For me, the winter months (November through February) is the best time of the year at the Finca, especially because there is no school and there is SO, SO much free time to simply be a missionary of presence with our kids, tías, missionaries, Sores, and other Finca employees! I also believe that the winter months is the best time of the year at the Finca because my two favorite days at the Finca happen to be within the winter months as well…
In Latin American culture, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve are the largest, longest, and most fun parties all year long, and they just so happen to be only one week apart! Regardless of their amount of income and the differences in standard of living, essentially every family in the nearby communities to the Finca has a HUGE party with friends and family for both holidays. For both Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, Hondurans make chicken and pork tamales, cook an insane amount of grilled meat, dance together, shoot off fireworks at midnight, and simply enjoy one another’s presence. It brings me an incredible amount of happiness to know that despite living below the poverty line and enduring difficult life circumstances, most families in the nearby communities can simply love the person in front of them for the holiday season and that is enough!
My experience so far living at the Finca has not been an exception to this cultural norm, as Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve are my two favorite days all year long at the Finca! I love with all my heart whenever the entire Finca gathers together in one spot, especially when we gather for a party or a celebration of some kind, because all of the people that I love so much within our fence are enjoying one another’s presence. The holidays at the Finca are truly such a magical time, and the parties for Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve this year are something that I will cherish for the rest of my life!
Missionaries are in charge of planning the parties and decorating the colegio classroom that we use to look more like a party room instead of a classroom. With only five missionaries this year at the Finca (three in Casa Santa Teresita and Molly and Drew in House 1), we all worked so, so hard to plan the parties, decorate the classroom to the best of our ability with limited supplies in Honduras, and attempt to make those two nights memorable for our kids! For about two weeks leading up to the Christmas Eve party, all of the missionaries decorated the room and set up the party for about one to two hours every night after dinner, which was a lot of work for the entire missionary community but SO WORTH IT!!
The Christmas Eve party starting at around 6pm consisted of dinner with some amazing baked chicken and pork that one of our tías made, a Christmas-song themed Bingo game, a talent show with around 7 or 8 acts involving missionaries and almost all of our kiddos, Santa coming to give gifts to all of our kids and tías and to spread the Christmas spirit, a HUGE dance party that lasted about 90 minutes, a 15 minute prayer service in the chapel beginning at midnight, and lighting off fireworks as a Finca community until about 12:45am! It is impossible to share all of the amazing details from that party and all of the funny stories from the talent show and dance party in a short blog like this, but it is truly something that I will remember and appreciate for the rest of my life! During and after the party, I was overcome with extreme gratitude for the ability to live and serve in this children’s home in rural Honduras. It is truly such a magical, magical place that will forever have a part of my heart!
The New Year’s Eve party is essentially the same party one week later without Santa and the talent show, although we had a few other changes this year. Dinner started at about 6:45pm with another batch of delicious baked chicken and ribs, followed by 8 minute-to-win-it games that involved all of our kids, tías, Sores, and missionaries, a quick 45-minute dance party, a movie in the campo set up with mattresses and benches to lay/sit on, a BEAUTIFUL prayer service in the campo leading up to midnight with a focus on gratitude for 2022 and prayer intentions for 2023, and lighting off fireworks in the campo until about 12:30am. Once again, I was overcome with extreme gratitude throughout the party for the opportunity to live at the Finca and to have such amazing relationships here in Honduras!
Since I didn’t take a vacation back to the US last summer, I was in Honduras for the entire 2022! Things are definitely different this year with a different and smaller missionary community, but things are truly going SO, SO WELL and I am grateful every single day for the ability to live alongside Kenna and Natalie in CST. Kenna and Natalie are both terrific young women that love Jesus with their entire hearts and make it their mission to serve with incredible love at the Finca! I am so excited to spend 2023 with them at the Finca and to help one another become better versions of ourselves throughout the joys and struggles of serving at the Finca!
Please pray for our missionary community as classes begin on February 1st! Daily life at the Finca changes so drastically once classes begin, especially because our kids are in school everyday from 7am-1pm and everything becomes so busy. With only 5 missionaries this year at the Finca, we are all taking on more jobs and responsibilities, which could make it even harder to navigate the busyness of life at the Finca during the school year.
Please let me know how I can pray for you!
God Bless!