This week’s guest is Marlen Lane. She is a singer/songwriter, blogger, and podcaster. Marlen also sings on her church’s worship team and volunteers with the youth. She shares about growing up in Honduras with a close-knit Christian family and growing up as a PK or Pastors’ Kid.
Marlen met her husband in Honduras while he was on a mission trip. His church visited her church, and he was interested in her first, but she wasn’t at the time. Eventually, they started dating and were in a long-distance relationship for two and a half years. Once they realized they had to start making the next step in their relationship, they thought about getting married and where to live.
Let’s start with Marlen’s upbringing.
How Was Childhood for Marlen?
Marlen grew up in a close-knit Christian home. She was very involved in her church in Honduras. Her mom taught her and her siblings the importance of family from an early age. Even to this day, she says her siblings are her best friends.
When she thinks about her childhood, she thinks about how joyful it was. Even though there was gang violence, she was exposed to a lot of death, government corruption, and instability. Nevertheless, she says it was a home filled with lots of love and community-mindedness. She says family and community values are the strongest that she grew up with in Honduras and still lives those today in the US.
Moving to The US
Many missionaries go on mission trips to Honduras to provide resources and help the community. Her husband came to Honduras on a mission trip to her church, and that’s how they met. Her church then had a health clinic and a children’s development center, so they would serve children in underserved communities.
She wasn’t interested in him romantically at first, but they developed a friendship, and after some time, they started dating—dating as in long-distance dating between countries. This went on for about two and a half years. After that, they had to answer the tough question of whether they wanted to take their relationship to the next level and what that would look like. So, they decided they wanted to get married and thought about making a life in Honduras.
However, in order for her husband to find a decent job in Honduras, he would have to be fluent in Spanish. Marlen explained that he could defend himself, but he wasn’t fluent. So, they decided they would live in the US.
The next step was to find an immigration attorney, and they were blessed with the fact that her future father-in-law was able to help them find a good one. Then, it was time to apply for the K1 visa.
The Honduran Government Wouldn’t Release Marlen’s Passport
They went through the K1 visa process, and Marlen got approved. However, her passport needed to be stamped with the visa for her to move to the US and get married, and for some reason, the passport wouldn’t arrive. They would call multiple times to the point that they wouldn’t even answer their calls. They tested it when they tried calling from a different number, and the call was answered.
Marlen missed the original date they were supposed to get married because the passport didn’t arrive in time. It wasn’t until Marlen’s future mother-in-law called her state congressman asking if he could help them that they finally released the passport.
I swear Marlen’s journey to the US is like a movie. Eventually, she was able to get to the US, and they had a more intimate wedding than initially planned. However, after a few months, Marlen’s homesickness and culture shock started to kick in—and that was a whole adjustment.
Listen Now
Listen to the rest of Marlen’s story on The American Dream in The Eyes of Immigrants Podcast.
With Love, Heidy
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