Nothing can describe the impact left on someone after going on a mission trip. The experiences one has while in an unfamiliar place, working with people you have possibly never met, and being completely out of your comfort zone can influence you more than anything. The members of the 2009 Honduras mission team had that exact experience over winter break. The journey began early Saturday morning at the Atlanta airport. Fifteen students and four teachers flew into Tegucigalpa and headed to the state of Olancho and the “Rancho el Paraiso.”

The group worked with an organization called Honduras Outreach, which was founded in 1989 and serves nearly 200 villages in the Olancho area. Each day, the team traveled to the village of Coronado to work alongside Hondurans, aiding them in whatever projects that needed to be completed. Over the course of four days, the team helped construct thirteen floors, two roofs, two room additions, four latrines, and two water connections. In addition to working on various projects, each morning different members of the team taught a vacation Bible school at the village school. It was truly amazing to see the immediate connection between the “norteamericanos” and the Honduran children. Communication can be made even without words; all you need is a smile and some laughter.

After the trip, coming back to the states was extremely difficult. The team bonded with one another and became closer than we could have imagined, especially over a short period of time. One of the rules on the trip was “no technology.” Cell phones were allowed only in the Atlanta airport; iPods and any other technology were not allowed at all on the trip. At first, that was a hard thing to accept. Honestly, most people, myself included, are addicted to their technology. It was a sad, but eye-opening realization. But as the trip went on, the team had the opportunity to bond even more because of it. And sometimes, being disconnected from the world can be a very, very good thing. Quite a few of the team members did not even want to turn on their phones upon arrival at the Atlanta airport. As a whole, the trip held so many amazing experiences that it is difficult to even begin to mention all of them. God worked in so many ways on the trip. We can only hope that we blessed the Honduran people, but we know that they blessed us.