It's pronounced MOATZART!!!!!!

I haven't really done anything too interesting this weekend, but I did do something extremely interesting this past Wednessday.  I don't guess I've said anything about that yet have I?

Last Friday I went to a tiny benifit concert that was held at someone's house and met someone who told me about another conert.  It was a girl who has been here for the last four years with her husband and they had found out about a concert on Wed.  She invited me to come.  It was a concert of the Honduran National Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir performing Mozart's Requiem.

By the way, even though you're only reading inside your head please pronounce that Moat-zart (WITH A "T"!!!!)

Sorry... now where was I?  ;-)  It was a pretty good performance and it was wonderful to see something of which I had been a part of on the other side at Lee University.  I'll have to be honest... it could have been a lot better.  But I still wouldn't have traded the experience for the world.  It was wonderful!  I tried my best not to sing along, but I got caught a couple of times.  I have this deep affenity for the choral parts.  The other's don't interest me very much... not even the vocal solo portions.  But those choral parts are just absolutely astounding!  Mozart ( Moatzart) was amazing!

PS- For an indepth theological discussion on my future mate, please read the post below.

Your Shack, My Shack, and a Bungalow

As for those rumors about me praying "theologically correctly" here's the deal and what my quandary was all about:

I heard a great sermon last night right before I wrote to you.  It was not great because of something the pastor did or said, but rather because of what God said to me and showed me.  The pastor used three or four different texts, but one of them was from Daniel during the story of "your shack, my shack and a bungalow".  We as "modern" Christians are so quick to focus on the first part of the three Hebrew children's answer to the King.  You know, the part where they in a valiant, ready-to-die-for-the-cause way say that "the God we serve is able to save us".  We even like to focus on the second half of their kingly slap in the face: "But even if he does not".  But the part that we modern Christians most conveniently forget is the most powerful and fiery part wedged right in between those to anemic quotes.  "and he will rescue us from your hand, O king."

God showed me last night that I am quick to believe in a god that can do anything, but who rarely does anything.  It's easy for me to say (believing with all my heart) that "with God, all things are possible."  But in practice, I follow it with a quick "but nothing is probable" under my breath.  But that's just not how things are supposed to work.  I can't have on one hand a belief in a God that can do anything and yet believe that He refuses to do most things.  If I'm going to call His power limitless, I have to follow it up with a faith that acts on that belief.  The three Hebrew children didn't wait for God to tell them that He was going to save them before they made such an audacious claim.  And all the people who come to Jesus in the gospel accounts don't simply believe that He was able... they also had to believe that he would.  It was a double faith.  It was a HIGH-risk faith; they had a lot to lose emotionally.  What would happen if they were believing in the wrong thing?  ( i.e. believing in the miracle instead of the Miracle Giver)

And for the past year, I've been thinking the same things.  I've been afraid that having faith of that kind was too dangerous emotionally.  I mean after all, I had burned myself once already thinking that God was promising something to me that wasn't really mine.  I substituted my voice for His and the change was so subtle I never even knew it.  That's why I was so badly hurt.  And that's precisely the HIGH risk that is involved here.  We moderns want some deep assurance that it's actually God's voice that we're hearing, but it's hard to "step out in faith" if it's something that you know so surely.  On one hand we criticize Gideon for not believing the first time, but on the other... we don't step out on our own ever.

~Entonces~
So that's what I'm doing... sort of.  I'm stepping out in a very HIGH-risk faith that God has "someone" for me and that He is going to send her soon; just as soon as He is done preparing her for me, and me for her.  It's HIGH-risk because there is a chance that He wants me to remain single.  But it's not something that I am able to consider at this moment.  Right now I am calling to Jesus blindly as He passes by and believing that if I can just reach Him, He will intervene in this situation and that my prayers will matter and that they will influence His hand of blessing.  There is no room for me to believe that it's possible that this is how He wants me to remain.  That type of doubt is even more dangerous at this moment.  I'm risking enough as it is.

!!!!!!PICTURES!!!!!

;-D

Ok, finally.... here are all the pictures I can get to you. If I had a camera (hint, hint) I would try to take more, but as it is, I'm dependant on my roomates to take the pictures, download them to their own laptop, then upload them on their own website before I can ever start to do that exact the same process all over again for my own website.

Anyway... enough complaining, right? Here are some pictures, and I'll do my best to caption all of them that I can... but some of them just wouldn't do you any good because I'd have to be there pointing at your screen for you to see what it is I'm talking about...

From the top and left to right...
#1-I borrowed a camera and took this picture because of the amazing tree in the background. If you look right above Brian's head (orange shirt), you will see a tree limb way behind him that's as big as most tree trunks. This limb extends more than 40 feet away from the main trunk before lessening in size. It's so huge in person, and it's mind boggling to think that it hasn't fallen off it's trunk because of it's weight.

#2- Look out ladies... your prince is here. May I introduce Daniel White on his too short stallion.

#3-Daniel again. This is his camera... he has a right for the pictures to be about him. Besides... I got to frame the photo. It didn't come out quite like I had planned, but oh well.

#4- It's a long way down. Before the archeologists changed the course of the Copan river at the beginning of last century, it came right up to the base of this city's most important buildings due to an ancient earthquake and other natural causes.

#5-Stud muffin Number 1 with the beautiful Carolyn beside him. In the back you can see the king's house: tall and impressive, but very tiny at the top of it all.

#6- An alter carved by the last king (or was it the 13th?). If you can see it, it depicts the first king handing off his septir to the "current" king. It would be better if I could point for you...

#7-The great temple... restored (or at least peiced back together). It would have orriginally been covered with a type of plaster/stucco.

#8-Another side of the king's house (these pictures are backwards cronologically, by the way). If you look at the part that just looks like a pile of rocks... that's what the whole site used to look like when it was found orriginally. No stone was where it belonged. The trees tore through the place once the people left due to a severe famin. (I would venture to say it was a direct punishment from God the Father).

Also, (same picture) if you look at the little door at the bottom, that's actually a door to one of the MANY tunnels underneath the city. All the excavation is now done underground during the dry season (our Spring). There are around 8 km of tunnels. Two are open to the public, but many have said that they are interesting but simply not worth the $12 (that's a dollar sign) intrance fee.

#9-Studmuffin Number 1 again, with his sidekick, Brian Goetsch.

#10-"Wow... they do exist!" And it's so strange to see something alive that's naturaly that brightly colored. It's so impressive to see in person. The Maccaw is the National bird of Honduras and is protected. There were about 10-15 right by the park's gate that just hang around because they are continually fed. It was quite amazing to see them flying around.

#11- In the background is the little Catholic church. It's not that old; only around 1890... but picture worthy anyway. This is the modern day town of Copan. It's just a few miles from the archaeological park.

Trip to the Mayan Ruins of Copan

So... the trip was great.  After we went there and saw all there was to see, I realized... I never (I mean never) would have seen any Mayan ruins if I hadn't been living here in Honduras.  It just made me think about the blessing of being here.  We did the whole trip for around the equivalent of $150 (that's a dollar sign ;-).  Which was a little much... but when you think about the experience... it was well worth it.  There was $30-35 for a bus ticket both ways and then $6 a person per night at the hostel we stayed at (which was SWEET).  The meals (even the most expensive) were always less than $5.  Actually, the most expensive thing was the park and museum entrance fees.  It was really interesting, although it reminded me a lot of Space and Rocket center in this way: once was more than enough.  We also paid for a guide, which was well worth it... otherwise we would have walked around without a clue.  The museum was good, but not nearly as informative as it could have been.  Then again, maybe they just don't know all that much about the Mayans.  Even so... it seems that when you have a HUGE museum that I can walk through in about two and a half hours and still have time to read every plaque thoroughly... it's sort of lacking something.  ;-)  But it really was great.

The current day Copan was a beautiful small town with tons of things to offer, and one of the days we went horseback riding for 3-4 hours.  It was pretty sweet.  I liked it until the end when we started to "canter" and I had the acute realization that there were a thousand problems with my saddle and started to wonder if I would ever have kids.  I was in pain.  Ha...  But the sights were wonderful!  This is such a beautiful country, Mom!  I wish I could spend more time enjoying it.

We rode the bus up there and back.  It was like a really nice Greyhound service, but it took a long time.  The trip was around 7 hours.  It would have been nice to make the drive ourselves, but we're not allowed to take the car very far outside of the city.  (It's a good and reasonable rule.)

Later yall!

A second year?

Hello blogging world!

Did you miss me?  I hope so.  ;-)  Sorry for not writing in a while, but things have been very busy with the starting of this new club and all.  I've been thinking about a lot of things lately... to say the least.  Of course I know that will surprise some of you who thought that and pensitivity (fancy word for thinking) on my part was a rare occurance to say the least.  ;-)

The club is going very well for those of you who wanted to know.  There are many bumps and roadblocks that need to be smoothed over whenever you start such a grand thing from scratch.  But these are being worked through slowly, and it's nothing too unexpected.  In general, I'm thrilled that the kids are so excited about it, and more and more things start heading in the direction of a choir.  I'm surprised at how many of them are so eager to sing.  Boy, is that a blessing!

This weekend me, the guys, and Carolyn are all going to go to see the Mayan ruins at Copan.  We've got a long weekend; today's "Friday" for those of us lucky to live in Honduras.  I'm not sure what holiday it is, but I'm not complaining!  It's so good to be out of college and actually have random, one or two day breaks in the school schedule!  (Ha, ha, you college suckers! ;-)

I have been asked many times (it's almost a constant question) how long I plan on staying, and my answer has been the same every time.  Below are some of my thoughts on the subject as written in a letter to Pastor Bill Strickland, who is the missionary in charge of all goings on here at CEAD.  He's a higher up at AG WM (in charge of something...) as well, and spends most of his time in Springfield, even though he's still a missionary here.  He replied fairly... no, very quickly, to my letter.  He wants to talk in person, and I'm very excited of the prospects of meeting with him on this issue when he returns at the beginning of this next month.  Anyway, the letter is below.






Pastor Strickland,

I pray things are well with you up in Springfield right now!  The following is an email that is very important to me, though it is unfortunately long for you to read.  If you are better able to read it at some other point when you have more time, I am more than patient to wait for your thoughts in this matter.  I thank you for taking the time to read it.

~
I am writing to let you know of my desire to plan for a second year here at CEAD while also to ask for guidance in doing so.  The longer I am here, though I realize 2 months is still a very short time, the more my heart is for this place and it's people, culture, and language.  I have a great desire to learn Spanish and am strongly considering spending some time at a language school this coming summer.  Also, in my many talks with Ms. Godoy and through my limited (though cherished) interaction with the music of this culture, I am realizing more and more of the country's deep need and readiness for more comprehensive training in music, both scholastically (through this specific school), as well as non scholastically (whether through the church's music academy or otherwise).  I see a white harvest field for people to be touched and moved towards God by more formal music--both band and choral--and I also know that Ms. Godoy is also greatly hoping to start a band.



During the past few weeks I have also had the opportunity to start a high school music club here with an emphasis on student leadership, percussion, and choral training (my personal favorite).  It is because of the natural fragility of a structure such as this coupled with it's immense benefit to the students that I desire to keep teaching for more than a couple years without interruption.

All the above was simply explanation of the issue, but now my question comes to light: I would like to come back for a second (and most likely third or fourth year), but I'm unsure as to how.  In speaking with Mr. Turner, Mr. Harrison, and Ms. Veith on the matter, they gave me what advice they could, but then advised me to talk with you.

I understand that I could come back almost indefinitely as a new MAPS assignment every year, and there are benefits to this I suppose.  But since I'm strongly considering a longer time, I am hoping you might be able to help advise me about becoming an MA.

I know this seems early to be talking about something this far away, but I am simply hoping to better plan.  I will have an opportunity to be back at my home church during Christmas time as I plan to return for graduation from Lee University.  This would be a great opportunity for me to either raise money for the music program here or to start raising money for a second year should this be necessary.  This is my main reason for talking with you so soon about my return.  If you had some time to spare, I would love to sit down and ask questions in a more direct manner, but I figured a long email would better enable you to read and answer in your own time and with whatever appropriate amount of prayer you find needed.

Thank you so much for your time here.  Once again, I realize this is almost oppressive in length, but I hope you will forgive me.  My heart is here; I am simply looking for guidance in how to plan, should that (planning) even be necessary.

With a grateful and thankful heart,
Jason Scott Vawter

Things to do

Well, I guess I would be cheating to say my Spanish isn't getting better; it is... but not very quickly at all.  I'm really hoping to get a host home sometime soon.  I'd at least like to secure one for next semester even if I don't leave the house for this one.  I'm really considering staying another year... but I don't know what it will take or how it will happen.  I'm trying to talk to the other missionays around me and ask for their advice and wisdom on the subject.  We'll see how it goes.  :-)

I'm driving a bit, and this past Saturday I drove to Cleo's home with the rest of the guys.  We ate at her two room house, and she was just so incredibly kind.  She has a kitchen area, and a bedroom area; both unthinkably small.  She doesn't have a bathroom or a closet or anything else.  Her house reminded me of Grandpa's bedroom with stuff everywhere, of course it all has it's place and it's by no means purposely cluttered... but it's very different.

I've been trying to go with Dave Turner on all the Sunday's that he preaches at a little church.  He's trying to get the name of Teen Challenge out and he gets to do that by preaching and making friends.  Sort of an easy job if you look at it that way, but he has a thousand other things to do as well, and there seems to be many more obsticals than oportuntities.  So far, he's only been in the city.  There are opportunities to go on medical missions and other things for me, but so far I haven't gone on one.  I want to though!

I could have chosen to go on a Royal Ranger outing this comming weekend (it's a holiday, 4-day weekend), but I feel it very necessary to learn more Spanish before I become involved.  I would really like to go to language school this comming summer.  We'll see.

Well, so much to do and so little time!

Random stuff

As a fully hired teacher, one gets housing paid for as well as one plane ticket (round-trip) a year and a nice little nominal salary (around $500 a month).  However, student teachers (like me) have to pay for their own air-ticket and we are supposed to get paid less.  However, my paycheck at the moment is really comperable to the other NA's down here.

I'm not sure how long I'm going to stay here yet.  My heart is here, but I'm waiting for God to open doors or shut them, one of the two.  I'm currently speaking with my mentors about staying a second year, but this MAPS assignment is usually just for one school year.  I think I read somewhere that second year teachers get a $100 a month raise, and although that's still not above the "poverty level" in the U.S., it's a 20% increase over the first year... and I don't know of anywhere else that tops that type of percent-increase.  ;-)

The experience is something I wouldn't trade for anything.  The city of Tegus is dirtier than I would have hoped... tons of smog and dirt and trash, etc.  But then again, I haven't been to any truley big city in the US that doesn't have those things except maybe Boston.  Most cities are by deffinition dirty.  Of course it would be nicer in the country, but then again, there wouldn't be much opportunity to teach at a large city school if I was in the country now, would there?  All around though, it's absolutely beautiful.  I'm in love with the people, the culture and the language... and like I said, I would love to stay longer.

My favorite thing about student internship here is that I'm not really doing a student internship!  I love the fact that this is actually my first job and that I'm not putting an entire semester of my carreer into building a music program that I will never be able to pour into again.  I like the freedom of not having a guiding teacher, even though that makes it a little harder for me to get area-specific advice.  But that doesn't bother me too much since I'm constantly emailing my college professors at Lee.

The first meeting!

Yesterday, I had my first club meeting, and it was a whole lot more disorganized than I wanted it to be.  I got discouraged because it seemed like my students weren't taking it seriously and that they were just there because they wanted to do something extra after class and hang out with their friends.  In all honesty, that's a perfectly good reason to be involved... so long as they respect the others around them and are orderly and not overly talkative.

But halfway through, during the 10 min break they voted on (getting them to vote is like pulling teeth!)...  I got alone with God and reminded both of Us that He put me here and that I knew (or know) this was something He wanted me to do, and that I can't do it without his strength and Wisdom!  Well, fortuneately after the break we were able to elect the majority (if not all) of the student leaders that I felt the club needed.  And, as soon as that was over, I dismissed the club so that I could meet with my "Executive commitee" for the first time and explain their duties to them.

As discouraged as I was after the first full club meeting... I was triply more pumped and excited during our short Exc. meeting!  Things went so well, and I was more than reasured that there were students who wanted this to be something productive as well.  I feel like the student leaders that I have are both responsible and excited about starting this new club... and even better than that: they were just as frustrated with the lack of discipline as I was.  This of course will be fixed very shortly.  ;-)

I must admit however, out of all the elected officers I have I exercised "veto power" on one: my secretary.  I don't think my club quite understood how important the secretary position is going to be (I have no doubt that it will actually be more important to me than the president)... so after the voted, I didn't allow them to see the results and told them that we would go on to voting on Tresurer.  Afterwards, I picked my own Secretary.  Probably my smartest move yesterday, right next to actually having an exc. meeting.

Disapointment has been turned back into excitement... Now... if I can just feed that excitement into all my classes... ;-)

Re:

Hey Mom,

I hope you're feeling a lot better today; headaches stink!  I'm sorry I haven't written in a while, but the internet's been down here for a few days.  Sounds like you've had a lot of fun recently.  I'm so glad Barry seems to be fitting right in!  I didn't do much of note this weekend, but it was still fairly relaxing, and that's always wonderful.

But let me tell you about Cleo, the wonderful lady from church that cleans our house.  She is so amazing.  She's a maid here at the church and the school and she works very hard for very little pay.  Actually, the average pay for a maid here is around 100 Lmp. per day, which translates to around $5.  Not much at all.  But she's so wonderful.  She come to clean our house after she gets done here at the church on Mondays and Wednesdays, and she also comes by on Saturday mornings.  In all, she only works at our house for about 8 hours a week, but yet she does so much!

Yesterday I told the guys that I've decided on Mondays and Wednesdays I need to come straight home from school.  Teaching can really take a lot out of you, both emotionally and physically, but it's nothing compared to what a maid does on a daily basis.  And yet, I've never seen Cleo without a smile.  She's so jubulent and joyful all the time!  And whats better about it is that when I come home after a hard, draining day at school, she is there smiling and greeting us, "Hola Meestehr!"  She's so kind and funny!  She's always ready to laugh (in an encouraging way) as well, whether it be at one of us or at our broken, messed up Spanish.  She is such a blessing; more than I could express or know.  She keeps saying that we are a blessing to her; but it truly is her that's a blessing to us.  I personally think that she's a thousand times better at cleaning my mind of worries and being an encouragement to me than she is at cleaning the house.  And based on her stellar abilities and endurance that's second to none when it comes to cleaning... that's saying a lot!  She's truly one of the best women I know.

Now if only she were a generation younger and spoke English better (or at all) ...

;-)

Much Love!

Jason Scott Vawter