If I were a gambling kind of girl, I'd totally play the lottery with my luck

Kismet. A word of Turkish/Arabic descent meaning fate or destiny. Today was a series of events that to me almost seem too incredible to have all fit together in the perfect way that they did. Maybe God is smiling down on me and using this as a small way to let me know that He is in control and that I am in exactly the place I am meant to be at the exact time that I am meant to be here.

The "coolness" of some of these events you will just have to take my word for because try as I may, I will probably not be able to completely capture this in a way that will bring any sort of justice to the situation, but I will try.

First, I went downtown with another teacher to look for a couple of classroom supplies that I was pretty much certain that I would not be able to find since they weren't exactly common place, and it is Honduras. There is no such thing as easy shopping, and there is never ever a guarantee that even if you find a product that you are looking for that it will even be there the next day or ever again. So, I was looking for sticky tack for my walls and watercolors for my kids (both pretty random items not easily found even office supply stores) and my friend was looking for plastic trays that students could put their papers in to be graded. Even at the remote possibility of finding children's watercolor paint sets, I was certain that they'd be expensive because any kind of item not easily come by usually is. My friend finds her baskets (pretty amazing without having to go to a million places), and in the next store I find the watercolors for about $.70 each, and literally next to it was sticky tack. I was pretty amazed at that. Within 2 stores, two people were able to find the exact items they were looking for at the exact time. I wish I could explain the phenomenon that just occured here, but I suppose the only thing close would be as if you went to a thrift store and saw a dress that you had seen 2 years earlier in a department store in a different state and wanted. On top of that, it was your size, still had the tags on it, and was half price for that day only. Wouldn't you call that kismet? I would venture to guess that the same sort of odds were at work here. This may sound like a ridiculous exaggeration, but you will not understand it until you ever have to look for a specific item in a third world country.

Next set of freaky coincidences: My friend Jorge called as I walked into the house this afternoon and asked if I'd be in El Centro today. I said yes, but that I was on a mission and I'd need all the time that I could spare to be able to look for these items, especially because I couldn't get down into the city until 4 o'clock and all the stores close around 5 or 5:30. Oh yeah, by the way, my friend and I also got a free ride down the mountain with someone from the school who never drives down into the city after school. I forgot about that....yet another thing to add to my kismet day.

So, Jorge said he was going to hitch a ride back into the city from his tiny little village about an hour and a half away. He said to look for him at this coffee shop at 4:30, but I'm thinking that the only way this would all work out would be if he hitched a ride that moment with someone who was heading into Tegucigalpa and traveling on a road with nothing but tiny little villages and farms. Let's just say its not a highly traveled road. My friend and I peeked into the coffee shop, didn't see him there (at 4:45) so we left without even waiting because I figured the chance of that working out was slim to none. Shortly thereafter is when I found my bounty, and my friend and I wanted to celebrate by going to have dinner at a place where we never go because its pretty expensive when compared to all of the local fare.....Subway. I figured it would be worth the $4 because I was rejoicing over my cheap watercolors I was able to find at a random hardware store. Go figure. Joy and I were sitting there at Subway for a little while, and I feel this hand on my shoulder, and its Jorge! He went to the coffee shop, didn't see us there, and while walking down a different road to catch a taxi home, happened to look in the window of this Subway and see us there. Subway isn't even one of the two main roads in El Centro either. Once again, this is weird and totally cool at the same time.

For me, some days are good Spanish days and some days are bad. This day was neither. It was an amazing Spanish day. I was able to sit and talk to Jorge completely in Spanish and it just flowed so naturally that I didn't even need to hesitate much in order to buy some more thinking/translating time. After Subway, I was heading over to the movie theatre to meet some friends for half price Tuesdays and to watch Deja Vu. If you haven't seen this yet, please check your local Blockbuster to look for it because it was amazing! The premise of this movie deals not too far from the idea of fate and destiny (even more of a coincidence I think) and after the movie we girls stopped into the bathroom only to find no toilet paper (very common) and as I look into my bag to try and find something to use, I pull out a package of baby wipes that happened to make their way into there from my classroom. Did I put those in my bag on purpose?....of course not! They just appeared.

Walking out of the movie theatre it was 8:45, and the last busito up the mountain usually leaves at 8:30, but I figured we could walk down the same route as the busito would go in case we happened to catch the last one, and if we didn't there was also a punto de taxis (sort of like a taxi stop) along the way. We walk all the way to the punto without seeing a busito (not surprised) and asked this guy how much for my area of town, and he says 200 lempiras, which is like $10. Pretty excessive, but to be expected when 4 white girls walk up to you and ask you to take them to a nice part of the city. Usually when we take a taxi at this time, we will have one of our Honduran guy friends hail it for us for half that price, and I tell the taxi driver (in once again great Spanish) that we always get the taxi for 100 lemps. He was hesitent, I offered 120 (which is totally impressive for a white girl to get a taxi up the mountain for that much at night) and just as the guy was saying yes, I see out of the corner of my eye the last busito flying by. I run out, flag it down, and we all hop on to sit down in seats! Now, to explain this miracle to you, the busitos (which by the translates into 'little bus') start their route at a park, and won't even pull away from the park until all of the seats are full. Then, they will continue along their route picking up as many people that can anatomically fit into the space, so its pretty much impossible to catch a busito along its route and find seats. We all found seats together in the same row, and payed $.30 for our ride up the mountain instead of $5. Had I looked the other way at that exact second, I would not have seen the busito, and had I been wrong and ran out into the street after a busito that didn't happen to go to my section of town (which by the way not many go to) I would have had to face the taxi drivers who would have been laughing at me and would have accepted nothing less than 200 lemps because they knew I had no other way to get home.

While this all may seem so trivial and nothing more than just a good day, I was so excited about it that I came home to write about it right away even though it is my bedtime. Maybe it was coincidence, maybe it was luck, but I think it is more than that. I think it is confirmation from God that I am not here by mistake or by ambitious dreams of youth, but that I am part of that intricate weaving of people and circumstances that are all part of God's plan. I look at something like this and I am amazed by the way situations fit together like fingers interwoven in folded hands, and this doesn't even begin to reflect on God and his control over all our lives. Nothing we do is by chance, and God doesn't have a plan B. While we are so concentrated on the things before us and the 2 or 3 moves we are going to make in the future, God sees everything from the beginning of time until the place where time stops and eternity begins. Isn't it amazing to relinquish that kind of control and worry over our future?

...From Whence I Came

I have been back in Honduras now for 4 days, and already I feel like so much has happened. My life seems to go in that direction anyways...I seem to have stories or get myself into situations that I feel only happen to people like me and not the average joe, but then again I don't suppose I live the average joe life that would result in normal happenings on a regular basis.

Thursday morning my parents and I left bright and early for Miami International only to get there not in time to check my bags in for my flight. By the way, for those of you traveling internationally and like to cut it close at the airport, the latest they will let you check in your bags before your flight is 50 minutes...I just thought the 2 hour international rule was made up by overly prepared yuppies who are the type of people to go out for a power walk and mochafrappelattechino before making a couple of business transactions while on the way to their flight, getting there way before departure time. This now makes 1 nearly missed flight where I sprinted across the Orlando airport and made the gate as they made their 2nd last call to New York, and one official missed flight. I think I will start allowing myself more time because as good as it may feel to sleep in 30 more minutes, it does not make up for the "oh crap" feeling you have an hour and a half before your flight when you're not quite sure you'll make it.

Anyways, I missed that flight, but they said that I could get bumped up to the next flight, which was the last one of the day at the oh-so-late hour of 11:00 a.m.. And at no additional charge? Extra points for me....until I got up to the window and was put on standby for the last flight of the day. Once again, another "oh crap" feeling. If you've never been on standby, it can be a little nerve-racking, especially if you're handing over your bags to an airline you're not sure you'll be flying with that is internationally bound. When bound to a country like Honduras, even if the stars are in perfect alignment and everyone performs their jobs to the utmost, you're still not guaranteed to arrive with your bags. I checked in my bags, went through all the security checkpoints (which by the way I feel are excessive in the wrong areas...like having to send my flip-flops and sunglasses through the x-ray machine as if I had a small bomb within the frames of my glasses. Who am I, James Bond??) and I arrived at my gate to a few little [good] surprises. I found 2 other teachers who were on the same flight as me, which was amazing for transportation back up the mountain since I was not arriving back at my anticipated time. I also ran into my friend Josh, who I knew from Flagler and is serving in the Peace Corps in Honduras, and we happened to be on the same flight as well, which is cool because I hardly get to see him even though we live in the same country. I checked in right before they started boarding and I managed to get a seat on the flight. Yea for me.

The plane landed in Honduras after a full two hours of chatting with these older ladies I was sandwiched in-between in Spanish, which was good practice after a 2 week break. The landing process is a little crazy because the airstrip is in the middle of the mountains and you have to bank for about 10 minutes before you fly dangerously close over the tops of shanty houses and buildings and land on an airstrip that is actually about 10 feet shorter than the airstrip of an aircraft carrier. I've never been in a plane before where the people clap for a successful landing... usually that's more of a given in my mind when buying an airline ticket. Life hits you as soon as you step out of the doors because the city is just there at your feet, unlike most airports. I must say though that upon arrival I was really impressed by the amount of improvements and modernization that my little Toncontin airport has gone through since my first arrival in 2005. Before, we didn't have the tunnel that connected the plane to the airport and had to walk down a ladder and across the tarmac to retrieve our baggage that was dumped in the middle of the floor in an un-airconditioned room where men with automatic weapons watch you as you sort through the suitcases to see which one is yours. But times change and countries update, and whether its for the best or the worst I am not yet certain.

Since Josh was in town, he and I went out to dinner and spent at least 2 hours walking down the main strip of Tegus looking for this little restaurant that I heard rave reviews about. While walking (with bad directions that were confidently given by 5 different people), I was honked at, cat-called, and blasted out by really loud reggaeton music and felt completely at home once again.

On Saturday I went way out into the countryside to attend an opening for an organization that I've recently been exposed to and really hope to become more involved with that helps to rescue and rehabilitate prostitutes and their children. The organization is run by two missionaries, one from Korea and the other who started out signing a one year contract to teach at a Christian bilingual school (like mine) and stayed for an additional 25 years and never plans on leaving. They go out on the streets to talk to the prostitutes, tell them about Jesus and about their value and worth to God, take them in, teach them a trade, and help them to be self-sufficient without having to return to the streets again to earn a living. On this new site, they have built this beautiful facility which has complete apartments, a bakery, beauty salon, and sewing workshop that will be open to the public and will fund the ministry as well as support these women. Amazing to say the least. At the end of this post I will add a link to their website as well as share a couple of the testimonies of some of these women.

There have been rumors that all of the street vendors were to be removed from the downtown area and put in a different location, but things like that aren't really taken that seriously. Just last month, the police raided the street vendors and forced all the pirated CD's and DVD's out of the area and imprisoned many, and even after this show-down (which was quite exciting from what I could tell) they were all back within 2 days and just as active as ever. Saturday night as I was catching a bus back up the mountain from downtown, I could see some of the vendors breaking their stuff down and I thought that maybe the new law was going into affect, but not really giving it more than just a passing thought. The next day I went to church which is in the downtown area, and they said that church was going to start late because there were lots of streets closed down. I had a couple of small things that I needed to get, so I headed right into the heart of downtown while I was waiting for church to begin, and the whole main plaza in front of the cathedral was crawling with military with riot gear....hundreds of military with riot gear. I didn't really continue on, figuring that now was probably not the optimum time to buy toothpaste and plastic hangers.

Today was the first day back in school, and I must say that I missed my absolutely adorable children. They were exceptionally well behaved also, which also makes them seem cuter. I did find out that one of the other kindergarten teachers will be out for a month after a nearly fatal miscarriage which ruptured her fallopian tubes. This teacher has been praying for another baby also, which makes it all the more difficult. If you can remember to pray for her, I know that she can use it. She is the only employed one in her immediate family after her husband was laid-off and was already feeling financially strapped before all of this happened. This woman is very dear to me and has gone over and beyond the co-worker call of duty to make sure I have enough blankets and that I have medicine when I'm sick. Her name is Etni Flores, and like I said I would appreciate your prayers for her.

So, that's all for now....but I say that as if I didn't just turn 5 rather ordinary days into a small novella. As promised, below (if you would like to continue reading and aren't inundated by my ramblings) is the info for Jericho Ministries and the testimonies. Also, I will attach the link to the website for the orphanage that I go to, and I would highly recommend taking time to look through there.

Macayla

http://www.jerichomin.org
http://www.hopecenterhonduras.com

Maria Elena
It is a common sight to see Maria Elena, 35, happily sweeping or cleaning up around Jericho. She came to us just over a year ago after having been more than 15 years on the streets. She was weary of life itself when another street woman told her about Jericho. She showed up at the offices of Jericho to find out more about the ministry and ended up accepting Christ right there. Now she is off the streets, and has found peace with Christ. She says that the only thing that awaited her in the streets was death but now she has found real life in Christ. She says she has received from the Lord a whole new attitude and outlook on life. Where she was once a violent woman, who used to attack anyone who crossed her, now she lives at peace with others. Maria Elena is the mother of 7 children, ranging in ages from 6 to 21. Five of her children now also have a relationship with the Lord and her 10-year-old son, Merlin, says that he wants to be a pastor when he grows up. Maria says that she believes that her children are going to be great servants of God. Maria is excited to be serving God and now even has a Growth Group meeting in her tiny house where more than 15 people gather weekly to study the Word of God together.

Mayra
Mayra, 27, grew up in an unstable home. Her father left them while she was very young to be instead with her aunt, her mother’s sister. She has a sister/cousin who was born the same month she was. At the age of 14, her mother sent her to Tegucigalpa to live with an aunt and continue her studies, but her aunt treated her badly and she ended up leaving to look for work, which she finally found in a bar. There she met the father of her son, Cristian, and moved in with him. But he left while she was still pregnant. Three months after the birth of her son, she found herself with no money and a sick baby. Together with a friend, they decided to go to the streets to make money. She was 18 years old. For 5 years she sold herself on the streets. She says that when you have spent a good amount of time in prostitution, you begin to think that is all you can do. But the “Hound of Heaven” was after her and many people began to speak to her of Christ. When the Jericho evangelism team shared Christ with her and told her of the ministry where she could be trained in an honorable profession, she accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior and entered the ministry. But it wasn’t always easy. A month and a half later, after receiving her monthly pay, she went home, put the money in a drawer, and then left for a church meeting. Upon returning she found that someone had broken in and stolen all of her money. At the time the Enemy tried to convince her that God wouldn’t take care of her and that she could only make money by being on the streets. She decided to go back to the streets the following day. But upon arriving she felt embarrassed, “like being naked in front of a crowd of people.” When a former client called on her, she walked up to his car but could feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit. It was as if He whispered to her, “you are too valuable to me to be doing this.” She left the man there and went home. The Lord was gracious to her she says, “for who knows what would have become of her if she had gone back.” The Lord is now teaching her to seek Him, to trust Him and to press on in the faith to which He has called her. Her eyes now shine the light of Christ.