We have partnered with a team from Hillside United Methodist Church in Towne Lake, which has taken a mission trip to Emmanuel Orphanage before. Our trip will build on Heritage Presbyterian Church’s mission work in our community, through the food bank and Santa’s Caravan, for example. And it will come after the recent successful mission trip to a farm in Arkansas run by the nonprofit Heifer International, which fights hunger.
What are we doing in Honduras? Some of us will break a sweat digging a trench for an irrigation pipe. That will help the orphanage stay self-sufficient by giving cows more pasture (they provide milk for about 415 orphans). Others will play soccer and do craft projects with the children and run activities like you’d see at Vacation Bible School – basically we’ll get to know children who crave individual attention.
We’ll also participate in devotionals and worship services held at the orphanage, which an American couple founded about 20 years ago. They host church groups from the U.S. year-round. So they’re used to American guest. You do not have to speak Spanish (most who go know no Spanish).
Get a sense of what the mission trip is like by watching this video made by the teens from Hillside last year:
This quote in the video, from a woman on the last Hillside trip, sums up the experience:
“We come down here thinking that we’re going to help the individuals that live here, we’re going to make a difference in their lives and – surprise – we come back a changed individual.”
Visit the orphanage’s website at Orphanage Emmanuel.