Hi Everyone,
I’m sorry it has been so long since I have written. It is a mixture of business here and not having internet for about four days now.
I want to explain a little bit more of what exactly I, specifically, am doing here for Tree of Life. The answer to this question really is: a little bit of everything. I am a jack of all trades and a master of none (emphasis on the “master of none“ portion). I have always said this about myself, and it is more obvious than ever here in Honduras. I am struggling on how exactly to map out what I do, so I think I’m going to put it into two parts. I’ll give my main jobs and then take you through a “normal” day for me. I hope this makes sense.
1st Job: I am hostess of sorts to the short term groups that come in from the States. Tree of Life invites short term missions teams in for a week at a time to help out with different projects around the school. These groups are anywhere from 10-20 people ages ranging from 14-64. My job is to keep them happy and informed. If they need more water in their room, I get it. If they need a guitar, I find it. I make sure they get from place to place in a timely manner and generally get to know them and hang out with them. Believe it or not, this could be the most stretching job I have. Each group has a personality and I have to adapt to their flavor. This has been a great experience for me. My hope and dream now is to possibly bring in a group from my own church one day. I know the ins and outs of the short term missions program here and I think I could give our church the best experience possible.
2nd Job: Life in Action. This is the name of the outreach ministry here at Tree of Life. These are the mountain trips I take. About once a week, sometimes more, we will take a couple trucks up to the mountains to a small village and just meet needs. This could be giving out food, clothing, parasite medication or boots. Sometimes it is a mix of all of these. One trip, we took a bunch of our smaller boy students and set up a big soccer match against the village’s boys. When a short term group is here, we will bring them along, and then I play translator between the Tree of Life Honduran staff and the group. What these trips are really about is showing Christ’s love through our actions. Each trip a small message is given and a chance to accept Christ is offered. Eventually, after a three to five year process, if all goes well there will be a church set up in that village with a pastor taking Bible classes in Tree of Life’s Bible College. It is a process. We do evangelism a little differently here, but praise God there are now 42 churches started by Tree of Life.
3rd Job: I baby-sit. There are two missionary families here. One family has a 10 year old and a 7 year old, the other family has a 15 year old, a 13 year old and a 5 year old. Some days, where I can be the biggest blessing is baby-sitting the 7 year old or the 5 year old. They are all home schooled and I have actually given the day’s lesson to the 7 year old a couple times.
4th Job: Messenger and Holder of the Keys. Some days I spend running around campus delivering messages and opening doors for different people. I actually quite enjoy these days. It keeps me busy and I get to see lots of people.
5th Job: I have started making my rounds to eventually talk to all of the girls here at the school. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I was asked to give a message to the girls about purity of heart, mind and body. This is something I am very passionate about. So I am now on a schedule where every night at 9:00 when the students have to be in their rooms I visit a room and give a 20-30 minute message. It’s very casual and more of a discussion than anything. I tell them a little of my story and explain my message and then give them time to ask me questions about anything they want. Each room has 27-30 girls in them. I’m talking to girls whose ages range from 11-23. Obviously, my message changes just a little bit depending on the age group I’m speaking to. I’ve really enjoyed this time and I’m looking forward to continuing with it.
6th Job: Everything else. I have done computer work, cleaning, given devotionals to the short term groups and the students, worked in the concession stand, and choreographed a dance for a dance competition. It is never a dull moment.
My Typical Week Day
5:30- Alarm Clock sounds
6:00- Breakfast
7:00- My alone time
8:00- Work starts. This could mean any of the jobs mentioned above.
12:00- Lunch
1:00- Back to work
3:00- If I traveled to the mountains, I generally get back somewhere in this hour. Depending on how far away the village was.
4:00- Exercise. The directors wife, Angie, has a great ministry of leading an exercise class to the women on staff. I’m running about 2 ½ miles every day and then doing some kind of sculpting work out for about an hour. This has become an important part of my day. It’s my chance to get to know the women on staff more and I need to be in shape for the mountain trips where more often than not there is some climbing or hiking involved.
5:00- Social time. While the women exercise, the men play basketball. We all get done about the same time and will then catch up and socialize for a half hour to an hour.
6:00- Dinner
7:00- More alone time. This is where I might go get on the internet or something.
8:30- The students have a half hour of free time before they need to be in their rooms at 9:00. I’ll go out and hang out with some of them at this time.
9:00- The students have to be in their rooms. This is where I go to a room and give my message.
9:30- Head back to my room for the night and either watch a movie on my laptop or call it a night.
What have I been up to?…
1. I went to a water park with about 50 of the girl students. This was a lot of fun. It was a rather nice park by Honduran standards. I felt it was clean enough for me to actually get in. This was a blast of pure girl silliness. And praise God I made it the whole day without getting sunburned. I have no idea how I managed that.
2. I’ve been once again sick. A lot of stomach issues. It put me in bed for one whole day. This is something that has been going around somehow. I’m feeling better now. I just have a little less energy and feel a little nauseated after eating, but I’m keeping everything down, so I’m going to continue to eat. I have kind of told myself I am not here long enough to let sickness get the best of me.
3. I received a marriage proposal today. It was from a student here. He told me the only reason he wanted to marry me is so he could have kids with blue eyes. This made saying no rather easy.
Prayers…
1. I would like to feel better. Prayer for wellness please.
2. A praise. I had a girl come up to me after I shared my testimony of sorts and tell me she felt like I was talking straight to her and the two of us ended up having a very fruitful conversation. This was by far the most serious conversation I have had completely in Spanish.
3. There is a pattern I am seeing in the short term groups that come in. They are primarily female. Especially in the younger groups, they are for the most part made up of young women. Where are the men on the mission field? I believe it is time for them to take their place here.
Ok, I promise the next blog will come sooner than this one did. Love you all!
-Katelyn
