One Week Down, Seven to Go

Wow,
I cannot believe it has already been a week! But at the same time, it feels longer than a week. So many new things have been jammed packed into the last 7 days, that it feels like months. I haven't mentioned that much about my surroundings here, and I would like to. I think it will better paint a mental picture for those curious in my day to day life.
I am living in the Casita (a side house) of the Rumbaughs. They are missionaries here and Dr. Don (Rumbaugh) is the man I am working closely with this summer. His ministry is teaching English to young students in the community. He has spent many years with these people and has narrowed the list of many villages down to a few that he chooses to visit and teach. He teachings English to only the students who want to learn and are respectful in the process. Brogan and I came here this summer to help with his ministry. The view from my housing consists of the Caribbean Sea to the left, and the Jungle Mountains to the right. Walking to the beach to swim in the Sea (which we have done :)) takes only 30 minutes. Hiking up the Jungle Mountains takes a bit longer...but still just as close. Every morning we wake up to Howler Monkeys (the loudest animals in the Western Hemisphere) and Tuscans. The monkeys and birds come right next to the house and jump from tree to tree checking everything out. Just yesterday morning and White-faced Monkey jumped to a tree right in front of where I was doing my quiet time, stared at me and starting jumping up and down on the long palms (almost like a trampoline). It was absolutely amazing. The animals are wild, so we're instructed not to go near them, but they are soo much fun to observe! My living conditions consist of no air conditioning (I am adjusting very well though ;)), cold showers, scorpions in the sink and bath, and not flushing toilet paper but instead burning it :). And I am enjoying every minute of it.
The five points of Mission Work are flexible, flexible, flexible, flexible, and fun. Dr Don shared these with Brogan and I our first day here and on Wednesday we exercised those 4 points because just minutes before we were to leave for the bilingual school in Rio Esteban, we heard from Penny Alden that there was a gang in town who had threatened to take a young mans life if he did not pay them money. Dr Don quickly decided that it would not be safe for us to go out there, and since everything was so new we didn't really have another school to go to. So needless to say Brogan and I had a chill day, reading, writing, playing guitar and piano. Flexibility is key out here. I would consider myself a pretty flexible person haha to it hasn't been to difficult, but I go to bed each night not really knowing what the next day holds. It's adventurous :)
Some of the Rumbaughs friends came to visit this wednesday from Pioneers (mission organization). They are currently missionaries in Morocco and are making a rounds around the world "checking in" with other Pioneers missionaries (the Rumbaughs are associated with Pioneers). It has been a blessing to have them here, they are a sweet couple, Mr. & Mrs. Jones (they prefer me to call them Karen and Bill, but the respectful Mr. & Mrs. from my childhood is still there :) Thank you Mom and Dad). Both are very knowledgeable of the Islam faith and the Muslim culture. It has been a blessing to learn from them these past few days.
All is doing well here. We spent a few hours in the morning giving piano and guitar lessons. One might ask why I am giving guitar lessons when I don't know how to play the guitar? Well, starting last sunday I do, haha. Dr Don informed Brogan and I within 30 minutes of arriving here that we would need to learn...and we have learned, enough so to teach. So Mom and Dad, when I get home, maybe we can go guitar shopping?? I keep appreciating your prayers. I am so thankful for your support in that way. :) More from this Gringa later

Not Called to Comfortability...

These past two days I have been constantly reminded that the Lord does not call us to a life filled with comfort. My friend Becca Jungers reminded me of this last semester...but now I am feeling it. It is uncomfortable to live with strangers, it is uncomfortable to be around people who speak a different language, it is uncomfortable to not communicate with the children I am serving, it is uncomfortable sweating all day every day, it is uncomfortable feeling ill-prepared..... But here uncomfortable, is comfortable through the Lord. He doesn't call us to be comfortable so that we can see that Only because of Him are things comfortable. (Just some food for thought :))

Yesterday was Brogan and I's first day out with the children. We went to a neighboring village called Rio Esteban. There is an elementary school there where Dr. Don has working in months previous. It is a bilingual school, so Dr. Don thought Brogan and I could start there best because the children speak the most English. When we went I honestly did not know what to expect...I was nervous, excited, uncomfortable by not knowing what would happen. There were so many aspects of the day that I did not know how they would look... so I just prayed that the Lord would be honored and I could be used and would be helpful. The school is composed of 4 classrooms, 1 for Kindergarten, 1 for 1st and 2nd Grades, 1 for 3rd and 4th Grades, and 1 for 5th and 6th Grades. When we walked into the first classroom with Dr. Don, one child spoke up saying, "Hola Gringas!" Which translates into "hello white women!" After hearing this Brogan and I just looked at each other and laughed, there was nothing else to do. Children speak the obvious in Honduras just as much as in Oklahoma. We went throughout the classrooms going over songs in Spanish and English that Dr. Don has made up to help the children learn English through Biblical principles. Songs we sing consist of the Ten Commandments, the Armor of God, Holy Holy Holy ...etc. It is amazing to see these children memorizing these words without realizing what they mean. I cannot wait to see the "light bulbs" above there heads when the songs make sense to them.

I came away from the day overwhelmed for so many reasons. Not a negative overwhelmed, just overwhelmed... There was so much to take in throughout the day. Also Dr. Don informed us that he would not be going back with us the next day because he made prior commitments with another school in another neighboring village. So day two, Brogan and I were to be on our own. Thankfully, Penny Alden came with us to bridge the language barrier, but it was still up to Brogan and I to lead the instruction and the songs. Today we really made connections with the children. They are not used to people visiting and investing in their lives.. and needless to say they are soaking up our attention with a sponge. I was talking with one of the oldest girls (probably 8-9 years old) and I asked her who her friends at school were. She started to name a few girls in her class, then she looked at me and said you Miss Karin. That was amazing to me. Children are so accepting and forgiving. The children there are a true blessing. It encourages me to see how eager they are to learn. They constantly want to sing more songs and just look at Brogan and I like what we say is golden. They are taking the initiative to educate themselves and it's so neat to see.

Last night, after dinner we had an interesting conversation with the Rumbaughs. They wanted to show us a powerpoint they had put together to show everyone who comes to visit them. The big take home message from the powerpoint is about the falsity of America's view of poverty... America views poverty as lack of money. Which by looking at modern celebrities or people with money, it should be obvious that money does not bring happiness or emotional stability. The Rumbaughs are arguing that poverty is emotional... I guarantee you the hut-living Honduras experience volumes more pure joy than mansion-dwelling Americans.

It feels like I have been here more than just 3 days. Tomorrow, Brogan and I go back to the bilingual school legitimately on our own. So please pray for a sound communicating and relationship strengthening day.

Typo .. Ooopie!

So I made an error. Where I am is Loma de Luz... not Luma. Still getting used to the pronunciation and spelling apparently :)

oh International Travels

Well, 48 hours after first arriving to the Tulsa International Airport, I have reached my final destination. Luma de Luz, Honduras. It is hot. Very hot. I am constantly sweating. I'm sure I will get used to it after awhile but it sure hurts right about now. I arrived in San Pedro Sula yesterday, met up with Brogan, then took a taxi to the Hedman Alas bus station to validate our tickets. We then took a 3 hours luxurious (i'm not being sarcastic, it was really nice! :)) bus ride to La Ceiba where Penny and John Alden met us. They told us that we would not be able to travel back to Luma de Luz (our final destination) that evening because many kidnappings have occurred after dark and they did not want to take any risks. So we stayed the night with another missionary couple. Went to be at 9 pm to wake up at 6 am to travel to Luma de Luz to be back in time for church. We made it to the Rumbaugh's house (where we will be living) around 7:30 am and really hit the ground running. After getting a tour of the house, Dr. Don and Suzanne shared a few expectations and rules with us, they shared their hearts their mission and their vision. They then asked us to share what we were wanting to get out of this trip...I didn't have an answer because I really hadn't thought about it. We then joined the Rumbaughs for a quick Purpose Driven Life Study they are doing with some missionary youth. After that we went to the missionaries church and fellowshipped with them. Mrs. Rumbaugh then gave us a more external tour, driving us around to neighboring villages where we will be serving. After our tour we came back for lunch. And quickly following we joined Dr. Don in his "jam session," ie. teaching guitar to anyone who will learn. He informed us that we will be learning, so Brogan and I picked up the guitar and starting strumming.. I have learned the chords G, C, D, E minor, A, and A7. Soon after learning the chords we were thrown in a told to play a few songs...needless to say it was not worship worthy! Hah, i'm getting the feeling that things are learned through diving in head first here as opposed to toe-ing in to see how cold the water is.
The scenery here is beautiful. There is jungle everywhere. My back porch overlooks the Caribbean. I cannot wait to take pictures! Everyone is very kind here and forgiving at the fact that I know no Spanish. I feel handicapped not knowing any, but I know that my vocabulary will grow and i'll be able to better communicate.
My main purpose is teaching english to children in different villages. I will also be given the opportunity to follow around a rural midwife making visits to different villages and clinics. This first week Dr. Don has us going to a Bilingual school reading stories to the children and having them read stories to us to better improve their English.
Thank you all for your prayers throughout my travels. The only trouble I had was missing my flight to Honduras...haha kind of a big deal I know; but the Lord just gave me a peace about it. I knew I was suppose to come and so I knew he would figure out a way to get me there. I got my luggage when I arrived, which I was very very surprised by; I thought it was going to get lost with all the chaotic events in the airports. So thank you again for your prayers.
Thank you for your investment in this trip. I hope this blog finds you doing well! If you every have any questions about me or what i'm doing or anything at all feel free to e-mail me at karin.shacklett@okstate.edu I would love to hear from you!