Sencillez

Out of the four pillars of the Finca – Spirituality, Community, Simplicity and Service – simplicity is the pillar that I thought would be easiest for me at the Finca. The meaning of simplicity seemed straightforward:

Simplicity = not having lots of fancy things and not doing extravagant things

Cheque. I don’t wear a lot of makeup, don’t have a lot of clothes, and don’t really like spending money. Using cold water for showers and washing my clothes won’t be a big deal. I will probably like it! These were my thoughts upon arrival to the Finca.

However, reflecting on simplicity and my nine months at the Finca, I realize that my original mentality does not even scratch the surface of what simplicity means. I do not pretend to have the perfect answer now, but I desire to share some of what I have learned in my time here in Honduras, a country so utterly different than my home in the United States.

I think simplicity has less to do with how much we have and more to do with how tightly we hold onto what we do have. When I was wrestling with what I would do after nursing school, the Lord spoke very clearly to me through the story of the rich young man in Matthew 19:16-22, calling me to mission in Honduras. Jesus is so clear with the young man in this story,

Go, sell what you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven […] And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life.                                                                                                (NAB Mt 19:21a, 29)

One of our oldest girls and Laura Camarata, Finca missionary,
with the baby boy of a former Finca child

The man leaves sad because he cannot let go of what He has. The natural result of his rejection of Jesus’ invitation is sadness. I thought that moving to Honduras, leaving my family, bringing only a few things was me was accepting Jesus’ invitation to simplicity. However during my first several months I did not experience a joyful liberation from material things. To my surprise, I found myself thinking and reminiscing about things in the United States often. I thought, “If only Trujillo (the closest town) was more developed or had beautiful shops like those near my hometown in St. Paul, MN” or “I wish the roads were less bumpy so I wouldn’t get carsick – why can’t they just pave the roads and have freeways like the U.S so that it would take ¼ of the time to get places?” or “I miss running wherever I want in a straight line, not just in circles around the fenced-in Finca property” You get the picture. This thought pattern shows that even though I moved to another country and “gave up” a bunch, I was still holding onto the things that I supposedly “gave up”.

Part of what has helped me let go of some of the discontentment with life here and desire for the conveniences of home was simply becoming more settled here in Honduras and diving into the life we have HERE. An image comes to mind of a toddler grasping tightly to your keys; it is almost impossible to pry them from his little hands. So, you present some other toy, and he subconsciously reaches for that object, letting the keys slowly slip from his hands. Being simple does not just mean giving up stuff, but entering into a new way of life.

Cristóbal - part of security team (watchi) at the Finca.
He is always joyful and willing to help

After Jesus tells the man to give up his things, He says, “Then, come follow me!” (Matthew 19:21b) Most of my transition to peace here in Honduras has been through the gift of relationships with people who live under conditions incredibly different from anything I have ever experienced. Some of my friends in Mojaguay, the community right outside our gates, do not have work and struggle to put food on the table, yet freely offer me whatever they have when I come by. The kids with whom we live at the Finca definitely have their moments of difficulty, but oftentimes astonish me with their generosity, willingness to teach me things, and patience. Knowing their backgrounds, I realize that the transition to relative stability for our kids is due to the work of years of missionaries, psychologists, social workers, and the Lord. Relationships with our security guards and maintenance workers has taught me about the value of taking time for chatting. People almost always come first for them, in contrast to enslavement to work that we often experience in the U.S. They seem to never be too busy to chat and are eager to share about their lives, families and hear about mine. Jesus call to “follow me” has manifested in a call to enter into relationship with my neighbors, who hold the light of Christ in a unique way leading me closer to Him.

View of Mojaguay through our gate

There is a deeper simplicity about our life here – beyond just lacking air-conditioning or glass windows. It’s hard to put a finger on it, but perhaps what I am getting at is a simplicity of encounter. During my time here in Honduras, I have become poignantly aware of my need for the simplicity that I see in my Catracha neighbors. Because this culture has had to leave behind certain privileges, we are forced into the beauty of encounter. For example, I love seeing the women in Mojaguay coming together for a trip into Trujillo because only a few people have cars. They either bring the person with the car their grocery list and money, or hop in the car together to get the weekly shopping done. If we have all the things we need to make our life easy, we no longer need other people. How many times have I driven alone to run an errand in the U.S.? Probably much easier to count the times I’ve ridden with another adult!

I hope to never stop growing and being stretched to be simpler. I have only reached the tip of the iceberg and now I recognize that there is a whole life there under the surface. Jesus calls us to abundant life, and if we are to follow His example, the key to unlock this new life is a disinterest in ourselves. After all, baby Jesus came into the world hanging out with cows and dirty sheep in a cave. But in giving up all that the world offers (which turns out to amount to nothing really), Jesus promises everything. Let’s enter into the new life God has for us.

**I must add an addendum to these thoughts because of a fantastic conversation I had with one of the house parents – Maria. She was telling me a bit about her childhood yesterday after I thought I had finished this article. Maria grew up very poor because her father worked for the church (and as she said, that kind of work never pays much). Her father had great faith, however, and he trusted that they would always be provided for – and they were. Because her mother also needed to work to make ends meet, Maria had to watch her four younger siblings, acting as a mother at a very young age. As she told me about her childhood, she was clearly not looking for pity; rather, she assured me that it was a beautiful way to grow up. She said that for her, being rich has never been her goal. Learning from her father’s great trust in the Lord, she can confidently say that wealth or poverty makes no difference to her. As long as one can work and make a little so as to provide sufficiently and not leave the family destitute, she claimed one can have everything necessary.

I sat on the edge of the wooden bench in her house as she proved her point with an amazing story. One day, her mother was cooking over the open fire and went out to get something. She returned to a house set ablaze and frantically tried to recover some of their few possessions. In the process, she burned her arms pretty badly, and the family lost almost everything except each other. When Maria’s father returned home, she said that he had almost no reaction to the catastrophe. He was completely at peace, consistent in expressing that they would be provided for! Sure enough, the people of the church (for whom her father had faithfully worked for so many years) pooled together enough money to build them a new house, better than the first one. I see this as a prime example of a community who needs one another, who is not afraid to encounter one another, and an example of people who hold what they have incredibly loosely.

Everything was not “happily ever after” for their family though. Maria’s mother struggled with the trauma of the incident for years after. However, again the people of the church came to the rescue! They pooled together money to provide counseling services with a psychologist for Maria’s mother. In the midst of her struggle, Maria’s mother became pregnant with her youngest daughter. The little baby was born with a heart defect – a tiny hole between the chambers of her heart. This caused her to tire incredibly easily because she was not able to get enough oxygen. Maria described that at times, her little sister’s fingers and toes would be bluish and she would have a blue tinge around her mouth. She was describing cyanosis, a sign of severe oxygen deficit. For the third time, the church gathered their resources and raised enough money to send the little girl and her father to the United States for a life-changing surgery to repair the little girl’s heart. I told Maria she needs to write a book! You just can’t make this stuff up! Her family’s incredible faith and peace in their very simple conditions gave God the chance to work miracle after miracle in their lives.

Carlos and María, house parents of the youngest boys

I continue to be inspired by the witnesses of so many simple, faithful people who I am blessed to encounter here at the Finca. They show me that we need not be afraid of anything and must strive to let go of worry! It is much easier said than done, but surely “vale la pena” to live in the freedom of Jesus Christ who offers “a hundred times more” than the world offers us.