Well, it’s the end of week two at the Finca, and I have some updates.  We’ve had a busy couple of weeks of job shadowing, orientation, and learning the ropes.  After seeing the different jobs, praying and discerning, and talking to the missionary coordinators, I am officially the school librarian, 3^rd and 4^th grade English teacher, and part time special education teacher.  I will also be a tutor and girls soccer coach.  I have a busy year ahead of me and I am excited to get to serve through all of these things. I have a lot to learn.  But if this is God’s will, then I have peace in my heart knowing that it is good.  Whether I am totally confident in my job or not, it would not be possible without God, so all I can do is offer it up to him and trust.  He is good, and so is his will.

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” –Philippians 4:7



Wonderful community of missionaries

Things get started early here, with either Laudes (Morning Prayer) or a communion service at 5:45 in the morning with the whole Finca community.  This allows time for students and teachers to go back home and prepare for the school day which starts at 7:30 and goes until 12:45.  We usually eat lunch and dinner in our houses, so the kids are getting an experience more like a family where they eat with the members of their household with their tias or house parents.  But on Mondays missionaries split up and eat with the kids in their houses. The kids here live in 6 different houses, three for girls divided by age group and three for boys as well.  Then there is the missionary house where, obviously, all of us missionaries live and the convent where our three Franciscan sisters live.

View from the front door of our house.

Afternoons are spent helping kids with homework, doing job related work, doing chores or small jobs, or simply reading or hanging out with the kids. There is a different activity each night like community night for the missionaries, rosary for the Finca community, holy hour, meetings, among other things.  My favorite afternoon activity is taking kids to the beach.  Before coming here I had never been to the beach and now I live on it, and I am not exaggerating when I say that.  We are always sweeping sand out of house and it’s a short 35 steps from our front door to touching the water.  A crab was even found in our garden the other day.  Other creatures found in our house include ants, mosquitoes, cockroaches, iguanas, and lots and lots of geckos.  Not to mention the biggest tarantula I have ever seen that we found in the bathroom the other night.  This thing was bigger than my hand with my fingers spread out.  Luckily our brave hombre, Christopher, caught it between a bucket and a tray and proceeded take it outside and not just release it, but throw it—the tarantula, bucket, and tray altogether—over the fence onto the beach.  I like to think of it this way: our house is abundant in God’s creation.

So here’s to a wonderful year of eating cornflakes every morning and beans every afternoon and night.  A year of being covered in sand, reading by candlelight when the power goes out, and waking up to the sound of the ocean.  A year of smelling like bug spray and men’s deodorant.  My first year of teaching, although I’ll probably be doing more learning than teaching.  Here’s to a year of continuing to learn Spanish, getting to know the kids, living in community with my fellow missionaries, and growing deeper in relationship with the Lord.  I’m already loving every minute of it.