Wednesday, May 12, 2004

Providence UMC team returns from mission trip to Honduras

Providence UMC recently sent a 13-person mission team to work in El Pino, Honduras to build a medical clinic and organize children’s programs for the village.

George Axford, a member of the team, said “It was extremely hot and humid on the job site since we arrived just after there had been several days of torrential rain, which had washed out one of the major roads to the town, but every minute of the trip was a great experience and one that I will never forget.”

During the one-week mission, the team started the clinic from scratch, forming concrete walls by hand and pouring the equivalent of two concrete transport trucks worth of concrete in two days. Next, the walls were finished with stucco and all doors and windows were installed. Many local unemployed Honduran men were employed to assist in the construction effort; a huge boost to the local economy.

Expected to be operational late this summer, the clinic will provide essential health care services to the 5,000 residents of the village of El Pino. A Honduran nurse will staff the clinic, providing hands-on medical care as well as preventive health, nutrition, and prenatal educational services. The nurse’s salary will be funded by the North Georgia United Methodist Conference.

The Providence mission team also conducted two Vacation Bible School sessions each day for the children of El Pino, who eagerly participated in songs, face painting and other activities.

Pam Todd, who helped with the children’s programs, said, “Many of the children came through the line several times — they would just point to what they wanted painted next. None of us were fluent in Spanish and they could not speak English, but we made up for the lack of a common language with lots of gestures, songs and smiles.”

This was the first mission trip for Todd, wife of the associate pastor at Providence.

“My husband always comes home from a mission trip excited about all they had done, so I wanted to give it a try,” she said. “It was amazing how you go there thinking you are going to help these desperately poor people, yet you come away from it having received so much more than you gave.”

Philip Foster, who chronicled the trip with video and photos, came back to Fayette County with great appreciation for the Honduran people.

“They have so very little when you compare it to all of the possessions that we have in our community,” Foster said. “Yet, they have so much faith and know that the things that we worry about really don’t mean much when it comes right down to it. It was a privilege to assist their community and it’s great to know that Providence is making a difference in this tiny town in Central America.”

The trip, a component of a continuing mission effort begun in 2002 to support Methodist communities in Honduras, was coordinated and managed by the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church, represented on-site by Ken Lowery, from Cannon UMC in Gwinnett County.

Honduran churches in La Ceiba, El Pino and San Franciso, have been assisted by Methodist mission efforts over the two year span with construction of an education building, fellowship hall, pastor’s apartment; church site property purchase and church construction, and the addition of a commercial kitchen.

Providence UMC, which participates in local, regional, and international community assistance and mission projects, is the lead church for the Square Foot Ministries house build in Fayetteville, scheduled May 15-22, for the Curtis Petty family. Providence is in southern Fayette County on Bernhard Rd. between Redwine Road and Ga. Hwy 85.

For more information, call the church office, 770-719-8800.