We were going to work with the Rice Foundation of Texas, who are building a pastoral training center in Copan, and already have opened a mission guest house and a medical clinic with a two-bed operating room. The Rice Foundation is non-denominational, and is staffed by Mr. Ricardo Castro and helpers, who used to work with the Christian Medical Dental Association in Central America. They have been going to the Copan area since 9/2008, and have accomplished a great deal in getting the local evangelical pastors to work together in building for the Lord in Copan, and serving His people.

We had gathered medication samples, flip flops, reading glasses, sunglasses, and vitamins for several months in preparation for our trip. We had packed everything in our travel containers and old luggage when the problems in Honduras began to escalate. Ultimately, 5 team members backed out the week before we left, leaving us without our orthopaedic surgeons and dentist. The rest of us soldiered on with last minute repacking and constantly keeping our eyes on the news, and also on our knees in prayer about the situation. We decided to simply trust in the Lord, and knew that He would lead us and protect us.

First surprise of the trip was at the Atlanta airport, when American Airlines informed us that our wheeled tool carts, with all our construction tools and many key medical supplies, were considered to be "Boxes", and they were not taking boxes to anywhere over the summer. We had to cough up $100 for some covers for the tool kits, and put them in the covers, then, they were "luggage", and could go with us. After that, we got to Miami, and then to San Pedro Sula, Honduras, without much trouble. Once in Honduras, our coordinator, Mr. Ricardo Castro, Executive Director of the Rice Foundation, and a native Honduran, let us know of some more changes in plans. Since the beginning of the political instability, tourism was off over 80% in Honduras, so hotels were empty. As a consequence, we got an upgrade to a very nice hotel in San Pedro Sula, with suites and a nice pool area. Too bad we were only staying one night.

After an interesting and very beautiful drive to the Copan valley area, we settled in at the Hacienda El Jaral, a converted coffee plantation, that is now a hotel complex. The Rice Foundation's new clinic was just up the road, and the mission guest house was down the road, and then up the hill, where only a 4 wheel drive vehicle could go. Some of our team stayed there, and we ate most of our meals there. I have to admit; refried beans, tortillas, and cheese is not my idea of breakfast, however, we generally ate well. Only a few of us got sick from the water, fortunately.

Once in Copan, we set up just off the main central plaza, in a fairly new open air building, that will someday be a shopping area. The pharmacy, physical therapy, and dental team took over the bottom floor, with help from a local Honduran dentist, Dr. Ricardo Elias. Upstairs, all the medical patients first went through registration, then pastoral counseling from all the local pastors who were our helpers for the week. All patients then went to triage, where the nurses took vital signs, gave shots and breathing treatments, and then sent to patients down the hall to either of the medical exam, ultrasound, or the eyeglasses areas. Once they were finished with the exams, they went back down to the pharmacy. At each stop, each patient had a form which indicated their relationship with Jesus Christ. There were 131 professions of faith in Christ, and 32 recommitments out of the 1661 patients we saw in the 4 days of clinic.

On 2 days, we split a smaller medical team to head up the mountains into 2 smaller villages, where we did a general medical clinic only, coupled with a VBS team to work in the local schools and in the villages with the children. Each time, we saw over 100 patients and ministered to many families and children with vitamins, Bible stories, games, and simply showing others the love of Christ.

We also took along a veterinary team, with Dr. Donna Bruce, DVM, who went off to local farms helping out the local farmers with their cows and horses. Our construction team also framed in all the doors, and finished the windows on the first floor of the pastoral training center, in addition to making a lot of new shelves for the center's storeroom.

All in all, it was a long, tiring, and very busy trip, but the Lord was with us the whole time. We never had any problems with the government, the Hondurans were extremely happy to see us and want us to come back soon, and we saw the Lord's hand in all the work that was done that week. We even had a little down time to enjoy the Copan area before the long trip back. The Hondurans were all very warm and friendly, even opening up some of their homes to us for the medical teams to use for the clinics. I have not met a more helpful group in the 10 years I have been doing these trips.

However, you simply have not been on a Central American mission trip until you get to "enjoy" the drive back. NASCAR needs to hire some of these bus drivers to teach the pros how to drive fast, pass on blind curves uphill, and give you more cheap thrills than all the rides at Six Flags. Prayer certainly is the one thing most needed while on the roads in Honduras. We were very happy to see our hotel again, and then the airport the next day. All went well, and we got home without much trouble.

We hope to go again next year, and do more specialty medical clinic work, and continue to build the pastoral training center, if that is the Lord's will. We will keep praying about this, and you should also pray about joining the Lord in His work. Contact Dr. Steve Wilson at wswilson@pol.net, or call his office at 478-322-3800 if you are interested in the next trip.