Finally Home

Paul was down in Lansing most of the week, for the synod assembly and to participate in the Honduras Summit. The assembly was like all the other assemblies, except on Monday evening Paul played golf at a local Lansing course with several friends. The assembly ended on Tuesday morning.
On Tuesday evening the Honduras Summit began. Honduras is a Companion Synod of the NW Lower Michigan Synod. Paul is part of the synod Global Mission Committee. At a meeting of that group they decided to invite three leaders of the Christian Lutheran Church of Honduras (ICLH) to visit with our synod and three other synods of the ELCA which include Honduras as a Companion Synod. The NE Minnesota Synod and the New England Synod were the other two participants in the summit.
All kinds of things were learned. We spend most of the first three parts of the summit listening to the interesting changes in the ICLH. Then we learned what the other synods are doing together with the church in Honduras. Each of the synods are involved in different ministries. We all agreed that we need to share our gifts with each other. The final part of the summit was spent on how we could change and/or expand our companionship with Honduras.
Interestingly, Paul has always wanted to be involved with teaching worship and preaching in Latin America. The NE Minnesota Synod sends four or five pastors down twice a year to do just that. They invited Paul to go along in September. He is not sure he can make it, but he will try.
Paul was able to bring his Spanish up to par again. He found out he can still translate well, and he met some real new friends. Paul also planted the idea among the group that leaders from Honduras could possibly help his parish open up a new ministry among the Mexican population in Leelanau County. The plan would include bringing a pastor or congregational leader from Honduras to Leelanau County in Michigan to open up a dialogue with the Mexican population, discover their needs, particularly their spiritual needs, and attempt to be a brindge between the Mexicans and Paul, pastor in Suttons Bay. The bishop loved that idea, and found other ways the synod could take advantage of the visit. Hope to have this planned for the summer of 2010.
Mary continues to struggle back at school, wearing a boot for her broken foot. The kids are horrible, but the year is nearly finished. Exams are coming soon, and then the summer. Needless to say, Mary is ready for a break.
David is working two jobs for the summer. He is still at Target, putting bikes together all day. He also works a few hours early in the morning at a local golf course. He hopes to earn a bunch of money this summer.
Allison is busy with her job at Black Star Farms. She is a bit bored, not having her college friends nearby. The summer will be looooong for her, but it will come to an end and she will see them all again.
Angela is doing fine. She has some funny ideas for doing some crazy things. More on this later.