The Beginning

Well here I am! I've officially be in Honduras for 3 days now although it feels like it has been longer. I think I'm adjusting pretty well to life here now that I'm settled into my room and getting to know the teachers of IST (the school where I'll be teaching) more and more each day. These past few days have been packed with meetings, training, devotions, and lots of food, but everyday I am reminded that this is where I have been called to live and serve.

I was nervous on Wednesday as I began to take off from the Cleveland airport, but God showed His provision even on my way to Tegucigalpa. On my flight from Houston to Tegus, I met two other teachers going to IST and I was comforted even before I arrived. Once we got to the airport in Tegucigalpa, I was warmly welcomed by my lovely roommates and many other teachers returning to IST. We waited for a couple of other flights to arrive and went back to our houses.

I live in Casa Naranja, and it truly does have an orange wall facing the street. It's such a cozy little house complete with a place for my hammock out front. I'm sure that it will be an absolutely wonderful home for the year :) The rest of the night was pretty relaxed as we ate with most of the North American teachers who had arrived and talked some about the culture.

Thursday was our first day at the school, and I can say that IST has the best views of any school that I have ever seen. The campus is absolutely gorgeous with palm trees everywhere with the mountains in the background. During our meetings that day, the new headmaster strongly emphasized how we need to be a Christ-centered school. In order to do that, it is the responsibility of all of the teachers to ensure that Christ is the center of all of our lives. It was absolutely wonderful to be reminded right away of my purpose in working at the school. Not to be a fantastic teacher or become the best in my field, but my focus needs to be on building my life on Christ more and more each day so that I can show Christ's love and compassion to my students.

This morning after having devotions and a quick faculty meeting discussing the book we all read over the summer, the preschool and elementary staff and teachers did a prayer walk throughout the preschool and elementary school. This time was such a blessing to me. It was a wonderful time to pray for students, parents, staff, and faculty, and to really focus on following God's guidance of the school for the upcoming year.

In between meetings and time working at school, I have made a Walmart trip, ate a baleada (which was absolutely delicious), played Wii, met Lucy (my roommate's cat who has now joined us), killed a lot of ants, attempted some Spanish,  and had conversations on the school bus. It's been a very busy 3 days, but I'm seeing more and more every day of why God has lead me here.

I love being a part of a school that takes time to pray and be reminded of Who we are serving. I have greatly enjoyed getting to know the hearts of the teachers I will be working with. The love these people have for Christ is simply beautiful. I'm excited to continue to have conversations with people from the school and meet even more people from the community at church tomorrow. I would appreciate prayers as transitioning can still be difficult at times, but thank you so much for encouraging and supporting me already by lifting me up! There will be more to come :)