Please note that this post contains affiliate links and any sales made through such links will reward MageeNews.com a small commission – at no extra cost to you.
A Trip of a Lifetime
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” Isaiah 6:8. For the passed four years, this has been the verse I replay in my head as I board the bus for New Orleans to get on a plane and embark on the greatest week of my life.
My very first trip to Honduras was in June of 2012. This year will always stick out to me because my family was experiencing a loss. My cousin and a man I was very close to, Lannie Bob Stewart, was very sick with cancer. The night before I left for the trip I contemplated not going, my family needed me, and I needed to be there for them. When I was visiting Lannie at home, I asked him, “Should I go or stay home?” He mouthed the words, “go.” I knew that God was placing me where I needed to be that week.
That week in 2012, I worked in the pharmacy section of the clinic in Honduras. What I call the “clinic,” was basically school classrooms, where we put our tables together that we stacked with medicines to fill prescriptions. Every, single, night that my head hit the pillow I was the most tired I had ever been, but each day I was also more blessed than I had ever been. I experienced seeing poverty first hand and I never knew there were people in this world that had to experience such hard conditions. One may see poverty on the television or hear it on the radio, but it is so different to see it face-to-face.I specifically remember handing a bar of soap to a woman and tears rolled down her face, that moment changed me as a person.
This year on my trip, I worked in the eyeglasses. My very first day working in the eye glasses, the optometrist and I had been working about ten minutes to find a specific pair of glasses for a lady because her eye sight was very poor. After trying many glasses, we finally found a pair to best suit her needs. Although there was a language barrier, the lady hugged me so tight and as tears fell from her eyes, she gave me a kiss on the cheek. She began speaking to me in Spanish, and thankfully with our translators help, I was happy to know that she hadn’t been able to read her bible in two years, and because of her new glasses, she could now read God’s word. I remember having to walk to the back of the classroom to pull myself together; that moment is one I will cherish forever. After my first trip to Honduras in 2012, I have also traveled in 2013, as well as 2015, and with school on my agenda as well, I hope to go every single year that I am capable. Our team is associated with B.M.D.M.I (Baptist Medical and Dental Missions International). The people of Honduras have to go through a church service to get the supplies they need. After seeing a doctor, they receive supplies such as medicine, clothing, shoes, rice and beans, eyeglasses, hygiene items, etc. Our team is made up of preachers, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, dental assistants, veterinarians, optometrists, and many, many volunteers. We also help provide a children’s church, which is basically like bible school, and at the end of the week the children perform what they have learned during the week. We also have many people who work behind the scenes to help our team so that we can fulfill the needs of these people. Our kitchen team works from early in the morning until late at night so that they can provide our team with meals and keep us hydrated so that we can work to the best of our ability. Our team leader is Mr. Jim Brewer and his two right hand men Mr. Mike Keith, and Mr. Dick Wendt. There are so many people and churches that help organize this trip and if I were to list the names of everyone I would forget someone.
I feel as though I speak for myself as well as every person that goes on the trip when I say, the people of Honduras make a much greater impact on us than we do them. We take this trip in hopes that we can show Christ and bring medical assistance to these people of Honduras, but at the end of the day, we are shown the much greater blessing. This year on my trip as I was saying goodbye to our wonderful translators, I was told if I was ever in Honduras and needed a place to stay, I always had a pillow to rest my head and a hot meal to eat. In my opinion, that showed the most gratitude I had ever been shown in my life. When speaking with someone about mission trips, especially if they have never gone, I often get asked, “Why do you go to Honduras when you can help people right here in Magee?” This is true, but I always answer with, “God gives us 52 weeks in a year, 51 of those can help people in Magee, and the 1 week can help those in Honduras.” This trip is not a vacation, it is very hard physical, and mental work, but it is the biggest blessing one can receive. Every person should experience what I have by going on a mission trip, I can promise you; it will change your life forever.
