A
Roof for a Church in Honduras
Jeff Buscher, WJC Campus Minister and Coordinator
of Student Ministries and Service Projects,
relates a student, alumni and staff mission
experience.
As our return flight approached Kansas City
on January 11, students joked about the
stories they could relate when their friends
asked them, "What did you do over Christmas
break?" They were well-armed with many
tales to tell about their adventures in
La Masica, Honduras. For ten days, from
January 1 to 11, five members of the William
Jewell family partnered with skilled workers
from the area to put a roof on a church
building and a small missionary house. Using
wood timbers and steel beams, they made
the church usable for the 50 members that
live in the surrounding village located
about 45 miles inland from the nearest "large"
Honduran city of La Cieba. By the end of
the project the students felt a deep sense
of connectedness to people of La Masica,
an area devastated by Hurricane Mitch in
the mid-90s.
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January
is considered the "rainy season"
in Honduras, and on our third day
of work the workers got a small taste
of the torrential downpours that keep
this tropical country rich in coconuts,
palm trees and banana trees. The brief
shower also helped them realize the
importance of the work being done
for this fledgling church. Up to this
point, the church, consisting of 40
to 50 members, has been squeezing
into small homes to meet on Sundays
and Tuesdays for worship and Bible
study. Due to the growth of church
membership, the church has outgrown
the ability to meet in anyone's home
and it became imperative to put a
roof on the shell of the church, which
had already been constructed. Putting
a roof on the approximately 100' by
40' building would |
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Julie
Hubbard '06, John O'keefe,
WJC Sophomore, Jeff Buscher
'81, Mark Buhlig '95, Rob
Chandler '06 |
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provide
plenty of space for the church members' weekly
meetings. Church members met in the building
for the first time on the Sunday after the
Jewell contingent departed.
A special treat was being able to attend the
church's first baptism service. Five women
were baptized in the cold mountain waters
of Rio San Juan. The church gathered and sang
songs of praise, heard a brief message, and
enjoyed special music from two Jewell students.
The congregation's minister, Pastor David,
baptized each of the new members in the cool
flowing stream.
"The time I spent in Honduras was one
of the most enriching experiences of my college
education," said Julie Hubbard, a senior
from Stewartsville, Mo. "To be immersed
in a culture where the children live with
such innocence, far beyond anything in the
states, was truly convicting. I went with
the idea of blessing others, but in the end
it was me who received the greatest blessing."
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On
the final day of the project, the
roof was on the church, and the materials
were ready to put on the missionary
house. The church members had just
finished a Bible study with the children,
and they knew the Jewell group was
departing the next day; the group
was asked to form a circle in the
center of the newly covered church
building. The church family, about
40 of them, surrounded the folks from
Jewell and began to pray for them.
For 15 to 20 minutes, everyone in
the circle offered up prayers for
the individuals from William Jewell
College. Jeff Buscher noted, "It
was a gratifying |
and humbling experience as they thanked
God for our efforts and prayed for our safe
travel. Our students returned to campus
having received a blessing from this group
and knowing that their efforts helped make
this church a greater blessing in the community."
So. . . What did you during your Christmas
break?
In May, the ministry team will take two
more groups to Honduras, including a health
care team and a construction/ministry team.
For information about these projects contact
Jeff Buscher at buscherj@william.jewell.edu.
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