Okay, okay, okay… stay with me for these 1,000 words as I tell you about one of the biggest dreams, goals, and passions on my heart in La Finca del Niño. Our journey begins approximately 480 kilometers and about 10 hours driving time away from the Finca del Niño when I visited the Misioneros de Cristo for the first time in Comayagua, Honduras in December 2022 with Luke as we traveled around Honduras a little bit after my first year at the Finca. The goal was to spend some intentional quality time together before he returned to the United States and get to know more about the country that we both fell in love with.
We spent maybe 2 days with the Misioneros de Cristo and truthfully spent more time enjoying the festive Christmas scene in Comayagua’s central park and spending time with a Finca tía that lives in Comayagua and happened to be on vacation at the time of our visit. We only spent a few hours with the missionaries at Misioneros de Cristo throughout the course of our 48 hours, but it was enough to spark a genuine interest in my heart and the courage to continue going forward even if others don’t agree with my vision.
What I saw for the first time at the Misioneros de Cristo was Honduran/Central American missionaries living and serving alongside missionaries from the United States. What I saw for the first time was the genuine love and intentionality that it requires to make living in an intentional community with two different cultures and languages successful and worthwhile. What I saw for the first time was the true ability for Honduran missionaries to captivate the hearts and minds of the Honduran youth and teach the Honduran people that service and love is something that is doable and necessary of Hondurans as well, not just simply our hermanos en Cristo de Los Estados Unidos.
God, in all His marvelous beauty and love, started forming my heart for one of my deepest passions long before I took over as service coordinator at La Finca and could actually do something about a growing calling on my heart. I lived in a marvelous community that year with 3 of us in Casa Santa Teresita & a missionary family in Casa 1, and I don’t think that I realized until I took over as service coordinator in October 2023 that something was obviously missing from that community to be able to serve and love our Finca del Niño community like they deserve: Honduran missionaries.
It’s REALLY hard to understand and comprehend what you don’t have until you have had it at least once, and that has been my current experience as well with Honduran missionaries. Alicia is currently about 7 months into her year-long commitment at the Finca (after serving at the Finca for 2 months in the summer of 2025), and she is proudly our first long-term Honduran missionary in a long, long time at the Finca (if not, the first one ever)! & TRUST ME, WHAT AN ABSOLUTE GIFT FROM GOD TO HAVE ALICIA IN LA FINCA AND TO GIVE US A TASTE OF WHAT A LONG-TERM MISSIONARY COMMUNITY COULD LOOK LIKE BETWEEN HONDURANS AND GRINGOS!! GOD IS SO GOOD!!
But don’t get me wrong, having Honduran missionaries is never easy and it will never be easy. Having two different cultures and two different native languages in the missionary house will never be easy and has undoubtedly led to some conflict this year among the missionary community. Having Alicia in the missionary house has undoubtedly made the missionaries from the United States (as well as Alicia) learn what it means to intentionally love someone even if you don’t fully understand or agree with what somebody is doing. It has taught us that benefitting the long-term well being of our kids will require some sacrifices in the missionary house, and that is never going to be easy in a context like the Finca.
But having Alicia in the missionary house over these 7 months has also taught me a very important lesson as well: HAY QUE BUSCAR MÁS MISIONEROS DE HONDURAS!!! Having Alicia in the Finca del Niño has been one of the most fruitful adventures that I have experienced during my time at the Finca, as I have been able to watch her grow and develop trusting relationships with so many people at the Finca and in some ways that simply aren’t possible for missionaries from the United States. We might never know the true impact that she has on our kids’ hearts and minds, as they can visualize for the first time that they are also called as Hondurans to serve and love their neighbor. That is not just a lesson for gringos… everyone is called to do that, and Alicia is captivating hearts one by one!
Alicia, Lic Ircy (the Finca psychologist), Cristian (our Finca driver), & I recently went for a two day trip to talk with local universities and young adult groups in the area about the Finca del Niño and our missionary program. We talked with 4 universities and 2 young adult groups in two of the larger parishes of Northern Honduras, and it was INCREDIBLE to see God move in the hearts of so many young people as they considered what it might look like serving in the Finca del Niño. We shall see the fruits of our labor over the coming years, but God is GREAT all the time!!
So if you are wondering what I am up to in my free time at the Finca, catch me in my office talking to a potential Honduran missionary or grabbing coffee after morning classes with a college student from Trujillo interested in serving God’s people in rural Honduras. Will there be challenges? Yup. Will there be setbacks? Of course. Will there be people from the United States who don’t agree with my plan because of the “harder” life and adjustment that it gives missionaries from the US? Been there, done that. Get in line! But if you ask me why I continue fighting for my dream, the answer is simple: Our children at La Finca del Niño deserve Honduran missionaries walking with them, accompanying them, and building life-long friendships that simply are harder to do for missionaries that will return to the US after 2 or 3 years at La Finca.
Please pray for our 4 long-term missionaries currently on vacation as they return to the mission next Friday!
Please let me know how I can pray for you!
God bless!