Don't Rain On My Parade

Hello Friends and Family,

You have to forgive me. Sometimes I forget what people know about what I’m doing here in Honduras and what people don’t know. I want to share with you what Tree of Life Missions is, or at least a part of it, because the truth is there is so much to Tree of Life that I cannot even begin to tell you everything. I wrote a blog post about Tree of Life last year. You can still look at it by looking in the archive clicking on 2009 posts and it is under July. The post is called Tree of Life Ministries, if you are interested.

On to other things:

The students are back after a week long break. It was rather touching to see some of their faces when they got back and realized I am still here. Apparently, some of the students were under the impression I was just visiting for a week. So in true Honduran form, they stayed away from me that first week, afraid of getting too close again before I leave. Hondurans don’t do well with goodbyes. Most avoid them at all costs. Some of my friends purposefully left campus the day I left last year without telling me, but I digress. The students when they returned Monday greeted me with a traditional kiss on the cheek and a large smile on their faces. I had wondered why they had been acting weird around me.

Along with the students coming back came a short term missions team from the states. These are wonderful people who speak Spanish fluently. This makes my job rather easy. Because of this, I have been able to really enjoy my work the past few days. Yesterday (Tuesday) we painted the concession stand here on campus. It really needed a new paint job. Believe it or not, it was rather refreshing to do some manual labor. My mind gets pretty tired after awhile here. Most of my work consists of communicating with other people and forming relationships. I welcomed the change.

After painting, I played some volleyball. This is a big deal here. As some of you may recall, volleyball was my ticket in last year. Before I knew a single word in Spanish, I was playing volleyball. It was a great time of bonding that continued throughout the summer. It is also about the only sport here that I can competitively play with them. As much as I love watching soccer and basketball, I really shouldn’t be playing. The volleyball games usually consist of me and 11 other men. The younger male staff members and the older male students love it because I actually can give them a run for their money. What I lack in strength I make up for in simple mechanics, thank you, Coach Grusy. The funny thing about all of this is they took the volleyball net down last year when I left, and have not put it back up until I came back. As soon as I arrived they all said, “Great! Now we can play volleyball again!”. Like somehow they were waiting for my return before they could play again. I don’t completely understand, but I suppose it’s flattering.

Today I was once again in the mountains. It was a little bit of a bumpy start. I, as always, was put in the back of the truck bed to take the 2 hour drive up the mountain. This is usually fine, I enjoy the adventure and thrill of it all, but today it was raining. This is my second time being in the back of the truck during a rain storm, but my first time doing it while going up a mountain. This adds to the challenge of it, but we made it and as soon as we got to the village the sun came out and all was well. It was a really meaningful trip. We were visiting a village entirely made up of the descendents of the Mayans. This is a group of people that have been shunned by the rest of Honduras. No one will go near them. This is partially because of their violent background, the name of the village we went to was Drops of Blood, and partially just because they are different. They have their own language along with Spanish and look ever so slightly different. This is a tough group of people. Most of the men had at least one scar on their face from a machete and even the children didn’t show much expression one way or another. This is a newer village for Tree of Life. This was only the fourth time visiting them. Our hope is that through time, prayer, and Jesus Christ the image of these people will change. If nothing else, Tree of Life is reaching out to a group that is not used to being helped. It’s hard not to take notice of that. Today we visited their one school and handed out school supplies and food for their families. Over a hundred families were given food today. Each family averages 8-10 people. It was awesome to be a part of. Because the short term group here speaks Spanish, I got to just enjoy myself on this trip. I did a sac race with some kids and played hot potato as well. I ate candy with them and just hung out. All in all, it was a great day.

I believe more manual labor is on the menu for the rest of the week. This is nice because it allows me to stay on campus and hang out with some of the students after work.

Prayer Requests:

1. For the village Drops of Blood. So many people there and all of them are lost. Imagine growing up knowing that the rest of your country hates you and wants nothing to do with you.

2. I have been convicted several times this past week with my intentions here. Am I doing this for me or for God? My prayer is that I continue to learn what selflessness looks like and that I have the courage to live this way.

3. I’m feeling a little off today. After coming back from the mountains I practically passed out on my bed for two hours. I don’t even really remember walking from the truck to my room. I’m guessing it’s just the mixture of a windy, bumpy car ride, extreme heat and the greasy food they served us today. I’m taking it easy tonight. I hate to spend a night just sitting in my room, but I need to take care of myself.

Well, as always, I love you all and you are in my prayers. God bless you!

-Katelyn (Katie)