After Seven Weeks

November 14, 2003
Las Mangas, Honduras

Dear friends and family,

Greetings from Central America. After seven weeks in Honduras, we have a great deal to be thankful for concerning the Lord’s provision to us thus far, and much to share concerning the direction we are headed in the next couple of months.

When we first arrived to Honduras, we anticipated four intense weeks of language-learning in the city of La Ceiba. In the back of all of our minds was the thought that at the end of these four weeks we would be essentially fluent and able to hold long discourses with our Honduran neighbors. Any of you who have sought to learn another language before can laugh alongside us: these expectations were far from achieved. However, we did learn a great deal of Spanish. Now that we have the book knowledge, we hope to watch it unfold and develop as we carry on daily exchanges.

We were blessed to live in the house of Petra, a Christian woman, during our four weeks of language school. On several different occasions we were able to have lengthy conversations concerning the disciplines of the Christian faith and the difference between the Spirit and the law – something she feels is easily confused in these parts. Petra was the fragrance of Christ to us by the way she prayed and cared for Kelly while she was sick with amoebas. When the time came to leave her home she bid us farewell as her hermanos en Jesus (brother and sister in Christ).

It has been three weeks now since we moved ourselves up to Las Mangas and into “El Campamento” (the campus) as they call it here, and we are very glad to be here. We didn’t realize how fast and frenzied La Ceiba felt until we had lived in Las Mangas for a while. Tranquillity seems to reign here, as our lives adjust to the rhythms of the river valley: people walking slowly and saying good day to folks they pass; the noise of familiar hymns sung with unusual gusto at the church next door four times a week; the constant roar of the Congrejal in the distance; the daily tasks of washing, preparing meals, and growing things.

We have been awash in these peaceful ways for the last three weeks, spending time helping out with English classes at the secondary school down the road in Rio Viejo, visiting families, working with nearby farmers, tending to our chores at the campus, and a lot of reading, reflecting, talking and praying. God’s mercy is real to us in these things, and we are grateful.

But we are also increasingly aware that all is not at at peace here. We understand that few families in these parts have been spared the violence of murder. Absentee mothers and fathers are common. Alcoholism is a problem, and there is plenty of lying, cheating, and stealing.

And we have our own problems. The change in circumstances has not changed the sin in our hearts. We get mad at each other; we feel lazy and miserly; we struggle to be content with what God puts before us.

However, above all we are learning as Thomas Merton writes in Life and Holiness “the meaning and import of [the Holy Spirit’s] intimate closeness to us,” learning to “be more attuned to that secret, inward ‘inclination of the Spirit which is life and peace’ (Romans 8:5).” And so we believe our calling for our next few months in Honduras is clear.

We plan to be teaching six classes of English at Instituto del Rey (The King’s Institute) the secondary school in Rio Viejo. We have had a lot of opportunity to get to know the life and work of the school, which was started three years ago by Earl and Sharon Washburn of Washington state. This year they had 85 students, mostly 13-20 year olds from the river valley area, and next year expect to have 130. It is one of only two secondary schools in the area and the only Christian school, and is apparently developing a very solid reputation for its academics. We will be taking over English classes for our friend Peter, who taught five classes this year, and also helping to develop a full five-year English curriculum.

As you might remember, we arrived in Honduras not knowing what we would be doing, only wanting to serve wherever we could and to grow in our marriage. But now it seems that the path had been laid out for us from the beginning. I believe it was.

One, we spent our last six months in Chattanooga teaching English as a second language (ESL) to Guatemalan immigrants, which gave us a chance to experiment with different learning tools and start gathering ideas for curriculum. Two, we have talked a lot in our first nine months of marriage about teaching as a vocational pull on both of our lives. Three, we will have the freedom here to plan and teach together – an opportunity that is as rare as it is valuable. Four, Instituto del Rey needs teachers, especially those who don’t require a salary, and it gives us a specific and useful role in the lives of our neighbors. And since it is a Christian school, we are encouraged to integrate our faith into our classes in any way we can.

Our commitment to the school requires a little more time here than we originally anticipated since the school year runs from February to November. But it will also allow us to be home for Thanksgiving next year. It also means a more structured schedule than we imagined, since the school day goes from 7:30 to 2:15 everyday, with a 45-minute commute by bus from Las Mangas. But we are thankful for this, too, as it will give us a specific task to do and help to grow in us certain virtues like discipline and self-control.

So our work here will be teaching. We have also committed to live here in Las Mangas with Joe and Rachel, our friend Larry Smoak, and Chris Struna, another longtime friend of Las Mangas who will be working at the secondary school next year as well. This means participating in life together with the four of them, something we have hoped to do all along; it also means paying $500 a month into the Las Mangas fund at the Tabernacle Church in Melbourne, Florida. This money covers all our living expenses here and is also an investment into future needs of the facilities here (such as a new refrigerator, possibly very soon). We have $6000 right now, which is enough to stay through next November, and all we lack is the money for plane tickets back to the States. However, we found a great deal to get here, and we’re keeping our eyes out for more of the same. We are confident that God will provide what we need, as he has again and again.

Entonces, for the next few months we will be working on a curriculum and syllabus for five years of English classes. We hope to visit families in the area and continue our relationship with Rubenia and Ramirez and family. Tom is looking forward to learning more about farming from friends in the area, and carpentry from a fellow missionary. You can pray with us that this would be a good time of preparation, not only for our classes but also for our hearts – that they would be made humble and Christlike and loving toward the students. Pray also that we would continue to grow together in making decisions in trust and following through in faith – something we have struggled with in the past. Pray for Ramirez because his heart has been giving him problems, which makes it hard for him to do the agricultural work like he needs to. And pray for growth in friendship with Joe and Rachel. It’s been a blessing to be here with them learning from them and working with them.

It’s been great to hear from you all from time to time. Please let us know what’s going on in your worlds and how we can be remembering you before the Father.