The Alabama Northwest Florida Region

Thursday Feburary 4th 2010 2:30

Over the last few days with my first group, I didn't have any access to the internet to be able to update, so I'll try to recap what all happened since Saturday morning.

Saturday
After I went to the meeting at the CCD, I had a brief lunch with Felix before we picked up Marisela, Rueben (our driver) and Fausto (our security guard). Then we all headed to the airport to pick up my first group. There were eight representatives from the Alabama-Northwest Florida Region, each one of them representing a different district within the region.

We had asked them to pack an extra smaller bag for an overnight stay so that we could take the bags to our Monte Carmelo center here, while the group traveled to San Pedro Sula for the night and met with some church leaders there the next day.

Unfortunately, they didn't get that message, and so everyone only had one large bag, which meant that we would need an extra truck and driver to go up to San Pedro Sula (SPS). Elmer was on his way with the truck, because he was originally going to take the baggage to Monte Carmelo. He couldn't drive all the way to SPS, however, which meant we needed to call another driver. I offered my services after the first few drivers we called were unavailable, and found myself driving the truck along the highway to SPS for the next 6 hours.

We didn't get there until close to midnight, and most everyone fell asleep right after arriving in our hotel rooms.


Sunday
Our meeting was scheduled to start at 8:00am, which meant we had to be ready to leave by 7:30am, which put our wake up time in the 7:00am range. The morning meeting went very well, and a wonderfully ecumenical dialogue was opened up by the two church groups looking to engage in a mutual partnership.

The church service after the meeting was really wonderful, and easily the best service I have been to since arriving in Honduras. I felt very much at home, and really enjoyed the songs, the message, and the theologies of the church.

We met for a little while longer after church, before heading back on the road to Tegucigalpa. The drive was long, and we didn't get to Monte Carmelo until a little after 8. After a quick dinner, I was ready for bed, but needed to drive Marisela back to her house in the city. I ended up staying in my apartment that night, exhausted from the days of traveling.


Monday
Marisela and I had planned on leaving around 7:30 to be up to the Monte Carmelo center around 8:00. We had, however, forgotten that Monday was the first day of school here in Honduras, and the streets were jam packed with cars. We called ahead and asked Rueben to drive them to Forum we were attending, and decided to just meet them there.

The rest of the morning was spent translating the speeches from the Forum on Human Rights council members. Translating can be very difficult to do, but is made even more difficult when the speaker gives no pauses to allow for you to catch up, which means you are trying to say in English what they just said in Spanish, while still listening to the Spanish that they are saying, and trying to figure out how to say it in English. Whew. I was beat after translating for two hours straight that morning.

During the afternoon, the group traveled to the CCD, where there was more ecumenical discussion on how to engage in a mutual partnership between the church groups.

We took the scenic route back to Monte Carmelo, and drove around the city, giving a brief tour to the group members.

That evening we ate dinner before doing some devotionals and reflections. When those had concluded, I went to bed and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.


Tuesday
Breakfast at Monte Carmelo was a delicious ensemble of eggs, bacon, and pancakes that got me ready for the day. We traveled with the group back to the CCD for more discussion, and a meeting with the various church leaders that participate in the local seminary where I teach.

Rueben and I dropped Felix off at the airport, because he ended up having to fly back to Indianapolis a day early.

When Felix was through the security checkpoints, we headed back to pick up the group, and all piled into the van to head up to Monte Horeb in Talanga. We picked up Marisela's daugher Marirosa and stopped at a drive through to get some chicken nuggets for our trip.

An hour later we found ourselves touring the facilities in Talanga for about half an hour before heading back into the bus to drive over to Valle de Angeles.

The mountain roads made sleeping difficult, but I was happy to talk with some of the group members about various things ranging from Honduran population percentages to the Conan O'Brien issue with NBC.

Valle de Angeles was a unique experience, due to my translating of the haggling that needed to happen. It was just a very odd combination of English and Spanish numbers being thrown around for a while, and at times became quite confusing.

We decided that it might be cheaper to eat back at Monte Carmelo, so we set out for the center around 6:30. Our dinner was waiting for us around 8:00, and we again shared in reflections and devotionals on the day.

When the devotionals had concluded, I stayed up playing cards with some of the group members. I really enjoyed spending time with them, and was very proud of the Disciples who came on the trip. They were a wonderful representation of the reasons why the DOC church is my home.


Wednesday
Yesterday the group headed back to the states, so the morning was spent packing, and doing some closing worship and devotionals. It was a wonderful first group experience.

We stayed with them at the airport until their flight left around 1:00, and then headed back to the CCD to drop off the vehicles. When the green truck was safely within the walls of the CCD, I headed out with Rueben back to my apartment, where I spent the rest of the day resting.

I apparently missed some phone calls to see if we could pick up a laptop yesterday, but the sleep was worth missing the calls.

Thursday
Today, I have spent washing my clothes, reading, and heading up to Plaza to buy groceries and fill you in on what has been going on with me and why I haven't been writing in so long.

I really loved my first group exerience. Every minute of it.