Good morning!
It seems that our Internet service has perhaps stabilized, so I hope to accomplish a lot this Saturday morning. I am working in the cafeteria since we still do not have Internet at the apartment.
Our final weekend in Honduras will be filled with checking lists to make certain we have gotten everything done that we can on this trip, reflecting, thinking, making some notes, and finalizing sermon preparations for tomorrow.
We are planning to go to the mall for a meal out this evening–our first “eating visit” to the mall on this trip.
Campus has been quiet the last couple of days–I think one could call it normal! There are no groups on campus (the last group left Thursday morning). The students are a joy to watch in their daily interactions when uninterrupted–chorus practice, special desserts, prayers, games, the cafeteria serves as both a study hall and a student center for both single and married students, with lots of interaction.
The chapel seating has been rearranged so that shorter rows and wider aisles give a sense that the students and faculty-staff fill the chapel each morning at 9:30 a.m. And it is not only a perception–with almost 60 students on campus plus faculty and some staff, and visitors from time to time, the singing is vibrant and encouraging, the area is abuzz with activity both before and after worship. For me, daily chapel is a representation of university life at its best–and our students are using the time to its best with prayer requests and spiritual sensitivity.
The campus theme this year is “Year of Spiritual Formation”, based on the text of Galatians 4:19: “May Christ be formed in you.” This emphasis on spiritual formation and personal spiritual development seems to be tempering campus life and making campus a unique sanctuary for the students–a place of peace and comtemplation of one’s walk with God, a place of study, reflection, and meaningful Christian fellowship. I think it is this unique and formative spirituality that makes the boisterous groups such an anomaly this year. (We have only experienced two groups during our time here.)