Sarah
Watson Reporting from Utila
Hello
everyone! My name is Sarah Watson, and I’m serving as
a long-term Volunteer in Mission (VIM) with the Methodist Church
in Utila, Honduras. I have been here since the end of January
as a volunteer English teacher at the Utila Methodist Community
College, which was forced to close after last school year due
to a lack of money. My work as a volunteer teacher has afforded
the school to keep some activity, while offering the local
children a class they don’t consistently get in their
regular schools, which primarily offer classes in Spanish.
Besides teaching, I am also assisting Dr. Rev. Janet Corlett
who is the minister for the Mizpah Methodist Church and the
Cays Methodist Church of Utila and District Superintendent
for the North Coast of Honduras.
In helping Rev. Corlett, I have had the opportunity to work with two AHMEN teams
in Utila this summer. The first of which was Bucket’s team and most recently
Dr. Tom Camp’s team. However, my very first introduction to AHMEN came
last September when I attended VIM training at the SIFAT Campus in Lineville,
Alabama. My training group included Hugh and Mary Guffey and Larry Pitts. Being
from Missouri and just happening to attend the SEJ VIM training instead of the
one in my Missouri Conference, I thought I’d never see them again. At that
time I had no idea I would be serving in Honduras. You can imagine the shock
I got when I went into the home of Brent and Doris Brady here in Utila to check
on a transcript they were translating for one of my students and found Hugh and
Mary sitting in their living room! I had no idea Brent and Doris were the Utila
contacts for the AHMEN groups, so being able to reconnect with my friends from
training was such a God-thing, as Bucket would say. I was saddened to hear the
story of Larry’s death but blessed to see how the groups, with the help
of the Bradys, have been able to carry on the work he started here. I am thankful
I’ve been able to be a small part of that work and witness the fruits of
their labor.
So that’s how I got here. Dr. Camp graciously asked me to provide insight
into serving as a long-term volunteer in Utila, so I’ll be doing that for
the remainder of my time here. Perhaps more connections will occur. I won’t
be surprised at all. After all, it is a God-thing! Until next time…
Sarah
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