Honduran Trip--Day 2

Friday: Mary and I met together for breakfast with the other participants of the annual assembly in the cafeteria of the school. The meal was simple but quite filling, as were all the meals during our stay. More importantly, the food was fresh and wholesome. Most of it came from the farms owned and operated by the school and the students. After breakfast we met in the grass on the campus for devotions. They were quite good, and included testimonies from several members about why they were members of the Lutheran Church.

After a lively discussion of the minutes from last years annual assembly, the meeting passed to the General Secretary’s report. Rolando gave a summary of what he had been up to this past year, and his report was received enthusiastically. The Treasurer’s report was presented, and revealed a savings of nearly $11,000 since the end of 2007. They owed this to being more vigilant in their use of the funds, and keeping closer tabs on project administration. Everyone was encouraged with the changes that have improved the administrations of funds, since a deficit of $28,000 was experienced in 2007. The General Secretary challenged the assembly to ask questions about where, how and from what sources the funds came from and how they were spent. “This is our church and these are our finances. We need to know!” was his challenge to the assembly. After lunch Roland gave a very detailed presentation of where the funds came from and how they were spent.

Most of the rest of the assembly that day, and most of tomorrow, would be concerned with the “Internal Rules and Regulations” of the church—rules that further define certain aspects of the operation and function of the constitution. The mediator facilitating the discussion, made clear to the assembly that between the large number of rules being considered and the allotted time for discussion, they should spend no more than 45 minutes on each point. I had to chuckle a bit, wondering how he was going to keep them moving on such a rigorous schedule. It soon became evident that some issues would take as much as 90 minutes to resolve. The visiting leaders from LWF, ELCA, and the other Latin American Lutheran churches seemed to become a bit frustrated with the discussion, but I found it to be quite enlightening. I was frustrated because I would have liked offering an opinion or idea. But I vowed to be an observer and support only. Nonetheless, they have come a long way in the last six years, from being a church “led” by a president, to a church trying to grown from the base up. Their extensive discussion was important for the growth and unity of the church. Though at times the discussion became somewhat heated, they always respected their differences and worked hard together to maintain their unity. This was a long day, but very productive for the ICLH. I was proud to have been there through this historic process.

Mary and I bugged out about 30 minutes early, thinking that they would not cover much ground before closing and continuing tomorrow. We met most of the other foreign visitors in the lobby of the center where we shared several bottles of some good South African wine, conversation about Obera, Misiones, Argentina, and many funny stories from everyone present.

Observations: One thing is evident throughout the world, when Lutherans get together, there always seems to be good food, and a lot of it. This is true even in Honduras. I was amazed to see the differences between the members on any given issue, and how quick they would remind each other to allow everyone to express themselves, and to maintain unity of the body. Many of those present had never participated in an assembly, and most of them did not know the others there, beyond the group from their conference. Yet, they seemed to truly care about each other and the mission and ministry of their church. I also found out that, like in the US, not everyone is of the same political persuasion, and certainly not everyone is poor. The Lutheran church in Honduras is quite homogeneous, which surprised me. Mary and I spent all of the meal time and free time getting to know the different people at the assembly. We made sure that we talked often with everyone from the assembly who came from Honduran congregations. They share much about their lives, their politics, their church, and their many recipes for preparing plantains, a green fruit similar to the banana. They are a very gracious, hard-working, industrious group who love the Lord, their country, and life.