The Communion of Saints
Observations on Life and Ministry from Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Still more feathered friends
Monday, September 1, 2014
The State of the Union
It is kind of funny that while the church was the reason that we moved to Honduras, I really never wrote a great deal about the church.
Here are some recent highlights.
- After last year's major project of installing the new roof over the sanctuary, this year we took up a couple of smaller projects. A room was converted into a new and improved nursery. We installed drop ceiling and new lighting in the foyer. We've painted a few rooms. (We did an exterior job on the electrical which was much needed but not very compelling.)
- Just a couple of weeks ago we rolled out a new church logo. Or perhaps I should just say "a church logo" because the church really didn't have one to speak of. If you're one of those facebooky people you've already seen it perhaps. Along with that we got a new church sign and new bulletins. The work was done by a young woman in the church with her own graphic design business.
- We didn't lose too many people at the end of the school year. That was a plus. Often June is a time of good-byes. This year only a few people moved back to the states.
- Two couples from the congregation got married over the summer and then returned to Honduras. I had the privilege of performing one of the weddings.
- We've gained quite a few people recently. Late-summer is a time when many 'new' people are coming into the country for work with the embassies or schools. We've gained a couple of embassy families with children. In fact, after last year when often the only child in Jr. church was Ellyn, this past Sunday there were 15 kids! It probably won't stay that large, but there has clearly been a growth in that area.
- There are several expectant mothers in the congregation at the moment. In fact, between now and March there could be 4 new babies around. Guess we got that nursery done just in time!
- We've been making a concerted effort to get more people involved and connected. Connecting is such a significant part of what the church exists to do. We've recently installed some church mailboxes so that we can connect with one another even better.
- I preached through 1 Peter during the late winter and spring (by US reckoning). This summer I preached a variety of Psalms. Currently I'm preaching our 'new' mission statement: "Equipping the saints for the work of ministry." Ephesians 4:12. Perhaps more on that later.
Sunday, August 24, 2014
@#$%!
There's a certain four-letter word that I've using far too much since we moved to Honduras. I use it in traffic. I use it when shopping. I use it when I have to deal with paperwork. I use it on behalf of other people when they run into cultural conflicts. I even use it when I talk about life here with friends and family in the US.
I excuse my use of it because, hey, a lot of the Americans down here use it. Some of them use it a lot more than I do. Then I remember that I'm a pastor and I'm supposed to be an example or something.
Okay. I'm going to tell you what it is. I'm gonna write it out leaving out no letters. Sheild the children's eyes.
Here it is: "they." Sometimes I even say "them."
Yep. They. What's the problem with "they?" "Them?"
There are a couple of problems with these words. Much of the time it is not followed by anything complimentary. It is not as though most of us are saying, "They are so friendly down here" or "They really know how to do x well here." No, we say things like, "They don't know how to drive here!" And, "They have no sense of customer service here!" Sure, I recognize positive cultural features occasionally, but far more often I'm painting Hondurans with a broad and distinctly uncharitable brush.
Even if what I followed "they" with was nice, I think it could still be problematic. "They" divides us into US and THEM. (And far to often that US is us as in U.S. which further complicates the issue.) How can I hope to live, love and serve a people that I regularly categorize as something other than myself?
It seems to me that a significant part of Jesus's ministry and a fair bit of Paul's ink were spent trying to drive home to us that there is no US and THEM, not in the church ("No Jew and Gentile") and not even outside of it ("and such were some of you...").
Do you suppose I'd learn this lesson if I wash my mouth out with soap?
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Piñatas and product placement
Monday, August 11, 2014
Feathered neighbors
Here are some species that we have seen just in our neighborhood. Maybe in a later post I can show some of the species we've seen out and about. (The pictures are taken from various websites; they are not our photography.)
Sunday, August 3, 2014
He's back?
There were good reasons for stopping and are probably questionable ones for restarting. Indeed, I make no commitments as to the frequency of posts at this point.
But, I was asked recently about the blog and the questioner gently inquired whether I had any intention of taking it up again. This prompted a couple of thoughts and 'reasons' to return to it.
1. I enjoy writing and the blog gave me an excuse and outlet. I have others, of course. Articles for church, the odd book review. Those are fairly well-defined. The blog gives me a space to write freely just for practice about anything that interests me.
2. It also occurred to me that after three years here in Honduras what I see has changed. That first year blogging was filled with the oddities and excitement of first year experiences of life and ministry. The blog gave us a place to process some of those and share them with those of you who care about us. The number of quirky things we notice has dwindled with time, as one would expect. But with that and the passing time, we are in a position to see other things better, things about life and ministry that we didn't see before. And we still benefit from having a place to process through them, whether or not anyone is reading.
And so, we're back. Maybe. We'll see. I don't have a plan or a schedule for the blog. I may drop it again soon. It may change focus. We'll see. Either way, you're welcome to tag along.
Home is...where?
However, I decided that honesty was no more complex than ambiguity and just said, "Honduras", whenever the question arose.
Honestly, this has only added to a problem I've experience for years. Where am I from? Where is home?
In the frequently changing international and expatriate community where we live it is a frequent question, "Where are you from originally?" I usually semi-deflect the question by saying, "My mother." This rarely puts people completely off the topic so I say that it's kind of complicated. At this stage in my life I'm not really sure where "home" is. What are the options?
- Well, I was born in Buffalo, NY and lived 13 or so of my first 18 years there. (We had a 5 year sojourn in Florida). But, I haven't lived in NY since then, really, and my parents no longer live there. (Besides, they left my childhood home when I was a freshman in college).
- My parents live in Nebraska and my wife's in New Jersey. That's fine, but except for a year we haven't really lived in Nebraska and my in-laws are in the same town but not Debbie's childhood home. Besides, who wants to say they're from New Jersey?
- Then there's Wisconsin. We lived in Wisconsin for 14 years, the bulk of our married life so far. We have longstanding friendships and church relationship there. We try to visit when we can. But we have no family where we lived there, no official ties.
There is a final option. We could be from here. Honduras could be home. From the beginning we have tried to live that way. The clearest evidence of this is that we brought most of our books. ("Where your treasure is there will your heart be also"?).
But as others here will tell you, it is difficult to speak of this as home. Not so much because we don't feel it is home but because others in our lives don't think of it that way. So when we are readying ourselves to return to Honduras after a visit in the states, we think and speak about "Going home." But our friends and relatives think we have just been home and are going back on a trip to Honduras. It is almost as if they regard our time in Honduras as an extended vacation, a long visit.
I just don't think that is a psychologically healthy option for us. This is where we are. This is where we are living and making life now. It is not vacation. It is not a trip. This is our life.
Will it always be this way? Probably not. We will someday move somewhere else, probably stateside. But not because it is home but in order to begin the processing of making it home.