A letter from Tim Wheeler in Honduras
September 2011
Dear Friends,
“I think life is made up by a lot of looking back with faith and always looking ahead with hope…but we are held and embodied by love, a well-being that warms our soul and caresses our spirit.” I wrote this statement not too long ago, simply reflecting a little bit about this time in our lives as well as this time of year in relation to our unfolding actions.
Receiving a Heifer and promising to care for it and pass on an offspring to a neighbor.
A friend recently told us that he is writing a book about the spirituality of service. So often in this world spirituality is seen as being separate from the daily things that we do every day and we don’t make the connection between spirituality and social action. This reality is pointed out by Bryant Myers in his book Walking with the Poor, in which he goes on to demonstrate the need for connecting spirituality with social action. We all may have different ways of explaining this connection, based on diverse concepts and our spiritual home, but perhaps we can agree on the principle found in 1 John 3:18, “ ...let us love not in word or speech but in truth and action…” These words seem to jump off the page and speak extremely strong to us.
A few months ago we had the opportunity to be present at a ceremony in western Honduras at which people from various communities were receiving a total of 19 heifers for the first time. This seemingly simple process of signing an agreement stating that they will care for their animal properly and pass on an offspring to a neighbor when it reaches 2 years of age took on a whole different depth of meaning based on the expressions that we heard. One man named Don Marcos said:
“Just as God has given to man (human beings), we must give to others.”
“Black and white are the same, because we are all made in the image of God.”
“We will be happy here by building the Kingdom of God.”
“God will ask you to give an account of what you have done.”
A woman signs a document to receive a cow for her family, a new opportunity for women in Honduras.
Another man (Juan Tochez Jimenez) then spoke; “I didn’t believe (that this would ever happen). You (we) have worked so hard and haven’t (ever) gotten anything in return, but on Tuesday (the day of the ceremony) it will be another day of history (this will change).”
These simple statements of faith show us the deep spiritual connection of seemingly social and secular actions in a development program based on providing animals to recipients with the commitment that they too reach out to their neighbor by passing on an offspring. The original cow that they receive is worth more that they are able to afford and they turn around and give an animal away of equal value. In this process they are able to raise their self-esteem, maintain their dignity, and put into practice the powerful spiritual concept “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Gloria and I were able to take some vacation in August and visited our daughters in Pennsylvania, Illinois and Cincinnati. We spent time with other family members and visited Tim’s birthplace in upstate New York with dear sister Phebe. The sun sparkled on the green fields around the house where we grew up the day that we visited, and we too could look back at what seemed like the golden years of our youth with faith and love, and look forward with hope to the future.
Thank you for your prayers for us and for those who are less fortunate as we strive together to carry the mission of improving the world around us and of looking for a spiritual grounding in all that we do.
Faithfully,
Tim and Gloria
Apartado 15027
Colonia Kennedy
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
The 2011 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 288
The 2012 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 10
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