Saturday, January 30, 2010
Tonight I love Honduras
Tonight I love Honduras. I love the way it smells, the gasoline and the night air, the way it looks, the full moon and the clouds and the stars and the blackness and all the little lights on the mountainsides, the way it sounds, the honking horns and the laughing children and the diesel engines revving and the music in a language with words I don’t understand, the way it feels, the wind in my face and my hands and feet that are never clean. I love the people I’m with, the ones I know and the ones I don’t, the ones who live in houses and the ones who live on the street, the ones I see every day and the ones I’ll only see once, the little ones and the grown up ones, the ones who like me and the ones who don’t. I love the time I’ve spent here, I love the time ahead of me here. One day I won’t remember what the stars looked like tonight and the way the air smelled, but tonight I have it all right here in front of me and I love it. And I wish you could be here to love it with me. Because I know you would. How could you not?
Monday, January 25, 2010
Glue
Both Alli and I currently have huge chunks of glue stuck in our hair. Tonight was definitely an eventful feeding. The first stop was pretty entertaining actually, some of the people wanted to know what their names meant in English. A lot of them were just the same as they are in Spanish, but they all got a kick out of hearing us pronounce them in English. Then we got to the second stop and things got crazy. Everyone was really high and belligerent. First there was a really bad fight that broke out, a bunch of guys were beating up another guy for some reason, and it went on for quite a while. Then there was this lady who was pregnant and was saying that she needed food for her baby, but she didn’t like what we had tonight so she just threw it on the ground. Then there was a guy who wanted hot sauce with his dinner and we didn’t have any, so he threw the whole bowl back into our tub of soup. Then the first lady came back and first of all didn’t remember having thrown the soup before, and then was asking Alli and Tess and me questions and just being really forward. Darwin and Amber were cleaning people up from the fight and trying to sort out other conflicts off to the side. This is where the glue comes in. We asked the lady what her problem was with us and she told us that it was because we were Gringas (Americans), and then grabbed my hair. I asked her not to touch me and she said well if you don’t want me to touch you then you can just leave! She kept getting in our faces and was grabbing Alli’s hair too, and when I had my back turned she grabbed my hair again and I yelled at her not to touch me, and by then Darwin was running over and he walked her off and tried to calm her down. The reason all this was happening is because everyone is so high, and a lot of them get high on glue. They put it in bottles or bags and sniff it. The lady who grabbed our hair had been holding a bottle of glue and it was all over her hands when she touched us.
We went to our third stop where things were much more subdued, but on the way home we were all a little frustrated with the craziness. We had run out of tortillas at the last stop and I started thinking, we should have saved the tortillas at the second stop so we could have given them out at the last one where they wouldn’t have been wasted and where the people were so much better and, in my opinion, deserving, at least tonight. But then I got to thinking, how backwards is that? Is that the way God loves people? Would he save the best things for the people who appreciate them the most? I don’t know for sure, but I really don’t think so. When Jesus healed the ten men with leprosy only one came back and thanked him, but that didn’t keep him from healing all of them anyway. He didn’t withhold love from the others just because they didn’t reciprocate it.
I guess what I’m saying is that loving people like Jesus did is worth a little glue in your hair.
We went to our third stop where things were much more subdued, but on the way home we were all a little frustrated with the craziness. We had run out of tortillas at the last stop and I started thinking, we should have saved the tortillas at the second stop so we could have given them out at the last one where they wouldn’t have been wasted and where the people were so much better and, in my opinion, deserving, at least tonight. But then I got to thinking, how backwards is that? Is that the way God loves people? Would he save the best things for the people who appreciate them the most? I don’t know for sure, but I really don’t think so. When Jesus healed the ten men with leprosy only one came back and thanked him, but that didn’t keep him from healing all of them anyway. He didn’t withhold love from the others just because they didn’t reciprocate it.
I guess what I’m saying is that loving people like Jesus did is worth a little glue in your hair.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Surprises
I wrote all this last night and just didn’t have time to post it, but there was more that happened today so I’ll write again and post it later.
So usually when we do the stadium feeding we go to three places. First we go to this bus stop kind of place right outside the stadium. Then we go to two kind of alley, side street type places and hand out food from out of the back of Amber’s truck. Tonight after we went to those three places we still had quite a bit of food left over. One of the women at our last stop, Jenny, said that there were people where she lived who could use the leftover food, so we had her get in the car with us and give us directions to get there. She took us to this bridge near the stadium that she apparently lives underneath with about 18 other people. There’s this steep hill that leads down under the bridge and all of a sudden people just started coming up over the hill. So we fed them. It was crazy. Amber had Darwin go down under the bridge and take pictures so that we could see how they lived there and he couldn’t get a very good picture because it was so dark, but let me tell you, it’s awful down there.
Another weird thing happened at our first stop by the stadium. When we were there on Thursday there would be people who would walk by us every once in a while, I mean it’s a normal street sidewalk so that wasn’t weird. But tonight there were seriously droves of people, groups of guys and an occasional girlfriend that just kept walking by us, and a lot of times they would ask for our food, and we’d have to tell them no, you’re not living on the street, go home and get your own food. Like I said, we were right there by the stadium so I figured there had been a futbol game going on and I asked Alli if that was the case. But she said no, every Saturday night one of the local gangs has a meeting at the stadium and these are all the people leaving from the meeting. Talk about a shocker! I knew there were gangs around, but there were SO many people there, and that was just from one gang! When we got in the car to go to the next stop I asked Amber about it and she confirmed it, and she said that the first people who walk by are on the lowest tier of the gang and higher up you get in the gang’s social ladder the longer you get to stay at the meeting. They were still coming when we left so I really have no idea how many more there would have been and how important the people who were walking by us were. And what do you talk about at a gang meeting??? I have no clue.
The thing that throws me off is that I feel like the people here all look the same. And I don’t mean that to say that I’m an American and I can’t tell these people apart because they’re all Latino and they all look the same to me, I just mean that I can’t tell a difference between the people who have houses and cars the people who are in a gang and the people who live under the bridges. There’s not really a difference in the types of clothes they wear or anything like that. In the U.S. social class is distinguished by the kind of car you drive and the brands of clothing you wear, but here it’s just not like that. Maybe native Hondurans can tell a difference but I sure can’t. I’m not sure what that has to do with anything, just an observation about the culture I guess.
Oh, this was fun. Early this afternoon Tess and Alli and I went to the park just to hang out and read and talk. We were sitting on this ledge that surrounded a basketball court and we'd been there for probably 45 minutes or so and Tess had been complaining about how hot it was and that it was starting to make her feel sick, so we started to get our stuff together to leave. All of a sudden she goes "omigosh" and leans over and faints and just falls off the ledge and hits her head on the concrete! It was so scary! Alli ran over to her and started trying to wake her up and all I knew to do was run and get Amber. I didn't even stop to put my shoes on, I just ran home. By the time we got back Tess was awake, but she was pretty shaken up. We called the doctor and he said that unless she faints again she's probably fine, it was just a one-time thing. She's doing a lot better now, and we've been laughing about it and how scary it was at the time. She's got a pretty nice scrape on her face where she landed and we've been trying to make up good stories to tell people about how she got it. The best one so far is that Amber beats her...if it were anyone else that probably wouldn't fly but since everyone knows Amber would be the last person to beat her interns I think it's a winner lol.
So usually when we do the stadium feeding we go to three places. First we go to this bus stop kind of place right outside the stadium. Then we go to two kind of alley, side street type places and hand out food from out of the back of Amber’s truck. Tonight after we went to those three places we still had quite a bit of food left over. One of the women at our last stop, Jenny, said that there were people where she lived who could use the leftover food, so we had her get in the car with us and give us directions to get there. She took us to this bridge near the stadium that she apparently lives underneath with about 18 other people. There’s this steep hill that leads down under the bridge and all of a sudden people just started coming up over the hill. So we fed them. It was crazy. Amber had Darwin go down under the bridge and take pictures so that we could see how they lived there and he couldn’t get a very good picture because it was so dark, but let me tell you, it’s awful down there.
Another weird thing happened at our first stop by the stadium. When we were there on Thursday there would be people who would walk by us every once in a while, I mean it’s a normal street sidewalk so that wasn’t weird. But tonight there were seriously droves of people, groups of guys and an occasional girlfriend that just kept walking by us, and a lot of times they would ask for our food, and we’d have to tell them no, you’re not living on the street, go home and get your own food. Like I said, we were right there by the stadium so I figured there had been a futbol game going on and I asked Alli if that was the case. But she said no, every Saturday night one of the local gangs has a meeting at the stadium and these are all the people leaving from the meeting. Talk about a shocker! I knew there were gangs around, but there were SO many people there, and that was just from one gang! When we got in the car to go to the next stop I asked Amber about it and she confirmed it, and she said that the first people who walk by are on the lowest tier of the gang and higher up you get in the gang’s social ladder the longer you get to stay at the meeting. They were still coming when we left so I really have no idea how many more there would have been and how important the people who were walking by us were. And what do you talk about at a gang meeting??? I have no clue.
The thing that throws me off is that I feel like the people here all look the same. And I don’t mean that to say that I’m an American and I can’t tell these people apart because they’re all Latino and they all look the same to me, I just mean that I can’t tell a difference between the people who have houses and cars the people who are in a gang and the people who live under the bridges. There’s not really a difference in the types of clothes they wear or anything like that. In the U.S. social class is distinguished by the kind of car you drive and the brands of clothing you wear, but here it’s just not like that. Maybe native Hondurans can tell a difference but I sure can’t. I’m not sure what that has to do with anything, just an observation about the culture I guess.
Oh, this was fun. Early this afternoon Tess and Alli and I went to the park just to hang out and read and talk. We were sitting on this ledge that surrounded a basketball court and we'd been there for probably 45 minutes or so and Tess had been complaining about how hot it was and that it was starting to make her feel sick, so we started to get our stuff together to leave. All of a sudden she goes "omigosh" and leans over and faints and just falls off the ledge and hits her head on the concrete! It was so scary! Alli ran over to her and started trying to wake her up and all I knew to do was run and get Amber. I didn't even stop to put my shoes on, I just ran home. By the time we got back Tess was awake, but she was pretty shaken up. We called the doctor and he said that unless she faints again she's probably fine, it was just a one-time thing. She's doing a lot better now, and we've been laughing about it and how scary it was at the time. She's got a pretty nice scrape on her face where she landed and we've been trying to make up good stories to tell people about how she got it. The best one so far is that Amber beats her...if it were anyone else that probably wouldn't fly but since everyone knows Amber would be the last person to beat her interns I think it's a winner lol.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Fingernail clippers!
I knew I was going to forget something. But of all the things I could have forgotten, did it have to be fingernail clippers? How am I supposed to survive 3 months without those? I’m probably going to develop a nail-biting habit. I should probably just go home now, this whole trip is pretty much ruined.
Haha just kidding! I really did forget my fingernail clippers though. But I’ll probably survive. Fingers crossed.
Well I obviously got here safely, so I won’t go into all the boring details of travel and such. I’m really thankful for all of your prayers for that. I’ve only been here for like 36 hours and so much has happened already! Two other interns, Alli and Tess, arrived yesterday too and we’ve definitely hit the ground running. We did tutoring yesterday and today, went to church in El Magote (a slum kind of area in the city), and fed the homeless by the stadium tonight. For those of you who know about that ministry and have been curious as to what it’s like, sorry to disappoint but it’s not something that can be explained in words. You just have to experience it. In the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25 Jesus says “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink” and to literally put that into practice, to hand food to someone who has none, that’s an indescribable feeling. And I love church services here…in the U.S. I feel like singing can sometimes get to be about sounding good, whereas here it’s all about being loud and showing God that you’re passionate about what you’re singing, letting Him hear what’s in your heart. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that worshippers here are perfect and that at home we’re awful and our hearts are in the wrong place, I’m just saying that it’s a different atmosphere. I can’t wait to go again tomorrow night!
Next Wednesday the new Honduran president takes office, so please be praying that everything with that will go smoothly. We’re going to take that day off and just stay around the house, just to play it safe. The sketchy political situation here is pretty much common knowledge, so we’re not worried but we are aware that there is always the possibility of drama. As far as I’m concerned, I think it will take a couple weeks for me to get more comfortable with everything…the language barrier makes it pretty difficult to communicate sometimes. “But Mackenzie, you’re a Spanish major, shouldn’t the language not be a problem for you?!?” OK if I were already a pro at Spanish I wouldn’t be studying it at school! It’s a learning process and it’s super tough, but ending up closer to fluency will most definitely be worth it. But just pray that I’ll be able to continue to get adjusted to the culture and the language quickly. And of course be praying for the people I come in contact with here, they’re all beautiful and wonderful!
And that I can make it three months without my fingernail clippers.
Well I could go on all night but this is already super long, so I’ll save the rest for later. Buenas noches! Que vaya con Dios!
Haha just kidding! I really did forget my fingernail clippers though. But I’ll probably survive. Fingers crossed.
Well I obviously got here safely, so I won’t go into all the boring details of travel and such. I’m really thankful for all of your prayers for that. I’ve only been here for like 36 hours and so much has happened already! Two other interns, Alli and Tess, arrived yesterday too and we’ve definitely hit the ground running. We did tutoring yesterday and today, went to church in El Magote (a slum kind of area in the city), and fed the homeless by the stadium tonight. For those of you who know about that ministry and have been curious as to what it’s like, sorry to disappoint but it’s not something that can be explained in words. You just have to experience it. In the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25 Jesus says “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink” and to literally put that into practice, to hand food to someone who has none, that’s an indescribable feeling. And I love church services here…in the U.S. I feel like singing can sometimes get to be about sounding good, whereas here it’s all about being loud and showing God that you’re passionate about what you’re singing, letting Him hear what’s in your heart. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that worshippers here are perfect and that at home we’re awful and our hearts are in the wrong place, I’m just saying that it’s a different atmosphere. I can’t wait to go again tomorrow night!
Next Wednesday the new Honduran president takes office, so please be praying that everything with that will go smoothly. We’re going to take that day off and just stay around the house, just to play it safe. The sketchy political situation here is pretty much common knowledge, so we’re not worried but we are aware that there is always the possibility of drama. As far as I’m concerned, I think it will take a couple weeks for me to get more comfortable with everything…the language barrier makes it pretty difficult to communicate sometimes. “But Mackenzie, you’re a Spanish major, shouldn’t the language not be a problem for you?!?” OK if I were already a pro at Spanish I wouldn’t be studying it at school! It’s a learning process and it’s super tough, but ending up closer to fluency will most definitely be worth it. But just pray that I’ll be able to continue to get adjusted to the culture and the language quickly. And of course be praying for the people I come in contact with here, they’re all beautiful and wonderful!
And that I can make it three months without my fingernail clippers.
Well I could go on all night but this is already super long, so I’ll save the rest for later. Buenas noches! Que vaya con Dios!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Muchas gracias! (Thank you very much!)
Aaah, first post, and I haven't even left yet! I'm not a blogger, so we'll see how this plays out. I promise I'm going to make an effort to post as much as I can though, I know that a lot of people who are supporting me have asked if I'm going to be keeping a blog, so I want to honor their interest in what's going on while I'm in Honduras. And pictures, hopefully there will be some of those too! But in return, I'm going to throw in some Spanish here and there and I expect all of you to be fluent by the time I get back. Haha, just kidding :) But really, learn Spanish. If nothing else, it builds character, just ask Chris Lamb or anyone else who was in our 8 a.m. Advanced Grammar class last semester.
People have been asking me for like a week if I've packed yet. Do you know me? Of course I haven't packed yet. That's a job for Tuesday night. But, against my nature, I did get my suitcase out of the attic today and throw in about a billion t-shirts (all proudly repping Lipscomb, of course) and shorts that I'm pretty sure I won't be needing in the forty degree weather here over the next two days. I looked at the forecast in Tegucigalpa and its predicting highs in the eighties and sunshine. So apparently you don't have to die to go to heaven, you just have to go south. Just in case you were wondering.
Anyway, I really just want to say that I've been completely overwhelmed by all the love and support I've gotten from those who know about this trip. I can't count the number of hugs I got at church today, so thanks to everyone at North Central who has let me know that they are behind me and praying for me, it really means so much! And to all my friends who think that this is a worthwhile thing that I'm doing and that they love me no matter where I am in the world. You know who you are, and I love you back :) And of course to my family, who I know is proud that I'm doing what God is most definitely calling me to do. Sorry I sent you into shock back in October when I told you about my very vague plans (that are only slightly less vague now), but I'm glad you came to terms w everything, I couldn't have gotten all the pieces together without you! I know I'll have more thanks at the end of my trip, but for now that will do.
I'm beyond grateful that I've always had so so so many wonderful people in my life who have been committed to lifting me up to God in prayer, and I have no doubt that I wouldn't be the person I am today without those prayers. So for those of you who fit into that category, or if you'd like to at least temporarily join that category, there are a few things I'd really appreciate prayers for as I'm preparing to leave and starting out my time in Honduras. First, that I would have confidence in my ability to do the work God has called me to Honduras to do. I know that He wouldn't have guided me to this place if He didn't have a way to use me, but I don't know exactly how He plans to do that at this point. Also, that I would stay healthy and safe so that I can be an effective Kingdom worker. And most of all, that God would open my heart and the hearts of those with whom I come in contact to the ways He can enrich our lives and also to the ways we can enrich each other's lives. That has to be what I'm most excited about, it gives me butterflies just thinking about it! Those who are older and wiser and have more missions experience, and life experience in general, will also probably have more of an idea of what else I'll need prayers for while I'm there, so you can add to the list, but those are the things that are on my heart right now and should at least give you a good place to start. Thank you so much!
There's a lot more I could say, but ADD is a growing issue these days and I know half of you lost interest after the first paragraph, so I'll cut it off here for now. Get excited about this, I know I am! Hasta luego! (Until next time!)
People have been asking me for like a week if I've packed yet. Do you know me? Of course I haven't packed yet. That's a job for Tuesday night. But, against my nature, I did get my suitcase out of the attic today and throw in about a billion t-shirts (all proudly repping Lipscomb, of course) and shorts that I'm pretty sure I won't be needing in the forty degree weather here over the next two days. I looked at the forecast in Tegucigalpa and its predicting highs in the eighties and sunshine. So apparently you don't have to die to go to heaven, you just have to go south. Just in case you were wondering.
Anyway, I really just want to say that I've been completely overwhelmed by all the love and support I've gotten from those who know about this trip. I can't count the number of hugs I got at church today, so thanks to everyone at North Central who has let me know that they are behind me and praying for me, it really means so much! And to all my friends who think that this is a worthwhile thing that I'm doing and that they love me no matter where I am in the world. You know who you are, and I love you back :) And of course to my family, who I know is proud that I'm doing what God is most definitely calling me to do. Sorry I sent you into shock back in October when I told you about my very vague plans (that are only slightly less vague now), but I'm glad you came to terms w everything, I couldn't have gotten all the pieces together without you! I know I'll have more thanks at the end of my trip, but for now that will do.
I'm beyond grateful that I've always had so so so many wonderful people in my life who have been committed to lifting me up to God in prayer, and I have no doubt that I wouldn't be the person I am today without those prayers. So for those of you who fit into that category, or if you'd like to at least temporarily join that category, there are a few things I'd really appreciate prayers for as I'm preparing to leave and starting out my time in Honduras. First, that I would have confidence in my ability to do the work God has called me to Honduras to do. I know that He wouldn't have guided me to this place if He didn't have a way to use me, but I don't know exactly how He plans to do that at this point. Also, that I would stay healthy and safe so that I can be an effective Kingdom worker. And most of all, that God would open my heart and the hearts of those with whom I come in contact to the ways He can enrich our lives and also to the ways we can enrich each other's lives. That has to be what I'm most excited about, it gives me butterflies just thinking about it! Those who are older and wiser and have more missions experience, and life experience in general, will also probably have more of an idea of what else I'll need prayers for while I'm there, so you can add to the list, but those are the things that are on my heart right now and should at least give you a good place to start. Thank you so much!
There's a lot more I could say, but ADD is a growing issue these days and I know half of you lost interest after the first paragraph, so I'll cut it off here for now. Get excited about this, I know I am! Hasta luego! (Until next time!)
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