A Merry Christmas

Anthony Troyer
December 29th (evening to be precise)

I guess celebrating a holiday in the same way for 21 years gives one certain ideas of how it is supposed to work. Christmas this year was radically different for all of us, and though I can't speak for everyone, this is what Jon and I experienced.

We were told on the 23rd that we would be having many guests over for a Christmas Eve "fiesta". At least, that's what we thought we heard. When we came down to check on dinner early the following evening, we were informed that the meal would begin sometime after midnight, because it is the Christmas meal. Apparently, eating early Christmas morning is a tradition all over Honduras. To pass the time, we went and bought some fireworks with the oldest son Julio Andres. Fireworks are another Christmas tradition here. They're technically illegal, but no one seems to mind. We live in a very populated but compact "subdivision" and the number of fireworks that went off that night was incredible. Family, family of family, neighbors and friends began arriving around 10 from all over the country.

We were out front, lighting off another round of firecrackers when Xiomara began the countdown. 10, 9, 8, and everyone picked it up, excitement building. "Merry Christmas" we all shouted and hugs were given all around. Right on the heals of midnight, came bigger grander fireworks, complete with the excitement of mishaps and failed launches. We finally sat down to eat at around 12:30. The meal was filled with laughter, stories, random applause, and a time of reflection on God's grace during the previous year.

And, of course, no fiesta would be complete without the piñata. This was the third time we've experienced this joyful event in the last three weeks, and it hasn't gotten old yet. Everyone who wants to, takes a turn blindly flailing at the moving target, hoping to make contact. If someone does manage to break it open early, they just tape it shut and keep rotating through the people. The best part of this tradition is the mad dash for the candy at the end. The adults tend to be more crazy than the kids, and this particular evening one lady ended up on her back as everyone collided under the piñata to make sure they got enough. Jon and I finally settled down for bed around 3:30 to the sounds of riotess laughter and fireworks.

(Pictured are our host parents Julio and Xiomara in the front, and our neighbor Pablo. Notice the tape on the piñata...someone got lucky and actually hit it.)

When you are blindfolded, you are completely at the mercy of the group. 

They seem to keep their distance, though, if you swing wildly enough.

The next day consisted of a very downplayed gift exchange (by American standards) and a family trip to the beach, another yearly tradition for this group. The mix of food, fútbol, and swimming was fantastic. Christmas night wasn't a night to party though because we had church the next day which means getting up at very early (see the previous post).

Celebrating the 25th in Honduras felt much more like New Year's or even the Fourth of July than Christmas. 80 degree weather, fireworks, and the beach have never been a part of my Christmas experience before, but I'm sure I could get used to it. Ultimately, though, the core aspects of both celebrations are the same: family, fun, and a little baby born two thousand years ago as a sacrifice for you and me.

It is December 29th, and I am looking forward to seeing what the celebration of New Year's will look like. We will be traveling to La Ceiba (a coastal town) to celebrate with Julio's side of the family. It is about a 2 hour trip and will allow us to see some more of this beautiful country. We also hope to hook up with Konrad who trained with us in Pennsylvania and is serving in La Ceiba. Blessings to all as you enter the new year. Thanks for taking the time to keep up with us and share in our experiences. As always, we love to hear from home and welcome all emails and comments.

Dios le bendiga!

Live From Honduras

(Disclaimer: This is originally from 12/21 not 12/29) 

Hi everyone,

I hope you're all surviving the snow. We're a little 

chilly here too, it's gotten down to 70 degrees because 

of the rain. Brr... at least according to the locals.

Anthony and I are staying together at the home of the 

church co-ordinator, Julio Almendarez, and his family: 

wife Xiomara, sons Julio 15 and Daniel 11, and daughter 
Andrea 4.  They are a fun and crazy bunch. Never a dull 

moment. Andrea is a lively little thing, very fond of 

demonstrating the considerable volume of her vocal 

abilities. As I write, she's singing, "Grande y Fuerte es 

Nuestro Dios" at the top of her lungs. I think she got 

her father's gift of gab, but hasn't yet learned that 

there is a setting between off and jet-engine. As a 

family, they're pretty busy. Julio plays electric bass 

for the school praise band. Our neighbors (who are part 

of our extended family in that we share a car so our 

schedule is their schedule) are part of the chorus and 

the dance team as well as the praise band. And then 

there is Julio who is at almost every church function 

(of which there are many).

As such, Anthony and I have a rather full schedule. 

We get up almost every morning at 5:30 to get the three 

kids off to their private Christian bi-lingual school, 

pick up Irene at her house, pick up Lauren and Vicki at 

their house, and get to the church around 8:00 to have 

a team devotions time before class starts at 8:30. Class 

ends at 12:00 when Carmen, our other next door neighbor, 

and Irene set out lunch. Then around 1:00, we repeat the 

process in reverse. Drop off the girls, pick up the kids, 

return home. Saturday is church day for the Amor Viviente 

church, and it is a doosy of a day. We wake up at 4:20 so 

Julio can open the church complex (open pavilion which 

serves as sanctuary in the middle of a field with a house 

which functions as church offices and class rooms). 
Then we sweep out the sanctuary, set up 300 folding 

chairs, rake the fallen leaves, arrange the construction 

cones for parking, and place all the other unsundry items. 

Thankfully, another team takes care of sound equipment. 

Church starts at 3:30 and lasts til 5:30 or 6:00 after 

which there is some sort of meal. It's usually 7:30 by 

the time we get home.

The language training is a little different from what I 

was expecting. There is no school. One of the members 

of the church agreed to create a curriculm to tutor all 

four of us Americans. This provided quite the unexpected 

challenge for our teacher since all of us are at very 

different places. Lauren has had limited Spanish training 

and while enthusiatic to learn, still needs heavy 

emphasis on the basics. Anthony has the basics, but 

needs more vocab and practice talking in tenses other 

than the present. Vicki needs practice speaking. She 

knows how to conjugate verbs and has a large vocabulary, 

but she has difficulty speaking in the moment. I need a 

Honduran high school Spanish course. I can speak, I just 

need to refine my grammar, build my vocab, and learn how 

to talk like a native rather than a gringo. Our teacher, 

Edna, has been very accommodating, trying hard to figure 

out how to challenge Vicki and I, and she has very kindly 

started assigning Vicki and I different material than 

Anthony and Lauren. When we do a common project now, 
it's talking together or writing invidually which provide 

a means for us to work at our own levels.

All in all, I am very grateful to be here in Honduras. 

I love getting to know the people in our church and host 

family, and I hope that continues. Pray that we as a YES 

team, would be able to bless our friends here in Honduras 

as much as they are blessing us. Pray that we would not 

only learn the language from them but we would learn from 

their example as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. 

Pray for us as a team that God would continue to grow us 

together, that we would be a support to one another and 

not be in competition with one another. And pray for me 

as I struggle to feel like I'm doing much as a leader 

when my schedule and most other decisions are determined 

by others.

Thanks for reading,

Jon

Hi! We're Eastern Mennonite Missions' YES team to Venezuela for 2009-2010. Jonathan Landis leads the team, and the rest of the intrepid explorers include Vicki Locke, Anthony Troyer, Irene Menendez, and Lauren Yutzy. We're excited to see what God does in us and through us in the next nine months. Thanks for following our exploits!