Valentine´s Day: Honduran Day of Love and Friendship

Happy Friendship Day!

Valentine´s Day in Honduras is better known as the Day of Love and Friendship.  Celebrated the 14^th of February this is a special occasion for more than just romantic relationships.  People take the time to remind one another of how much they appreciate their friendship. 

This Valentine´s Diaconía Nacional received a special visit from our friends and donors Partners Worldwide.  There special guests from Pella, Iowa have been supporting the credit program for years with training and follow-up with local producers as well as capital for Diaconía to lend out to motivated entrepreneurs.  I joined the Partners delegates and Lety, the DN credit coordinator in Olancho, in visiting some carpenters in their workshops to see how the support from Partners Worldwide and Diaconía has helped their businesses. 

In the afternoon, Diaconía and Partners hosted a seminar entitled “Overcoming the Crisis” for a variety of the credit clients in the area of Catacamas and Santa Maria del Real.  The theme stems from the economic difficulties of the last year or so and particularly the violence and insecurity that is precipitating the crisis in Olancho.  This seminar ended up being more of a forum for people to share their anxieties and receive encouragement from Diaconía, Partners Worldwide and other business owners facing similar hardships. 

Of course, the seminar´s presenters did not have all the answers to their problems and economic challenges but it did turn out to be a great event as people shared stories, ate some delicious appetizers, and recognized they have an awesome God watching out for them along with a community of support with Diaconía Nacional.  I believe that more than one new friendship blossomed that Valentine´s afternoon. 

MIracles Happening in Honduras

Miracles are certainly not in short supply here in Honduras.  It is a miracle that a couple of my Diaconía colleagues and I are alive today despite a horrific car accident that we experienced January 30^th. 

While in the community of Cañada I became very ill.  I decided to hitch a ride with Diaconía´s director Dilia and her husband, Gregorio, along with Reyna, the administrator at Diaconía.  They were heading back to Tegucigalpa after spending a little time with the Mayfair team and agreed to drop me off at the town of Limones where Isaí would take me the rest of the way. 

We were about 20 minutes away from meeting up with my husband when the truck´s back tires slid on the gravel road and we rolled a couple of times into a ravine.  It all happened in a matter of seconds.  The truck Diaconía had bought just two months previous was completely destroyed.  Reyna and I had tumbled around in the back seat as we weren´t wearing seatbelts and a local farmer helped us climb out of the upside-down wreck. 

It was truly a miracle that no one was killed – not a single broken bone or even a drop of blood from the shattered glass!   It was a scary event but we gave thanks to God immediately for taking care of us.  We looked a little farther down the ravine to where three crosses are already located from similar accidents at the site. 

After a few days of rest my bruises and soreness dissipated but it sounds like Reyna is still suffering from a bruised rib and Dilia pain in her neck.  Dilia´s husband, Gregorio, appears to be fine but since he was driving I believe he has been feeling pretty stressed as we wait to hear back from the insurance company.  We praise God for the miracle He performed in that ravine and we pray for healing and a favourable resolution to this traumatic incident. 

Mayfair CRC in Cañada, Olancho

Mayfair Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan recently sent a team to Cañada, Olancho – not Canada, CaÑada!  The eight team members were quite surprised – along with the rest of us from Diaconía and CRWRC – at the extravagant welcome ceremony that the people of Cañada put together for us.  There was a processional with special introductions for each member of the team and each Diaconía Nacional and CRWRC representative.  With our intros we each entered the small church to the music of the wedding march beneath an archway of palm branches.  The local CRC pastor, Lupito, facilitated a very elaborate ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the beginning of a fruitful partnership with Mayfair CRC, DN, CRWRC, the county mayor´s office, and the local churches and governing associations.  It was a very beautiful but long ceremony that truly demonstrated the community´s enthusiasm. 

During their week-long stay in Cañada the Mayfair team built 4 pilas for water storage and washing as well as pouring 13 concrete floors – 3 more than they initially planned!  They really enjoyed working alongside the locals in these projects although mixing cement with a couple of shovels and a hoe may have been a new experience for them.  I must commend them all for their effort and dedication to the project.  They worked extremely hard despite the vicious virus that eventually made its way through the whole team.  Plus, they were down one teammate even before they started the hard labour. 

Following their first soccer game with the community Pastor Jack took a horrible tumble on the field and injured his knee.  The day of the soccer game no one was really aware of the true extent of his injury.  The following day Jack still could not walk without pain so he went to the clinic in Santa María del Real a short four hours away.  The x-ray revealed a serious vertical fracture below the knee.  Pastor Jack was not able to return to the team in Cañada as he hopped the next flight home to receive 7 pins placed in his leg over 7 hours of surgery. 

We rejoice that Pastor Jack is doing much better and that the rest of his Mayfair teammates enjoyed the rest of their time in Honduras without him.  Cañada is a welcoming and hardworking community and I´m sure Pastor Jack and the rest from Mayfair will be eager to return next year – although Jack might have to pass on the next soccer game! 

BIOLA´s Water Project Recon Mission

Once again Diaconia was privileged to host a couple of students from BIOLA University in Los Angeles.  Joey and Oscar were here for a short five-day visit to check out two possible water project communities.  They were considering La Avispa or Los Charcos for their springbreak water project team this year. 


Joey and Oscar taking a break in the pastor´s house in La Avispa

One of the newly installed
transformers in  Los Charcos

Both villages were eager to meet with the students and share their history of struggles and triumphs in the development of their community.  La Avispa recounted their tragic losses suffered in 2009 on account of a tremendous landslide.  The leaders of Los Charcos related a bit of the challenges they´ve overcome in the last five years in trying to bring electricity to the village - an impressive goal which they achieved just two weeks after the BIOLA students left. 




After meetings with the community leaders we took time to walk through the village, see the homes and gardens, and get an idea of where the distribution tank and tubing would go should BIOLA select that community.  Joey and Oscar went back to California with lots of photos and stories to tell their team of 47 students.  I´m sure it was a tough decision for them since both communities are equally welcoming and in need of a water project. 

I recently learned that BIOLA´s group will be spending a week in April working alongside the people of La Avispa on their water project.  No need to worry about Los Charcos though... :)  Los Charcos will be hosting the 2012 Honduras Water Project team from the King´s University for three weeks in May!

Christmas in Canada

Isaí and I had the privilege of traveling to Edmonton over Christmas.  It took a lot of paperwork and prayer to get his Canadian tourist visa and then the US transit visa but we both agree it was well worth it.  The Friday before we left was Diaconía Nacional´s annual Christmas lunch and Secret Santa gift exchange.  We had a lot of fun and great food.

Diaconía even brought in a local musician to play for us.  His name is Nahun Escoto and he told us about when he was a kid wanting to play music but was too poor to buy an instrument.  In order to quench his thirst for music he began to make flutes out of PVC piping and other materials around the neighbourhood that most would consider scraps or trash.  He has now been playing for over 15 years with an array of recycled musical instruments and has performed in countries around Central America and Spain.  It was really amazing to hear him play and learn his incredible story.  Isaí and I even bought one of his CDs to take home with us.   

So December 11^th we left the sunny hills of Honduras for the harsh Canadian winter except that we were sorely disappointed – that is, as far as cold weather goes.  I had spent months trying to prepare my husband for the rude awakening he would receive once we reached the -30° mark.  However, Edmonton seemed to take pity on us two travelers from Honduras and the weather was unusually mild.  Of course Isaí still felt the shock of the cold (or rather chilly) -5° climate.  People kept asking him if he found it cold and he responded emphatically “YES!” to which they countered with “This is nothing yet”. 

We really enjoyed our month in Canada although it seemed too short.  We were always busy with fun winter activities, showing off the city, a little Christmas shopping and lots of dinner invitations from family and friends.  We also spent a lot of time planning our church wedding so we could celebrate our marriage Canadian-style this time.  Thanks to my parents, my sister and a whole bunch of extended family almost all of the details were worked out before we even landed in Edmonton.  Still, we had a couple of weeks to finish the decorations, organize the music, pick a location for the photos, get some suits for the guys and buy myself a wedding gown.   All in all everything turned out perfect!

We felt so blessed to have such a beautiful wedding celebration, our honeymoon in the mountains, a great time with our family and the opportunity to visit my home church of Inglewood Christian Reformed Church.    We´re already back in Honduras to continue with our important work with CRWRC and Diaconía Nacional.  My contract has been extended until the end of December 2012 and I guess after that we´ll see what God has in store for us.