I am flooded with options when all I want is simple.

It’s been a little challenging coming home during the holiday season. While in Trujillo, I’ve gotten used to simple entertainment: talking, eating, singing, playing sports or cards; the kind of relationship building stuff you do when you don’t have a lot of money (you know, kind of like college). I brought a chicken to a family shortly before coming to the States. The mom asked me to cut it into 11 pieces, one for each person. I didn’t know how, because, you see, I’ve never had to cut a chicken into 11 pieces before. I bring a gift bag to a neighbor and she tells me that she has never gotten anything in a “fancy” bag before and she’s almost 50. In their culture, Christmas means time together as a family and maybe a special meal, but not necessarily presents and definitely not mountains of presents. I come home and enter the holiday shopping season. I see people drop more money in one store than my Honduran friends make in a month. I think in Lempiras and am shocked as a Honduran would be when I figure out the exchange. I have a hard time knowing that the people that surround me in this shopping environment are not thinking about my Honduran friends when I think about them all the time. The great discrepancy in lifestyle makes me emotional. The fact that I can stand in front of a wall of kitchen utensils to choose “just the right one” makes me emotional. Even though I want to bring the whole store to Honduras to share with my friends, I tell myself that they are just “things” and they don’t need them to be happy. Though I know this, it breaks my heart that I/we have all these choices available to us and they don’t. And the hardest question for me to come to terms with is “Why?!”

It is not their fault that they are born into poverty any more than it is our doing that we are born into affluence. The question then becomes, “What are we going to do about it?”

Spring Plans

Dear supporters, family and friends:

Thank you for your ongoing support of me and the ministry. I pray that you are doing well and that you have seen the fruits of the work in Honduras. I have certainly been blessed to have been able to work and live and Honduras for the last year and a half.

As some of my plans have changed, I thought it fitting to explain in detail the nature of the changes for 2007. Originally, I was planning to stay in Honduras from January to April 2007. Recently, I have been confronted with a variety of situations, all of which I have tried to take into consideration in making plans. This spring, my mother needs to have an intestinal resection because of her Crohn’s disease. Because my father frequently works out of town, he would likely be unable to care for her. I am the only member of my family with the “flexibility” to be able to stay with her. Furthermore, it has been more challenging than expected to live in a foreign country without the support of other North Americans. Throughout this year, I have been in contact with a couple that will be moving to Honduras in June to work with the Christian school in Trujillo. They have invited me to stay another year to work with them. Though I would love to be able to stay; if I do, I will lose my teaching certificate. All things considered, I am planning to go back to Honduras the end of January, tie up loose ends and make sure my responsibilities are taken care of there, and then return to the States the end of February to care for my mother. Lord willing, I will stay in Honduras from June to August in order to teach Spanish and orient my friends who are moving there before returning to live and teach in the States in September. In this way, I will be spending the months of February, June, July in Honduras instead of February, March, and April.

Though I will not physically be in Honduras all of 2007, some of my financial responsibilities will continue. I am in charge of a scholarship program for high school and college students. Because I am involved in both education and with the work in Honduras, I feel that the education of the Honduran people is very important. It is crucial for the betterment of their society. An education in Honduras, especially at the college level, is very difficult to obtain. Scholarships are given based on position and political party, leaving little hope for the poor church members of Trujillo and its surrounding areas. When the cost of college may be two, three or four times the amount of a family’s income, the financial burden is overwhelming. I would like to continue to raise funds and awareness in order to provide hope for these students. My goal is to raise $1,131 per month. Any surplus will be used for more scholarships, church projects, i.e. directly toward the work in Honduras.



Budget in $ and Lempira

High school scholarship program
- $280 (4,800 + 500)
- $ 16 DellDelKer (300)
University scholarships
- $265 Yefrin (5,000)
- $160 Tesla (3,000)
- $160 Osladis (3,000)
- $160 Edis (3,000)
- $ 90 Carmen (1,732)

Total - $1,131 per month (45 people giving $25/ month)

Many of you have committed to give through April and that is wonderful. I thank you for your ongoing support and heart for the Honduran people. I am asking you to consider if you are able to continue your financial gift through the end of 2007. The difference will be instead of supporting a missionary, the funds will be sent directly to the Honduran people. No overhead expenses. Pure help.

I will be managing the program Stateside. Will you consider joining me as we move in this new direction?

May God Bless Your New Year,

Nadine Taylor