We stopped by the community centre in Jesús MarÃa to prepare for the baking class tomorrow. Cleaning the room, making sure we have supplies, going downtown to get gas for the stove.
At six o’clock some activities started, all pictured in the tiny photo above. Guitar class with Rod, kids’ craft class with Emily (Hannah helped with that one), country dance with Tina, soccer/football with Jonathan, and some serious swinging just for fun.
It was great to see new people coming, and Shari had a chance to talk to some of the women about tomorrow’s baking class.
English classes continued this evening in Las Palmas as well.
So much going on, it’s hard to keep track of it all! But I wish there was more going on, in more communities. It’s hard to imagine the number of communities and the number of people right around here – tens of thousands – who will not be touched by any of the activities at all.
As you may have guessed, bananas are a big thing in Honduras. I would say there were more meals when I did eat bananas than when I didn’t. Fried, dried, in soup … I have a whole new appreciation for this fruit.
I had a chance to visit a business that manufactures and sells/exports pottery. Pottery is also big in Honduras.
There has been tension especially between Mexico, the USA, and Honduras, because of the many who are fleeing from very dangerous situations in Honduras to Mexico or through Mexico to the USA. Children in particular are being sent north. There is a lot of discussion about how to handle the issue from a perspective of humanitarian aid, immigration, and safety. Praise the Lord for those in Mexico and the USA who are reaching out to help these people survive and hear about the Life who is our Lord.
The food in Honduras was excellent, but a bit of a shock coming from Mexico. There was a conspicuous lack of chilli. I was served salsa a couple of times – but it was a sweet, bland concoction that bore little resemblance to Mexican salsa.
We had a LOT of meetings and so really didn’t see a lot of Honduras. What we saw – mainly along the highway from the seminary to the airport, was very nice. But I can’t really say I saw too much.
We stayed and met at a Bible seminary called Seminario Biblico Centroamericano de Honduras (SEBCAH). Everyone was very kind and it looks like they’re doing great things when it comes to training a new force of Christian workers in Honduras.
I’m afraid Honduras just isn’t the Coca-Cola country that Mexico is. Certainly not “within arm’s reach of desire”. But I found some eventually.
On Saturday night we were honoured to attend a memorial for Camino missionary Neil Livingston, who served at the seminary. Neil is the father of the Camino USA director, Douglas. We formed a men’s choir and sang a couple of his favourite hymns – Day by Day and Great is Thy Faithfulness. It was good to hear what God did in and through His servant.
I was able to visit the church which had the memorial and also another church in a nearby town. It’s great to see what believers are doing in Honduras, in an atmosphere very different from that of Mexico.
Primarily, as I said, it was meetings, meetings, meetings. But it was good to hear about what’s happening around the world and talk about how God may use Camino as we move forward. We also had a chance to fellowship with mission leaders from around the world, including Canadian director Charlene de Haan and some of the Canadian board.
I’m off to Honduras, which, in case you’re wondering, is about 4166km southeast of Weyburn.
I’ll be there for a week of meetings with various leaders of Camino Global Canada, Camino Global USA, and other Camino leadership from around the world. We’ll be talking about … hmmmmm… well, I guess if I knew that, I wouldn’t have to go, would I?
I would appreciate your prayers as I go (like, right now!) and come back. And for Shari, Hannah and Nathanael who continue with homeschool and other things up north in Mexico.
We’re adding on more activities at the Jesús MarÃa community centre this coming week!
So we’ve already got English classes happening in Las Palmas, we’ve also had a kids’ craft class and a baking class. (You can hear about a recent class over at Julian & Malu’s blog.) That’s on top of the kids’ club, run by the church in Santa Barbara. In a neighbourhood called Acozac, there are also English classes going on.
We recently handed out 500 flyers earlier this week, and there’s growing excitement about the upcoming classes – artsy classes like painting and crafts and baking and country dance and guitar, the usual English classes, and even an exercise class!
With all this and other upcoming activities, everyone will be keeping pretty busy. Regular classes will come to an end on the 11th of December.
Thanks for your prayers as we meet new people and reach out into the community over the next few weeks!
There is a lot happening right now “among the palm trees”. I’m referring to a housing development known as Las Palmas (The Palms). And yes, there are palm trees lining the road in Las Palmas. Actually, there are three “Las Palmas” – creatively named 1, 2 and 3. We’ve been hanging out in 1, but people join us for classes from other neighbourhoods as well.
On Wednesday and Thursday Julian and Malu hosted English classes in their home. They just started teaching some English at the local junior high, a school which we’ve had a lot of contact with in the past. So some of their students came to the classes, along with a smattering of others.
Julian and Malu with a few of their students
Rod and I swung by to help a little this week. It was fun, although I admit that among the three other teachers I am the one who is not and English teacher. I am a teacher, which helps, but teaching English is something I’ve hardly ever done.
So in spite of Julian’s modesty, he and Malu seemed to be doing an excellent job. 🙂
Anyway, it was great to make new friends in Las Palmas through the English classes, which are being given under the auspices of Tiempo de Vivir, our community centre.
We would appreciate your prayers as activities continue tonight. Shari will be doing her first baking class in Las Palmas, with the help of Malu. At the same time, Hannah and I will be doing a craft class for the kids.
After the baking/craft class is the kids club/School for Parents, which is led by Iglesia BÃblica Sendero de Vida Santa Barbara (Path of Life Bible Church Santa Barbara). I’ll be leading the parenting study tonight, which, as you might imagine, will be a very convicting experience! But it is a great review for me, which will hopefully spill over into more action.
Our community centre administrator, Tina Barham, will return home to Mexico on Monday (Lord willing), and there will be more classes starting up in Jesús MarÃa as well. There are already English classes going on up there, currently with Jessica and Emily teaching, along with some help from Julian and Malu. But other classes will be starting up, such as an exercise class, craft classes, guitar classes, and more.
Thanks for your prayers! May God’s truth shine brightly among the palm trees and beyond. 🙂
The wider team of missionaries that we work with are spread out in various cities here in central urban Mexico. Not only are we involved in many different things, most of us individually are involved in a whole variety of activities!
So I asked everyone what exactly they do, and here are some of the answers I got. This cloud is an attempt to show how many of us are involved in various things (not how much time we spend on them or how important they are). Click for a larger version of the image.
