Contributed photo
A mission team from Second Baptist Church in Hamlet builds a home for a Honduran family last year.
Contributed photo
Each year, churches send teams to Honduras to build permanent homes, teach Bible school and administer medicine. This year, Second Baptist Church is planning to build another home and First Baptist Church will be sending a medical team.
The Second Baptist Church of Hamlet is planning its next mission trip to Honduras, where members plan to build a house for a needy family.
According to team leader Trent Strickland, $3,000 will pay for all the materials needed, which are cinder blocks, mortar, cement and a tin roof. Strickland is putting together a team of 12-14 people to travel to Honduras Oct. 1-9.
“You don’t have to be a skilled block layer to go down and do the work,” said Strickland, who said his team will include both men and women.
In Honduras, the team will meet up with Richmond County natives Mike and Ginger Green, who have been living in Honduras for the past two years. The team will also meet up with a Honduran construction leader who is also a pastor.
Together, Strickland said they will build a 25-by-19-foot home for a family they will learn more about closer to the date of the trip.
Strickland said last year he and his wife, Clara, went to Honduras with First Baptist Church of Hamlet to construct a home for a needy family, and have since been inspired to go again.
“The Honduran people don’t have good housing,” said Strickland. “Most of it is temporary, mud or adobe brick housing that will wash away in the rainy season they have. It’s not adequate. And for a family to get a cinder block house that is a permanent structure is a good thing.”
Strickland said Hondurans are poor, lack infrastructure and have no safety net in place.
“All the work in the villages is done through the churches,” said Strickland. “The people are just fantastic. They have a lot of needs.”
While the Second Baptist team will be building a house and teaching Bible school, another mission trip is being planned. According to Strickland, the First Baptist Church is planning a trip to Honduras and will by flying down there the day after the Second Baptist Church comes home. The First Baptist Church will be sending a medical team to Honduras.
Second Baptist Church of Hamlet’s Pastor Chris Hawkes said he has gone to Honduras the past two years. The first year he helped build a home for a family. He said he gained perspective the second time he went because he could see how having the new home impacted the family.
“At first I thought, does building one home make a difference?” said Hawkes. “They were without hope, on the verge of being homeless. Now they are thriving and doing well. They just do not have the means to get that little push to have what we consider a normal life. It’s such a relief for them not to worry their home will wash away when the rains come. Now they have hope, encouragement, they’ve planted a garden and began to raise animals.”
Hawkes said he was impressed by how appreciative the Hondurans are, and how eager they are to help each other. He said the family having the house built got help from their neighbors, who still live in mud huts. Hawkes said that, upon returning, he felt like the team received a blessing like the Hondurans did.
“We try to build homes, and relationships to give them hope,” said Hawkes. “They want to work but there is no work there. There is nothing that is going to help them. We love them and God loves them, and they get that. I’m excited about going back this year.”
The Greens, who have lived in Honduras for the past two years, have a blog they update after each team leaves. You can visit their blog by going to http://www.ncbmhonduras.blogspot.com/.
— Staff Writer Dawn M. Kurry can be reached at 910-997-3111, ext. 15, or by email at dkurry@heartlandpublications.com.
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