Honduras

We've only been here a few days, but it feels like it's been a lifetime.  Starting Monday, I will be helping with the boy's English classes!  I'm pretty darn excited.  We've been doing useful things in the office, but I think that I thrive when I actually get to interact with a lot of people.
Honduras is a lot different from Haiti.  I wish I could think about Honduras without comparing every little thing to Haiti, but I guess my brain doesn't work that way.  Let me tell you a little bit about what Honduras has been like for me:
Early Mornings.  We wake up at like 5 or 6 each morning because it gets pitch black by about 6:30.
Immersion.  When I went to Haiti, I lived with more white people than Haitians.  Here, I live with more Hondurans than white people.  In addition, we (Jessica, Leah - the other intern - and I) eat lunches and dinners with the students.  (When I was in the airport, some things were repeated in English, but a lot of things weren't.  I would not have survived without Jessica.)
Spanish.  I feel like most Haitians don't expect you to speak Kreyol, but it seems like most Hondurans are surprised when I tell them I don't speak a lot of Spanish.  I think learning Kreyol pushed all the Spanish outside of my head, but it's coming back slowly.
Restful.  We work in spurts.  We kind of half-work all day.  We have lots of breaks, but our work is never really done.  Plus, it's a lot of work to meet lots of new people and not speak the language.  But I think we get plenty of rest.
Happy.  It's a good time.  Honduras doesn't feel like home, but I'm happy to be here.

Pray for Enoch's daughter.  (Enoch works here at El Sembrador.)  The day we got here she broke her femur, and she's still in the hospital.

Adios!

Shelby

a whirlwind

Wow, this past week has been crazy.
I said goodbye for now to the best people I've ever known.
I took my last finals ever (and my only 4.0 semester in college)!
I saw my immediate family, as well as my Grandma and some other lovely family members.
I got in a slight car accident.  (Jessica and I may have driven into a ditch, but no biggie.)
I graduated from college.
I drove to Maryland.
I celebrated a ton.
And, after three flights, including a stop in El Salvador, I am in HONDURAS!
Yay!
I crossed a lot of things off of the bucket list this week, not the least of which is traveling to a foreign country with my best friend.

Needless to say, there are a lot of emotions I am identifying with right now.  The prevailing one is happiness, but there's a lot going on.  I am so glad to be here in Honduras, but I also really miss Haiti.  There are lots of things I could say, but I'll leave it simple for now.

I'm looking forward to all that God is going to teach me in these five weeks, and I can't wait to share it with you!  In the mean time, pray for me while I figure out what's after this beautiful time.

Love you!  And thanks again for all of the support!

I'll leave you with a picture from Saturday.

God is faithful

This is the hardest blog I have ever had to write, and I wish I could put if off longer.  But you deserve to know what's going on, so here I am to tell you.

To protect those involved, there is not much I can say.  In short, some people were faced with difficult decisions, and the family I was going to live with will no longer be working with Harvest Field.  [Please, please, please pray for everyone involved in this situation.]  For that reason, I am unable to work with Harvest Field, and for the time being I am not moving to Haiti.  This is very heartbreaking for many different reasons, but I know that everything is going to be okay.  God is faithful, and he will be with me, no matter where I am.  So I'm happy to be where I am right now, and I'm excited about all of these possibilities in the future.

If Haiti and I were in a dating relationship, I would say that we were engaged.  I was ready to spend the rest of my life there to invest in children long term.  Now that we've broken off our engagement, I feel that I am not ready to commit super long term at the moment.  And I think that's okay.  

For now, I'm graduating in 5 days and going to Honduras in one week.  Exciting!  After 5 weeks in Honduras, I'm not exactly sure what will happen.  But I'm on the lookout for opportunities, and I'm excited!  I could go anywhere, do anything.  Life's an adventure, right?  

God is good, and God is beautiful.  I'm excited to see what happens next, and I'm happy to be where I am right now.

And I think it's important to remember that I already know where I belong.  It's not Haiti.  It's not anywhere in America.  Where I belong is with God, and that's the best part.

Shelbs

[Some logistical things:  Harvest Field will be sending me the donations that all of you have sent in for me, unless you would prefer to have a refund.  Your money will only ever be used for ministry purposes.  Please contact me if you would like to get your donation back.  Thank you all so much for your prayers and support.  Please e-mail me with any questions.]

P.S.  Things are great at school.  Enjoy some pictures of Highbridge Film Festival and Junior/Senior!