Hi everybody! It has been nearly two weeks since we’ve landed in Honduras and on Wednesday, Maddie and Anna will already be half way through their time here. Hard to believe! This past week has been filled with a lot! Thank you for thinking of us and praying for us.
For starters, Maddie’s elbow is 99.999% healed! A picture of her leaning on it to prove it (something she hasn’t been able to do at all this past week). 😍
On Tuesday last week, we went to the Market which was a very cool experience! It was obviously a very different culture than we’re used to. We enjoyed seeing the personal relationships Larry and Allison have built with the Hondurans they buy their local groceries from. They’ve spent a lot of time building these in order to be intentional with where they get their food. It was also just really fun to walk around, see the Carribean sea, and grab some ice cream out on the pier!
On Wednesday, Maddie, Anna, and I helped a friend of Larry and Allison’s, Calín, plant some trees. This was difficult. Not only were we planting on a mountain side, but it had been raining quite a bit the days beforehand so it was very muddy. We were slipping and sliding everywhere while trying to carry our digging tools and the trees to plant. While it was absolutely hilarious to watch each other completely eat it a few more times than we’d like to admit, we couldn’t help but realize that the farmers in this area have to do this by themselves, or with maybe one or two other people, and most of the time on a much steeper mountain side than we were on. They have to do this because, if they don’t, they won’t have food on the table. While we have been in awe of the beautiful mountains surrounding us, the people here don’t see them like that. They see them as another thing against them. Another obstacle to overcome in order to survive. There is no flat farm land for them to plant on so they have to turn to the mountains for their source of farm land. Larry has been teaching farmers here about different farming strategies and practices that use the land the way it is supposed to be used. He has shared with us a lot about the very complicated and difficult situations the farmers have and we’ve been trying to process that as we (minimally) experience it firsthand. There are many things these farmers could be doing differently, but most of them lack the knowledge or burn the land to get rid of the forage in their way so it is easier to plant on a steep mountain side. This, unfortunately, is a short term solution with long term negative effects. So, with non-eco friendly practices, it is nearly impossible to keep their land fertile, as God intended. I am grateful for Larry sharing with us experiences he has had and am looking forward to sharing these experiences with my students in my classroom someday.
On another note, we have loved living alongside our friend, Amy! She has so much wisdom to share. On Thursday, Maddie, Anna, and I went with Amy to visit girls who are a part of her discipleship group, which she started about a month ago. Amy visits them at their homes to talk, hang out, and is in the process of teaching math and reading one-on-one to some of them, too. These girls are from El Naranjo (a community about a mile down the road from us) and are around the ages of 11, 12, or 13, some a little older. About half of them are going to keep studying after finishing 6th grade, about half are not. She wanted to create a space to talk about Jesus and a space for them to build a relationship with him. They’re about to face or already facing (those who are done with school) the “What’s happening next?” question and Amy doesn’t want these girls to go through the challenges, that come with figuring out what’s next, alone. I love her heart for Jesus and, because of that, her heart for this age group of girls specifically!
On Friday night, we went with our church into La Ceiba to serve dinner to people in the streets. The long bus ride into town was a good time to get to know the head pastor at Healing Place. He’s originally from Louisiana and we loved hearing stories he had to share. While we went into town on Tuesday, it was different to see La Ceiba at night and an honor to serve those who needed dinner that night.
On Sunday, Maddie, Anna, Byron, Amy, Adolpho, and I went swimming up the river where there’s a bridge and a bunch of big rocks to jump off of. Adolpho’s brother happened to be at the bridge when we got there with his harnesses and rope, sending people off the bridge down into the water. Sooooo, when we were asked if we wanted to do it too we obviously said yes! The pictures don’t do justice how beautiful of a spot it was. Ginormous rocks, mountains surrounding us, and a ton of green with beautiful blue water.
Today, Maddie, Anna, and I replaced a window screen in the hammock porch. It took us much longer than it should have, but we had a lot of good laughs. I love doing the daily things with them, it has been super fun getting to know each other better.
I have learned a lot from Larry and Allison just by the way they do things here. So much of the way they live resembles the Kingdom of God. And none of it is by coincidence! Their compost from their kitchen, their rabbits, and their compost latrine all give them fertilizer for their soil. All of the plants they grow (on the mountain side and just around campus) give them food for their table. For example, when we make salad for lunch and dinner, we grab katuk from their katuk plant. They also grow what is considered to be a superfood, maringa, right outside their kitchen door, and put it in salad or blend it and make it into a drink, or put it in their tortillas. They buy their milk, eggs, and chicken locally from their neighbors. They live among their neighbors and live like them. Some might think Larry and Allison are making themselves suffer by how they choose to live. I disagree. If they had a nice big home, had a great big fence around their home for protection, and lived a U.S. lifestyle in the middle of Las Mangas, how welcoming would that be for their neighbors? How would they be able to tell their neighbors that Jesus is enough when the way they are living is telling their neighbors the opposite? How could they relate to them? This is something I’ve been learning a lot from! Within campus, too, it has been really cool to learn more about community. Living in community with one another in another country with people we didn’t know well at all (besides Larry) before even coming is a testimony to the people living around us of God and the power of His name! That we would even consider coming here to live in a place so unknown to us for a while. Surely only this kind of community can point back to God and give Him the glory He deserves.
The topic of our meetings/discussions have been on the Kingdom of God. Where is it? What does it look like? How do you know if you’re in it? What kind of role does the Holy Spirit play in it? With that, what does it look like to act justly and love mercy and walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8)? Which has led us into talking about inner healing, sanctification, and spiritual disciplines, the topic for these next couple of days. Just a couple of light topics!! Nothing too heavy.😉 I love our study/prayer/mediation time. Especially in the study where the windows overlook the river and the mountains. I will miss that spot a lot when I come back home! Until then, we’ve got plenty of reading we can do in plenty of quiet spaces.
I have recently been overwhelmed with the amount of grace God has extended to me over the course of my whole life as I journey through it with Him… and I’m finding freedom in knowing that I’ll never get to the ends of Him. I’m also finding freedom in knowing that He has limitless love and grace to extend to me while I live to try my best to glorify Him. Below is a picture of two prayers that Allison gave us that I LOVE and have been praying frequently.
Side note: We love the Smoak’s dogs, Hazel and Cleetus (pictured below). 😊
Prayer requests we have: (1) Stay in good health. (2) We have a race on Saturday that Larry and Allison do every year in the community! It’s a two mile race; a fun event and great opportunity to share about Jesus. Prayer that God would use us and the event as a whole in a way to speak to the people who come! (3) Joel’s (pictured below) health. He battles seizures and we would love you to join us in prayer that God would completely heal him from them! (4) God’s role in the kids group we go to every Thursday and have here on Saturday’s and for Amy’s girl’s discipleship group! Pray that the enemy would have no place in any of those places that might distract anyone from hearing God’s word.
I’m sorry if this blog is kind of all over the place.😅 I feel like there is so much more to share, but this is the majority of it!
Again, thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers! We are so grateful! God is good. I will try to keep these updates coming weekly or bi-weekly! Feel free to send us prayer requests you have. We would love to be praying for you.
Emma
Honduras 2020 