A letter from Tim Wheeler in Honduras
June 2012
Dear Friends,
1 Corinthians 7:30-31 tells us: “And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; and they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away.” This passage was recently brought to my attention in a book I am reading about theology in today’s world. It is easy to become confused in our theology in a complex setting and a complex world. I think we can reflect on this passage as we strive to put right the relationship between the material world and the spiritual world that we are invited into by Jesus. We need to rise above the daily struggle to a new reality of being with the love ethic being used actively and against which we can relate everything else. In this sense, then, we should not worship the materialism of this world but use our being for a greater good and rise above the daily customs that we can be swept up by. In the developing world I think people are often very focused on the daily challenges to meet their physical needs, and rightly so, since many physical needs need to be met on a daily basis. Here we don’t see a divide between the material life and the spiritual life as much. They become more one and interact in a positive way. The spirituality of people is what helps motivate them to rise again, day after day, to work for their daily bread.
One morning I asked our friend Orlando Jimenez, the mayor of Trinidad, Copan, why he was so concerned about helping the poorest people in his township. What motivated him to reach out to them with programs that would have a positive impact in their lives? Orlando told me that it was because that is how his father was. When he was a boy his father, even though he did not have a lot of land, would lend out some land for poor people to plant on, people who didn’t own their own land. He would make an arrangement with them called one-fifth. That means that the person would pay back one-fifth of the crop to Orlando’s father at harvest time. Orlando went on to say, almost always at harvest time the person would come to Orlando’s father and his father would ask him how his harvest turned out. The person would almost always answer the same, “Not so well, Don Luis.” His father would then say, "OK, don’t pay me anything.” The story goes that this was repeated with different people and over several years. This way of being in the world and the treatment given to the material things had an impact on Orlando. Even though he did not have a lot himself, Orlando’s father was willing to give up some of his potential wealth. This seems like a right attitude to material goods in accordance with 1 Corinthians: a good balance between material goods and spirituality.
The township of Trinidad, for which Orlando is mayor, has started a housing program to assist the poor people in the neighborhood called San Antonio. They are using the organizational methodology that Gloria has promoted and fine-tuned over the years. The large group of 45 families is broken down into smaller working groups, seven in all. The people in the project decide what group they want to belong to according to affinity, who they can work with on a daily basis. One woman said she was ready to leave the project; she just couldn’t get along with the other people. She was allowed to change groups and has continued to stay in the project. Rising above daily activities to a new reality of being based on the love ethic is not easy; we are not prepared for this. From this experience we can see how important it is to look for practical solutions and practical methodologies for working together so that we can achieve a new reality and improve our lives along the way.
Orlando told me, “What I like the most about this project is that the people are fully involved; it is their project and they are free to choose who they will work with.” This is important, indeed, since all will assist each other in their small groups both in making their cement blocks and then building their houses. Along the way they will be building a closer community too.
Gloria and I are packing our bags at this writing. We will be on home assignment for five months starting in August, and Gloria will also be part of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program for part of the fall. This program will take her across the country. She will talk about the programs that we are involved in and the reflections of peace and discipleship as part of them. We will look forward to this opportunity to share and plan to be back in Honduras by the end of December.
Thank you for your support and prayers for us and for our mission activities.
Faithfully,
Tim and Gloria Wheeler
Apartado 15027, Colonia Kennedy
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
The 2012 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 10
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