Sarah Koscielniak

So my first week is over at the orphange and it has been absolutely amazing, I want to say more, but honestly, I have about 1 minute to go to the youth group, and i really can´t. i hope to update soon, but I don´t know when that will be.

God has been absolutely amazing though, and i´m excied for the next 7 weeks

So, First off, I won't usually be blogging THIS much, but I'm at Melissa's still, and we've just been hanging out, and I don't want to be pestering them all the time, and so I came on here.  

God is SO good. He's so evident here in Honduras, especially at the Church Viva Abudante.  So here's the review of what's  been going on:  I got to Melissa's and we had homemade tomales and great coffee from the mountains of Honduras, and Melissa and I had a talk about what her dreams and hopes were to make a difference.  She talked about how she wants to go into medicine because she loves people, and feels a want to serve her fellow Hondurans in that way.. She's been studying so hard and she's so excited.  It's sooo cool to talk to other young adults, especially Christian, about how they want to make a difference by serving God by serving Hondurans.  She is such a beautiful sister in Christ for me! and her sister Heidi is also awesome and hilarious and really awesome.

We then took a taxi to the mall and then walked to the Church from there after meeting a friend. I loved walking through the streets of the capital not as a group of gringos, but with locals and just seeing and being.  The driving here is as crazy as ever. haha. Anyway, at the church I met so many new awesome people, luckily they all spoke english as well.  Yet, I really want to practice my spanish and I'm kinda scared I won't be doing that, with everyone speaking english to me, and Stacey always being with me.  But I know Melissa's going to challenge me to talk spanish a lot more. haha

I met with Stacey and Kathy at the Church, and we talked about plans for the next week with teaching... we didn't get too far, because they were just telling me things about what to expect.  I had to show Stacey my "stern voice"... I think I passed! haha After that talk, I suddenly got VERY tired and I was exghusted from the day.  We drove back to Melissa's, where we hung out a little bit, and then I just went to bed... I was poooooped.

I woke up at 7:30 this morning, which surprised me quite a bit... but I took a shower, had an amazing pancake breakfast, and now I'm just hanging out!

I'm not sure what I'm up to today and tomorrow... I know we have youth group at 4, and then I leave Melissa's to go to Don Julio's house where i'll be staying most of the time now.

Adios, God bless, and THANK GOD for the universal love that God had when he sent His son to die, not only for you and me and North Americans, but also for Hondurans, orphan or not.  I love seeing God moving through this Honduran Youth Group! It's awesome!

Estoy en Tegucigalpa, Honduras con Melissa y su hermana! aka... I'm in Honduras with my friend Melissa and her sister. I got in an hour or two ago, and she's heating up some food, and I'm about to have some amazing coffee... Life is good. They have a parrot and a cute dog. and a gorgeous backyard... all really cool

anyway, I'm meeting with Stacey tonight at the church, and then I'll be with her later on.  I head to the orphanage Monday! It's about a two hour drive.

I've really missed Honduras and it's great to be back!

 

God's blessings, and thanks for your prayers!

So, I have about a week before I leave for this Honduras adventure.  It's been a fun and exciting summer so far, and I've witnessed God in a ton of unexpected ways... it makes me kinda sad to be leaving so soon, but I know God's got things under control.

Lately I've started reading some "short-term missions" books to try and prepare myself for Honduras.  It's been good, I just wish I had done it sooner!! There's so much to learn and to try and remember... and it's just making me feel so inadequate.. BUT I know that that's a lie and I just have to trust in the Lord to work through me... hey, like Paul says to the Church in Corinth in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5;

"When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.  For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.  I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.  My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom but on God's power."

That passage has really stuck with me these past couple days, after stumbling upon it.  because, the more I think about it, the more I realize how inadequate I really am for this trip.  I don't remember much of my spanish, I have never really TAUGHT kids before, and my discipline skills with kids are awful... YET. God's going to use me. and that's exciting. and because of my weaknesses, it's HIM that will shine.  Don't worry everyone.. I'm still going to practice my spanish, and hopefully have patience with the kids... but it's just exciting that even PAUL went to a place in "weakness and fear and much trembling".  very comforting.

I'm also trying to learn more about Honduras--the things that I don't really know about it yet.  I really want to be more educated about the places that I'm going to go.  It's been exciting.  I'm also trying to keep up on world news... I think world news overall is a great way to stay connected with the community we live in called THE WORLD. haha...

ANYWAY, if you read all this... kudos! I just want to keep updating while I can.. the next time I update it may be a couple days before I go, or even IN honduras! because by this time next week, I WILL BE IN HONDURAS. HANGING OUT WITH MELISSA!!!! HOW AWESOME.

Anyway, thanks for all your prayer and support.  I won't be using facebook when I"m there, so if you want to send me some "love".... email me at: kosciels@csp.edu

I will have internet on the weekends, hopefully... but yeah! God's blessings on your mission field... wether that be in west michigan, minnesota, honduras, europe... ANYWHERE!

Hey everyone!

So, as most (or at least some) of you know, I'm going to be in Honduras for two months this summer on June 12th. I'll be helping out at the San Lorenzo boy Orphanage with Stacey Wiles, a friend from my Church. [She was recently baptized! Praise the Lord!].  Anyway, This is my first mission trip longer then a week, and ion a more individual basis, so needless to say, I'M PUMPED!

Yet, I'm also a bit nervous, in an exciting way... but I would really appreciate some prayer support in this next month before I go, and also the following 2 months after that!

I have some amazing support from my Church, I know that full well, but I would also just LOVE to have some of my friends praying for me and encouraging me!

I'll be able to keep this blog going for the summer, primarily just on the weekends, but who knows... just updating on what's going on, telling you guys the AMAZING things God's been doing, and prayer requests!

Thank you so much for your support!

here's some prayer requests:
Kathleen Stacey and I are meeting tonight to talk about teaching techniques and the details of the trip, pray that we get questions answered and prepare ourselves to best serve the boys at the orphanage

Kathleen and Stacey are leaving Wednesday to Honduras for a month before I get there, pray that they are able to build a base of friendship and teaching!

Pray that I would be able to pick up on Spanish FAST the few weeks I am home and once I get there!

Pray that my relationships with friends and family do not suffer form me being gone for so long and with so little contact.

Pray that the boys would be shown the Love of GOD, and get sponsorship to go to a private school.


Thank you SO much everyone, have a blessed day!

      Last night I attended the 8th annual Poehler lecture called, "Teaching the Children Well: One Educator's Perspective on Integrating Faith and Learning" by Carl J. Schoenbeck.  The first thing he made sure to point out is that teaching does not always lead to learning, it is effective teaching. Effective teaching comes when the learner is addressed as a whole person, connecting the physical with the emotional, social intellectual and spiritual parts.  It also is effective learning if faith is the core.  The analogy he used for this is a rope, with the 6 different strands of learning and faith being the one in the middle which helps bend and use all the others.  Ways of gaging effective teaching is if there is a passion for learning, or if the learner felt that the teacher believes in them.  I have found that passion is the largest indicator of learning, and that happens when there are connections, applications, and questions in the learning process.  The main connections are made to the whole person and to all the other disciplines, with no hierarchy.  Application comes when learning and life are connected. This truly does increase understanding.  Another way is to question the questions and to be critics of what we learn, and not to just ignore the tensions in life. 
       The connection I'm about to make is going to be very obvious.  The Honors Program!  This whole time I kept thinking about how much Honors is like what he is describing, and how blessed we are to be a part of the program.  I hope that others may be able to experience this.  It especially reminded me of last semester, during the time of looking at the "ways of knowing" and experimenting with all the different disciplines, not just one over the others.  This brought up many tensions in my own life, and there for tying it the connections and questions part of learning.  This past semester has been about refugees and immigrants, and during this time of learning I have felt such a passion and such an application to my own life.  This is something that I want to do in the future! How blessed am I to experience this sort of teaching in a general education credit setting. 
       One thing that I remember the most, and has really made an impact on me is that "Learning is the process for living, not preparation for future living"--Dewey.  It challenges me not to think any longer that my education will one day be useful, or that I'm not ready to go out and live in the world because I have not completed my degree.  This is a challenge for me to remember that what I'm learning right now is applicable right now.  There's a passion for learning that I have found in Honors, and I recognize that it is because of the faculty, and the substance of the learning, and also the students with me (as we're all learning together).  That quote, and the thought of not avoiding conflict but instead questioning it, is also a very good point that I need to work on and want to think about more often.

     Monday night, Seexang Lee came to talk to the class about Hmong Art.  He focused on not just his own experience, but the progression of Hmong art as a whole and different struggles Hmong artists have.  He talked about Hmong art used to have functional quality, used in every day life and for a purpose.  Then there was an evolution with it and it has moved from usage to more of a display and for enjoyment/its aesthetic qualities.  He talked about these changes happened because of a cultural compromise.  The story telling art that formed was from a refugee camp as a means to survive, it was made to be sold.  He continued to say that change is the natural progression for all things to remain valuable.  He talked about the struggles of Hmong artists in the United States, and some of the main ones were lack of support, priorities above art, lack of money, and having things holding one back and having it hard to see the future. 
     One connection that I felt during this talk was his embracing both cultures, and him finding that it was not a burden, but yet a blessing in disguise.  It reminded me of Xang Lee's feelings towards holding on to some of his cultural background of Hmong, and yet embracing the new attitude of America. I find that they really do have such a rich culture and a blessing to be able to balance both of them so closely together.  I respected that along with having that feeling towards the two cultures, that he encouraged us to dig deeper of our culture.  That we all have ancestors from different places, the only difference is the generations.  Yet yet culture is unique has a lot to offer, so why don't we find the beauty in it?
     One thing that I will for sure take out of this experience is the thought that art, no matter what it is, is trying to make the invisible visible.  So why not show everything, all the invisible inside of me, to people?  If I try and hide too much of who I am or anything like that, then I will never share all the amazing experiences I have had, or the knowledge I have to bring to them.  This would be a shame if I let people go on without knowing what I have to offer.  And so I want to try and express myself more, like Seexang Lee has, to share with the world what I have to offer with my culture and background!

     Monday night a speaker came in talking about his experiences with the Center for Victims of Torture and various statistics for these victims that enter the center.  It was very interesting to hear some of the background of these victims and how their lives have changed through all of this. The average time in torture or capture is 164 days, but the average time it takes to recover from these things is 18 months.  I found it fascinating that something that only takes that many days, can take months. But also it reminds me that torture isn't as quick as I had imagined--much like the Jack Bauer torture that they talked about, is the kind of thing I always visualized for torture.  Yet him telling the story of the person that he's befriended, and talking about all these different experiences, was very cool to hear a senior from Bethel talk about.  It reminded me you can make a difference even when you're still in college!
     Relating this to a different and specific experience is hard to do.  While I have never counseled or talked with directly about a person about their experience with torture, I believe that in the interactions I have Somali refugees and Hmong refugees that I have encountered since here have more then likely experienced torture.  This makes the connection that although I may not know it, I probably interact with a lot more people then I thought that have dealt with this issue, and that I need to be conscious about it and smart.  Another connection is that in my Government class in high school, there was a student that supported torture as a means to get information.  It seems odd now to even think that I would be persuaded by him because now I have seen faces and I have experienced talking with people that have lived in fear.  And so, when I hear about torture, I view the people, and I think about their experiences, and I can no longer justify that tactic.
     One new understanding that I can leave with is the fact that there are many different types of torture, and one may experience all or only one of them, and still be very traumatized from the experience.The different types of torture are: physical, psychological, deprivation of human conditions, and sensory over-stimulation.  These are all very serious and very damaging types of torture and it's very easy to just look at one and think that that would have more of an impact on the persons recovery, whereas in reality it is not just one certain type of torture that causes all this pain, but any type of torture.  It seems odd to me as well that any government would even think about this practice being ethical and OK.  The information is usually unreliable and it dehumanizes.

Last night students from CSP came to visit us to talk about their growing up background and their time here in America.  The students that came were Xang, Pa Houa and Xia.  Xang talked about many stories that he had heard from his dad about living in Thailand and life in a refugee camp.  He explained that they had left the camp to be with his grandpa and father's cousins.  It was after this that his mom wanted to go to the refugee camp so that they could go to America for the kids' sake.  Pa Houa talked about her dad being a CIA and was denied going to America at first because they thought he was a communist.  Later, even in Laos his life was threatened and her whole family was given political asylum. They were in California in 2001 and struggled financially with a very large family.  She was in 7th grade when she came to America, and had to struggle with that.  Xia talked about her mom being a single mom because her father was married to two women, but could only take one wife with him when going to America.  So they stayed there till 1990.  Her mom never got educated because she had to provide for her kids.  They moved around a lot and then finally she ended up in Minnesota because her grandpa was will and it was custom for kids to be near them.

This experience was amazing, to hear from kids my own age, and to realized that when I see Hmong in the hall, they have all different stories and backgrounds and reasons for going here.  I connected it to many experiences that we as students have had in Honors, but even more then that I connected it to my daily life outside of class, here at CSP.  I work with Xang in admissions, along with Mao who is also Hmong.  They tell me all about their experiences and their family life and what it is like living in America.  Yet relating to what we have been learning in honors, It was very interesting to hear their story along with the stories of the adults that came here while they were the parents.  It was interesting to hear both sides of the story, so that when one heard Pa Houa talk about her dad and his struggles, I was able to think about Mr. Long Yang and his struggles of getting into America.  Also, as Ms. Choua Thao showed that she was a strong and ambitious Hmong woman, it reminded me of Xia and how competitive she was and eager to succeed in America.

This experience taught me that there are many of my peers amongst me at CSP that have lived and live very different lives then me, including family life.  The thing that stuck out to me most was the thought that guys still dominate over girls in the Hmong world.  That guys have more power and freedom, where girls are told to obey their parents, stay home, and do their chores, in an essence be a "good girl".  Also, reputation is a huge thing for them, and it could even come down to whether or not one can marry someone, based on the name.  I found it interesting that the two girls, the two that experience the inferiority placed on them, were the ones that said they would continue on in Hmong tradition of strickness when they have kids, in order to perserve the culture and the traditions.  Whereas Xang did not agree with the way tradition was and planned on being a lot more Americanized in that manner.  He said he felt at times guilty when his parents felt that he was losing the culture, but in the end felt that it just wasn't right.  So I felt that was a big new thing to learn and very interesting to realize the difference between men and women still today in the 21st century, and how people are willing to accept it because "that was the way they were grown up".

     The Honors students went to an art convocation today dealing with immigrants and refugees. This was an honor to go to.  Not only were we able to see the pieces of art live, right in front of us, but we were able to listen to and talk with the artists after word.  This was a great experience of art, and I had never been able to really experience the feeling of looking at the art, thinking of the meaning behind it, and then hear from the actual artist what they were thinking when they created it.  An artist that really stuck out to me was Hend Al-Mansour, who did many digital self-portraits and fabric screenings.  She was from Saudi Arabia and wanted to keep her culture identity along with the freedoms of America.  Another artist I enjoyed was Alonso Sierralta, who is the sculpture professor at CSP.  His sculpture really spoke to me and even more so when he was describing what it meant to him.  The idea of something wild and free slowly transitioning to something modern and conventional.  Another artist, where we only got to see one of his pieces, really made me excited for what was to come in 2010.  Wing Young Huie has been working on taking pictures of University Ave. for many years now, and wants to display it in 2010 all along the street.  This is to show the everyday life and diversity of University.