Hello. My name is Jennifer and I'm a Halloween candy addict. I've apparently passed on that gene.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
Time
We sat around the table at the restaurant finishing up our delicious dinner of chicken, beans, rice and fried plantains (my favorite!). As we collected the leftovers onto a couple of plates and handed them to two little boys waiting expectantly with watering mouths, we began discussing our mission in Honduras.
My fear is always that I will learn something new about myself, my culture, or the Honduran culture, and then within a few weeks or months I fade right back in to my previous way of thinking. Sometimes I've learned things that I can't really pinpoint - more of an awareness that grips me, but I can't quite put it into words. Sometimes I learn things that I don't want to learn. Other times it's things that don't seem to affect me as strongly as maybe they would if I were in another stage of life or another mind set.
Not this time. This time it stared me in the face and said, "Get this." So when the discussion turned to what our "take-away" from the week was, I knew what mine needed to be. Time.
See, in many Latin American cultures, time is just a guideline, a suggestion. Yes, they know how to tell time and are quite good at knowing the exact time without using a watch. I've known this since my first international mission trip to Jamaica in 1992. Whatever country you're in, you just go by their time. We even prep our mission teams for months that "Honduran time" is just the way it is. Two in the afternoon really means anytime between noon and four, give or take a couple hours.
We tend to think that when someone is late, they are being inconsiderate of the other person's time - even being selfish. We start meetings saying we want to "respect your time." "Time is valuable." "Time is money." "Time-effecient." "Time-sensitive."
I've always been a rusher. How many things can I fit in to this block of time? Sure, I can squeeze this task in this little nook of time. And I hate being late. So I'm always rushing from time card stamp to time card stamp. I live by the clock. And I don't even wear a watch.
But Honduran time. Aaahhh, Honduran time. I finally figured it out. They're not lazy. They're not selfish. They're not cramming too-large tasks into too-small time slots. They're talking with the neighbor. The corn they're grinding is taking longer than usual. They ran out of water and have to go pump some more. They're helping a young mother with her laundry. They're having a conversation with a friend. They don't know what time they'll show up, because they don't know what other things will become necessary - or which person will need them. They don't live by the clock.
They live by relationship.
My fear is always that I will learn something new about myself, my culture, or the Honduran culture, and then within a few weeks or months I fade right back in to my previous way of thinking. Sometimes I've learned things that I can't really pinpoint - more of an awareness that grips me, but I can't quite put it into words. Sometimes I learn things that I don't want to learn. Other times it's things that don't seem to affect me as strongly as maybe they would if I were in another stage of life or another mind set.
Not this time. This time it stared me in the face and said, "Get this." So when the discussion turned to what our "take-away" from the week was, I knew what mine needed to be. Time.
See, in many Latin American cultures, time is just a guideline, a suggestion. Yes, they know how to tell time and are quite good at knowing the exact time without using a watch. I've known this since my first international mission trip to Jamaica in 1992. Whatever country you're in, you just go by their time. We even prep our mission teams for months that "Honduran time" is just the way it is. Two in the afternoon really means anytime between noon and four, give or take a couple hours.
We tend to think that when someone is late, they are being inconsiderate of the other person's time - even being selfish. We start meetings saying we want to "respect your time." "Time is valuable." "Time is money." "Time-effecient." "Time-sensitive."
I've always been a rusher. How many things can I fit in to this block of time? Sure, I can squeeze this task in this little nook of time. And I hate being late. So I'm always rushing from time card stamp to time card stamp. I live by the clock. And I don't even wear a watch.
But Honduran time. Aaahhh, Honduran time. I finally figured it out. They're not lazy. They're not selfish. They're not cramming too-large tasks into too-small time slots. They're talking with the neighbor. The corn they're grinding is taking longer than usual. They ran out of water and have to go pump some more. They're helping a young mother with her laundry. They're having a conversation with a friend. They don't know what time they'll show up, because they don't know what other things will become necessary - or which person will need them. They don't live by the clock.
They live by relationship.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Things We'd Never Do
We'd never walk for 4 hours to sit for 2 hours, miss lunch and maybe the doctor can help us, maybe he can't, then walk home 4 hours. Heck, we wouldn't drive 4 hours.
We'd never let our children accept a half-eaten sandwich offered by a stranger.
We'd never settle for a government that didn't know we existed, much less cared that our 4-wall home just fell down the side of the mountain in a rainstorm. No FEMA trailer or hotel allowance. Just neighbors with a tarp and nothing "temporary" about that shelter.
We'd never pray "give us this day our daily bread" and really mean it. With stocked pantries and spoiling produce in our fridges, we can't possibly know what it means to have what we need for only one day.
We'd never give the richest person we know a big portion of that daily food.
We'd never allow ourselves the joy and faith that comes from doing any of these things.
We're missing out.
We'd never let our children accept a half-eaten sandwich offered by a stranger.We'd never settle for a government that didn't know we existed, much less cared that our 4-wall home just fell down the side of the mountain in a rainstorm. No FEMA trailer or hotel allowance. Just neighbors with a tarp and nothing "temporary" about that shelter.
We'd never pray "give us this day our daily bread" and really mean it. With stocked pantries and spoiling produce in our fridges, we can't possibly know what it means to have what we need for only one day.
We'd never give the richest person we know a big portion of that daily food.
We'd never allow ourselves the joy and faith that comes from doing any of these things.
We're missing out.
Monday, November 10, 2008
And the peace of God...
that transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:7)
Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many. (2 Cor. 1:11)
Direct answers to the last blog:
Didn't oversleep. Actually didn't sleep at all. Maybe 30 minutes. The airport took every bit of our two hour cushion, too, so once we got to the gate we walked right on the plane. Not a hitch!
God led. I just got to follow His lead with 10 other people behind me. He gave me everything I needed to be an effective "tour guide" for this awesome team!
Partial goof it was. We certainly had to rearrange baggage to even out weights, and my wonderful husband maneuvered us through the airport like the pro that he is.
Got pretty comfortable carrying all that cash. We weren't able to change our dollars to limperas at the airport so I ended up carrying fewer actual bills than I would have otherwise. And we barely had to spend any of our money anyway. Whew.
Not anxious. Not a psycho. Didn't sleep a whole lot. Woke up at 4:00 just about every morning, but don't think it had anything to do with the meds. And since I got several mosquito bites, I'm willing to take the full course.
Okay. This rarely happens: all our luggage arrived the same time we did! Now, we learned not to leave Room 18 (ahem, Pastor Keith) in charge of any luggage because they have no clue they're supposed to unpack it. We didn't have glucometers, adult vitamins, and who knows what else for days because they didn't know they were in their room. But all was well anyway.
Oh, Spanish legal-ese! What a hoot. We all had a ton of questions for Steve, our semi-professional missionary. Apparently checking the box that says we had pharmaceuticals, weapons, and explosives doesn't hinder a speedy customs clearance.
It's truly God's intervention that the team was so healthy! No one got sick from food, water, virus. Wonderfully healthy until Johanna's lungs started causing problems on Friday. Guess the cigar factory tour was a little much. Thankfully, Dr. Andy was on top of things and having a pharmacy at our fingertips was certainly helpful.
Unity of the team. Are you kidding me???? This team was incredibly compatible. Not a single personality conflict, argument, or awkward moment. God hand-picked each team member, including our in-country translators. We prayed with one another, cried with one another, and shared a life experience that we can use no words to describe. True holy vulnerability. Asumbroso!
Expectations. Wow. God just showed up in a big way here! We all came with open minds and hearts and God just filled us to overflowing. And in spite of my concern, everybody definitely "got it."
Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many. (2 Cor. 1:11)
Direct answers to the last blog:
Didn't oversleep. Actually didn't sleep at all. Maybe 30 minutes. The airport took every bit of our two hour cushion, too, so once we got to the gate we walked right on the plane. Not a hitch!
God led. I just got to follow His lead with 10 other people behind me. He gave me everything I needed to be an effective "tour guide" for this awesome team!
Partial goof it was. We certainly had to rearrange baggage to even out weights, and my wonderful husband maneuvered us through the airport like the pro that he is.
Got pretty comfortable carrying all that cash. We weren't able to change our dollars to limperas at the airport so I ended up carrying fewer actual bills than I would have otherwise. And we barely had to spend any of our money anyway. Whew.
Not anxious. Not a psycho. Didn't sleep a whole lot. Woke up at 4:00 just about every morning, but don't think it had anything to do with the meds. And since I got several mosquito bites, I'm willing to take the full course.
Okay. This rarely happens: all our luggage arrived the same time we did! Now, we learned not to leave Room 18 (ahem, Pastor Keith) in charge of any luggage because they have no clue they're supposed to unpack it. We didn't have glucometers, adult vitamins, and who knows what else for days because they didn't know they were in their room. But all was well anyway.
Oh, Spanish legal-ese! What a hoot. We all had a ton of questions for Steve, our semi-professional missionary. Apparently checking the box that says we had pharmaceuticals, weapons, and explosives doesn't hinder a speedy customs clearance.
It's truly God's intervention that the team was so healthy! No one got sick from food, water, virus. Wonderfully healthy until Johanna's lungs started causing problems on Friday. Guess the cigar factory tour was a little much. Thankfully, Dr. Andy was on top of things and having a pharmacy at our fingertips was certainly helpful.
Unity of the team. Are you kidding me???? This team was incredibly compatible. Not a single personality conflict, argument, or awkward moment. God hand-picked each team member, including our in-country translators. We prayed with one another, cried with one another, and shared a life experience that we can use no words to describe. True holy vulnerability. Asumbroso!
Expectations. Wow. God just showed up in a big way here! We all came with open minds and hearts and God just filled us to overflowing. And in spite of my concern, everybody definitely "got it."
When we arrived at the clinic Monday morning, Dr. Andy and Doctora Lisa just turned that place into a working clinic in about 30 minutes. Amazing! I stood back and watched in awe as that empty building became a haven for the sick. God is good!
We had plenty of medication - other than the vitamin mix-up thanks to Room 18 - and had opportunities to buy additional at local pharmacies. As one mother was complaining of her migraine headaches, Doctora Lisa miraculously remembered (from nursing school 20 years ago!) that a particular medication could be used for treatment. Lisa had just pointed out to me a few hours before that she didn't think we would ever use that medicine and wasn't sure why we brought it. Well, apparently we brought it for this precious mother who was suffering. Love it when God does stuff like that!
I think the kids were completely blessed by our Bible School time. We ended up flip-flopping our original plan. Flexibility. Flexibility. Flexibility. I absolutely loved getting to be with my kids in La Jagua for three days. They all remembered me and made me feel like I was coming home! The team really pulled through and took over as I stepped back and let them take the reigns.
We have some amazing friends here who blessed my mom more than they can ever know. She felt completely cared for, supported and prayed up. She had to take Jacob to the doctor because his asthma started acting up and everyone was so helpful with meals, kids and directions. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!
Ahh, cultural intelligence. I could write a whole blog on this one. But yes, God gave us wisdom and discernment as we ministered in His name. We were told by multiple villagers that the team was so kind and loving and shared Christ in a way that many other teams have not. We were not afraid to sit close, hold hands, rub necks, and lock eyes. But as we hoped to reveal Christ there, we instead were the ones who got to see Him. Incredible.
And Chris and I. I have never laughed so much with my husband before! What a joy to share this experience together. I don't think he's ready to move there yet, but seeds have been planted. I fell in love with my husband 15 years ago on a mission trip as I watched him serve others so unselfishly. I fell in love with him again this week.
Our purpose was fulfilled. God lead each step of the way. We just got to follow along as He cleared path after path. Can't wait to share more and fill you in on some of the incredible experiences we had.
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