March/April + 25 facts about living in Honduras

How do you know that you live in Honduras? 1. Hall’s are not cough drops. They are candy. 2. Trash is a popular toy for young kids. They make toy cars and all sorts of things with trash. Their creativity amazes me. 3. The ground is a trash can. I’m always looking for trash cans, but their so hard to find because everybody just throws their trash on the ground. Finished your coke or bag of chips? Throw the empty bottle/bag to the side of the road. Got leftover food? Toss it to the side of the road. The dogs will appreciate you. 4. Leashes are very rare. I’m starting to think that dogs are the real owners of Honduras. This is their country. 5. Cows, horses, and an occasional donkey wander around Honduras. They are allowed to roam pretty much wherever, but people don’t usually steal them. The owner just drives them back toward home later. Also, I’m in love with Honduran cows. Don’t know why, have been since 2011 when I came to Honduras for the first time. 6. If you buy meat from the deli section, you get it in a clear plastic bag. And it looks like it came right off the cow. It’s extremely red. And it’s delicious. 7. Handmade tortillas are dirt cheap. And so good. You can buy them fresh and hot. And on your way home, it’s almost inevitable that you will eat one or two. My other staple is avocados. Yum! 8. Every birthday has to be celebrated with cake and coke. People may not have a lot of money, but if it’s someone’s birthday, we get cake and coke. I’m going to get fat with all the birthday’s at school. 9. Death is normal in Honduras. Graphic pictures are shown on TV, telling news of murders. 10. Hospitals are always really busy. You may be forgotten about if you don’t speak up. 11. Jeans are what almost everyone wears. Rarely you see shorts, skirts are not as frequent as jeans. 12. Soccer is big. And Hondurans don’t like to lose. They are very competitive. Real Madrid and Barcelona teams are really popular here, but you’re either on one side or the other. You can’t be both. 13. Little stores in people’s houses called “Pulperias” are everywhere. They can sell meat, groceries, shoes, phone cards, lottery tickets, cookies, cleaning sponges, big bottles of filtered water, everything. 14. Things break. and sprout legs. You have to keep a good eye on your things or they will just disappear. 15. Your business is everybody’s business. period. 16. Worms are occasionally found in vegetables. 17. Things live in your ceiling. You never know what they could be. 18. Roosters crow the entire day. They don’t limit themselves to the morning. 19 If you're a female gringa (white foreigner), you will get whistled at, cat-calls, and maybe even a song. 20. The water you use to wash dishes, take showers, etc., likes to decide when it wants to work. It has its own mind of its own. And you don’t drink it. You have to buy separate filtered water for that. 21. People speak by gesturing with their lips and bodies. You don’t have to even say a word to get a message across. 22. Taxis are as frequent as people. You don’t go after one, they go after you. They desperately honk their horn at almost everyone they pass. Buses are cheap. And they drive on roads that I never thought a bus could fit on. It’s terrifying. 23. There is no right of way for people. You just have to keep walking, and take every chance you get to cross a street. Because the cars aren’t stopping for you. Look out for bikes and motorcycles too. They are everywhere, and the amount of people that they fit on one is mind-blowing. 24. In the U.S., we study to work. Here, you work to study. School isn’t guaranteed. Many people stop after sixth grade because of the cost. 25. There is a lot of love here. Friends are family, a friend’s hurt is your hurt. If a friend is in trouble, you inconvenience yourself to help them. Your love for God is displayed openly and freely. Family is important, even there is turmoil inside of it. You share your food, your home, your things with those around you. You are Honduran. This is my home. There are gorgeous mountains, dirt roads, lakes, waterfalls, people. They are my family, I love them more than I can express. This month has been really interesting. And hard. I spent two different weeks out of school because I had salmonella and an inflamed colon. One week in, one week out, one week in, one week out. I’m still in the process of healing, but I’m back in school thanks to God’s sweet and loving power. I’ve been on different diets, different medications, seen lots of medical personnel, taken lots of tests, it’s been pretty exhausting. But God has been good. He has put certain people in my life to encourage me and spur me on in this work that God has for me now. I’m back in school with my 53 wonderful kids, whom I love all dearly. Their behavior can be frustrating, sometimes they just won’t pay attention. And I’m learning their strengths, and their weaknesses. I’m learning their hopes and dreams, and I’m learning how to keep trying, even when it seems like a child isn’t responding. We have lots of activities at school. In this month alone, we have celebrated Earth day, Day of the Spanish language, and day of the Americas. We celebrate lots of birthdays, for teachers and students, sometimes for the same person multiple days in a row. In February, we celebrated Father’s day by making lots of cool projects to show our love for our Papi’s. One of my favorite books in the world is Kisses from Katie. She felt the call to missions from a young age, just like me. She faced difficulty, she faced people who couldn’t understand her longing to give up normalcy, and the “american dream” to live somewhere in violence and poverty to serve until she fell into bed at night. That’s where I feel I’m supposed to be. Home in Honduras, helping one person at a time. I don’t feel the call to go to college. I don’t know if I ever will. I don’t want a nice car, a nice suburban house, a high paying job. I don’t need a lot of friends, I just want a few close friends who encourage me and understand me. Does this make me a better person than anyone else? Of course not. Is it wrong to want a nice car, a comfortable home, good money to feed your family? Definitely not, these are all good things. The problem comes when these things create a wall of ignorance toward those suffering in this world. For me, these are not important thing. For other people, they might be. For right now, I’m going to do what Katie says, “I just keep filling up my little eyedropper, keep filling it up and emptying my ocean one drop at a time. I’m not here to eliminate poverty, to eradicate disease, to put a stop to people abandoning babies. I’m just her to love.”

Month 2 ~ February/March 2013

Here I am, at the end of month two. It's pretty crazy to me that I've been here this long. But I am absolutely in love with Honduras. It's home to me. It might sound a little weird, because I'm only 18, but I've never felt completely 'home' anywhere. But two years ago in La Villa de San Antonio, Honduras, I felt home. I'm in Comayagua, Honduras right now, but everytime I visit San Antonio (it's about 20-30 minutes away driving/taking a bus), I'm home again. I get those funny butterflies in my stomach everytime I arrive in La Villa, and my heart starts dancing. Because I'm home. Here in Comayagua, it is not the same as La Villa, but I know that I'm supposed to be here right now. Because I have 63 students who need a math teacher. And I need them. I learn so much from them, it's truly a gift to be with them everyday. Now, I have to back up. I do miss my family. More than anything, and seeing their faces on Skype makes me want to see them right now. Sometimes I want to be in Michigan to be with my family, not because I want to be in the U.S. My family is something totally separate from my location. At the beginning of the school year, we had almost no books for the students. We usually had about one of every book we needed, so we had to make lots, and I mean lots, of copies. It was pretty stressful. But God was faithful, and He still is. We got our Saxon math books about the third week, (praise God!), which leaves me making copies for only 6th grade, which uses a different curriculum that I am hoping to receive soon. Mail is a funny thing down here, lots of places don't have addresses, and it's just, well, complicated. The past week has been Semana Santa down here, (Holy Week), celebrating the week leading up to Easter. Last week on Wednesday, I went swimming with my kids and other teachers at a place called Casa de Campo. We had lots of fun, I thought I was going to drown from all the kids on top of me. Haha. It was hot, and I got sunburned on my shoulders, even after putting on sunscreen. This gringa needs to learn how to re-apply. That Thursday, we had our last day of class before vacation for the Holy week. The kids were so ready for a break, they were basically bouncing off the walls. :) (no worries, not literally). This week, I have enjoyed participating in watching a children's procession for Holy week, a skit portraying Jesus' betrayal and suffering, I helped to make a colorful rug out of different color sawdust until 4 in the morning, slept, and then at 7:40am the same day I picked myself up, and went to see all the different rugs people had made around Comayagua, with some friends who live here (US and Honduran). We saw the catholic priest (?) and a long procession of people walk over the rugs (All our hard work!!) and sing in Spanish. We climbed many steep, uneven steps up to the top of a very old bell tower in the center square of Comayagua, and we enjoyed lunch afterwards. Needless to say, I felt dead at the end of the day. Today has been a day of rest and grocery shopping, and building up muscles from walking home with heavy grocery bags. ;) Tomorrow, all over the world, people will be celebrating Easter. For us Christians, it is a time of celebrating our Savior who came to earth as a man, who taught us, suffered at our hands, was killed, and rose again on the third day. For us, it's a day of miracles and joy. For others, it may be just another day of spending money and eating candy. Please don't forget the true reason of Easter, and the sacrifice that not only Jesus, but the Father Himself made when He sent His only Son, whom He loved, to be our atoning sacrifice. Think about it, it's a gift that still holds value after 2000+ years. That is pretty incredible. I felt the tug to read Mark about a week ago. I didn't know why, but yesterday it made sense. I arrived at the part where Jesus was riding a donkey through Jerusalem. Today I read about a parable that Jesus told. In it, He told the story of the Tenants. Where the owner of a vineyard hires tenants to care for his vineyard, and then he goes away. He sends servants to collect some of the income, and some are beaten, and others are killed. Finally, he has no one left to send but his son, and it says "whom he loved". Everything became clear to me. God is the owner. The tenants, were the religious leaders of that day, and of the past. They were hard hearted, and only concerned about a profit. The servants were the prophets of the past, who came before Jesus and tried to turn the people's hearts back to Him. But the world did not always accept them, and they were treated badly. Jesus, of course is the Son. But something struck home in me today. The words “He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son." I wanted to cry. God had no one left to send to us, no one but His dearly-beloved Son. And He sent Him. Even though we disrespected Him, beat Him, and put Him to death on a Cross, on of the lowest forms of death. What a beautiful miracle in and of itself. That a God who needs nothing would give up His treasure, His Son, to be close to us. May God bless you this Easter and Always, From HONDURAS, Delaney

Something I've been thinking about...

Sometimes we make plans for our lives. We make plans and pretend that God is a part of them. That God approves of them. That they really are God's plans. And then those plans fall through, or they don't play out the way we want them to. And we cry out to God, "why?! why is my life falling apart around me? I thought that this is what You wanted for me?" Then God says, "Really? I had great plans for you. I had everything planned out for you, from your first breath, your first job, your first kiss, your last breath. Did you think that I needed help to guide my own creation? Is the creation greater than the Creator? My child, come close to me. Be still, and LISTEN to me. Don't try to rush through life and make plans. I already know what you are supposed to do." We cause so much pain in our own lives when we work in our own time. God isn't trying to frustrate us. He isn't trying to make life difficult. But He does see a lot farther than we do. In fact, He sees from before the beginning and after the end of this world. He is eternal. He is all knowing, He is all powerful. Do you sincerely believe this? If you do, you will trust Him, and WAIT for Him to act. If you don't, you will try to run your own life, subconciously making your own plans for your own life. And because humans are finite, their plans are created from the present view. What is happening NOW, what we feel NOW, what we want NOW. God's plans are formed from seeing the whole picture. Can I encourage you to do something? Take time to just sit with God. I know that it will feel weird, we are not used to just sitting, being quiet, and listening to God. But this is the answer to all of our problems. We spend too much time worrying about the future, when God is waiting, wanting to guide us. So just sit. Tell God everything you are feeling, everything that you are worried about, your desires, and your fears. And then, just sit. Open your ears, your spirit, to everything He says. And if He convicts you of something, listen. God is able to work through us when we are willing to do whatever He wishes to do through us. God loves you! He doesn't want to make your life boring, or to take your fun away. He wants to lead you on an adventure, a way of life that will stretch you and grow you into the spiritually mature child of His that He wants you to be. He wants to give you good things, to fill your heart with joy. He wants to fulfil you, and that happens when you fulfil and follow in the plan that He has for your life. And, He wants you to have a share in His kingdom. He wants you to be a part of His plan to bring this fallen world back to Him. It's pretty amazing. Thank You God, I trust You to make the best plans for my life. Thank you to everybody who is praying for me and supporting me while I am in Honduras. The Lord is working through me in so many ways, and blessing me beyond all imagination. Life is different, life is hard at times. But life is rewarding, because God is a part of it. I still have a lot to learn, but I am so grateful for what God has taught me already. I know my life is in His hands. Thank you for letting me share a little of what He has taught me. Much love and blessings in Christ, Delaney

Month one: Jan./Feb.

I am going to start with this most recent week. School is tough. It is rewarding, but a lot harder than I imagined it to be. When you are a teacher, school is never over. There is homework to prepare for the next day, discipline issues to sort out, and a lot of praying to do. I love my students. They are smart, funny, they love to laugh, and talk a LOT! Discipline is hard for me, because I would much rather just have fun and be really nice. But, that won't help my kids. They can't learn if I am easy on them and let them do whatever they want. The teacher community here is like a family. We help each other, and we listen to one another. Some of us have the same kids as each other, only in different subjects. We know or are getting to know the strengths and weaknesses of different students. I am the youngest teacher on campus, and the other teachers treat me like a daughter, or a sister. They love me, and advise me. I am so very, very grateful for them! They are each a gift from God. God is breaking me and molding me into His new creation. I have down days. Days when I am so frustrated because one student won't listen, or another can't understand my Spanish. I just want to sit down, cry, and give up. But this is only the beginning. God is not finished with me yet. He brought me to Ruach Academy, to Comayagua, Honduras, for a reason. And He gives me the strength and the motivation for each new day. It's amazing how the morning after a hard night can look so much better because I know the Lord goes with me wherever I go. I have victory each day in Christ! Now, I can say all these things, and not really believe them. I can say all these things, and not act on them. But I truly believe them. Each day I rely on God to give me wisdom and guidance to teach my students. I cannot do it without Him. I have hope at the end of each day, even if it was a hard day, because God already knows what I need for the next day. Now, back to the beginning of this journey. I woke up on the 27th of January thinking, "I feel like it's my birthday!" I was so happy and excited. After a year and a half, I was going back to the country that I had fallen in love with. I almost get the chills even thinking about it. I'm in Honduras. I'M IN HONDURAS! Sometimes it's not really real. I have a coconut and mango tree in my backyard. I eat beans almost everyday (YUM!!!!). I am so blessed to be here!! The first few weeks were getting settled into my home, learning my surroundings, and getting to know my new Honduran family who lives with me. I went to La Villa de San Antonio for church one evening, and saw many familiar faces that I hadn't seen for over a year. I love La Villa! God is doing great things there, breathing life into a beautiful community. My second week here I had training, learning the school curriculum system used in the school, acting as a student to learn what my own students would be doing. It was grueling, but two other teachers from my school had to go too, so I had good company :). Near the end of the third week, we started school. On that Thursday and Friday, we had two half days. It was casual, I got to know who some of my students were going to be, and had a lot of fun. Then coming to this week, five full days of work, work, work! :). I could use prayer, and would appreciate it so much! Prayer for my own heart and soul, to trust God even when days are really tough. Prayer for my students, that they would open up their hearts and minds fully to learning. Prayer for me to continue to be consistent in discipline, and to do it only out of love. I have a note on my mirror, where I keep prayers. If you would like me to pray for something, please let me know, and I will try to put it up there immediately! We are all a family in Christ, and we need to pray and look out for one another. Many blessings in CHRIST/CRISTO, Delaney <3

Out of that pit!

I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. 2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. 3 He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him. This is one of my life verses. Last year, I was in a miry pit. I was stuck in the mud. I was feeling useless, missing the place where I had felt useful. Honduras. I didn't think that I could make a difference where I was. Maybe I just didn't want to. I called out to God, saying "Why did you give me this love, this longing for a place that I can't be?" And He listened patiently. Then He taught me. My youth group went on a missions trip to Chicago, and my eyes were opened wide. I met people who were hurting. badly. Homeless, hungry, without the light of Jesus. I heard about modern-day prostitutes living there, chained to a man who 'owned' them for his own pleasure. They had sold their life away, perhaps for money, perhaps for 'love', perhaps because they didn't value their life anymore. There was so much pain in this place, so close to home. I walked in a neighborhood where drug dealers lived. Where children's lives were always threatened. I met a woman, a woman who had grown up in this place. Who had a history full of pain and choices that led her down paths full of more pain and emptiness. She had succumbed to drugs, she was living in housing provided by the government for recovering addicts. And yet, she was making a difference in the lives of those who lived around her. She was spending herself for the kingdom, to help those who might've gone as far down those paths as she did. She shared the story of being shot with a bullet, and her miraculous survival. I was only in Chicago for a weekend, but my life really flipped around then. It was like a push from behind, God telling me that He wasn't satisfied with how I was living my life, telling me He had a lot of work for me to do here before I could go somewhere else to serve Him. He had so many children that needed love and attention, and I could be a part of it. I had the opportunity of praying with a Hispanic woman in Chicago in her own language. I know my grammar was terrible, but my heart was in it. God knew that I had a love for these people, but I wasn't ready yet to go all in. He had a lot to teach me. He was patient with me, preparing me for what He had planned for me. I'm amazed. I'm simply blown away how He put all the pieces in place, in His timing, in His perfect way. He pulled me out of that pit, and He's leading me along a new path. He's making my life a light to those who need it, here in the U.S. and soon in Honduras. And it's nothing I've done, it's all Him!! Thank You Yeshua!

Diez

Can you tell that I'm excited yet? Yeah, I thought it was a little over the top, but I wanted you to see how thrilled I am to be going back to Honduras. And truth be told, these faces don't even show you half of my excitement. When I start thinking about it, I sometimes need a paper bag. Because I freak myself out. I'm really going back, I'm really going back. Some days, it doesn't even seem real. Like, it won't really happen. This is all a dream, or the world is going to end tomorrow so it doesn't really matter. In writing these, I feel really immature. I mean, God has moved so many mountains to get me to this place, both spiritually, financially, and physically. I am not the same person I was a year and a half ago. Then, I told God that I needed to go back. Like THEN. I subconsciously told God that it was MY dream, and that it needed to happen, SOON. It's embarrassing. I won't lie. It's tough to get deep down and honest. I'm the sort of person who values honesty very highly. But it's hard when I admit my own shortcomings, because I want to do everything right. It's not possible. In the time I have been at home, God has broken my trust in human beings. I want to say that He has given me many people that I can trust, and that are there for me every step of this journey, but He has broken the thought within me that people won't fail me. People are human. Broken. Failure-prone. Imperfect. I'm one of them. God has shown me that He is the only one who has been, is, and will be there for me. He has helped me to fall in love with His Word. He pulled me in and enveloped me in His teachings. The Old Testament used to be a pain to me, I really didn't understand it. Now, it thrills me. Learning Hebrew origins and the different practices back then, and the wisdom God had for (and still has for) His people is mind blowing. I love it! When I first went to Honduras, one of the first thoughts in my mind as we rode in the van to La Villa de San Antonio was, "I want to live here." It was the craziest thought I have ever had in my entire life, and no one is saying that it will happen. But my point is, that God put such a deep desire in my heart for a place I had never been to in my entire life. And I had only been there for about a few hours. I wasn't even going to go on this trip. My dad had come up to me one Sunday and told me that I was signed up. I had dealt with anxiety problems. I wasn't planning on going out of the country. God is pretty fun like that. He takes our greatest weaknesses, and turns them into our best qualities, and uses them in the purpose He has planned for us. Pretty incredible, eh? In 10 days I will be headed for Comayagua, Honduras with my father. He is staying for about a week, and will be helping fix up the internet connection at the school where I will be teaching at. Then he is heading back to the U.S. and I will be staying in Honduras for the remainder of my ten months. I can't wait to meet my babies!. When I say babies, I really mean anyone 10 and under in any of my classes that I will be teaching/assisting in. I will probably make the biggest fool out of myself with my terrible speaking skills, and my beginner knowledge of teaching in a classroom setting. But with a lot of prayer and support from my friends and family, I do know that God will give me the wisdom and strength to make a difference for Him in the lives of these beautiful youth. Please keep me in your prayers as I finish packing for my trip and as I head down in TEN days! Iff you would like to support me financially, please make out your check to: LifeChurch along with my name on the memo line. You can bring it on Sunday, or mail it to the church directly: 7001 Haggerty Rd, Canton It is at the corner of Haggerty and Warren. I feel so blessed at this moment, all the praise is due to God!! Psalm 150 1 Praise the Lord.[a] Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. 2 Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. 3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, 4 praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe, 5 praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. 6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.

2 Weeks

God willing, in exactly two weeks I will be boarding a plane to Honduras. I'm so excited! It is almost more agonizing getting closer to the date, because I am so close and yet so far. Today I talked with the highschool students at my church about my upcoming trip. That was hard. I am really (in my own opinion) TERRIBLE at talking in front of people, especially when they are my own age. God really helped me to speak today, and I hope that He touched at least one person through my simple words. I've been thinking a bit about prejudice lately. This past year, I've had to deal with it a lot more than I wish I would've. The evil one was just chomping at the bit, trying to discourage me and get me off track from God's plans for me. People have judged me and my plans for many different reasons. Some of it has come from the people closest to me, while other times it has come from nearly total strangers. And truth be told, I only recently have been truly giving all my anger resulting from this prejudice unto God. I harbored bitterness towards those who I thought would be there for me, but we negative instead, I was angry at those who hardly even knew me and yet judged me. Then I took a deep breath. Well, actually, God gave me the strength and the wake up call to take a deep breath. I hate when others are angry with me, and I try to make any broken relationship better right away; I have a problem with wanting to please everyone. On the flip side, I may try to forgive someone relatively soon after they hurt me, but I subconsciously store up bitterness inside of me. A little while later, be it minutes, days, etc., if someone else makes me mad, that bitterness wells up inside of me, and I jump back and go "WOAH! I do NOT want that inside of me." It's a really good spiritual check-up. It's hard to look at yourself and pick out things that you and God really have to work on, but it is so rewarding and helpful in the end. It matures you spiritually, and helps you to know what to do next time you encounter the same problem in yourself. Anyways, back on track, God has been teaching me so much about Himself, and even about my own self. He has been showing me that I need to rely on Him, and the people who really support me, my immediate family and close friends, instead of getting angry at, or worrying about the people who are not my 'biggest fans'. He has also taught me that this trip is not about me. Can I say that again. IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU DELANEY!! I didn't earn this trip. Any hard work, any acts of service, any Bible reading, any passionate worship of mine, its all to give credit and glory to Him who enables me to run this race. It's not about me, it's not my work, it's the work that God is doing through me. Today we talked about money in church today, about how God is the owner, and we are the stewards, or managers. It is the same with life. God gave it to you, and He could take it away. He owns it, I manage it and utilize it to further His kingdom here on earth, to do His perfect, pre-thought out plan. My point is, if it's not about me, why am I feeling hurt? Why do I care so much about what others think about me and the way that I am living my life? If God is on board, if this is what He has planned for me, then that is all that really, truly matters. A big thank you to my family and friends, who are sticking with me and rejoicing with me over the wonderful things that God is doing in my life and through me in order to build up His family here on this earth. You all are pretty mind blowing. I am super mega blessed! :) Romans 12:2 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Ephesians 6:7-8 7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free. May God bless you all today and always! !Que Dios los bendiga a ustedes todos, hoy y siempre!

Update

Well, I talked further with one of the directors of the school where I will be teaching, and it seems best that I come a little later to make things run more smoothly, so my new departure date is in 26 days!! :) Very excited, GRACIAS A DIOS!