video didn't work

The video I posted didn't work, and I want to share this with yall too much to leave it unshared. So I posted it to youtube and here's the URL. They're like freaking jet engines, its crazy. Enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsVNwSiFliM

house sitting

Currently I'm chillin' in the house of the missionary family who lives here at the Bible school where I'm staying in Honduras. Him and his family have temporarily left for a short vacation in Rhotan (sp?), so he's left the house to me and my buddy Kevin, the other intern/my bro here in Honduras. As a result I've taken over the kitchen and decided to bake a cheesecake. I don't think many Hondurans have had it before. I'm going to change that real fast.

I love learning Spanish. Its like a game, or a puzzle, or something like that. I'm taking language classes 2 hours every day on the weekdays with an incredible teacher named Raina (who can't speak English, which is actually a great thing), so I'm learning pretty quickly. Its awesome because if i say the wrong thing then i just share a laugh with them, and if i say the right thing then i get the satisfaction of doing something i've never done before. Its a win-win. There's a guy that works at the Bible school around here and goes to church that we partner with named Tungo. He knows very little English, but I've had some of the most fun hanging out with him so far. He teaches us Honduran slang like "Cheque" which means "its all good." Then there's this guy Roger (His name sounds nothing like the way we pronounce it who took us to milk a cow. I'm sharing this video, but i'll put the disclaimer: you may be grossed out.

Today myself, Kevin, and another missionary who's here for a year named Peyton all went to one of the churches we partner with and helped out at the Pastor's house. His name is Pastor Linin (the Hondurans usually say Pastor when addressing any pastor), and he's awesome. Peyton can speak spanish fluently, so thankfully we had a translator. Despite that, I tried my Spanish out and said a few things that I don't remember except them being absolutely ridiculous and far off from what I intended to say. I love how they can joke in Spanish and only say a few words I understand and we can still share laughter and companionship. The relationships I've built despite language barriers has got to be one of my favorite aspects of the trip so far. Here's a picture of Kevin, Pastor Linin, and I in front of his house (he actually lives next to the church).

Here is a picture of the church he's a pastor at.

The sign has the verse "1 Corinthians 10:4" written on it, which says "4  and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ." I liked that.

Here is a picture of me at the Honduran supermarket after Church with which I thought was a very large banana. Turns out its a plantain, which I tried to eat without cooking and quickly regretted it.

Sunday we went to what they call "the dump" because it is literally a dump where trash is burned with a neighborhood where its employees live next to it. They are incredibly poor, so we went over there and brought them care packages with Pastor Linin and told the about Jesus. They gave us a whole thing of a bananas to show their gratitude, which is ridiculous because they've been growing their bananas for 6 months (i think someone told me that's how long they grow before eaten) and have very little to no food otherwise. They pretty much live day by day. Hondurans seem to generally give you their best if they offer you something, that's just the way they are. Anyway, here's a picture of some of the houses... and a picture of this little kitten that stood on my shoe as we talked with them haha.

Below is one of the cutest pictures I've ever seen in the world of a sweet little Honduran girl who lives at the Bible school named Natali and her puppy basset hound Toby.

 I wish I could relate to you all what God is doing here with me, but I'm not really sure. Know that He is doing something and know that it is great and wonderful, but I just don't know what yet. He's unearthing a lot of pain in my heart, deep within the well. I know it has to do with my past and how I live as a result of the wounds the sins of myself and others have left in me. Times in the past when I would believe all of the lies whispered into my soul that I'm worthless, or stupid, or not good enough, or a failure have left me quite chained from the freedom of being myself. Deep down, I know parts of me still believe every bit of it. Deep down, I wonder if I have what it takes, if I can be who I know God has made me to be, if I can fulfill the image of Calvin Mark no one in the world can be but me, if I can take my place alongside Christ in this grand battle in the place He's made for me, if I can live fully alive in and reflecting His glory. Lord of the Rings is my all time favorite series/favorite movie ever and more than likely always will be for many reasons, but the character of Aragorn speaks to me with great depth. He was scared to take the throne and realize his destiny in becoming the King of Gondor. He slunk back into exile, out of the risk of failure. He did not want the power because he was afraid that like his ancestor Isildur, he would be corrupted and fail. He was afraid to fail, he believed he couldn't do it, that he didn't have it what it takes. I watched the Lion King the other day, and the same story goes for Simba in a different context. I know its kind of hilarious that I'm talking about Lord of the Rings and the Lion King, but seriously the stories scream at me because I see so much of myself in Aragorn and Simba. When Mufasa is up chillin in the clouds and says "Remember who you are..." in that ambient voice, it gives me the chills. So I suppose I have seen some of what He's doing haha, but I'm not sure what to do about it but cry out to Him. Cry out to my Father. He's taking me on a journey bigger than any physical journey can offer, and I know my cries aren't falling on deaf ears. So know your prayers are not going unanswered. Not at all. I've loved this lately: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed. To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord." Its honestly kind of hilarious how boldly Jesus hops up on the podium, says this in front of everyone, and claims to be exactly what Isaiah prophesied about. Its so awesome and I love it.

Anyway... I honestly don't really miss a whole lot people yet because it hasn't even been a week, but I do wish everyone I know could share this experience here with me. I'll probably get homesick like right after I say this..

I'll leave with one last picture of Honduran beauty...

Are you freaking serious? Did you even know something like this existed? Its incredible.

alive and well

Howdy from Honduras! I am alive and very well. I'm chillin' outside on the porch listening to the rain and enjoying the breeze on my laptop. Its real tight.

Honduras, at least Siguatepeque, is not what I expected it to be. There is a Wendy's (yes Wendy's the fast food) and a Texaco not far from where I'm staying, there's a mall in San Pedro Sula MUCH MUCH nicer than almost every mall I've been to in the states, and I've ate much more than rice and beans since I've been here. The Bible school I'm staying at is very comfortable and has internet, so I'm living pretty decently here. Life is still much different for Hondurans though. From what I've derived about the population so far from locals, there's a very small wealthy section of society, a very small middle class, and a very large proportion of people in poverty. The mall was obviously very wealthy, but just about every other part of the town the poverty was very evident. Anyway, you could probably read this kind of stuff on Wikipedia or something... I'm not the expert.


The first full day I helped build a wall around the Bible school I'm staying at because recently one of the missionary's house got broken into. Its not uncommon to see shards of glass glued to the top of the wall and layers of barbed wire encompassing the property. Its nuts. It was really tight because we got to work with some Hondurans, one of whom thankfully spoke some English. I learned words like concreto (pretty easy... concrete), susio (i don't know if i spelled it right but it means dirt), palo (i think it means bag but they called the buckets the palo), aqui viejo (down here), and a few other random ones. I put together my first sentence too: Concreto es en me boca. I don't even know if that's correct, but some concrete did sling into my mouth and the sentence is supposed to say "Concrete is in my mouth". Whoops. Hondurans are very laid back and work at an easy pace, and we enjoyed many breaks while we were working. No one is around to tell them to meet a deadline or maximize efficiency. Hondurans are more concerned about building relationships and just enjoying each others company rather than being super awesome workers. I enjoy that. 

Today was the second full day I've been here and it was awesome. The pictures I posted above were all from today. Before I elaborate, I have to relate the fact that I drove a bus of 21 people through Honduran traffic/up the side of a mountain. I didn't think it was a big deal, but then everyone started saying things like "Wait are you seriously driving?" "This is a joke right? I'm beginning to think this isn't a joke..." "So you've been here for 2 days and you're already driving?" All with total look sof horror on their face. We seriously had someone pray for my driving before we left haha, but it did not go unanswered so I'm glad we did. It was alllllllllll good. Hondurans drive REALLY aggressive, so I just drove aggressive haha. And I just totally zoned everyone out int he car while I was driving up the mountain in order to keep us all actually on the road. It was pretty sweet. I was honestly really scared until I got onto the road and started doing it. It was a victory fasho. We only drove half way up the mountain and hiked the rest. It was a pretty steep hike, and it had just rained and all of the dirt had been overturned by a tractor. It was reallllly muddy and really slippery, but it was so awesome. The views were breathtaking with the combination of jungle-escq, lush plant life on top of the mountains. We went up the mountain to deliver some supply packages to a school for kids of families who live in the mountains. They live the simple life as many of their houses have dirt floors and they survive off of their sustenance. The last picture is of a chicken coup (i guess that's what its called?) next to a house way up the mountain. We got to the school after about an hour and a half and gave a little presentation about dental health to the kids, gave them some supply packages (I honestly don't even know what was in them), and they gave a little presentation of Jesus to them. It was tight. Coming down the mountain we stopped at the waterfall picture I posted, which WAS AWESOME. And we'll be seeing a bigger waterfall tomorrow. I'm PUMPED. There are tons of crazy, awesome, beautiful flowers around, so I just posted my favorite one.

Anyway, Honduras is awesome. Its tough with the whole I don't speak Spanish deal, but that whole deal just presents so many awesome opportunities for growth. God is taking me on a journey here. It's gon be krunk. My laptop is about to die, and I already wrote much more than I was anticipating haha. I'll come back sometime soon. Lata!

aw yea

I should be Honduras in 24 hours, get krunk. I won't have my phone, snail mail is unreasonable due to distance, so if you want to contact me I'll check my email periodically: calvin9524@tamu.edu. I'd love to hear from anyone.

watch out

I leave the Dallas airport in 1 day 20 hours 48 minutes and 13 seconds. YUH