Tuesday, November 1, 2016

One Month in

One month in. 31 days I have been living in Honduras. 31 days I have spent shadowing and learning about my future job. 31 days I have been hand-washing my clothes and learning to cook meals from scratch. 31 days I have been woken up at 5:25 am by roosters. 31 days I have began my day in prayer with my entire Finca community. 31 days I have walked out my front door to the most beautiful view of the Caribbean ocean. 31 days I have been a missionary in Honduras. But where am I exactly? What am I dong?

I am at a children’s home along the Northern coast of Honduras called The Finca Del Niño. The best way to describe this place is to use the four pillars that The Finca is built on- service, spirituality, community, and simplicity:

The view of the ocean from standing right inside my front door

Service- I am here to serve the kids! There are 32 beautiful children living here at the Finca. I get to spend each day praying with them, teaching them, helping them with homework, and playing/hanging out with them in our free time. Each of us missionaries also has our own specific job, mine being that I am going to be a teacher! (And yes, originally I was supposed to be a social worker, but this is an exciting change for me as I studied to be a teacher in college). Right now I am shadowing one of the current missionaries, Bobby since he will be leaving in December and I will be taking over all of his jobs. The school year here goes from February- November (pray for the kids as they take their final exams this week!!!) so I have some time to prepare for being the English teacher for the 5th, 6th, 8th, and 9th grades as well as being in charge of the library. I am a little nervous as I have never taught middle school aged kids before, but here is to stretching myself and being challenged in more ways than I can count!

Our Chapel!
The stain glass mosaic on the inside of our chapel

Spirituality- Our spirituality is what brings us together at 5:45 in the mornings and 5 in the evenings. We are so lucky to have 3 Franciscan sisters as a part of our community because our spirituality can never be put on hold, and them being here means we get to have Communion services two times a week. So yay for being able to consume Jesus! But really, the spirituality here is such a beautiful thing. Not many children do morning prayer almost every day and can sing along (see: scream) to every hymn ever, but these kids can. I am so blessed to live here and be challenged by such a strong, faith-filled community every day.

Community- Where do I even begin?! I’ll start with my smallest community and expand from there. My smallest community would be with Kassidy, my fellow missionary, teacher, and current roommate. We live in the missionary house with 7 other people- Anne, Cecilia, and Laura (the other girls in our missionary class), Melanie, Marie, Allison, and Bobby (who are the current missionaries orientating us through life at the Finca). The nine of us take turns cooking dinner every night, rotating weekly chores, and so many other things that allow us to grow together as a community. Also, they are the only other people that speak fluent English here, so we have gotten pretty close! Even bigger than this is the entire Finca community. In total there are 9 missionaries, 31 kids, 3 Franciscan sisters, and 10 house parents/tias all living here. I get to see all of these people every day. We pray together, eat many meals together, attend bible studies, celebrate birthdays, feast days, and holidays together, and so many more things. These are my people. I might not always be able to communicate with them as well as I wish to, but in time my Spanish will get better and my relationship with my communities will continue to grow!
The view of our house from standing in the kitchen. (There is a door on the left that leads to all of our rooms)

Simplicity- Oh simplicity. Out of all of the pillars, this is the one that most distinguishes this life-style from my life back home. In my life, I have had many opportunities for service, my spirituality has always been important to me, and I have had many communities in family and friend groups. But simplicity in the States, in my opinion, is hard to find. At any given moment I could access the internet with my smart phone, call/text a family member or friend, watch TV, take a hot shower, or even cook something in the oven whenever I wanted. Having electricity was something that I did not have to think twice about, and I could wash and dry my clothes without worrying about them never drying and growing mold because of the rain (my current dilemma!) The funny thing is, despite how different my life is now, I think that this is the pillar that I have grown to like the most. Life here is slower, with more time spent visiting with others (in person!) and spent doing necessary daily activities like chores and cooking. Spending 5 hours cooking beans over an open fire that won’t stay lit because of the storm can be frustrating, buttt, that means I have 5 more hours to spend getting to know the person struggling through it with me or the child who laughs at our inability to keep a fire going and then eventually offers to help. There is so much beauty that comes from this life.

So yeah, that is how my life has been going! It’s been 31 days, 31 great days, but I have so much more to look forward to. This coming month I will get to celebrate my first Quinceñera, celebrate a handful of confirmations and baptisms of the kids, we have former missionary visitors from the States coming down at the end of the month, and I will celebrate my first Thanksgiving away from home, but with a community of people that I have grown to care for and love. What I life I have!

If you are interested in hearing more about my life or donating to the Finca, feel free to e-mail me Emily.cook93@yahoo.com and/or visit the Finca’s website; www.farmofthechild.org. We are currently raising money for the kid’s school uniforms and school supplies for this upcoming year. Thank you to all of those who have kept me and the Finca in your prayers, you are so so appreciated!