Missionaries bring back an unforgettable gift

Members of Rejoice Lutheran Church in Geneva who went on a mission trip to Honduras last fall. From left, third row: Paulette Ritter, Sam Messina, Deann Edgers, Allan Smith, Carissa Katovski, George Coyle, Karen Katovski, Scott Fellin, Amy Snodgrass, Kim Keller-Eck, Rick Beaty and Mike Jostes. From left, second row: Beth Conrad, Trish Natvig, Pastor Lou Quetel, Debbie Wilhite, Jim Westberg and Ron Entzinger. From left, first row: Wendy Gruber, Carl Schleyer, Dan Bielenberg, Denise Dahms and Joy Entzinger.

Trish Natvig, front row, Debbie Wilhite, middle row, and Beth Conrad, back, spend time with Honduran children during a mission trip.

What happens when you take 25 average people from North America and remove them from a normal busy life and put them in one of the most poverty stricken countries of Central America to bring hope and much needed medical attention to the Honduran people?

Extraordinary things.

The missionaries from Rejoice Lutheran Church in Geneva traveled last fall with everything they needed in one carry-on bag as the 100-pound suitcase they were entitled to check was traded in for a chest filled with medicine donated by church members and the surrounding Mill Creek community.

"It was fascinating," said Kit Bielenberg. "The first glimpse of God's hand in this was during our packing party the night before we left. I was truly worried that we wouldn't have enough medicine to fill the 40 chests and I was prepared to go to the pharmacy and purchase more the next day.

"I was truly amazed, as we packed the final chest, we had just enough space for that last bottle of aspirin."

Many missionaries spoke of the plane ride to the area, which will not soon be forgotten. It required great skill by the pilot to navigate the plane onto a narrow landing strip carved out between the mountains.

"This travel was so interesting because it was a third world country with a strikingly beautiful landscape, like what you might see in National Geographic" Pastor Lou Quetel said.

"Yet, each turn around the mountain, more trash and tin roofed shacks would emerge amidst this breathtaking landscape."

Quetel says of the terrain: "Roads were stony paths on steep high hills with no real infrastructure, most being improvised. It was scary, traveling on one-lane stone roads in Tegucigalpa Valley amidst seven large hills, approaching blind curves with quite a bit of traffic and people walking."

Quetel said on the one-hour ride to the mission site "it was tough to endure this bumpy ride with the smelly, gritty, heavy diesel fuel." Many would begin to ponder on this first trek to the mission site, "What have we gotten ourselves into?"

But among the seemingly devastating circumstances, beauty and an unshaken faith was discovered.

"This outreach is one of the most effective in terms of both serving and being served," Quetel said.

Wendy Gruber is proof of that, as one resident made a profound impression on her.

"I saw a woman across the room and I thought to myself 'that is someone I hope I get to talk with at my station,'" she said. "She just had this intriguing glow about her and a permanent smile.

"Then, my prayer was answered and as we spoke, she expressed this exuberant joy even though she lived as a single mom in an 8-by-10 shack with a dirt floor, no electricity or running water and four children, some of who were very sick.

"I thanked her for showing me her strong faith and told her of how she made a powerful impression on me. This woman was so incredibly humbled as she said with pure excitement that she never imagined she would come to the medical brigade and inspire someone else."

Gruber said leaving her cell phone, to do list and family duties behind for eight days was such a blessing because it allowed her to solely focus on relationships.

A real sense for the grinding poverty there is realized as Quetel recounts what he saw in one of the homes that received a concrete floor.

"There were six mattresses on a dirt floor -- no furniture, no sinks, two nails on the wall with two mugs, a Bunsen burner, and a clothes line with three shirts. This was the sole possession of the seven or eight people that live there," he said.

"And you think, 'my goodness, this is about as grim as it could get' but in contrast, these people's lack of material possessions does not define their state of mind because they possess a very pure contentment. They have a perspective about life that we don't have. It's like we are living in this materialistic force field. So what happens is that we learn about the basics of what it means to be a human being and what it means to show love in a very hands on way."

There are many examples of this, one of which is how three missionary members overcame some very difficult conditions to install this concrete floor as a rainstorm created a muddy landslide.

"It was literally a wall of mud flowing at 50 degree angles right in their path of travel," Quetel said.

They thought the truck would never make it up the hill. When they finished putting in the concrete floor, the lives of these seven people improved in a phenomenal way because a dirt floor carried with it many problems like rats and bugs coming up through the ground and those living inside could never be clean; even the babies would crawl around in it.

"When we were finished, I felt like we were in a scene from Extreme Home Makeover when they move the bus," Gruber said. "But this was that times a hundred -- the muddy workers entered and the homeowner stood up on a chair with the group laying hands on her as she spoke of her incredible gratitude. There wasn't a dry eye in the shack"

Besides the concrete floor ministry, the missionaries served on a medical brigade that was set up at an area church offering optical, dental, medical, pharmacy and evangelism for adults and children.

Quetel said there is a lot of poverty and such an extensive need for simple medical care that is so available to us, it's difficult to comprehend.

At one station, the missionaries also washed the children's hair for many of them had lice.

"For them, it's like Christmas when we put a little two-cent barrette in their hair," Quetel said.

"To see these big, burly men bent over gently washing children's hair with such vigor, joy, and humility made me think of disciples washing feet," Gruber said. She explained how a little Honduran girl who received one of the gospel bracelets came running back to hug her goodbye while whispering "I'm not sure I can remember what all the colors mean, but I do remember the green one is for friends and I'm glad God created you to be my friend for two days" solidifying for Wendy that life truly is all about relationships.

The Honduran people are so appreciative that North American people would come all this way and do this for them.

"Upon our arrival, the people came out to greet us, it was like a welcoming parade," said Beth Conrad. "They even laid down sawdust bags to keep the dirt off our shoes and it felt like 'red carpet' treatment. You know, many are under the impression they hate the Americans -- but most of the Americans they see are missionaries, so we felt like celebrities they were glad to have there.

"However, it was a little bothersome because we wanted them to know we are just like them. Many times, we admired the faith they had, we wish we could have that kind of pure joy without all the materialism."

She added, "They are stripped of all the things we work so hard to have -- and it seems to clear the way for better things."

Along with the extraordinary stories that come from an expedition like this, is great reflection as a missionary made the comment that the $4 cup of coffee they were sipping on made them think about how that amount of money would feed an entire family of six for a week in Honduras.

"Quite frankly, what is so difficult to process when we return is that this was a noble and equally grim expedition. The fact is there was so much joy and laughter -- amidst the shudders in horror. We, as missionaries, are forever changed by this experience," Quetel said.

The pastor was grateful for the experience.

"There are so many dimensions of learning from something like this," he said. "We will never stop learning from it."