from the Presbytery

 We are thrilled to have fourteen participants for the upcoming Spring Break Mission Trip.  Seven college students will be joining the trip representing the University of Arkansas, NWACC, and the University of the Ozarks.  The students are natives of the U.S., Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. Rev. Jesse Gonzalez, Rev. Phil Butin of Fayetteville and Rev. Jeremy Wilhelmi, Chaplain at U of O, will also be joining the trip.  

The Honduras Mission Sub-Committee is grateful to receive scholarship funds from First United Presbyterian in Fayetteville, Second Presbyterian in Little Rock, First Presbyterian of Jacksonville, and especially Harmony Presbyterian Church of Clarksville. The Harmony Church took it upon themselves to run an essay contest for a single U of O student scholarship, of $1,500, which created a fantastic amount of interest in the ministry, trip, and future participation.

This mission trip will be led by Leigh Woodruff of FUPC Fayetteville; her sixth trip to lead.  The group will drive down to fly out of Dallas and into Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras.  They will be staying at Villa de Gracia, the camp and conference center owned and operated by the Presbyterian Women of Honduras.  The group is grateful to have a continued relationship with In-Country Coordinator, Alex Rodas.  He is an invaluable asset to the leadership, group, and Honduran Presbytery.

This group will travel to the city of Guiamaca to work on a church building damaged by a hurricane.  We will do cement work to rebuild walls, paint the interior, and provide funds for later work on bathrooms and the roof.  We plan to visit the house the 2023 group worked on to tour the progress and visit other area churches.  A youth bible study has been planned as well as a group outing to a park for lunch and soccer.  As always, they plan to have a “tourist day” to enjoy the local culture and shopping.

How can you get involved?  First, we ask you to add us to your prayers both personally and from the pulpit with your entire church.  Secondly, we ask you to set aside scholarship funds for either your church members or college students for future trips.  Lastly, please promote this mission of the presbytery to your church members.  We would love to have more participation from across the presbytery.

If you would like more information on the Honduras Ministry Sub-committee, contact Leigh Woodruff at leighwoodruff83@gmail.com or (479) 601-1437.