Three Henderson Health Care employees were able to travel to Tegucigalpa, Honduras with a World Gospel Outreach (WGO) medical mission team June 30 – July 7. Nurses Jerri Janzen, Sue Sullivan and Jerri’s daughter Taylor who is a student at UNL and works part-time at the HHCS hospital were part of a WGO 21 member team that helped treat and evangelize Hondurans.
Sullivan first learned about WGO through her church in Utica back in 2005 and this year was her fourth trip to Honduras. “WGO conducts 50 of these volunteer medical mission trips a year,†said Sullivan. “We were able to run a clinic in a church providing free medical, optical, and dental care for Hondurans who lined up every day,†said Janzen.
Besides treating medical conditions, they were able to evangelize those that were treated.
“We stayed in a very nice mission house provided by WGO and got up at 5:30 A.M. every morning for devotionals and breakfast and then a school bus would take us to the small church where we worked,†said Sullivan. With the assistance of interpreters, Sullivan and Janzen would see about 60-90 people a day.
The lack of clean water is a major problem in the city and the poor living conditions create much pollution. As a result they treated many people for parasites, allergy related conditions, tooth decay and dehydration. “Surprisingly the people we saw were very clean and if you would see how they do their laundry and what little clean water they have it was amazing,†said Janzen.
They did not come to Honduras empty-handed. Each of them packed and brought several trunks weighing just under 50 pounds loaded full of medicines such as ibuprofen, eye glasses and common toiletries for the clinics. Taylor who is a student at UNL was able with the assistance of one of her nutrition class professors to involve three classes in collecting these items. “My professor awarded bonus points to students who donated. They ended up going overboard and donated 25 boxes of supplies,†said Taylor.
“This trip was a real eye-opener for me. I got a firsthand look at a different culture, their faith and how their church works,†said Taylor. While there Taylor assisted in dental extractions, helped with eye care, mixed and poured concrete for home floors and worked with the children ministry. She shared the Gospel through stories and songs and as part of the program all the children received head checks for lice. “We washed and treated those that had lice and washed their hair even if they didn’t. We then had fun styling and braiding their hair,†said Taylor.
World Gospel Outreach says as part of its mission that it “wants to provide opportunity for the North American Church to experience the joy of serving†and that is exactly what these three experienced. “You go there wanting to help and end up really being blessed by these people,†said Sullivan. What is really exciting for Sullivan is that since her first trip in 2005 she has seen tremendous growth in the number of Christians and as a result their churches have expanded.
“This trip certainly has changed me and I can understand why people from these countries want to come to the United States,†said Janzen. They both heard some very sad stories from young women about their difficult and sometimes complex lives, yet they were able to pray with them.
If you are interested in finding out more about World Gospel Outreach, go to their website at www.wgoreach.org. They have many opportunities for volunteers throughout the year to serve on their medical mission trips.
Shannon Siebert
