Just like anywhere in the world, it is incredibly easy for life at the Finca to get overwhelmingly busy to the point that we don’t have as much intentional time to spend with our missionary community as we prefer. That being said, our missionary community, including the McAuliff family, took a retreat from January 11th-16th to spend ample time in prayer and to spend quality time with one another. & THIS RETREAT WAS SO AMAZING AND FRUITFUL!
We packed into a busito, left the Finca at around 8am on January 11th, and arrived at the retreat center in Bonito Oriental, which is a small town about 70 minutes from the Finca, at 10ish. THIS RETREAT CENTER WAS SO BEAUTIFUL!! It had an incredibly breathtaking view of some mountains that made it easy to find God’s presence throughout the week during individual and communal prayers. There was one area in specific that I sat at very frequently throughout the week because it had a FANTASTIC view of the mountains and was in the sunshine. Lots of sunshine and an amazing view equals an extremely happy Nate Janssen 100% of the time!
We stayed at this retreat center for four days, and these days were full of short talks/reflections from missionaries, board members from the US, priests, and other spiritual directors that have come to love the Finca’s mission. The talks were focused on community life, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, as well as the meaning of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and our call to pick up our own cross daily and follow Him. The talks were normally followed by substantial time for individual prayer/reflection and then a small-group reflection to get to know some of our fellow missionaries on a deeper and more personal level.
These talks and subsequent prayers/reflections were a PHENOMENAL way to be rejuvenated in God’s love and mercy and were a great reminder that we are all loved as God’s children despite our sins. The talk on our call to pick up our own cross and follow Jesus daily specifically stood out to me because of our unique calling as missionaries at the Finca. A priest from the United States that is a friend of the Finca gave this talk, and it was based on the commonly quoted verse from Luke 9:23: “Then he said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.’” The priest explained during his talk that our specific cross to carry as Christians in this world is to simply love everyone that crosses our path throughout the day. Whenever we fail to fully love ourselves, others, or God because of our inherent brokenness, it is necessary to get back up, offer everything to God, and to try to love everyone to the absolute best of our ability going forward.
This reflection specifically stood out to me throughout the week because our call as missionaries at the Finca is to fully love the kids, staff, tías, and every person within the Finca gates and in the neighboring communities that crosses our path throughout each day. I fail at this calling so much due to my own selfish desires and sinfulness, but the talk was a fantastic reminder to offer these failures to God, take up this cross once more, and to do my best to love each person to the best of my ability.
The retreat also had ample time to spend with our missionary community throughout each day! This time together was truly amazing and fruitful, especially because we got to spend more time with Molly and Drew than ever before since we were all eating, sleeping, and living in the same area. We cooked together, ate every meal together, prayed together, completed a complicated puzzle together, played many, many, many board games together at night once the kids went to bed, laughed SO much together, and genuinely just enjoyed each other’s company. We truly grew closer together as a missionary community throughout these four days at Bonita Oriental, and that is such a gift because we are now able to support one another on a deeper level as we begin the school year and even more busyness at the Finca!
We left Bonita Oriental on Saturday, January 15th at about 11am, and we completed our retreat by spending one night at TBay, which is a Canadian owned resort about 5 minutes away from the Finca. Once again, this was a PHENOMENAL time to come together as a community and to simply enjoy each other’s presence. This missionary community is truly such a gift, and I am grateful every single day for each one of us saying ‘yes’ to serve at the Finca.
We returned to the Finca on Sunday morning, January 16th in time to go to mass in Trujillo with the Finca community. We felt refreshed in God’s love, peace, and joy and were ready to serve and love at the Finca to the best of our ability! After mass, the kids were SO, SO excited for the missionaries to be back home and this time was full of laughs, hugs, and many jokes. The missionary community felt extremely loved by the kids and tías that we work relentlessly throughout each day to love, serve, and live alongside.
School is starting in-person on February 1st, AND I’M SO EXCITED! I am the English teacher for grades three through six, and I am looking forward to the opportunity to getting to know more kids from the surrounding towns that attend our Finca school. I am also a tad nervous for school to start as well, especially since I was never a teacher in the United States and never received any formal education on teaching. However, GOD ALWAYS PROVIDES!!
Please pray for all the kids at our school starting in February, especially that they can quickly make up any learning that they lost during COVID, and for all of our teachers, missionaries and local Hondurans alike.
Please be assured of my prayers for you all, and let me know of any specific prayer intentions.
GOD BLESS!