glimpse of advent

Trying new things can be scary for anyone. I myself can testify to this when it comes to high ropes!

But learning new things, trying something you've never done before, and being adventurous for the sake of adventure are so highly valued in North American culture.

When I found myself surrounded by a group of women who were so afraid to learn a new skill, I was reminded again of this cultural difference. Although subtle, I think speaks a lot to why change is so hard to come by in this culture and country.

We were pleased to present one of our community groups with an industrial mixer this week as part of the year-end Christmas celebration (pictures/post to come later). It was an exciting moment, presenting the micro-enterprise with their first significant piece of equipment to increase production, and of course, revenues!

Being the only one with a basic knowledge of how a stand mixer works (thanks to my mom & sisters!) I was nominated to lead the training in how to operate the machine. I did my best, but every 3rd or 4th time, the mixer would not work. I was frustrated, under a bit of pressure (15 pairs of eyes, plus my boss, co-worker, church member, and a TV camera!) and unsure of what was going wrong.

Thankfully, a moment of insight led me to deduce that all security checks had to be in place or the paddle would not move. With that figured out, we wanted to have 3 or 4 women practice using the mixer from start to finish to ensure they knew how to use it.

It was like pulling teeth!
No one wanted to step up, and no one wanted to try it out.
They lady who lives where the mixer was going to be stationed was in the bathroom for about 15 minutes!

I marveled at how intimidating this process was for these women. Women who have known me and Ruth and Oscar for 2 years! Women who have invited us into their homes for coffee, snacks, and conversation. Women who have purchased their very own piece of land--from a bank account that started with 0 lempiras! I couldn't even compute why they were so scared to learn a new process that would help advance their business.

But I had to step back and recognize that it's not so easy for them. As much as they want to move forward, the new and unknown is exactly that--unknown--and it overwhelms them. While I was taught from a young age that the sky is the limit, they are raised with a stark reality that there are limits in life. The very geography of where they live limits them. The economic situation they are born into limits them. Their access to education has been limiting for them.

And I was brought back to why this process of formation is so important for the women we work with. You can't just throw money at them and expect things to change. It requires a lot of learning, re-learning, and learning from mistakes. Its a long, slow, often frustrating process of little baby steps.

But then one day...
you see a little spark of change.
It lets you know there is hope.
Hope that maybe these women will mark a difference in their lives and those of their children.

And that is a sweet glimpse of advent.
Right here, in all the darkness, the spark of hope that foretells of good things to come.