It has been an incredible two weeks, filled with a mixture of emotions.  
      On December 27 we were delighted to be a part of the wedding of our friends Clara and Wayne, and enjoyed getting to know Clara’s family.   Seth was particularly happy to meet them, since they are now members of his family.   “Since Wayne is my godfather, and is married to Clara, that means she is my godmother, and her daughters are my god sisters, and her sisters are my god aunts, so that means that Lawrence (her sister’s boyfriend) and his kids are like my god uncle and my god cousins!”   If only all the world could see its relationships and honor them in such a wonderful way.

      On Sunday, December 28, we celebrated my ordination and our commissioning as missionaries.   We began to feel more acutely the pain of leaving behind the many friends and family members, and the community and home that we have come to love.   In the middle of the service, Kesia climbed into my lap and sobbed, “I don’t want to go to Honduras!”   We wiped each other’s tears, as we listened to the worlds of love and affirmation from my dear friend Vicki, who preached at the ordination.

      Along with the sadness, we also felt excitement at this new adventure, and the opportunity God had placed before us.   There were many questions from the kids:   “Will I have a bike?  What will our house look like?   How will I get to school?   Will I have friends?   What if the kids don’t like me?  What if I forget English?  What if I don't learn Spanish?"

      With a mixture of relief and sadness we sold our home in Belmond, incredibly on the Friday before the Tuesday when we were to leave for Honduras.   This meant that everything had to be out of the house, and so at the last minute we were cleaning and sorting and tossing.   The Monday before we left was a long and difficult day as we slowly emptied the house that had been our home, the home where we had raised our children the past 14 and a half years.   We leave many memories with that house.   We also said goodbye to friends and family on Monday and early Tuesday, and to our two household pets, kitty-cats Shadow and Moonlight.   Thanks be to God that our friends the Gaunts agreed to keep the cats for us until our return in four years!

     On Tuesday morning as we stood in line at the airport with our eight 70 pound suitcases, our four 40 pound carry-ons and our “personal item”—one apiece, we were delighted to see familiar faces.   Pastor Lynne and her husband, Greg sent us off with hugs and a sign.   I think it said “Go with Goo!   I don’t know how they knew about Goo, but allow me to explain.  
      The two children were each allowed to pack a small suitcase with toys they wanted to take along.   Small suitcase…   A few days before we left, Seth went to Target with his big sister, Rachel,   to spend Christmas money, and returned with a Gu action figure.   Gu is large and is filled with, well, goo.   And he opens up and inside are all his body parts, and the goo is his intestinal juices and floating in the intestines are miniature action figures that Gu has apparently swallowed.   It is the most disgusting toy I have ever seen.   But, Gu was the toy of choice for Seth to take to Honduras.   So, we fit him in, along with the drums and the guitar, and for Kesia, jewelry and Barbies.   Bruce and Linda chose books and the computer.   We think it is awfully nice for our pastor and Greg to wish us a good journey with Seth's Goo action figure!

      We boarded our first plane and discovered, oh, no!, the carry-on suitcases didn't’ fit in the overhead bin.   We sat, and squished and shuffled, and cheated just a bit by having Kesia cover her legs, concealing a suitcase under them, with a blanket.   But, somehow, in the process of squishing, we set off the sound effects for Trunk’s time capsule, another large Seth toy.   Now, wherever we went in the airport, a strange whooshing noise was heard coming from Seth’s carry-on.   We didn't dare open the suitcase—it would never all fit back in again, and our super-packer Rachel was back in Iowa.   So, hoping that this battery operated toy wasn't interfering overly much with the radar, we pretended we heard nothing.  

      We made all our connections, somehow, including the one in Miami after we were an hour and fifteen minutes late departing from Dallas, and had only ten minutes to our next flight.   Miraculously, our departure gate in the enormous Miami airport, was right next door to our arrival gate.   We made it, and so did all our luggage.  We were greeted at the airport by Hermano Nehemias, and his family, and Hermana Ana Carolina, who has served as our translator ever since.   We were amazed at the courtesy of the people at the airport.   One woman had stacked all our suitcases together while we were going through customs.   She smiled and greeted us with “Que Diós le bendiga,” the national greeting of Honduras which means “May God bless you.”

      After a meal of chicken, tortillas, beans and fried eggs at one of the churches, we were whisked off to the hotel, exhausted.   The next few days were filled with meeting people, checking out schools, hearing about the work of AIEH, and learning to drive like the Hondurans do.   Everywhere we went we were greeted with incredible hospitality, open arms, food, and smiles.   We were invited to the house of Ruben Elias and Ella Marina who had emailed their son in the United States for help in preparing a brochure in English for us, telling about their family, and how honored they were to have us in her home.  

       We have been awed by the beauty of God’s creation as we see the mountains surrounding the city, as we journey through the countryside,and as we visit the churches and homes of our new friends.   We have struggled with how to respond to the street children, the beggars, the elderly and the disabled who cannot work asking us for lempiras.   We have been frustrated by the Honduran concept of time, have loved the warm weather, have struggled with communication and have been awed by the Honduran church's understanding that since we are Christians, we are family.  We are so fortunate to have this opportunity to serve God in this place!

Linda Hanson

January 16, 2004