It is unbelievably challenging to explain my emotions as we crossed the front gate to the Finca on September 30th and were introduced to our home for the next 16+ months (AND WHAT A BEAUTIFUL AND AMAZING HOME IT IS!!!). Relief after a long 20 hour bus ride from Guatemala, including crossing the border into Honduras, comes to mind; as does fear from entering a community of people that we don’t have a relationship with and from not knowing how to fully speak in Spanish yet. Excited for the adventures ahead? For sure. Happiness? Yup. However, most of all, I felt an incredible amount of peace and joy from knowing that we finally arrived and from realizing how amazing and loving the kids, tías, Franciscan Sisters, the staff, and the current missionaries are to incoming missionaries!
They greeted us with a mini-party in the Taller in which we drank Jamaica juice, ate homemade doughnuts, and introduced ourselves a little. To absolutely no one’s surprise in my class of missionaries, I started dancing in the middle of the circle when it was my turn to introduce myself. It was extremely difficult to tell if the kids were awestruck by my incredible dance moves or if they were laughing hysterically because of my lack of rhythm…. Perhaps we will never know?
In my first 2-3 weeks of living at the Finca, I have truly comprehended how LITERALLY AMAZING THIS PLACE IS!! I am awestruck every single day by the amount of love, peace, and joy within the Finca gates, and I thank God daily for granting me the courage to say “yes” to this amazing mission. Before the community-wide morning prayer or mass, I have the privilege of doing my daily personal morning prayer from a bench on our front porch while staring at the BEAUTIFUL ocean. I pray that my group and I will never take the natural beauty of God’s creation for granted as we get busier with our everyday responsibilities at the Finca.
Luckily, all the kids and adults at the Finca are used to missionaries coming from the United States with less-than-fluent Spanish skills, and they utilize a gazillion other ways to show us that we are loved in this community! Last Sunday, as I was walking back to our house after asking the security guard to unlock the gate to the beach for a sunset swim (more on this soon), Casa 4, which houses our three smallest kids at the Finca, hollered at me, “Nate, venga!” They were making baleadas for dinner (a DELICIOUS local Honduran food), and they must’ve thought I looked a little hungry after running laps around the soccer field because they were making me a plate of two baleadas as I approached them. They invited me to sit at their table with them as we ate, and we had an AMAZING conversation full of many, many laughs. I definitely didn’t pick up every word of the conversation, but they slowed down for the newbie gringo and deliberately included me in the conversation. This is just one small example of how unbelievably loving every single person is here despite the lack of material wealth.
I think every person that at least partially understands my life knows that the one sure-fire way to my heart is a beautiful sunset. & let me tell you…. THE SUNSETS ARE BEAUTIFUL HERE EVERY SINGLE NIGHT!! I have scouted every inch of the Finca property and, luckily, the objectively best spot for the sunset on the entire compound is near the convent where the Sisters live, which is really close to our house. Needless to say, you can find me there almost every single night, unless we decided to go swimming for the sunset. I am absolutely convinced the sunset is 10x prettier while swimming in the ocean, soaking in the moment with your fellow missionaries. WHAT A MAGICAL EXPERIENCE!!
In addition to the 5 missionaries in my class (not including Molly, Drew, and their family), there are currently 6 missionaries here that have served at the Finca for one or two years. It has been absolutely AMAZING getting to know them on a deeper level during our short time at the Finca! Four of these missionaries are leaving at varying dates over the next three months, and Emma and Alicia discerned staying one more year with our group. All 11 of us live in one missionary house (the McAuliff’s have their own house), and IT IS SO MUCH FUN!! My favorite parts of community life are the daily lunch and dinner meals with all of us crowded around the kitchen table, community cooking nights on Saturdays, movie nights on Fridays, and a fun community building activity/game every Monday night. For example, this past Monday was a game of Family Feud of current missionaries (called Blossoms) vs. new missionaries (called Buds). There were so, so many laughs during this night, but the Blossoms dominated both games of Family Feud. It is going to be really, really hard to say goodbye to the four missionaries that are leaving soon ☹
Each day at the Finca is an incredible adventure, and the day almost never goes exactly as you imagined it when you woke up. For the first two weeks, my class of missionaries was in “orientation”, which consisted of learning more about the Finca, reviewing security policies, learning house chores, cooking meals with a Blossom, and meeting all the kids and adults at the Finca. We have just started talking about our jobs at the Finca, and we will be shadowing the Blossoms next week to discern what we feel called towards at this beautiful place we call “Home”. SO EXCITING!!
As I spend time reflecting on my first few weeks at the Finca, my heart and soul keep reminding me of one emotion: peace. My heart is fully at peace with my decision to serve for 16+ months at the Finca, and I am beyond excited to get to know the kiddos on a deeper and more intimate level! Despite the obvious difficulties in daily life here, such as lack of consistent power and running water, MY HEART IS SO HAPPY!
Please pray for our missionaries at the Finca, that God may fill our hearts with peace and joy as we serve at this wonderful place. Please be assured of my prayers for you!
God Bless! 😊