Honduras Mission Trip: 2007

How do you summarize a week like the one our team had in Honduras? How do you convey the laughter, the sweat, the tears, the hugs, the joy that is part of this great experience? It will take much more than this column, but let me share a few reflections. You made this trip possible with your prayers and your financial gifts, and we went as your representatives, so you need to hear.

We had a great team. We bonded quickly and well, and worked very well together. You can be proud of the folks who carried the Saint Mark name to El Pino. Byron Pittman did his now customary superb job of giving direction to our efforts. And Shirley Horan needs credit for outstanding work with our food.

We accomplished a lot – more than was planned when we first arrived. We taught about 250 children in VBS; donated shoes to the kids in Nueve de Julio; pulled teeth and filled cavities (the latter made possible by your generosity in providing a dental chair) for many people in El Pino and three surrounding communities; treated numerous sick persons in the same areas; put a roof on walkway to the educational building in El Pino; painted the new hospitality house inside and out; completely refinished the Church in the Round in La Ceiba – new lights and fans, painting inside and out, fixing the bathrooms, and clearing the yard; and made significant progress on building a new house in El Pino. We accomplished a lot.

What stands out most to me, however, were the relationships with the persons who live in Honduras. One of the benefits to going back to a place is getting to know people over time. Carlos, Danny, Nancy, Victor, Elder, Miguel, Emilio, Claudia, Lucas, Thomas, Florida, Julio, Orca, Joseph, other adults and too many children to name are all friends and have won places in our hearts. El Pino is not just a place – it is people that we know and care about and love. The community meal on Wednesday night which was followed by a simple communion service was from this perspective one of the high points of the week, a rich time of sharing and fellowship. And when we left on Friday there weren’t many dry eyes. There were many comments about el ano proximo – next year. It was a poignant moment.

You have made possible something rich and marvelous in these trips. I thank you, and I thank God for the privilege of being a part of this experience.

Jimmy Moor, Senior Minister

The Nicole Rodriguez Fund

One of the most interesting and exciting findings of the entire trip was finding little Nicole Rodriguez. On one of our trips to a remote bush village at the end of an exhausting day, we found this little four year-old. At birth this child’s sex was indistinct, having neither male nor female characteristics. Nicole’s father left the family of six children and their mother because “this is a disgrace to me”, he said. So the mother and her six children moved in with an uncle. The uncle had just put them all out of his house the same week we were holding clinic in their village. Fortunately, this family qualified to move into the house we built while in Honduras that week!

Dr. Weakland and I are committed to bringing Nicole to the United States for a proper evaluation and corrective surgery. In that way, this child can grow up to have a proper sexual identity.

You may contribute to this worthy, tax deductible cause online or make your checks payable to Saint Mark (For: The Nicole Rodriguez Fund)

Thanks in advance, Richard Kauffman, M.D.