Over the past month my team and I lived and worked with full-time missionaries David and Scarlet Jones at their house in Valle de Angeles, Honduras . Our time serving with David and Scarlet and their Hope at Hand ministry has been an amazing introduction to what I hope will be an impactful year of international missions work. As we wrap up our time here I have collected below some of my favorite, most challenging, and most surprising experiences with Honduras’ culture and our ministry efforts.
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Honduras – Country & Culture
Summary – Valle de Angeles, Honduras has been exciting and edifying host city for my team’s first month outside the States. Upon arrival, we were instantly captivated by the city’s picturesque natural landscape. The valley is framed by the Sierra Madre mountains extending south from Mexico to create a beautiful backdrop and amazing year-round weather. The social landscape of the local Honduran communities has likewise been intriguing. The family’s we interacted with promoted a family-first, highly relational culture. This has been both refreshing and challenging for me, as it contrasts significantly with the East Coast’s productivity-driven culture I’ve become accustomed to.
Best Part – Two-way tie – the weather and coffee. The weather in the Valley is amazing, on a yearly basis it averages 70’s during the day and 60’s at night, often with low humidity. The coffee here is also friggin awesome. Aided by high altitude and fertile soil, the locally grown coffee is some of the cheapest and best I’ve ever tasted.
Biggest Surprise – Not to sound like a finance nerd, but the biggest surprise had to be the prices of different consumer goods. As one may expect, a lot of commodities are cheaper here in Honduras, including eggs, milk, corn, clothing, etc. At the same time, other goods are exceedingly more expensive. Cars and trucks are often 25%-50% more expensive than those in America. Also – on a more basic level, soccer balls will often cost you around $50 USD instead of $5 from your neighborhood Walmart. A lot of the economics that drive this discrepancy are far over my head, more than anything it was just surprising to learn that people in Central America experience a significantly higher cost of living (for certain goods) coupled with a lower average income.
Biggest Challenge – The inconsistent infrastructure, including public utilities and services. As a caveat – my team was blessed to live with hosts in a middle-class community which contained running water and power, luxuries that many Hondurans do without on a regular basis. In spite of this our house would experience frequent water shortages and power outages. On somewhat of similar note public services for animal control are pretty non-existent, which means dogs are everywhere, although they are pretty friendly for the most part. Needless to say, these “challenges” are very much a reflection of my pampered western expectations.
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Ministry – Hope at Hand
Summary – David and Scarlet Jones started Hope at Hand shortly before they got hitched about 6 years ago. On a daily basis we helped David & Scarlet deliver breakfast and morning message to 2 targeted schools high in the neighboring mountains. David & Scarlet intentionally target these mountain schools as they had previously gone under supported due to their lack of public visibility. In addition to their lack of public support, the families living in these remote areas often experience greater levels material poverty.
Biggest Surprise – The presence of fringe Christian cults. 7th Day Adventists and Jehova Witness buildings are very common around Honduras which is something I was not expecting, nor I am I familiar with.
Biggest Challenge – Physically getting to the Children. During most of our stay our Host’s truck wasn’t been working, so finding a way to reach the children on a daily basis was an adventure in itself. On days weren’t able to snag a ride from a neighbor, or hitchhike with a friendly villager, we would make the 8 mile trek up the mountain with breakfast strapped to our backs. While it was more tiring than driving, I loved hiking as it provided great team building time as well as an opportunity to snag some pictures of the surrounding countryside:
Best Part – The kid’s passion and gratefulness. The kids we interacted with on a daily basis were unbelievably grateful, respectful and passionate. When we served breakfast the boys would help serve the girls first and everyone would ensure that they each kid received food. I have also never seen children or adults wear out their Bibles the way these kids did. Their thirst for the Word was inspirational as well as contagious.
Thanks for everyone’s support and please keep an eye out for upcoming Blogs from Guatemala!
Best,
Jed
