So just use your imagination, okay?

You thought it when you read the post "Sight of the day":

"This post would be more humorous with a picture. In fact, Steve wouldn't have had to write anything at all. Steve not writing anything at all, hmm, now that's a nice thought. Yeah, just pictures."

Okay, so maybe you didn't think all of that, but some of you did. I have so many things that I would like to show you rather than tell you. I'd love to show you:

1. The church building: it is quite nice and has character. 
2. The house where we are staying: spacious but still under construction.
3. The view from where we're staying: it varies from wide open view of the valley and city to a cloudy sea.
4. People who make UCC what it is: too many to comment on.
5. The winding road I travel to and from church: it's really, really steep and curvy.
6. The daily curiosities: too many of these to count as well.
7. My office: well, there's not much to see there, really.

But I didn't bring a camera. Sorry!

Big city; small world

Big City. Tegucigalpa is a city of almost 1.5 million people. I am acquainted with fewer than 100 of them. And yet I ran into two of them at the store yesterday. That was a pleasant surprise (and also a reminder that I always have to be on my best behavior!)


Small world. In this morning's service we had a visitor who teaches as one of the Christian schools in Tegucigalpa. After the service she asked me if I had any relatives named "Jon." As it turns out, she attended my brother's church in WI during two summers while working at a nearby summer camp. Who'd a thunk?

Sight of the day

Today, on my way home from a mall I saw a man and a woman on a motorcycle. This is not uncommon as motorcycles are cheaper and far more maneuverable in the traffic. What was unusual about this pair was that the woman, perched on the back, was neither able to see nor to hold on to the driver because of the brand new, still in the box, 32'' flat screen TV that she was holding. Who needs a trunk?

Conversion

Already one of my favorite aspects of church is that I don't have to convert. What I mean is this. All week I spend energy converting: Honduran Lempiras to US dollars (1L = $0.053), kilometers to miles (1km = 0.62 miles), Honduran time to US time (WI time = my time +1), and English to Spanish and back again (sorry, no formula for this one).

On Sunday at church, however, I don't have to convert because, well, everyone's already converted. (You knew that was coming). Seriously, what I mean is that we speak the same spiritual language. We serve one Lord and read one Holy Scripture and are empowered by one Holy Spirit. That unity and the resultant community is refreshing and invigorating. I don't have to think a great deal in order to figure out how to interact because we have the most important things in common. And that is a great relief.

First Sunday

It seems that I should comment on my first Sunday but I don't know exactly what to say. I was very warmly welcomed by the congregation. I enjoyed the service and had many good conversations both before and after. There were several first time visitors so I wasn't alone in that respect!

I personally was intent upon neither elevating first Sunday to the status of life-changing event nor dismissing the significance of embarking on a new phase and place of ministry. I take this ministry very seriously, but on the other hand, it's one Sunday.

My best sermon ever? No. My worst? No. Nervous? Maybe a little. Obviously we're all sizing each other up but I wouldn't say that I felt on trial at all.

Here's a funny part. After tying my tie this morning I had the uncomfortable feeling that I might be wearing the same tie I wore when I candidated if not the exact same outfit. I called Debbie (she remembers these things) and she wasn't sure but at least confirmed that it was a possibility. So I switched ties.
As part of the announcement of my arrival they had slides with pictures of the family and one of me alone, pictures we had sent as part of the application process. And wouldn't you know it? The tie I was wearing in my solo shot (taken 2 years ago) is the same one I wore today. Keeping me humble.

In which I experience the communion of the saints

I arrived in Tegucigalpa yesterday, Thursday, August 18, after prompt and unremarkable flights. Almost immediately upon arriving I began to experience the grace and generosity of the body of Christ at Union Christian Church.

Gathered to receive me were an elder and his wife who had been assigned or volunteered to fetch me at the airport. With them was Fabio, a bilingual Honduran member of the congregation, who came for no other reason than to welcome me to the country and the church. That was moving.

We lunched and then made our way to the church and then to the house where we will be staying until we find a place of our own. This home is another act of generosity that makes the transition less stressful. With the house came a freezer stocked with enough dinner to keep me well fed until Debbie and Ellyn arrive and maybe beyond. Included were mountains of chocolate chip cookies. This simple act of kindness is compounded in significance when you realize that chocolate chips are expensive here (if you can find them at all) leading many North Americans here to request visitors to bring them and hoard what they have. Yet more grace. We have also been blessed with the temporary use of a car and a cell phone. We will, of course, need to procure our own in time, but having them available so soon again eases the transition.

Shortly before I left the states I received word of generous gifts from our family at Racine Bible Church. We thank you for how you are already partnering with us to continue the work of the ministry.

Some might dismiss these acts as logical ways to ease a transition to a new place or to express support of a long time associate. I suppose. But the depth of feeling and extent of generosity, to my mind, bear fingerprints divine not merely human.

Why "The Communion of Saints"?

This blog, as its subtitle suggests (and its url summarizes succinctly) exists to share the challenges and joys that we will experience during our first year of transition into the culture of Honduras and the fellowship of Union Christian Church. We hope that it will be an easy way for us to communicate our experiences to those who love and support us in various ways.

So why call it "The Communion of Saints"?

The phrase "the communion of Saints" comes from the Apostles' Creed and one church dictionary defines it this way:

The communion of saints is the spiritual solidarity which binds together the faithful on earth and the saints in heaven in the organic unity of the same mystical body under Christ its head. (New Advent Encyclopedia)

As we head into a new country, a new church, and a new ministry, we are desirous of maintaining this "spiritual solidarity" with the churches and individuals that have shaped who we are in Christ and are supporting us as we move in new directions.

What's more, as we become a part of Union Christian Church, we sense in a very real way that we become a link between two distant church bodies that share in one "mystical body under Christ its head."

We hope that what we report through this blog might help you to remain in communion with us and deepen your union with Christ our Head.