A sad day: preparing to say goodbye
Today marks 29 days left. Less than a month in Honduras and less than 3 days left in Copan. What? It’s hard – and you can tell the group is feeling it too. We are just simply missing home. The realization of the actual length of 6 weeks has hit and it’s starting to cause....
Mother’s Day in Honduras
Mother’s day is a big deal in Honduras. The shops are decorated and I woke up to greetings and giggles as family members dropped in to say “felicidades!” to my abuela and give her presents. I then attended my first Spanish church service celebrating mom’s everywhere! I.understood.every.word. MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENT. It was all about the mothers....
Cochabamba, water, monkeys and coca
I am loving the culture here and the importance of family. I have been struck by how close families are and how my host family took me in as their own child. They didn’t have to be so kind and understanding, but they have gone above and beyond the call to be my host parents.....
Hangul and Host Families
Wow! The first week is done already and many exciting sights, sounds, tastes and adventures have been accomplished. Before I start talking about the week and our time spent at Hallym University I want to briefly mention the pre thoughts about the trip many of us had. On our fights over to South Korea we....
Service Learning in Colombia
I visited Medellin, Colombia for our week of service learning during the semester. On Thursday, April 11, Emma Dalen, EMU graduate Jessica Sarriot, and I took the Medellin metro to Interamericana Filadelfio church which hosts a program called Fundacion Raices de Fe, or, Foundation Roots of Faith, for students ages 8-17. It is a before....
Free travel reports from the Middle East
Wednesday morning (March 6) Jake, Hilary, Lydia, and I walked to the Jerusalem central bus station and each purchased a ticket for bus #444 direct to Eilat. We departed promptly at 10 a.m., and with the help of our daredevil bus driver, we were looking out at the Red Sea at 2 o’clock that afternoon, an....
Challenges and callings
March 11, 2013 It’s crazy to think that even among all the challenges this trip has brought into our lives- challenges of former beliefs, relationships, hopes, needs, and faith- that one could feel a call from God and have it ring true. We traveled in two groups (one on the 27th and one on the....
Israel: learning Biblical geography firsthand
This morning we all gathered, anxiously awaiting free travel, to take our final exam on Geography and Physical Settings of the Bible and to finish our lovely time that we have had over the past two weeks at Jerusalem University College. Once we finished the exam, we all celebrated and received certificates of completion of....
Service learning at Bezaleel School and the cloud forest, lessons from New Horizons Cooperative community
On time spent in a rural K’ekchi village and at Bezaleel School This church has wooden pews, about 50 people, and massive speakers. I don’t know what is going on and I can hardly talk to anyone. There is just one kid mashing out some pre-recorded keyboard songs and changing chords recklessly with the music.....
Valuing life and hospitality
February 6, 2013 What words can describe the loss of thousands of human lives? It is a good thing that the FAFG, Forensic Anthropology Organization, are doing in giving identities to those lost to the terrible tragedies that occurred here in Guatemala just a short couple of decades ago. The emptiness left in each family....