As I am typing this blog, I am at La Escuela Agricola Virgen de Suyapa (EAVS) near San Pedro Sula. What a journey to get here! After Lic Lorena (our director at the Finca), Lic Jorge (our new social worker in charge of the Frisbee Center, our new project for Phase II and Phase III kids in Trujillo), Christian (our driver), and I made the long almost 10-hour journey to San Pedro Sula, we drove 45 minutes directly up a mountain to arrive at EAVS. I had never had an experience quite like driving directly up a mountain on a dirt road in search for a school that we knew was located at some point on the mountain yet didn’t know the exact address or location.
We are at EAVS visiting Cati and Loany, two incredible young women that were at the Finca during my first two years as a missionary! Cati is my goddaughter from her confirmation, and, especially given the cultural implications surrounding being a godfather and her specific situation with her family, we are quite literally family forever.
I had the honor of spending a lot of time with Cati while she was at the Finca! She came over to Casa Santa Teresita every week during my second year to make a meal with me and to eat with Kenna, Natalie, and myself around our small table in the sala. The conversation was often dominated by Cati talking about the latest in the saga with her long-time crush that studied at the Finca school/colegio and in Trujillo with her, but we wouldn’t have preferred it any other way.
Cati is one of the most strong-willed young women that I have ever met, and she is also wildly intelligent with an incredible ability to lighten the mood in every room she enters with a simple joke or prank. For those of you that know Cati from your time at the Finca, know that she hasn’t changed at all during her time at EAVS! Same goofy, stubborn, sarcastic, intelligent, story-telling Cati.
I also was able to form a strong friendship with Loany during her time at the Finca, and I miss our genuine conversations and her relaxing presence SO much in my daily life at the Finca. Loany is such a good egg, and I often consider her one of the best Finca kids that I’ve ever had the privilege to live with at the Finca! She is such an incredible person with one of the biggest hearts that I have ever witnessed, and she often brings God’s light and love to every room she enters with her simple smile and her gentle presence. Even though she left the Finca to go to EAVS almost 8 months ago, her presence and the way she lives her life are still truly missed every single day within our Finca fence.
Cati and Loany each received a 3-year scholarship at EAVS, where they live and go to school with approximately 50 other students from the nearby communities and throughout Honduras. Therefore, Cati and Loany will each be able to graduate high school during their time at EAVS, and they can then decide what is next for them in their lives. Loany is actually starting to seriously discern entering religious life, so please pray for her discernment!
Despite the long, never-ending journey to arrive at EAVS, I have found myself reflecting on just how blessed I am to be able to serve in Honduras and form some incredible relationships and friendships that will hopefully last a lifetime. The natural beauty surrounding EAVS is also ASTOUNDING! The view of the nearby mountains and the below countryside is breathtaking and constantly reminds you of God’s presence and love.
After arriving at EAVS at about 4:00pm on August 22nd, I had two hours prior to dinner to spend with Cati and Loany! They gave me a tour of their MASSIVE campus at EAVS, explaining their daily responsibilities and the strict schedule that all students must follow every day. & of course, there was PLENTY of time to catch up on life, talk about my relationship and future with Kristen, listen to Cati tell endless stories of time with her classmates at EAVS, and talk about next steps for each of them. I am so grateful that our relationships are predominantly the same as when they were in the Finca and we could see one another and talk every day.
After dinner while they were in their studying hours with their classmates, I was able to have a 30-minute conversation with each of them, talking about life, how they are really doing at EAVS, and what they feel God is calling them to next. Cati told me endless stories that had us both in endless laughter, and I realized how blessed I am to have Cati in my life, to be her padrino, and to be able to experience her joy of life. Loany and I talked more about God’s will in our lives and how He has recently been placing in her heart a desire to serve, specifically as a religious sister. We talked through the fear and uncertainty that naturally comes with a decision like this, and I realized how blessed I am to have formed such a genuine relationship with Loany that we can talk about such things after not seeing one another for a few months.
All in all, as we leave EAVS in just a few hours after less than 24 hours at their campus, I am watching Cati and Loany in their morning classes/trainings and how they interact with their classmates in their new home in the mountains of San Pedro Sula, and I am overfilled with pure gratitude. Gratitude for their seamless transition from the Finca to EAVS. Gratitude for my deep relationship with each one. Gratitude for their ability to love, laugh, and cry with their classmates that they met just over 6 months ago. Gratitude for their ability to see God’s presence in the natural beauty of this project.
GOD IS GOOD!!
Please pray for Rachel, Theresa, and Teddy, as they continue studying in Guatemala and plan to arrive to the Finca on September 30th.
Please let me know how I can pray for you!
God Bless!!