It’s been a while since I last wrote but this month my team and I have spent in the beautiful mountains of Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
We are serving at a Spanish/English school known as Loyalty School. This school is run by Roger (our ministry host) and his wife Corey. They have help from Roger’s sister, Roxanna and another teacher that is currently out with a broken leg. There are around 50 students at this school and only these 4 teachers. In addition to running the school, Roger is also a full-time pastor so our team has come in this month to teach the classes and try to give Roger and his wife time to breath and catch up on other work.
There are 4 different classrooms here at Loyalty School. Lydia and I took charge of the Kindergarten class where there are only 7 students but sometimes 2 of us still weren’t enough to control the. Next, Sarah and Gracie both tagged teamed the 1st and 2nd grade class room while Kelsey taught the 3rd, 4th and 5th graders and Jenny took the middle schoolers.
This month has been one of the most challenging but also my favorite on the race thus far.
Here is a list of the top 10 things I’ve learned this month in Honduras.
1. Teachers are Rockstars!
Seriously though… teachers are amazing. I loved the kiddos and our classroom and I miss them now that they are on Christmas break but sometimes they had me pulling my hair out. I learned that teachers are not given enough credit for their patience, self-control and dedication. Every day when we were finally able to sit down during our lunch break, I was exhausted! And then we had to go into lesson planning for the next day. Really, I love kids but I was quickly reminded why I did not go into early childhood education during college. I have the utmost respect for all the teachers out there.
2. Patience is Something I Need to Work On.
Patience is always something that I thought I didn’t need work in but this month proved me wrong in that big time. My patience ran thin when our kiddos were running around not listening to us and then there was our student Hector…. Oh, Hector… We should have known we were in for some rough moments when the first words Roger said about the Kindergarten class was “Oh, Hector”. Let’s just say Hector’s attention span ran short and most days he needed extra grace and love. Some days our classroom with Hector was like a scene from a movie… chairs flipped over, posters ripped off the walls, books thrown all over the floor and a kicking and screaming Hector in my arms. I would like to tell you I handled these moments with love and grace but no I raised my voice A LOT and showed all of my frustration. Some moments I was particularly grateful for the language barrier because there were words that left my mouth that shouldn’t have…
3. The Top Bunk is Not Always the Safest from Unwanted Critters.
The past two months, when walking into our sleeping situations, I have opted for a top bunk. I did this strategically thinking, “bugs and scorpions are always found closer to the ground where its colder and darker. LOL… wrong! I found out that scorpions love the top bunks as do other grasshopper-looking-jumpy-bugs-the-size-of- your-index-finger-with-huge-antennas (I’m still not quite sure what these were)…. Don’t worry. Video footage will be coming soon.
4. Feedback doesn’t have to be a Scary and Negative Concept.
Something that Adventures in Missions puts an emphasis on while on the race is giving and receiving feedback. This is something that our team has been brushing under the rug because none of us want to give each other feedback in fear that we may hurt each other’s feelings or step on each other’s toes but this month our team decided to do what we call “Super Feedback” where everyone gives every person on the team a constructive criticism and a praise. This was such a great thing for our team. We each learned how to give feedback in a loving, kingdom-like way and how to receive feedback in a healthy way. Our team grew stronger and closer together as a result from this and we each learned blind spots about ourselves that otherwise we would never know we needed to work on.
5. Hot Showers are a Beautiful Thing.
One of the things I miss most is a nice, long hot shower. This is even more so apparent this month as we are in the mountains taking freezing cold showers in the dark. I had no idea I would miss a hot shower so much and how privileged we are that we can have that whenever we want back at home. This is a rarity for a lot of the world. In fact, I think I shed a tear when I was able to have a hot shower when we visited Roatan for the weekend during the beginning of the month.
6. Always have a Sermon in your Back Pocket
This was an unnerving lesson to learn. Last week, we visited a Pediatrics Hospital. We went with the plan to pray over the children and babies while passing out coffee and cookies to the families. When we got their we discovered that the hospital is a giant room where all of the children are in their beds and the doctors are going from bed to bed. No one is allowed in this room except for the patients and doctors so the families have to wait outside in the parking lot. Some are there for days so they have pillows and sleeping bags with them. Because we were not allowed to go inside to pray with the children, we decided to give a word on encouragement to the families waiting outside so Roger looks at each of us and says “You will preach for 5 minutes each.” Now 5 minutes doesn’t seem like a long time but if you know me at all, you know public speaking is a HUGE fear of mine and if I don’t have anything prepared then holy, moly are you trying to give me a panic attack!? So I asked God what He wanted to me to say to these families and He of course gave me the words but just in case for next time, I’m going to always have something prepared in my back pocket because you never know when you’re going to get told 3 minutes before having to speak.
7. Christmas in Honduras is Beautiful and Delicious
Christmas Eve is the big day of celebration in Central America. Everyone eats their way to midnight where they share big hugs, open gifts and everyone shoots off fireworks. Everywhere you look in the streets and on the skyline fireworks are going off. This goes on for hours so it’s not uncommon to stay up all night and sleep all day on Christmas Honduras also has a Christmas food tradition known as Torrejas and they are so good. Picture French Toast but without syrup and with more cinnamon and sogginess.
8. If you ask God for a Heart of Peace, He will Provide.
Ever since I first said “Yes” to the World Race, I knew that Christmas time would be the toughest season to be away from home and my family. Because of this I started praying weeks ago for a heart of peace over Christmas and to ease my sadness while being gone and you know what? God provided. Yes, this Christmas was not what I’m used to and I had to do without a lot of my favorite traditions but I was filled up with joy and peace which I know can only be from God because I love Christmas at home way too much to not be sad to miss it.
9. I Need to Get Better at Keeping up with my Blogs.
I know I’m terrible at keeping my blog updated. In fact, one of my friends called me out on it this week that I haven’t written in a while. I’ve never been a big writer but it’s something I want to be more intentional with from here on out even if it’s just a quick update.
10. Be Still and Content with Where God Has Me.
I’ve learned that the first week of every month is always is the hardest for me. That’s when everything is new. It’s a new country, a new living situation, new host family, and a new ministry. This is the time when I usually find myself counting down the weeks until I’m home or thinking about what I would be doing if I was at home, but then God reminded me that I would just be sitting at my desk at work doing the exact thing I needed a break from. No matter where you are the grass always seems greener on the other side but that’s simply just a distraction from the enemy. God has all of us right where he wants us in the season that he wants us. It’s our job to press into it and be aware of what God could be trying to show us or teach us.
