Behind the Scenes of the Manna 4 Lempira trip

Pastor Alfredo, of the Betania center, greets
the visiting sponsors

In the last post, we learned what a mission trip to Honduras was like for Manna 4 Lempira sponsor, Stephanie Green. Now, we get to hear about the trip from a different perspective. Allen was able to fill me in on the preparations that went into making that trip run smoothly. I won’t call it a logistical nightmare, but it’s definitely a logistical challenge!

Allen said, “A few weeks ago, we sent out notices to the pastors at each of the sponsorship programs, to let them know which kids' sponsors would be coming. We arranged for those children to come to their church, on the day the sponsors were visiting that center, to wait there for us to arrive and go out to their homes.”

The logistics are a bit mind-blowing when it comes to sending out a team of sponsors for home visits with their own sponsored children. It means taking them in all different directions, each with a translator, sponsored child, and photographer. That’s anywhere from six to ten people heading out for each home visit. After that visit, they return to the church and, often, the sponsor heads out to a different location. Some sponsors have as many as ten to twelve home visits in a day.

Caroline visits the home of Greisi

The timing is tricky, too. Allen said, “You never know how long a visit will last. It may be ten or fifteen minutes. But sometimes you get there and mom has made a pot of soup for the visiting gringo. The kids are going crazy wanting to show their sponsor their pets and stuff. The kids are also excited to show their sponsors all of the things they have received from them, and saved! It's hard to cut short a visit that has been so enthusiastically anticipated!”

Some of the houses are right on the side of the road. Getting to other houses may require a 45-minute walk from the side of the road. Allen likes these visits, because it gives the sponsors an idea of how the kids really live. He said, “They see the living situations and how poor some of these kids really are. It’s very impactful to walk into a 10x10 house with a dirt floor and no mattress. They see a mat rolled up in the corner and know that’s where everyone sleeps at night. We think it’s very important for sponsors to see that - so they know what a difference they are making.”

Caleb prepares to visit the home of a sponsored child

A typical day means having team members visit about twenty different houses with thirty different kids. That number can go as high as forty houses in one day. Fortunately, the logistical burden is eased when siblings or close relations are sponsored by the same person.

A truckload of kids from Quelacasque arrive for swimming day!

The kids are invited to go swimming the day after the home visit. On the morning of the swimming day, Allen and Russell send out multiple vehicles to pick up the kids. Sometimes family members accompany the children. Occasionally, a pastor and Sunday school teacher go along, too. Typically, for the Manna program swim day, seven translators come to the swimming day. Plus, there’s always a photographer and a videographer. It’s not uncommon for a team to want to do something extra on the swimming day. Some teams like to take a pinata with them. Others like to have a birthday cake for all of the kids, since the sponsors can’t be there for each birthday.

There are also all of the regular duties related to hosting a team - transporting them back and forth to the airport, and making sure their needs are handled during the week. Moving gringos around in the tropics requires preparation. The vehicles have to be ready to travel the rough roads without any issues. Bottles of Gatorade, water, and ice are purchased to fill a cooler in each truck.

Allen and Russell’s goal is to take care of these details so everything will run efficiently and the team members can concentrate on the business of building relationships.

 - posted by Christi