Welcome to Honduras!

We arrived in La Ceiba on Tuesday.  It is wonderful to finally be here with our team, staying in our teammates’ home and getting to know our new city.  Everyone is healthy and happy.

*If you are my parents, my grandparents or my in-laws, stop reading now.

We were burglarized Tuesday.

Our boss, Mike picked us up from the airport and brought us to the home of some teammates where will stay for the next couple of months while they are on furlough in the U.S.  As we got settled in the house we began to notice evidence of burglary.  Someone had broken into a large storage container in the backyard, they cut the screen on an enclosed patio to dig through some footlockers, and then they cut away PVC pipe to get at the water pump.  Thankfully, they weren’t very successful.  The storage container was securely locked on both sides so the lid couldn’t fully open, preventing them from taking all but the smallest items, the footlockers were already empty, and we must have arrived while they were attempting to take the water pump because they abandoned the job in a hurry.

The next day they came back.

We were away from the house, having dinner with our team and a short-term team visiting from the U.S.  When we returned home, Michelle thought the hole in the patio screen looked bigger.  Sure enough, the next morning we found that they had dug through the storage container a second time and had checked the footlockers again.  They also moved the cover off of the water pump but since it had been completely repaired they didn’t bother trying to cut it out again.

Being burglarized our first TWO days in Honduras might have tempted us to call it quits if it hadn’t been for a few things:

1.  Our team responded.

They didn’t marginalize the situation but came to our defense in a big way.

Our boss hounded the property management company to repair the water pump damage and had our water back up and running in a day and a half (oh yeah, we were without water our first day and a half in Honduras).  This is really quite amazing because in Honduras it would usually take several days to get this repaired.  After the second burglary, Mike arranged to have guards at the home 24 hours a day to send a message to these thieves and to make us feel secure.

Our teammates who rent the home contacted us from the U.S. to apologize to US for having to go through the experience.  They also arranged to change all the exterior locks on the home.

The rest of our teammates have all been supportive, compassionate, and loving through this.

2.  We expected this.

We didn’t expect something to happen our first hour in country but we knew this was possible.

Honduras is known for crime.  We have been preparing for the worst in coming here.

3.  This is why we are here.

People are in need.  And the thing that they need most is the best thing we are able to share.  Jesus.

I have been forgiven much.  And for this, I am able to forgive and even love those that sin against me.

-Adam

Raisin' Cains

The first thing I looked up on Google maps when we knew where we were moving to San Jose, was the location of the nearest hospital.  In all honesty, I looked it up for Asher who was then only 10 months but already showing signs of thrill-seeking.  Today, Jacob won the race and was the first child in need of stitches.  I knew the day was coming.  I thought I was ready.

I was sitting in my grammar class in a post-test haze when the secretary of the preschool knocked and requested that I come with her.  My first thought was "WHO is it? Jacob or Asher?"  and shortly after that, "Oh dear God, today was swim day for Jacob. Please Lord, let him be alive."  (Mom brain assumes the worst.)  In Spanish, she told me "Jacob has been hit by another student in the chin."  I asked if he had cried and she told me he had.  I asked if he was ok and she responded with, "We want you to come see him." Yeeeeeah, that can't be good.

Jacob was sitting in the office and he started tearing up when I walked in.  His chin was bleeding and then he looked up so I could see a nice puncture in that soft part of your chin close to your throat.  My first evaluation was that it wasn't that bad.  I've definitely seen worse as a teacher and my days as a certified nurse's aide.  I was just going to take him home and slap a band aid on it.  Then, one of the office staff told me they had called the paramedics.  "¿En serio?" was all I could mutter.  As I hardly contain a single ounce of the gift of mercy, I thought this was straight up crazy.  He's totally fine.  It's not even bleeding anymore. (And side-note, my kid ran in front of his friends swinging, got kicked in the knee, and scrapped his face on the concrete.  Surprisingly, they don't have a verb for that in Spanish.)

The paramedic marches in and unlike the staff of our language school, he speaks Spanish at a normal, unforgiving, unintelligible rate.  I kept up with most of it and he definitely thought Jacob's wound needed stitches.  We moved up to the doctor's office at our school and he has me explain to Jacob in English that he is going to get a shot of anesthetic in the chin before he makes two, maybe three stitches.  The sight of the needle sends Jacob into a frenzy. "Is that a needle? What's he going to do to me, Mama? I wanna go home!"  I convince him he needs to be brave just like when he gets vaccines.  Jacob is relunctant. He won't lay down and the paramedic barks that I need to be brave because kids never agree to the shot and stitches.  I held his arms and legs down as the paramedic gouges the needle into his little fleshy chin, Jacob screaming all the while.  I shouldn't have watched. The room got really hot.  AND by this time, school had let out and my kind friends are traipsing in and out of the office.  Doctor friend to make sure he's ok. Friend to tell me she'll go get Asher and take him to her house. Friend with my backpack who has called Adam and told him what's happening.  And that's when the room starts spinning.  I am also sweating like I have never sweat before.

"¡Siéntese!" yells the paramedic and shoves a rolling chair under me. He then digs through his bag and rips open something equal to smelling salts. "¡Respire!" he hollars.  Even in the midst of nearly passing out, I think "He just used 'sit down' and 'breathe' in the command form of third person singular, usted."  All this studying is affecting my brain. I stand up to go throw up in the bathroom.  I come back and he tells me to sit down again.  By this time my pharmacist friend has entered the room and is attempting to assist the paramedic in the stitches.  Feeling stable, I stand back up to help hold Jacob's hands and legs down (because he is still freaking out) right as the paramedic stabs Jacob's hand with the terrible stitching needle as Jacob reaches for his chin.  Blood everywhere. Screaming kid. Faint Mommy. No stitches.  I excuse myself to the bathroom and come back composed.

Jacob is refusing to lay back down. He's screaming and panicked and no smidgen of reason is going to affect his resolve. The paramedic insists we get this done.  He warns the medicine is going to wear off and he is going to need to administer the aenesthetic another time.  Me sharing this with Jacob only sends him into complete conniption. So I do the only thing I know to do and ask him over his screaming if we can pray. He says yes and calms as I say a quick prayer.  He lays back down with the understanding that I will pray the entire time he is being stitched up.  My friend holds his head, I pin his arms and legs down, and the paramedic stitches. I don't have a clue what words are coming out of my mouth while I am praying but Jacob is laying there with his eyes closed, listening, not moving.  After the first stitch, it's obvious that stitches were a wise decision for the gash he had acquired.  Somewhere in there, Adam shows up and takes my friends place holding Jacob's head.  The paramedic finishes, cleans Jacob up, gives us instructions and we leave to collect missing backpacks and children.

Jacob bounced back to normal pretty quick, wanting to run all the way home.  Mom was sick to her stomach and hyper on adrenaline for almost the entire afternoon.  Tonight, Jacob shared that this was the worst thing that had ever happened to him.  We seized this conversation as an opportunity to share truth: 1.) God is always with us.  2.) Even when things are scary, we can trust the Lord. 3.) God is capable of using our ugly and seemingly bad situations for good ... Jacob is currently keeping an eye out for how the Lord is going to use his experience for good!          

My medical Spanish is non-existent. Gained some vocabulary today.  He's not impressed.

My poor baby after putting up a good fight.

                                                                           Two stitches!

Turn Your Eyes

In one of our pre-field trainings, we were encouraged to "find something you are good at" during language learning.  This advice was offered because language learning is hard.  I would say it is one of the hardest things I have done in a long time.  The proposal to find something you are good at was simply counsel against discouragement in the language learning process.

In the midst of the beating that Spanish is and in the search for something I am good at, I have made some discoveries.  Here are the things in which I am thriving:

1. Being an insufficient wife and mother
2. Judging those who don't agree with my theology, political views, or culture
3. Self-righteousness
4. Burning and ruining meals at a new altitude and with crazy hot dysfunctional oven
5. Ruining the game of volleyball for everyone who plays on my team
6. Not keeping up with friends at home.
7. Offending people in my mother tongue AND a new language (ie. being a jerk)
8. Making excuses
9. Writing encouraging blog posts (sarcasm is really my mother tongue)
10. The list goes on and on.

Looks like it is a nice self-depricating list however the benefits of it's recognition have outweighed the sorrow of discovering such things.  I recognize that in my inadequacy, sin, weakness, Christ is adequate, perfect, and strong (2 Corinthians 13:9). I recognize that when I don't know what to say or do or pray about my shortcomings, I have the Holy Spirit who lives within me and intercedes for me (Romans 8:26  ). And I recognize that His grace is sufficient for all my insufficiencies (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)! 

So in trying to find something I am good at, I have found I can only turn my eyes upon Jesus, remember that He is strong in weakness, and that I should be trying to find Him and be like Him instead of any goodness or ability in myself.  AND if I do find any goodness or ability in myself, it is from Him anyways!

What Will We Eat or Drink?

Tonight a small face was wedged between the bars of our gate peering in through the open front door.  We were sitting at the table eating dinner and I knew we were being watched.  I (Michelle) looked up from my homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich to connect with the little face outside only to see him jump out of view. My attempt to make eye contact had been evaded.  The next time I looked up, I could only see the back of his head...a personal weakness when it comes to my own children.  Something so sweet about that cute little hairline.  I know it's weird.  Our 11 year old neighbor was sitting on the ground outside our gate with his head leaned against it.  Adam asked if we could invite him in for dinner.  He didn't hesitate to accept the invitation and gobbled the meal right up.

Every week we have at least one person bang on our gate and request something.  Sometimes it's money, sometimes it's dry uncooked rice and beans, sometimes it's a hot meal, other times it's a diaper or a shirt or some shoes for their child.  This was peculiar in the first month or so we were here.  So unusal in comparision to our experiences in the United States.  I also struggled in the beginning because it seemed to me like we had just given everything up...all our belongings now fit in 10 duffle bags...what could I possible have to give that I didn't need myself.  At any rate, over the last 9 months the Lord has continually humbled me and brought His truths to mind whenever someone shows up at our gate and we can provide a very basic need for them.

Truth # 1: God loves us. (1 John 4:7-12)

Truth #2: The Lord provides exactly what we need every day. (Exodus 16: Manna)

Truth #3: I need not worry about anything. (Matthew 6:25-34)

Truth #4: When I serve others, I am serving Jesus. (Matthew 25:31-46)

How's Your Spanish?

For the last 8 months we have been attending the Spanish Language Institute in San Jose, Costa Rica. Since The Institute is Biblically focused, missionaries from various denominations from around the world attend. Classes are small, approximately 10 students per grammar class and 5 per language class.

Our typical school-day runs from 7:30am – 12:10pm. Afternoons are filled with tutoring appointments and conversation practice with neighbors while we take turns caring for the boys. In the evenings we have plenty of homework and studying.

The big question is, with two trimesters completed and just one left to go, What Have We Learned?  This can be a difficult question to answer as language learning is a process but we think we’ve found some practical examples of our progress.

	When we first arrived	Now	We Have Yet to Achieve
Conversation	We could converse in broken sentences using some verbs but only in the present tense.	We can converse in complete sentences using many verbs in present tense, both past tenses, and future tense among a few others tenses.	The ability to tailor our vocabulary and style to our audience as we do in English.
Translation	We consulted the Spanish/English dictionary multiple times each class.	We are ready to start using a Spanish/Spanish dictionary for new words.	The ability to serve as an oral translator at a social or professional function.
Reading	We would read the newspaper headline, understanding some words and maybe the main idea.	We can understand every word in the newspaper headline, read the article and understand 95% of what we read.	The language level where we can read in Spanish for pleasure.
Music	We would hear songs in Spanish and occasionally catch a few words that we recognized.	We hear songs we recognize in the grocery store…and can sing along!	A broad vocabulary.
Church	In church we had to listen intently to catch the book of the bible being preached on or risk being completely lost the rest of the service. We often had to look at the Bible of the person next to us to find out which verse was being read.	We understand the book, chapter, and verse as it is announced. Sometimes the old lady who sits next to us misses it and asks us which verse.  We are able to respond to her in Spanish with the correct answer.  We can also understand the majority of the sermon.	The ability to discuss the sermon at length as we are still learning to express opinions and back them up.
Spiritual Life	We could pray memorized prayers.	We can pray briefly, tell simple Bible stories, and tell how we became Christians.	The language level that would allow us to counsel another person.

Adults Protecting Children

Michelle at the Adults Protecting Children training

Over the past several days, Michelle and I have taken part in Darkness to Light's training on prevention of child sexual abuse.  Darkness to Light seeks to end child sexual abuse by raising awareness of the prevalence and consequences of child sexual abuse by educating adults about the steps they can take to prevent, recognize and react responsibly to the reality of child sexual abuse.  Read some startling statistics here.

The statistics are likely far worse in Honduras where we will work with children and adults alike.  What a blessing this training will be for our  ministry.    We  are  now  better  prepared  to

protect  our  own  children,   Honduran  children,

and advocate for victims of abuse.

Adam with Steve Collins of Darkness to Light

After completing the training, we opted to participate in additional training on how to lead Adults Protecting Children so that we may teach this material to others.  As we raise the awareness, we lessen the problem.

-Adam

The Bumbling Missionary

Learning Spanish is much harder than I thought it would be.  At times I become so discouraged with my progress (or lack of) that I begin to question my missionary calling.  "How can God use me?"  "Wouldn't He be better off sending someone that already speaks Spanish?"

I am reminded of Moses.  When God called Moses to free his people from Egypt, Moses doubted saying, "Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and tongue."

God responded, "Who has made man's mouth?  Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind?  Is it not I, the Lord?  Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak."

In this way, God freed his people THROUGH Moses.  Moses didn't have to be a great leader or speaker, all he had to do was trust in the Lord and obey Him.

My situation is similar.  God certainly didn't call me to go to Honduras because I posses skills and abilities that are useful to Him.  He called me simply because it was his will.  I don't have to speak Spanish perfectly (thank God).  I simply have to trust and obey Him.

My struggles with Spanish remind me that this work is 100% His.  To HIM be the glory!

-Adam