One amongst a crowd of 1500

March 24, 2008

Some days I get confused as to what season it is here in Honduras. In a matter of 5 minutes I can see three different scenes that remind me of the various seasons up north. I have yet to really see anything comparable to the winters of the north. Today as the drove I to the city I first thought of autumn because many trees are currently without leaves and the gray rain clouds made a contrast that reminded me of Novembers in PA. But then just down the road I saw trees bursting with fresh yellow or pink blooms -- spring is in the air. And finally came the downpour of rain -- a summer storm. In reality it is most like summer here but it is nice that I can catch glimpses of change almost any time of the year.

But that is not the point of this blog entry. I want to reflect on last week's retreat at the camp. I was back and forth to camp three times this past week because of helping various people move and then for the retreat. The retreat began on Wednesday though some people arrived Tuesday night. I set up my little tent in front of the one staff family's house which meant I had good access to a bathroom. Important when so many people are competing for the bathrooms. I went in to the week expecting to be overwhelmed by so many people in one area and by the amount of trash that would accumulate. Tents and cars were sprawled everywhere around the camp and quickly the trash also cluttered the ground. Yet I found myself reminded a bit of family and church camping trips in the States where we spread out over a campground. The difference here is that there are no "spaces" so the tents end up being very close to each other. Many people cooked their own meals and had elaborate set-ups with tents and even fridges. Wednesday was incredibly hot but then overnight it poured and the temperatures dropped. I stayed nice and dry though many were not so fortunate.

The schedule of the retreat was that there were worship sessions and teaching each morning and evening but then the afternoons were free. I was thankful about the latter becuase for some reason I found myself unable to keep my eyes open during the sessions and so I had to take a long nap to get refreshed. The sessions were good and by Thursday evening I was able to focus and stay awake. What I probably enjoyed the most though was the opportunity to just hang out with various people who I knew a little bit from before. One evening I sat up late and talked with several couples. It was a good opportunity to deepen relationships. There were several moments during the week when I was very aware of the fact that I was the only white North American in a crowd of 1500 or more. I have not been such a minority for so many days in a row and so that was rather eye opening. Even though I love the people and had many friends among the crowd, I had a few moments of loneliness in that there was no one there who could understand from my culture.

On Friday afternoon I started to pick up some of the trash that littered the ground while I walked back to main camp. As I was doing so a young girl said to me, "You can just throw it all in the ravine." I tried to mask my horror at her comment because the very reason I was picking it all up was to keep it from ending up down there. I carefully explained to her why I do not throw it in the ravine and how it is not good for God's creation, etc... . She listened and after a while she changed her story a bit and said that well, it was the other group of people (the Garifuna community which is a culture of itself within Honduras) that were actually throwing the trash there. In reality most everyone seemed to be tossing the trash wherever they wanted. This morning I and two of the staff members gathered trash for hours and when I left we were far from done.

As I look back on the retreat as a whole it was a very good experience. I helped out in the kitchen a few times and discovered how to efficiently feed so many people in a short time. (I could probably work in McDonald's now since I know the process of putting together a cheeseburger.) The Lord touched my heart to through some of the worship and teaching, calling me to go deeper with Him and to always remember who and why I am serving. And then there were the friendships which were strengthened. I left the retreat wanting to camp out in my tent more often though preferably in the mountains with only a few people and a deep tranquility. I think now I will not dread the thought of Semana Santa and 1500 people because things go in a rather orderly fashion. Before the next year comes around though I want to think of how I might help to change the amount of littering that goes on. A very huge task to consider.