A Mission to Cataluna

Tuesday we started the day as usual with breakfast and a devotion. We discussed our plans in the village of Cataluna that morning.

During the 2008 mission trip to Honduras, we visited the village of Cataluna for the very first time. Cataluna is a poor community on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa. The town does not have a source of clean water and on our first visit, we distributed bags of water to villagers. There was not a church building in the village either, so a few ladies began holding services in their homes.

This year, we found quite a change. Instead of water bags, we drove through the community with 1500 gallons of water in large tanks. The people would come from their homes with buckets, barrels, bowls, and bottles. We tried to equitably provide around five gallons per home, but the swarm of the thirsty probably resulted in a few families getting more than their share, but as Dale Overman remarked "We didn't bring it to take it back with us!"

Earlier, that day, some of the team divided into three smaller teams, charged with prayer walking and distributing food bags allocated from “Stop Hunger Now” based in Raleigh, NC. Each bag, when prepared according to the instructions, can provide a meal for six people. The instructions are simple; add 6 cups of water and boil for 20 minutes. The food is a good source of protein and essential vitamins and each recipient seemed genuinely grateful.

We asked each family we met if there were specific needs that we could pray for. Many asked for prayers for health or for other members of their family. For some, we prayed that they could find a good job. Some people were curious why we gave them food and didn’t ask for anything in return so we explained that we were not wanting money or anything else, we are just trying to share the love of Jesus. A few of the villagers accepted Jesus as Lord because of that love. All were invited to the center of town later for Bible School and eye clinics.

Those of us that have been to Cataluna before found ourselves smiling at the new church building. 2 years ago, the church met in homes and Bible School was conducted under a shed. Today, there is a church building where the people can worship and we were able to hold Bible School. The physical thirst is still evident in Cataluna, and thanks to some generous donations, the spiritual thirst is being met in the growing church.

Our second eye clinic in Cataluna was a huge success too! Ray and Jennifer tested away in this very poor community and the people were so appreciative! Ashley helped with the testing for distance and enjoyed seeing all of the people file by. God sent us little blessings as we got to witness some “Ah ha” moments. No translator was needed to know when one young man could see the letters on Suzanne’s shirt! His distance vision was so poor that he did not even know there were any letters there until Jennifer put the right prescription in front of him. God is so good! Susan and Meg stayed busy too cleaning and handing out glasses while Edward (11 year old translator) helped ensure the people’s vision was clear. 86 people were helped and our team was elated!

After dinner, we set up an eye clinic for people at Comunion Church. For 2 hours we saw friends from Comunion as well as new faces. The time passed quickly as Ray, Jennifer, Susan and Meg worked hard. Stephanie and Suzanne helped us test for distance vision by holding up letters or letting the people look into their eyes from 10 feet away. The eye clinic saw 47 people and there were more to be seen. We decided to come back on Wednesday night to try and finish seeing all the people. Our bodies are tired but it is a good tired. We know God is sending us many people that need help to improve their vision.

We continued our ladies crafts program Tuesday night with making hair bows. The children continued to learn karate from Sam and the men continued making pens with Dale, Raymond and Doug.