Iglesia

Besides my home and work life, another area that has experienced a big change since coming to Honduras is my church life.  I grew up going to a fairly liberal Mennonite church in California.  I then moved with my family an hour away and attended the contemporary service of a Presbyterian church for another almost ten years.  While in college I attended church most Sundays, although I usually didn’t decide which one I would go to until the night before.  Now that I have been settled in Nueva Suyapa for 2 months, I definitely consider myself a “regular attender” of the church my host mom attends—La Sala Evangelica.  This church is different from any that I have ever attended before, mainly because it’s more conservative than any church I have been a part of before.  It is required for women to wear a head covering of some kind, and to wear a skirt that falls below the knees.  People that have not been baptized have to sit in a separate section on the side of the church, and cannot take communion (thank goodness I was baptized this past summer so I don’t have to sit by myself).  There are also other restrictions put on women that I find difficult to understand, like women can’t pray out loud and women can’t start a song (they can whisper a song to a man, who can then start the song).  On Sundays, we sing a lot of hymns, which I really like.  Most people have been singing these songs since they were born so they know them all by heart; if I’m lucky someone will have a hymn book for me to use.  Communion is taken every Sunday at my church.  During this time the bread (sweet bread!  It’s delicious) is passed around.  Once everyone has eaten a big bite of bread, the wine (yes, wine) is passed around in a big goblet.  At first all I could think of was how many germs were being spread around when everyone drinks out of the same cup, but thankfully the goblet-passer wipes the rim with a cloth at the end of each row.  I then do my best to understand what is being said during the 45 minute sermon.  I try not to zone out, but sometimes it’s so easy to get distracted by roosters crowing or kids yelling outside.  Sometimes vehicles honk their horns so loud and for so long that the pastor has to stop and wait awhile.  After church I am encouraged to go to a jovenes (youth) Sunday school thing for another hour.  I am usually exhausted after this, but I know it’s good to go.

Although I have a hard time understanding and accepting certain practices in the church and it is much different from what I am used to, there are a lot of things I like about it.  The speakers I have listened to seem to really want to make the world (first, this community) a better place.  They acknowledge problems and seek solutions.  I also really like the people and am starting to recognize more people each week.  A lot of the members also work at Genesis (the school where I work) so it’s a good way to build relationships there too. 

Oh, also there are church services of some kind every Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  So I have plenty to choose from.  I usually just go Sundays, maybe another day during the week with my host mom, and Saturdays.  Saturdays are grupo de jovenes (youth group), and have become another normal part of my week… not always the most enjoyable (definitely not the most comfortable) part of my week, but always interesting.  I have learned to come at least 15 or 20 minutes late each time.  Otherwise, either no one will be there or people will be sitting around not really doing anything… I’m trying to avoid awkward situations like this and coming “late” seems to be perfect.  Am I right in thinking that in the States, youth group is usually for jr. high or high school students?   That’s what I always considered it to be, but here youth group is basically for anyone not married.  Our group generally has a few kids from the school (5^th grade), some high school students, a couple my age, and a few who are definitely older.  To illustrate the idea that there is no set age range, let’s look at last Saturday.  Shortly after the group started, a mom came with her tiny baby who was immediately passed around to every female.  About a half hour later, a woman who had to be at least 85 walked in with her cane and giant bible (it was really the biggest bible I have ever seen, which I thought was hilarious because Hondurans tend to have the tiniest bibles I have ever seen).  We then had an age range from a few months to possibly 90 at our youth group.  No one except me seemed to find this funny. 

Anyway, during youth group they always start by singing a ton of fast-paced songs, so again if someone doesn’t happen to have a song book I just sit there and try to figure out a few of the words.  Sometimes the songs involved standing up and sitting down randomly, or clapping, stomping, etc.  I probably look awesome during this time.  It never ceases to amaze me how many humbling experiences I can have every day.  We then listen to a guy speak for awhile, and I (being the only gringa), inevitably get picked on at some point during the speech.  Sometimes before going home we play an interactive game of some kind—for example, racing to find bible verses that relate to a Spanish song we know (I don’t know Spanish bible verses or Spanish songs, which is a problem).  These can be kind of fun sometimes, but it’s usually my least favorite part because I often have no idea what’s going on.  After the whole thing is over I try to chat with a couple people, and by this time it’s dark so I have to find someone to walk me home. 

I’m really thankful to be a part of a church that is so loving and welcoming, and one that stretches me.  I could have chosen to go to one that is closer to what I am used to, but what’s the fun in that?  I’m not sure that I could go to this church for the rest of my life, but for this year I think it’s perfect.