Natalie and I just created our own handmotions to Relient K’s “Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been”, completely in sync, completely on the spot. We’ve been hanging around Dr. Don too long. That or it’s just been a long day.
Yesterday was an off day in that we didn’t go anywhere—but we stayed around the house finishing up random projects that we’d started for Dr. Don. At night was Perspectives, the group hosted here on Monday nights for missionaries to discuss different articles on missions. It’s typically super interesting. They ask for our input but I never have anything of importance to say; I prefer to sit and listen to their insight. Last night Heidi brought up that she’d had a Bible study with some ladies and learned that only the Christians here are allowed to say “Dios le bendiga” (God bless you). This was something I didn’t know. Apparently this culture says that as a Christian you’re sort of supposed to say “Dios le bendiga” and if you say it to a Christian, they should respond with either the same or “Amen”. If you’re not a Christian, it’s like culturally unacceptable to say it. I had no idea! So interesting.
This morning we went to the school in Limeras (YES! Schools were FINALLY open!) and taught in two classes. When we pulled up to the school on the motorcycles, the classes started clapping and screaming. One of the missionaries here told us yesterday to be mindful of the fact that the people here see us as celebrities. We drive around on our fancy motorcycles and smile and wave and the people don’t see us as real people. It was definitely an interesting point to bring up. Our goal isn’t to like, be that typical gringo who brings freebies for all the little kids. Instead, we just want to be seen instead as catrachos. People that mix in well with the culture. People united in Christ. Tonight was a nice reminder of the idea of unity.
At tonight’s Alfa (youth group) meeting there were about 35 people gathered in the Rumbaugh’s living room singing together, and it really didn’t matter what language. I can’t really explain the feeling but it was peaceful and right. Then Dr. Don asked us to share in front of the group something we’d learned while being here. Let me tell you, trying to think of something worthwhile to say to a group of people my own age is difficult enough, but in Spanish!?! I tried my best to talk about that last verse in John, and about how huge God is and yet how He could love and care for sinners like us. I hope the things I said made sense. But, Natalie, Nancy (one of the Hondurans we’ve been able to hang out with), and Deybin all shared as well and it
was awesome. Deybin takes care of some of the missionaries’ lawns—he’s about 15 and he’s been begging us to teach us English since the minute we got here. So many people here have shared the Gospel with him but he just never grasped it. Not until last Sunday night, that is :). Since then, he’s seriously become totally different. He has this joy on his face and he now says “Dios le bendiga”, something Heidi said she’d NEVER heard him say before that. He shared his new testimony tonight with everyone here. He probably talked more than all of us. Probably the coolest part about what he said was along these lines: “I would read the Bilingual Bible all the time because I wanted to learn English, but I never paid attention to what the words meant. But then one day I understood it.” He continued to say how he like, prays for his parents every night so that they’ll believe too and how he just feels so different. What a cool testimony to hear. I’m sure there was much more to it, but again, Spanish understanding was limited. But it was an awesome time and a great blessing to all of us. This afternoon after our 4:00 class (Wow, glad my thought process is chronological), Natalie and I went up to the Fields’ house, missionaries that we’ve become good friends with—they are so hilarious. Dave is the head of IT at the hospital, and he and his wife Marinajo have two kids—Ben (7) and Mariah (12). They’ve been a big blessing to us and they invited us over for dinner tonight, along with another missionary family – the Tumlinsons. Dave kept asking us questions about our lives and what we want to do after college and stuff like that. Then somehow the topic of relationships came up and they had such insightful things to say. Then, at the dinner table, we got to talk about the ups and downs of living in Honduras and it was really neat to hear the perspectives of people who like, experience this. They talked about the challenges of the missionary life, how living far away from family and friends is so difficult, and yet if that’s where God’s called you, it would be disobedient to say no. It makes me wonder if this is something that I’m called to do with my life as well. But, for now I’ll rest in the fact that God will let me know eventually what I’m to do. We can put our trust in His plans because they are perfect.
Two more days left here at Loma de Luz. On Friday, Natalie, Amanda, and I will embark on our journey to San Pedro Sula, stay in an authentic Honduran hotel and fly out Saturday morning. Well… may these last two days be filled with joy and excitement as we get ready to begin a new phase of our summers.
Dios les bendiga,
Lauren
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