| Honduras
Newsletter Seven October 13, 2004 Dear Friends, I have finally escaped from the torrential rain into an Internet cafe. Half an hour ago, I was walking through the city center when the rain blew in. Fortunately, I had my handy umbrella that folds up into the size of a pop can that I bought from a kid on the street for 75 cents. I ran through the street (try river) to the taxi stop to catch a collectivo back to my next of the woods and immediately had three Hondurans ran at me and huddled with me under my little pop can umbrella. The four of kind of grapevined over to an obnoxiously honking taxi and climbed in. Unfortunately it was a leaker. as the humidity rose to preposterous levels in the car, we were all soon, at the assistance of the cabbie, wiping the condensation off our windows so he could see the roads. I suggested the defroster--who suggests that kind of thing in Honduras?--he obliged, turned it on, and in one loud woosh, we were completely covered in dirt...which was nice because now, in addition to not being able to see out the windows, we now couldn't see each other because of the dust in the car. Anyhoo...This month has passed faster than I could have imagined. Though I've played in my share of soccer games, and sat in countless small groups with youth, I've spent the majority of my time preparing for the ICLH's Roundtable. After months of conversation and dialog, the ICLH was finally able to formulate and present a three year strategic plan to a group of international representatives from various Lutheran churches and service organizations. The roundtable included representatives from Lutheran churches and service organizations throughout Europe, North America, Central America, and South America. The meeting was a moment of solidarity for the church. I think it was a powerful moment for the ICLH national leaders to sit around a table with a handful of international leaders and mutually share in God's purpose. I participated in a great deal of the prep work for the event. This included everything from evaluating the success of current ICLH programs to sitting with church evangelists and talking about this enormous three year vision, to writing four powerpoint presentations (Lindsay the techy). In this new plan, the church focuses on encouraging work in three areas: leadership development, diaconal ministries (the service component) and strengthening the ICLH as an institution. Sitting around the roundtable was really a juxtaposition of worlds: a haven of hope in the midst of such hopelessness, but then, this is a hallmark of the ICLH. They are a beacon of light in their communities. On a more human level, it has been a painful month for the ICLH leaders. The community was tragically impacted by tragedy and violence this month. The congregation, Christo Liberador, in Olancho lost one of their young men as he attempted to make the risky and illegal passage into the United States. He was killed on a train in Mexico. Another one of the church leaders from la Ceiba lost her son in a horribly violent gang battle. One of the youth from the congregation la Ressureción has has been hiding from gang members off and on all month. Another one of our evangelists was robbed at gunpoint last week. The list goes on, but the hope is still alive. And after this roundtable meeting, the ICLH staff is stronger than I have ever seen them. It is heartbreaking that too many people have to face such unfairness everyday, but I know God cares for Her people and change here is inevitable. It is exciting to be on the cusp of a new dawn here in Honduras. It's exciting to go out for an iced tea at burger king with a group of youth and talk about their dreams for their church and their country. The church is one of the only remaining vessels of advocacy for God's people. And somehow, it manages to bring together people who's spirits have been broken one too many times and unify them in solidarity to fight for justice. We have little recovery time after this meeting. As much as a part of me would like to take off to a place by the sea where they serve drinks with little umbrellas, another part of me determinately drags out the ole' Spanish-English dictionary that only a marsupial could coin "pocket" to begin to help the ICLH team tailor and re-craft this three year plan into a feasible yet ambitions venture we can implement come January. We have two big youth events coming up, and many of you are supporting this youth event in December. Thank you! My friend, Russ is working on a webpage for me www.jude21.com and on this page is a link that explains how you can help with this youth project. Please remember in your prayers that families in Central America that continually struggle to cope with this endemic level of violence in their countries. In peace, Lindsay |