Language, learning and experience

The day in early December that I stepped off the plane onto Honduran ground, I knew this would be a lot more different than I anticipated.
I was now entering into a new chapter of my life, that one year ago I never would have imagined. My first few days in the country were spent living with our directors and my 3 teammates, we got new information and slowly started getting introduced to the culture.
The traffic, the sounds, food, language, sights and smells are all different than the familiarity that I left back home in Canada.... I'm in another part of Gods world!
4 days after arriving into the country, I was riding the very short distance from our directors house to my new family. As I saw what had become the 'normal' of my time here further behind me, I started to panic.
My Spanish was limited to what I'd learned from Dora The Explorer, yes I'd lived with families before, but the longest duration being 7 days. Now I'm moving into a house with a family for 6 months that I can't even communicate with! What was I going to do?!

   Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. - Matthew 11:28

God is with me! He's the one that brought me here, He's the one that knew exactly what I needed at this point in my life. God is good.
We've been in language class now for around 3 weeks, I find myself thinking in Spanish. I definitely can understand A LOT more than what I could the first night in my host home. I'm still having a little trouble putting my Spanish thoughts into words (but I have that trouble in English as well haha)
Becoming familiar with cultural norms has been a highlight for me, the people are all so pleasant here and I'm thankful for all that we are being taught about the culture, but there's just something special about living with a local family, being immersed and included in their every day life.

Prayer Request: That myself and my team will be impacted by those that we meet here in Honduras and along the journey.
God Bless, 
-- Nikki

Ordinary Christians with an Extraordinary God

I was frustrated, lonely, and annoyed as I sat in through my fourth church service of the week. I really needed God and he showed me his love in an awesome and inspiring way.
My host Mom wants the absolute best for me, but the one thing I want most is something she isn't able to provide for me: my family. Yes, she can come close, but her family will never be able to replace the ones dearest to me. The transition has been hard to say the least. Its easy to say you will be flexible, it's another thing to BE flexible. With my siblings on vacation my house is very quiet and subsequently I have a lot of time for my mind to wander; thinking of family, friends, and home. It has been rough adjusting to a new house, my own room, and a new life all the while not completely understanding everything going on around me because of the language barrier. As the weeks pass I am becoming more accustomed to the culture of my home, but it is only by God's amazing love that I have come to accept my presence in this new country. It all started Wednesday night. I was upset because I had been forced to sit in on various bible studies, cell groups, and church services that I didn't understand and here we were again singing the first song of mid-week service. As Pastor Marcos took the stage I tried to understand, but lets be honest, by this time I didn't want to. At the end of the service there was an altar call. My mom drug me up to the stage and told me to kneel. Feeling very uncomfortable and slightly out of place, I followed her lead as she knelt and began to pray. I prayed harder than I ever have in that moment that God would show me his love and would make it clear that I was where he wanted me to be. I finished up my prayer as the worship team started with a familiar song. Of course they where singing in Spanish, but I began to sing in my native tongue, "How great is our God, sing with me how great is our God, and all will see how great, how great is our God." I can't explain the presence I felt beside me at that moment. It was almost like God wrapped me up in his arms and said, "Katlyn, you don't have to do this alone. I am with you always. I am your father and I love you with an everlasting love. Rely on my strength, not your own." I went home that night feeling completely refreshed and renewed in spirit and ready to face the next day. Yes, I still have moments when I yearn for home, my family, and tears still come, but for now I know this is where I am supposed to be. God never promised that it would be easy, he just promised that he would be with me every step of the way.

HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD!
-Kate

New World, Same God

Coming into it, we were all warned not to have expectations. I don't think I could have received any better advice because I never could have predicted this. I'm currently living in a home that has three locks between my bed and the outside world, regular visits from energetic grandchildren ages 4 to 12, several college students living in the rooms adjacent to mine, constant blaring, Spanish music, an outdoor shower and toilet, and a pet parrot who lives right outside my room. The bird can speak. And sing. It's pretty cool until about 4am. There is a park about 10 feet from my home where there are always kids playing soccer (futbol) and teens hanging out. There are always people and things happening around here which is so ideal for anyone as extroverted as I am, but it has definitely been a challenge to find my quiet time with God. I no longer have to just be intentional about it, but also strategic. It may have been the 6 weeks in quarantine before we came here, but I've definitely come to appreciate silence, and the scarcity of it has been quite testing. So many times I've heard about the "noise" of our culture in the States--always going, always distracted--and coming here has shown me that the noise isn't only in the US. It's everywhere. I don't want anyone to be under the impression that spending six months in another country for mission work means that we have things all figured out. Our ministry here is the same as mission-minded Christians at home and all over the world: the overflow of what God is doing in our lives. We all need to individually decide to spend our personal time with God and I'm not going to lie, it would be a lot less effort to miss a day or wait until ten minutes before bedtime which is exactly why I've found it so important to make it a priority.

Please pray that we all continue to stay focused and experience daily dependence on God.

--Brynne

STEPping into Uncertainty.

So, funny story for you. I, Kristen, lost my wallet in the Atlanta airport and missed our flight to Honduras...there is only one flight a day. Hahahaha, it was an adventure.

Nikki arrived first to Atlanta airport followed shortly by Brynne and Katlyn. After warm embraces and sweet salutations, they settled in to wait for me. It was fifteen minutes or so before they spotted me triumphantly trudging toward them. After hugs and hellos we got in line to board the plane. As they called for our passports I reached in my pocket...and my wallet wasn't there! Aye! I was snippily sent running across the airport (and I mean allllllllll the way across) to check my arrival terminal.

Needless to say, I missed the flight. The worst part? The girls took my carry-ons with them. That included my computer and all contact information for anyone. It was an adventure for sure. Praise God, I found my wallet! The wonderful people at the Delta desk and my fantastic travel agent were able to get me on the flight the next morning and put me up in a hotel. It all turned out rather fun on my end (after the initial panic). I can now say I know my way around Atlanta airport like a boss. ;)

My arrival to Honduras (a day late) was stress-free and easy going. The flight was fantastic, customs went quickly, and they actually had my luggage (something that can't be said for Brynne and Katlyn, we're just now going to get their bags). As I walked out of security I heard "Mama!" across the room and soon found myself, once again, reunited with my sisters.

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I knew I had to leave for the Toronto airport at 1:00am on Tuesday, so I did not want to fall asleep. This was my first experience flying solo! I arrived first in Atlanta and looked for my teammates right away, not knowing who I'd see first, 20 minutes later I saw Brynne and Katlyn walking towards the area to board to Tegucigalpa. It was so nice to see them after two weeks. 15 minutes after they arrived we saw Kristen walking towards us. We were all reunited! We were standing in line when they told us to get our passports and boarding passes ready. Kristen's face seemed shocked and she dropped her two carry-on bags. Brynne asked her what was wrong, and Kristen realized she had left her boarding pass and wallet all the way back where she had landed. She went to the desk and ended up running from us, so we knew she was headed back to get her wallet. Brynne, Katlyn and I boarded the plane without Kristen. We sat on the plane praying that she would come through the doors, but she did not.

When I got through into Honduras by myself (Kristen back in Atlanta, Brynne & Katlyn claiming lost luggage) I had to explain to our directors what was going on. We didn't know how the other two girls were doing, so we stood and waited for 30-45 minutes for them to come through. We were trying to get ahold of people back in America to let them know about the one that missed her flight. It was something we didn't expect as we were preparing for our arrival into Honduras.

Katlyn, Brynne and I spent the first day by walking with our directors around town and getting a tiny glimpse of the culture that we are going to spend the next 5 months in. I always have to remind myself that it's December, because the weather is very very warm. I'm loving this culture so far, and am trying to recognize as much Spanish as I can. I've met the family that I'll be moving in with tomorrow, they are so sweet and I'm excited to learn from them. I'm thankful for my family in Christ.

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So, there you have it. We are here. God has already taken us on some adventures and today we move in to our host families. Be flexible they tell us. So we shall try and, Lord willing, will succeed.

Nikki's already working on it ;)