DEVELOPMENTS

It’s been almost a year since I arrived here in Honduras. My ministry seeks developing in new ways.

I continue helping with campus ministry at the Catholic university, which is not easy since it is somewhat disorganized. But I continue to give talks in the retreats for students, I try to be present at meetings of students, and I am on campus about two days a week to be meet informally with students.

Ministry in the parish of Dulce Nombre continues to offer many opportunities. I had planned to drop by this past week for a workshop on building silos but the workshop was postponed. Only two people showed up on Monday; this is really quite understandable since most farmers have just begun planting. I didn’t go out this weekend since Friday and Saturday I participated in the university’s retreat for student who will graduate. Next weekend I hope to spend two days in Plan Grande, the village where the St. Thomas spring break group helped work on the community's new church.

The last three weeks have also been busy with a new adventure. An Iowa State University student had asked about the possibility of spending two months here this summer, just after graduating. Bree Sullivan arrived May 20. She’s staying with the Spanish Franciscan sisters up the street, helping the girls who stay with them with English and math, and helping with the kindergarten in Colonia Divina Providencia. This past Monday, Darcy Phillips, a graduate student at Loyola University of Chicago arrived for a two month internship for her degree in Theology and Social Justice. She may be working with the Women’s Center in Santa Rosa.

Before I came I had thought of the possibility of trying to offer some opportunities for students and others who might want to come down for two or three months between May and August. This year will be the experiment to see how it works and how it might develop.

I see this and hospitality for visitors as important parts of my ministry, helping bridge the gap between the US and Honduras, helping people from the US understand something of the nature and causes of poverty, and offering chances for people to share their lives and their talents. If all goes well, I will see how to develop this and other efforts to promote solidarity.

But I keep getting reminded that the world is small. When I went to San Pedro Sula to pick up Darcy at the airport I found a different hotel, based on internet suggestions. While signing in the manager asked where I was from; he had studied for two years at Iowa State University. I didn’t think more of it until I went up and left some stuff in my room. I wondered if he was one of the Honduran school teachers who studied in Ames for two years in the mid-eighties. When I returned to the front desk we both had realized that we knew each other. In fact, I had the Hondurans over for a meal at least once. He may try to contact another of the former students to get together some time!

But this wasn’t my first chance meeting with a former ISU student. When I left the spring break group off at the airport I saw someone who looked familiar and called out his name. Sure enough, it was Hector who had studied in Ames and then got an MBA at the University of New Hampshire. We spoke, shared phone numbers and e-mails, and have been in contact at least once.

Yes, the world is small. But how can we make it just, sharing with those in need?