Presbyterians Do Mission Work in Honduras
By PAM EDGE
I am Pam Edge. I had the privilege to be a missionary to Honduras this summer along with 10 others from Monticello Presbyterian Church early in July. I wanted to experience the joy of bringing love, compassion, and empathy to others. I was able to experience this with my son, Baylor Edge, as well. There were 10 others on this trip and they were the most courageous, determined and inspiring individuals… Kolby DeGarmo, Jace DeGarmo, Brody DeGarmo, Sergio Moore, Marcos Moore, Ethan Huff, Nate Jones, Stephanie Jones, and our leader Bob Trouteaud. We all had various reasons for attending but the thing we had in common was a love for helping others and we wanted to make an impact on the region we would visit.
We left June 30th and traveled to Tegucigalpa, Honduras. This is the capitol of Honduras. We visited the Cristo Del Picacho. This was a beautiful statue of Jesus that overlooked the capitol city. We then traveled by bus to a city about three hours away named Juticalpa, Honduras and spent an additional night. After another three hour drive, we reached the ranch we stayed at during our mission trip. This is a working ranching run by Honduras Outreach International (HOI). This is where we stayed the five nights of our mission.
We were very fortunate to serve a village that we could walk to from the ranch where we stayed. The name of our village was Santa Ana. As I walked to the village for the very first time…. I was waiting to see passing cars, trucks, or just hear the day to day sounds we hear…. I did not hear that… I heard cows mooing, motorcycles occasionally coming by with at least three people riding, a horse with family members carrying water, or just the rain coming down as this was their winter season (temp was still 80-90 degrees).
I realized real quick that life was slowing down! As we went into the village that first day, I was told the entire village would assemble in the school house to meet the American missionaries who would work in their village. I am not sure what I was expecting but boy was I surprised. Again, there were no cars sitting outside the school or traffic lights to maneuver.
There were about 50-75 people in a room about the size of a large living room with center block walls with windows that were open air covered with chain link fence. They were so happy to see us even though there was a language barrier. The love was immediately felt and I knew the bond would grow stronger as the week went on. All our missionaries were introduced and we met the village leader. A group prayer took place and we had time to play with the children and get to know one another. We did have a liaison named Marta who worked for HOI that was with us the entire missionary trip.
Day one began with vacation bible school while others began some real hands- on work including building latrines (some resemblance of our bathrooms), cement floors, and two water reservoirs/showers (basically a basin for washing clothes). Vacation Bible School was my responsibility with the help of Stephanie Jones. I had excellent teacher assistants and outstanding actors and actresses to help bring the stories to life of the bible!
I did have a translator that worked for HOI that helped translate the stories and helped me with what the children were asking of me. In this one room, there were children from first to sixth grade. We had roughly 30 students at the peak and all were so appreciative of any task. They loved to color, create crafts, sing, and they especially loved recreation with the simplest of games such as tag, relays, and Duck Goose.
It was so enlightening to go back to the basics with no video games, computers, or other technology that takes our attention away. There were no cell phones to distract us or emails coming in during our time there. We had time to get to know the people, work with them side by side, and talk with them without distractions from our busy lives.
In the afternoons (school only is attended until lunch; however, students attend school from February until late November), some of the missionaries including myself painted the school inside and out with bright colors that made the students excited and engaged! Ethan, Kolby, and Jace finished the week with painting a mural on the back wall with birds, mountains, a large map, and a world. It was outstanding and to top it off the students were able to put their own handprints around the world and be a part of the painting. They loved that piece. In the end of our week, we celebrated with a huge fiesta with the entire village attending.
The MPC missionaries purchased a piñata and filled it with candy to celebrate. Again, this is a moment I will cherish. I think the number of people who attended the first visit we had to the village doubled. I would estimate that over 100 people attended to celebrate the accomplishments of MPC as well as the people of the village of Santa Ana. We were able to leave school supplies for that small school and they were so appreciative. Crayons, pencils, glue, paper, and markers are a true treasure for these children.
When I think of this visit, there is no pity, sadness, or anguish. I have the upmost respect for this village and the people of Honduras. I always felt safe, loved and appreciated. Yes, we helped them with our supplies, teachings, and our manpower. However, they did so much more for me and my fellow missionaries… they showed us what life is all about… taking time to love your family, appreciate what you do have in life, and always show compassion towards others. It was amazing to work with someone side by side and know they have so little materially but have so much spiritually. I was so glad to share this opportunity with my son who worked extremely hard to pour those floors and build latrines. He never complained about not be able to play his PlayStation or having a big juicy hamburger. He was thankful to help others. I was so proud of him but especially proud of the MPC missionaries that I worked with for those five days. They were my brothers and sisters in Christ who showed so much compassion and love for others.
I want to thank all those members of Monticello Presbyterian Church that contributed to this mission. This trip is not cheap with the purchasing of airplane tickets, lodging, food, materials for the worksites, etc. I want to let all know that this was money well spent. I wish all of you could have been there to see the excitement and genuine thankfulness for what our missionaries did for this village.
Wood is a commodity in this village; however, they crafted a plaque to thank MPC for our work and we will proudly display this at MPC! It meant the world to us!
Bob Trouteaud was an amazing leader who kept us focused to get the tasks at hand com-pleted daily but also reminded us to have fun and build our relationships as well. We were able to have devotions each night with just the 11 of us each night and discuss the events that occurred each day including the work at the work sites, VBS, and the time we spent with the families in the village. This was so important to tie the work we were doing to the Lord and to scripture. I will assure you that I will do this again and I encourage anyone thinking of doing this…. To Just DO IT!
