Stuck In The Eighties... Again!

I am going to confess something in this email which is going to disillusion some of you. I wish there was an easier way to do it. However, sometimes you just have to say something.

So,...

I do not enjoy much popular music from the 80's. There are occasional songs that speak to me, but they are few and far between.

There! It is finally out and I feel better for it.

It might help some of you to better appreciate this when you realize that I am a child of the sixties. Well, truth be told, I am really a child of the fifties, but I am talking about the music with which I identify. My sister, Janet, gets a special feeling when she remembers Pat Boone. I get that same feeling when I hear Cream or the Byrds. If I remember correctly, the only lyrics my brother Harlan memorized were from Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire". I doubt that makes him an aficionado of music from the 21st century... he liked Johnny the first time he was popular.

You could also understand me better when I explain that Susan and I (with the girls) spent all of the 80's in Bolivia. In those years, La Paz was not a real hot spot for current music crazes. I guess we just missed the eighties the first time around.

However, we did not have the same good fortune this weekend!

We spent the past several days in Honduras where we visited with Michelle Crotts, one of our IT missionaries. Michelle is involved in developing a ministry to the prostitutes on the streets of Tegucigalpa... a challenging task. We had not told many of you about the trip beforehand because we were simply not sure about it until the day before we traveled. All the details fell into place at the last moment and we were able to make a long-prayed for trip to see the progress in Michelle's work.

During our visit with Michelle we took her out to eat several times. Through years of experience, I have found that a good pizza can sometimes be as encouraging for a lonely missionary as a pastoral prayer. In each and every restaurant we visited in Honduras the sounds of the 80's were coming through loud and clear. In fact, everywhere we went it seemed like the soundtrack from an early Tom Cruise film was following us. In a roadside restaurant outside of Tegucigalpa we ate to "Take My Breath Away" and "Danger Zone". Going into a store with Michelle we heard, "Hot Summer Nights" by Miami Sound Machine. Standing in line at the airport it was "Playing with the Boys" by Kenny Loggins. I half way expected Mr. Cruise to walk by us in his "Top Gun" costume.

Thinking of standing in line, we almost found ourselves stuck in the 80's. After checking in and waiting for our departure on Sunday afternoon, we were told our flight had been canceled. A quick trip back to the check-in counter and a two hour wait in line only produced the advice from the airline that "you can't get here from there." Maybe tomorrow. Maybe not.

Maybe the guy waiting on us had never met someone as tired of the 80's as me!

After another 45 minutes of "dialogue," it was determined that the airline did have it within their power to send us on a flight to San Pedro Sula, a city in the northwest corner of Honduras. They paid for our hotel stay and got us on an early flight to Costa Rica today (Monday). After several more adventures, including an hour-long trip on an aircraft I could not identify but suspect was manufactured at some distant date in Russia; we made it to our hotel. The airline had provided coupons for supper. So, even though it was late, we decided to take ourselves and our vouchers up to the steak house on the seventh floor. There, we were treated to a wonderful view, incredibly tough meat and... an 80's music sound track!

Talk about taking my breath away! It was a hot night and I definitely identified with the term "danger zone"... we were about to be overwhelmed by the 80's.

After waking up at 3:30am we are now back in Costa Rica. We are already in the midst of a busy week that includes teaching, hosting and counseling. This weekend we go to Orosi to perform the wedding of Jeffrey Prieto, one of our Formación students from last year. We value your prayers and partnership with us as we continue to minister throughout Latin America.