Soccer / Futbol

A life in Honduras is not complete without a soccer ball. Every day is made up of the same question asked a million times, "Mr. Harrison can I have a soccer ball", "Can I have a futbol"or "I want me ball." The high schoolers think they are the next superstar and the younger kids plan on being the next superstar. But thats a pretty standard mindset and it makes them want to play that much more. The high school kids played two games this week. I have not been coaching these games because they are games the kids set up outside of school, but they have been fun to watch. Two of my soccer balls have disappeared as a result. The first one exploded 3/4 of the way through the game and the second one was kicked over the fence and "vanished." The kids are having fun though and I am beginning to earn their respect and trust. I don't quite know to how use it yet but I know Soccer is and will be a powerful tool God has laid before us to impact these students and the community. Sports are such a strong way to unite people. During the political turmoil Honduras is going through right now, soccer has become even more valuable. The people are split because of the opposing political agendas that are present and they feel like their voice is being ignored by most of the world. For those of you who may not be keeping up with it, the military of Honduras removed their president by force and took him out of the country in June. He was attempting to violate a court order which refused to let him poll the people about changing their constitution. Supposedly there is a lot more to the story and some other shady things that were going on but that is the reason that has been spoken of. There is an interim president and elections will be held in November. But in the meantime, the US along with many other Western countries have refused to recognize the elections. The US has cut off all funding to Honduras and has refused Visas for Honduran citizens to travel to the US. At the same time, World cup qualifying games are being played right now. Honduras is currently in third place and every time they play the country rally's behind the sport that is serving as a rock for the country. I was on the mainland when they beat Trinidad and tabago, you would have thought you were in Chapel Hill for a national championship win. There were 15 to 20 people in the backs of trucks, honking water flying, mobs chanting. It was Loco. Amy, Mitch, Jessica and me rode around the street in the back of a truck getting soaked by filthy water and hollering "viva Hondruas". It is great to see a whole country unified behind a single team.

Two Weeks Down

We have officially had 2 full weeks of school. Today was Hot! I had PE all day so I was outside teaching the kids how to spike a volleyball. Some of them did well while others were pretty humorous. Overall, they are surprisingly good at volleyball. Yesterday, my last class of the day was 7th grade bible. I was teaching them about the story where Jesus turns water into wine. This class hadn't been responding very well. I felt like they were giving me the answers they thought I wanted and not really letting God touch their hearts through the scripture. I think part of that was due to my style of teaching. I feel like the lord is telling me to not focus so much on making sure they soak up the knowledge but to drive home one message and build on it with the relationships he will nurture in the class. The kids need to know that they are valuable and that God loves them. I will strive to make them aware of this and to stop for any opportunity that God places in my path. It is sometimes hard to identify or engage these opportunities so I am praying for God to keep me sharp and open my eyes to his work. When it comes to PE, the kids are learning all about volleyball and continually begging to play soccer. I make deals with them to play soccer the last 10 minutes as long as they do everything I ask. Its a beautiful thing. Thank you for your prayers and I hope all is well. Much love.

Getting Schooled

I love my Wednesday mornings. I don't start teaching today until nine forty five so I get to work on all my planning for next week and relax for a bit [and blog]. Things are still going well here, we had our second soccer practice yesterday which was better than the first. 16 kids showed up and they were only 20 minutes late. We are working on it, things run a little slower here. I started going to a church about 2 miles from my apartment. I went there two weeks ago with two other teachers and we met Sherman and his brothers. Sherman is a 55 year old man who owns the iguana farm here on the island. Him and his brothers have been on the island their whole lives and also build boats for a living. Sherman took us after church on a sweet tour of the island and bought us lunch at Wendy's. It was great to see new parts of the island and to have an islander giving us his perspective. Mitch and I are going over to Sherman's brothers workshop today to check out the work he does on the boats. I feel like everyday is jam packed with school and whatever adventure presents itself in the evening. Sometimes the adventure is a trip to the beach, a local restaurant or a nap. Th teaching is going well in the classroom and outside. I think the kids are getting somethings from bible class and they seem to be enjoying PE. keep us in your prayers, that I will be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and to the students. I am teaching them stories about Jesus' life, simply trying to pound the Gospel and they seem to be responding well. I love what I am doing and am so thankful for God placing me and all of the other teachers here on this island.