Aug 23, 2011 | Travel
1. The mountains
The richest person on earth cannot buy them, but there they were, grand and majestic, at your disposal. Lush green hills and ridges that surrounded Buena Vista were to me the epitome of a luxurious life.
Buena Vista from the mountain ridge
2. Avocados
Oy, the avocados were plentiful. I mean, how can that not make you happy. We had huge bowls of guacamole multiple times for our meals. AWESOME!
Guacamole - heavenly
3. The sound of rain
I love the sound of rainfall, on the ground and on clay-based roofing. Honduran rain made me think of my home country. Living in American glorified boxes that are apartments, I don’t get to hear it very often. But there, you can even hear them drip on your sleeping bag when you sleep… I love how refreshed the earth is after a rainfall.
“He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.” Psalm 72:6
4. No electricity
How liberating it was to be free from the ties of modernity. There, nature dictates the rhythm of life. You can’t do much after the sun sets, the rest is sweet, and you wake up when the sun rises (or before). The day is day and the night is night. The moon shines very brightly too that you get shadows from its light. I could use this electricity-fast more often or longer.
Bright moonlight
5. Riding in the back of the truck
Soo much fun – more fun than any rollercoaster ride! It wasn’t so dusty and the view was breathtaking. Some things to do on the ride: wave hello to people you pass by, enjoy the view of herds of cows and donkeys on the street, dodge branches and trees, and if you’re a girl, make sure to hold down your skirt.
The view during the ride
6. Working with my hands
I really appreciated how much people work with their hands there, from cooking, washing clothes, washing anything, fruit and lettuce picking, construction, writing… It’s so much healthier!
7. Chaotic city experience
I got to go on visitations in Talanga, a more city-like town about 45 minutes from Buena Vista. We visited a family who hooked us up to a local TV channel to advertise the clinic we would hold a few days later. On the way back, we took the public bus back to La Ermita, where the rest of the medical team was working. Every time the bus stopped, vendors would come on to the bus and sell food, snacks, etc. The school kids got on the bus and filled the aisle. We had to push through the crowd to get out. Again, just like chaotic Jakarta. Not the most comfortable for sure, but I was amused.
8. Friendly people and kids
Enough said.
9. The lifestyle
The rhythm, the food, the daily activities – everything was just teeming with health. I felt so healthy. I even said, “I’m starting to feel too healthy” towards the middle of the trip. I covet the life there…
10. Morning prayer
A few of us would meet and pray at 6:30 AM every morning, led by Erick, VIDA’s evangelism coordinator, committing the day and laying out whatever burden that is in your heart. Precious times.
11. Meeting the VIDA staffs
Amazing people with amazing testimonies. I admire each one of them. They come from all walks of life, many left behind worldly ambitions to pursue something higher. They are so happy and positive. Things don’t go according to plan, they don’t seem to get stressed out. Always bearing about a cheerful disposition and showing love to people – I learned many things from them.
I also love their model of ministry there, from the glimpses that I got to see. These are a few of them.
Joseph, Annie, and their two daughters Olivia (8) and Maya (3). They moved to Honduras to be missionaries about two months ago and will be there for at least 5 years. Joseph is the chef at Buena Vista. I got to spend 2.5 days in his kitchen.
Monica, the first Adventist woman engineer who is sold out for ministry that I have ever met.
Naomi, world traveler, organization extraordinaire.
Jose, director of VIDA Internacional. His life is for this ministry. Amazing testimony. Also studied engineering once upon a time passed.
12. Super long devotion
The sun rises at about 5:30 AM. For some reason, waking up to beat the sunrise was super easy there. I think it was something about sleeping in open air. There were no windows for the dorm we stayed at. So we were pretty much sleeping in open air, exposed to anything that could and would come in through those gaping openings on the wall. In fact, one day we found a snake…
But I loved the direct access to the sky for devotions. It’s like your prayers don’t bounce back to you. I was joking that maybe I should take off the windows of my apartment.
Another thing that was a blessing in disguise for me: malaria pills. I was taking those pills, per my nurse’s recommendation, and I was suffering from their side effects. I took the version that has psychosis as its side effects. Yeah. Nothing too bad, I didn’t get depressed or anything, but I was having vivid dreams. Thankfully they were not nightmares or crazy ones, but I was just too aware in them that I didn’t feel rested. After two pills (= two weeks of side effects), I decided to stop. There’s no malaria in El Suyatal anyway.
Since sleep was torture for me, I would rather be awake than asleep. So for many days I would wake up at 4 and not want to go back to sleep. That was a blessing.
Dawn. On the mountain ridge behind Buena Vista
13. Massage at the medical brigade
Thanks to CAMPUS Missionary Training Program, I wasn’t useless in the medical team. On the last day of outreach we all did medical ministry in Talanga. I was stationed at the rest and relaxation booth to give anyone who came by a 5 min back massage.
Truly, “in our life here, earthly, sin-restricted though it is, the greatest joy and the highest education are in service” (Education, p. 309). It was a most incredible day for me and it deserves an entire blog post (and so are the next two points).
14. Naomi’s devotion on character development
Naomi, VIDA staff, gave the morning devotion on Sunday which summarized and answered one of the main questions I asked myself on why I went on this mission trip. Will write about this soon.
15. A personalized curriculum of true education
God had a 10-day curriculum for me in Honduras. And I’m craving for more.
Amazing place.
Needless to say, I LOVED HONDURAS! I didn’t want to go back to the US. I felt privileged to be there every single day and there were many moments where I was overwhelmed with gratefulness. God willing, I’d visit again. Many thoughts are being processed right now, mainly about ministry and how I would change the way I live my life. I’ve caught the mission trip bug – this is only the beginning.
Aug 6, 2011 | Travel
All the world’s a classroom.
When I wrote out my goals for 2011 about seven months ago (new year’s resolutions – remember those?), one of the things I listed was discomfort. I have become aware that my life has consisted mostly of things that I am already familiar with. I feel a need to expand my world, and expose myself to more discomfort.
At this moment, I am less than 24 hours away to fulfilling one of my goals this year: going on a mission trip. The destination is El Suyatal, Honduras and what I’m feeling right now is pure, unadulterated excitement. I have never gone on a mission trip before, so this is kind of a big deal, and like a dry sponge I’m going to soak up everything about this trip. Ten days without electricity sound remarkably liberating.
I have been saving for this trip since January and this is no doubt going to be the highlight of my year. As I’m preparing my mind and heart on this Sabbath day and trying to reflect on why I wanted to go, I can’t think of a logical or profound answer to that question. I just wanted to go. Am I doing this with a pure motive? Not sure. I love adventures, and I freely admit that I’m looking at this with misty eyes. I know I want a radical experience in my spiritual life. I want to experience something different than campus ministry.
Of course a mission trip is designed for the people there, but my mind is incredibly limited in imagining the things that can happen in 10 days. Cynicism? There’s perhaps a little bit of that. Low expectations? Maybe some. I think, though, that it’s mostly narrow-mindedness. I’m sitting here in front of a computer screen trying to imagine what can happen in a foreign place, without any reference whatsoever. All I know is that the one who will benefit the most from this trip is me. And at this point, all I can talk about is the limited view from my window. See what I mean by “a small world”?
I do have expectations. I expect God to expand my vision, of life, the world, and His kingdom, to something much larger than the life (physical and spiritual) that I have known. I am looking for something without knowing what it is, and I’m ready for whatever God has for me there.
Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee. Jeremiah 32:17
And the LORD said unto Moses, Is the LORD’S hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not. Numbers 11:23
In our life here, earthly, sin-restricted though it is, the greatest joy and the highest education are in service. And in the future state, untrammeled by the limitations of sinful humanity, it is in service that our greatest joy and our highest education will be found—witnessing, and ever as we witness learning anew “the riches of the glory of this mystery;” “which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27. Education, p. 309 [emphasis mine]
For the next 10 days El Suyatal will be my classroom. My teacher, the Infinite One, and the field of study…I’m about to find out. =)
On Monday, Jacqui took me to eat some Honduran food. Those baleadas were good!
All packed up and ready to go. Looking forward to coming back with much less than these.
Jun 20, 2011 | Travel
After more than a month-long hiatus from blogging due to vacation and other things, my train of thought from previous posts seems to have flown into oblivion. So in an effort to regain some of it back, I thought I’d write about something that can tie in my vacation with a developing interest of mine: the ocean.
One of the most marvelous things in life is the capacity to wonder and be fascinated. Ever since two summers ago, but especially this past year, I’ve had a newfound love and fascination for the ocean and the marine life (hence, the oceanic object lessons in previous posts). It’s not that I just fell in love with the ocean – I’ve always loved the ocean since I was young – but I’ve only realized how much I actually love it recently. Something reverberates inside me when I see, watch, or read about the ocean and the marine life; something that I don’t get when I see land animals or birds. Maybe it’s because I spent a lot of time in the ocean since childhood, so there’s a special connection sort of speak. But it’s also because of the fact that the diversity in the ocean far exceeds any of the other living spaces. While land animals and birds have their general forms, sea animals are widely varied. I mean, their shapes and forms are way beyond imagination.
Perhaps, this newfound love is also more mature than before. When I was younger, my love of the ocean only extends to how much I love playing and swimming in it. But this one is of another nature. I am fascinated with everything that constitutes the ocean and the marine life, its dynamics and interplay with the human life, and naturally, I am in hate with whatever that destructs it.
For vacation this year, my family went to Orlando, Florida. Being predictable people, we went to the theme parks there because we love roller coasters and all that. Of course, we had to go to Disneyworld because we had never gone before, and it was fun. The complex was impressive and I was amazed at the power of human creativity. Some time ago, all of these things were just thoughts and concepts in someone’s mind… However, and maybe this is a sign of getting old, all that made up Disneyworld did not wow me as they used to, and I don’t think I’d come back, even though we didn’t see everything there.
But, something did wow me. We went to Discovery Cove and Sea World where we swam with fishes and rays, and saw many other magnificent creatures.[1] And these animals were much more awesome than any of the intricate designs that Disneyworld could offer. At one point, I was swimming above a leopard-patterned stingray whose wings extend farther than my two outstretched arms and following it for a good while. God’s creation is simply breathtaking.
Dolphins
Stingrays and Manta rays
Yet, there’s something more to this personal discovery than just a side fascination, because quite unexpectedly, the ocean proves to be a point of convergence that integrates aspects of my life that I’ve been trying to unite for many years. Many object lessons were gleaned from observing natural systems, which reveal both the originality, brilliance, and creativity of the Maker, as well as His discretion. Design principles emerge, which taught lessons and ethical values that I believe I should have as an engineer; the ocean made me look to God as my engineering and perhaps public policy instructor. In addition, delving into it is very enjoyable, providing great conversation topics. Basically for me, the ocean is where spirituality and academics meet, leisure and curiosity combine, wonder and reason converge. It’s funny how all of this just happened – it’s definitely a cool answer to prayer.
Now, I have added a few places that I want to visit on my life checklist for diving. Most of them are in my beloved home country, Indonesia.
Raja Ampat, Indonesia. Photo credit: Jeff Yonover.
[1] I’m still forming my opinions about these places and the enclosed animals.
