So...what do you do as a missionary?

Theresa Crawford
Jul 2
6 min read

What is my life at the Finca like?

As I prepare to leave the Finca for my month-long vacation next week, I’ve been reflecting on a question I imagine I may be asked while back – “What do you do as a missionary there?”

At first, this question stumped me a bit. The day of each missionary here looks wildly different from the others. And each day itself looks different than the one before. I came back to St Therese’s quote, “My vocation is love”! To love, ultimately describes the ‘job’ of a Finca missionary, but what does this look like for me, specifically. I thought I’d use this blog to give a small and general breakdown of my day-to-day and week-to-week life at the Finca del Nino.

My jobs

One of the biggest roles the missionaries have is to fill any/all jobs that are needed at the Finca. At the beginning of my time here, I was assigned a list of my “official” jobs, but these have changed and shifted throughout the year.

My largest job is being an English teacher at the Finca school. Four days a week, I teach 6^th, 4^th, 3^rd, and 2^nd grade English. There’s no set curriculum for English, so each week I get to completely plan what we’ll learn in class and how we’ll learn it! Teaching has challenged me like nothing else here, but has also taught me so much; not just about teaching, but also of my own capacity to love and to overcome challenges. Teaching has also made me very empathetic to any teachers I gave a hard time to when I was a student!

One of my smaller jobs is managing the vegetables for the missionary house. Each Tuesday, each house orders what vegetables they’ll want for the following week. The vegetables are then ordered from San Pedro Sula and delivered on Friday. I’m in charge of ordering vegetables for the missionary house, then sorting the whole order for the Finca on Fridays when they arrive. This means every Friday afternoon, I’m hanging out in a small, sweaty room, with Sor Elida(one of the Franciscan sisters) and a whole lot of veggies. It’s not very cultural in Honduras to eat a lot of vegetables or fruits with their meals, so the missionary house – being full of gringos – always has as many vegetables as the rest of the houses combined!

My favorite role here, which doesn’t even feel like a job, is community outreach. The Finca resides right next to a small pueblo called Mojoguay. Each week, I attend a women’s bible study with some women from the town. Throughout the year, these women have taught me so much and have become my friends. Now, throughout the week, it’s common for me to go into Mojoguay for lunch or coffee or to simply sit and talk with my friends there. Additionally, I love seeing my students in their homes and getting to know them outside of the classroom. I’ve found my heart fills with joy and love when I’m there, even just passing people I only know by name and saying hello! When I return from vacations, I’m very excited to continue forming friendships there; I feel very called to continue meeting people in the neighboring mountain communities as well!

Additionally, a large part of our mission as missionaries is to love the Tías a lot. The Tías as the women who care for the children all day and all night and easily have the most difficult role here. Each missionary loves the Tías in their own way; personally, I love to bring a cup of coffee over to one of the houses and just sit and talk with them. Our conversations range from listening to them share about their families and family that live in the US, to learning about their faith and love for the mission, to simply joking and laughing about random things. Not only do these times of fellowship provide rest and love to the Tía, but they fill my cup as well! I know in whichever corner of the Finca, I always have a friend I can turn to.

Time all together

We have a weekly schedule of Finca-wide spiritual events that everyone participates in! These start with Mass, every Sunday morning. All the Finca loads onto a big yellow bus and rides into Trujillo to attend Mass at the Cathedral. Tuesday through Friday mornings, we have a Finca-wide morning spiritual event at 6am, either Lauds or Communion Service. With these early events, my days normally start between 4:45 – 5am to get in my own personal prayer time and get ready for the day. This is actually sleeping in at the Finca, where most the Tías and kids wake up at 4am to eat breakfast and do chores before going to the church.

Then Tuesday through Thursday, we also have an afternoon spiritual event; either a Rosary, Faith Formation for the kiddos, or a Holy Hour(prayed out loud with lots of singing!) We don’t have anything on Mondays because that is the Franciscan Sisters’ day off, and they are in charge of all the Spiritual Events. Each house in the Finca takes turns lead these events, which includes starting the prayers, picking the hymns, decorating, and starting and ending the event with a powerful, “Paz y bien”(peace and goodness).

Within the missionary house, we also have weekly activities to build our community and faith. We always end Sundays with a missionary Holy Hour, which is completely in silence – a big difference from the Honduran Holy Hours. Monday nights we have a Community Night, which we all take turns planning. We’ve done everything from personality quizzes to board games to capture the flag! Wednesday nights, we have a Holy Half Hour and Faith Sharing Night, which is simply time for us to have intentional conversations about our faith. Then Friday, which is the best night, is MOVIE NIGHT! We all take turns picking a movie, then the rest of the community guesses the movie at Friday night dinner. After dinner, we turn our living room into a movie theatre and settle in for the movie! This also normally includes a half-time ice cream break =). With our very different and very busy schedules, it’s often difficult for all us missionaries to find time to spend together and simply be present while enjoying each other’s company. So, our weekly events are very cherished and some of my favorite times each week.

Lots of celebrating

We always love a good party here at the Finca! In May, we celebrated the 29^th anniversary of la Finca del Nino and this Friday, we’ll be celebrating the 4^th of July. We love to throw a party for everything; it’s always a good excuse to pull together the whole Finca family and make some good food! Additionally, we have celebrations for Saints’ days and Catholic feast days. These normally include a Rosary and/or procession around the Finca, lots of singing, and a merienda(snack)!

We frequently have visitors at the Finca, especially in the missionary house. These visitors range from Immersion groups spending a week participating in Finca life, former missionaries coming back for a visit, families of current missionaries and more! I love having visitors - they always bring new life and energy to the house and to the mission. It’s also a wonderful opportunity to be reminded of the beauty of the Finca. Sometimes, it’s easy to forget just how special this place is, but hearing people’s first impressions and perspectives never fails to remind me how much love and joy there is here.

Rest

Somehow, I normally have an hour or two of down time each day that I can use however I want. During these times, I normally spend time with the kids or Tias, go into Mojoguay, or work on planning my classes. However, I also am certain to use these times to rest in the ways I need to be the best, most loving missionary I can be. This might be taking a nap, finding a hidden corner to read, or calling friends or family. I’m very blessed to live in a mission and with people that care for my spiritual and mental health so well. I know whatever I need, whenever I need it, is always available to me in order to care for my heart and my mind.

Breaking Free

There are lots of things I miss from the US – my loved ones, clean water, long drives on flat roads, my dog – these all make me so excited to come back for vacation. I recognize how important it is for me to take space from this place and mission to rest. There are also so, so many things I love deeply here, in this small community when the Lord placed me. Despite times of tiredness and frustration, I know I am where I am meant to be. This community has my whole heart and I know the Lord still has so much more in store for me here.

Please pray for me and Rachel as we leave for our vacations next week(EEEEK!!!).