Early Morning Wait

It’s 2am and I’m sitting in the airport in San Pedro Sula. I’m waiting here until 5 am to catch a taxi to the bus terminal, and finally after to San Juan Pueblo, straight to school to teach. 2010 has been a year thus far, the government and political situation has been tranquil with the inauguration of the new president, Pepe Lobo, and another new school year. Our school has 177 students at last count, up from 94 last year, with the addition of first year college. As I have mentioned in earlier blogs, college in Honduras is the equivalent to 7th thru 12th grades in the states. Our kindergarten has a full class; we’re just short one teacher. Last fall we were blessed to welcome a new missionary to Proyecto Alcance. Her name is Amanda Daugherty and she’s from North Carolina via Tegucigalpa. After a year and half with World Gospel Outreach, she felt let to join our organization and help teach our kindergarten while she continues to learn Spanish. Most of our classes are full, with class sizes ranging from 18 to 27 students. Dialis said she wasn’t going to have the first year college class unless she had 25 students sign. On the first day of school had 23 students for the class, and by the third day of class we had our 25 students, thanks to the Lord. For me, this year I’m teaching all the English classes for grades 1 thru the first year college class. That’s 155 students, up from 30 last year. I had trouble last year remembering name and putting names with the right faces, this year is truly a challenge. I’m still writing my own curriculum that I collect from six different books. I also have a classroom to teach my class, so I do not have to go class to class and now I can put materials on the walls for the students to reference. I’m also giving private tutoring in English to a boy from Guatemala. He’s home-schooled and his mom has taught him all she can in English, so I was asked to tutor.
I’m the president of the youth in our church in San Juan Pueblo, which means I’ve been preaching in Spanish. Yes… Spanish. I can now speak Spanish more fluent. This year I’ve preached at least 10 times in Spanish. It’s definitely a challenge put the Lord has given the words to speak in the language He wants me to speak it in. It’s an incredible feels to be used by the Lord like that. I have 12 in my youth, most are young teens or new Christian. We’re very enthused for this year and reaching more youth in our community. Each Saturday morning we have prayer at 5 am to pray for the upcoming service that evening. We have plans to hike in the mountains and do a devotional, service on the beach, outdoor service in the center of the colony and other exciting activities. We had a movie night in January and also participated in a youth camp at our school. I’m really looking forward to see how God uses this youth this year and how He grows them.
Also in January, a group from William Jewell College came down to Honduras for their Village Partners Project in Embarcadero. Being their liaison, I organized the logistics for the project in Honduras. But this trip was different than other trips. The group didn’t stay in hotels; we stayed in the school house in the village. This village has none of the normal utilities that are found in a home in the states; no electricity; no plumbing, only latrines, if they weren’t flooded b/c of rain. Each one of us in the group was paired up with a family to eat breakfast and dinner with. The group ate lunch together. But the experiences from eating with the families were unimaginable. The group got to realize, on a personal level, how these families actually live. Each person was forced to come out of their comfort zone and get to know their family. The families enjoyed it also, they were impressed that an American was willing learn how they live and experience a little of their lives. Oh, I don’t think I mentioned, I was also the translator for the group since all the translators I know had to teach at their bilingual schools.
My fingers are starting to hurt so I think I’m going to call this blog quits. At least I’m not alone in the lobby of the airport. And someone came around to take our information so if something were to happen, they knew how was here. Another two hours to wait, I think I’ll watch a movie. Until next time, I pray blessings to you all.