One month ago, a Simple Matters mission team traveled to Honduras to serve alongside partners Mario and Keila. During the last week of July, team members from North and South Carolina served the Honduran people through medical clinics, construction projects, gospel conversations, and fellowship. Board members Denise Cook, Scott Dove, and Debbie Teague served on the pharmacy team.
The construction team built new bathrooms for the school at Chiquistepe after the previous facilities were destroyed in a weather-related event. The team completed the work using local methods—making and carrying sand, hauling blocks, mixing mortar, and then moving into the final construction.
The medical team cared for 569 patients across five medical clinics. At each clinic, children enjoyed activities designed especially for them, complete with plenty of coloring and fun—and sunglasses. Team members also shared many gospel conversations, and the gospel was preached to everyone who came through the clinic.
Mario shared a powerful story during the team’s final clinic of the week in Cofradía. In the 1990s, an English missionary ran a kindergarten in El Naranjál for children from both El Naranjál and Cofradía. When Hurricane Mitch struck in 1998, she tried to help the children from Cofradía return home by crossing a flooding river. She did not make it across, and she and all but one of the children died in the flood. The surviving child later moved to Tegucigalpa and attended Renacer Bautista Iglesia, the church pastored by Keila’s father. She told church leaders about El Naranjál, and through that connection, Renacer planted Renacer del Naranjál in the village. For many years, however, people in Cofradía carried deep resentment toward El Naranjál, blaming the village for the loss of their children and wanting no relationship with its residents. This year, through Mario’s friendship with Fidel and Fidel’s tireless work with local leaders, the village allowed Simple Matters to hold a medical clinic at the school in Cofradía. After many years, relationships have begun to heal.
Through every mission team, every Health Matters Clinic, and every John Cook Scholarship recipient, lives are being changed by your praying, your giving, and your going. Partner with Simple Matters and help bring change to lives. Make a difference!
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