many sustaining injuries, some even with blood (only a little)! We were determined, and didn’t give up, and in the process found out more about each other and what each of our personalities was like. Our favorite line from this adventure was: “I just have a really long femur!” –Melissa said while trying to climb straight up a log about 10 feet in the air. I think we came as friends/acquaintances and left as family :)

But more importantly is what I learned during this activity is team work, and how working together was vital to accomplish any given task on the high ropes. We searched and found each other’s strengths as we went through the intense moments of balance, strategy, success, and a little bit of failure. A big take away from all of this for me was that we are given others in our life to help us, encourage us along the way, and that is good. But we can’t forget that we will always need our “safety rope”, God, to catch us when all else is unstable.

Afterward we did “The Leap of Faith” which entailed first climbing up a 20 ft. high log, then standing upright on top and jumping, yes jumping, reaching out into the thin air simply to try to grab a trapeze bar. This task was very difficult…it was more about the jumping part than it was about the catching on to the trapeze part. The lesson here that I took away is that God will take care of us when do “leaps of faith” in his name. In order to do this jump, we need to have confidence that God will keep us safe. We can have confidence in the almighty even amidst paralyzing fear and scary circumstances.

Another highlight of Saturday and Sunday was Life Stories, where we each went around telling a 10 minute summary of who we are and how we got to be where we are now. There were many shaping moments, and I believe our group became much closer because of it.

A Sampler Platter of Baby Steps in Kingdom Work

After a magnificent hike to a waterfall in rural Honduras, our group proceeded to visit different projects put on by Global Village. Following are the places we visited and my initial take-aways:

Youth Program: ABC prevention is a well rounded approach to prevention/meeting the individuals where they are at. They used the verse from 1 Tim.=don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young. Good reminder that even here in Honduras we can be role models in thoughts, words, and actions.

Health Clinic: The biggest problems they have are diarrhea, skin problems, and respiratory problems, caused by the pollution. Also, there are many who get HIV AIDS, but the retroviruses cost about 6 months’ salary for the families, making it next to impossible for those who are sick to access medicine and treatment. On the other hand, something that is going really well for the health clinic in the community we visited is that they have started a system where all the babies are weighed and monitored closely till they are two years old. There are vitamins and shots available to the babies, as long as the mother desires that the baby receive them. Also, about 80% of the women give birth to their babies in hospitals; which is a fairly good percentage.

Farms with pigs and chickens and fish: We visited a few farms to see the agriculture side of rural Honduras, and what Global Missions was doing there. I thought it was really neat that in order for the projects to succeed, many from the community needed to be involved, and the wealth was spread around. In order for one family to pay off the loan for the animals, the babies of their animals needed to be given to someone else in the community.

I can’t help but think that walking through some of the areas of rural Honduras are similar to the Garden of Eden. There was a few times where I thought heaven was going to be just around the corner.

HONDURAS: the first days

Hello!

Welcome to my blog! My name is Elizabeth Brouwer, but I go by many names. Some call me Leesha, some Liesje, some Elle, and many just call me Gringa. Following there will be tales of adventures, interesting foods, new friendships, crazy trips, development, and many words about culture…all taking place in Honduras! I am here in Tegucigalpa for 4 months, and I thought this would be a nice way to let you all know what I’m doing while I’m away. So here it goes…my first blog!

Thus far on the journey, I (along with my classmates) have:

-traveled from Grand Rapids, MI to the Detroit airport, from Detroit to Fort Lauderdale, FL, from Fort Lauderdale to San Pedro Sula, Honduras. From San Pedro Sula we drove 5 hours to Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. All this took approximately 36 (or so) hours! Exactly when our tired feet touched the ground in Tegucigalpa, our host families swept us home in a whirl wind of new people to meet, new Spanish words to understand, and new food to eat upon our arrival at our homes. WOW!

-The next morning was the first day of class, starting at 8:30am. Jet lagged and exhausted, we talked more about what this semester in Honduras would look like. Kurt and Jo Ann Verbeek are our fearless leaders; they’ve resided in Honduras for about 20 years…pretty much some of the greatest people I’ve ever met! We then went and explored the city with our new Spanish teachers…we were all very glad they were with us on the crazy/adventurous bus trip!
-Scavenger hunt+Tegucigalpa+2 friends=great time! We broke into small groups and took off! My group was assigned to look for a certain statue, buy a stamp at the post office, and then navigate our way to a bank. What an adventure on the second day! After that, we went to AJS, a really cool organization that Kurt and Jo Ann work/volunteer for. The biggest thing I learned on this day was that Hondurans are very kind and patient when it comes to directions J Broken Spanish, a nice smile, and 3 Limpira (20 L.=$1 US) will get you where you need to go.

I am doing very well here in Honduras, after a few minor bumps in the beginning. The first night I ate meat for the first time in many many months, didn’t know where the water was, couldn’t get the bathroom door to stay closed, and forgot about the time change and got up approximately 2 hours early! Haha, it was an adventure!

And I made it.

More to come later!