First Baptist Church of Pine Island making a difference with Gospel Outreach
First Baptist Church of Pine Island, team leader Jody Link reports that the Honduras trip made this past July went very well indeed.
“Nineteen members of the local First Baptist church of Pine Island had the opportunity to impact children and families in the mountain town of San Matias, outside of the capital city of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Rancho Ebenezer is a mountain side ranch operated by World Gospel Outreach that takes in abandoned children from the capital city. These children are given a bilingual education, and skills to allow them to leave the ranch as adults and be able to have meaningful employment in Honduras. In July, there were 39 children at the ranch. We ran a vacation Bible school, instructed local students and residents in sewing skills, and had maintenance type work we were able to perform for them. We also went into four residences in the town and installed a clean water filtration system. We also were requested to assist with a local school having septic problems. It was a great experience for all Southwest Florida team members,” Link said.
Link said a group of 5 Pine Islanders will go back in October to work on the septic system for the elementary school, while using locals for heavier work such as digging or whatever is needed. Although there are no plans to go back for now, Link said perhaps in a couple of years the church may make plans to head back to the Honduras and that if they are invited, they would certainly go back.
“We’ve got plenty of projects locally as well. You don’t want to do too much planning not knowing what Mother Nature’s gonna spring on us, but this was a great experience for the whole group,” Link said.