By Eleanor Simons
Grace Church has been involved with Honduras since 1991 when the first team went down to paint the Episcopal Conference Center. The weather was hot and the work was hard but rewarding. We did not get to know many Hondurans. A side trip to El Hogar and an invitation to work there started us thinking about future mission trips.
The next trips were to work at El Hogar or at the Farm, putting up ceilings, painting the church inside and outside, or painting classrooms. In addition to working we played, sang, ate, talked, laughed, and worshiped with the boys. You can’t go there to work and not be touched by the wonderful job that is being done with those boys, and today girls are included.
People used to ask, “Why not just send the money?” The answer is easy. For me it was a life changing experience. I learned a new appreciation for everything I have. I got to know people living in poverty that loved the Lord and shared what little they had. I look at the world differently today after those trips. Eliana French Sammons made two trips to El Hogar and says, “Going to El Hogar allowed me to see the world outside of my own experiences. Jesus was at work and just as present in the lives of the kids my age there and it put the size and scope of his creation into a whole new perspective.”
Even during the years when we have not gone on mission trips we have remembered the boys. They needed new underwear and socks a few years ago. Other churches sent used clothing, but not underwear or socks. We sent enough so that each boy could have two new pairs of socks and underwear. Another year they needed towels and we sent two for each boy. We have sent jeans, new not used, and sneakers. Grace Church will continue to support El Hogar, and you are invited to join in this meaningful work.
