Where we started...

Before coming to Honduras, Artie and I were blessed to share in a service of Commissioning by the Honduras Partnership Committee held at my mom's church, Shorey Chapel UCC in Industry, Maine. We were touched by a laying on of hands done by the committee, a beautiful sermon by Rev. Bryan S. Breault, and the support of many loved ones who came out in a snow storm to be with us.

Many thanks to Rev. Gil Healy for his beautiful photography.

Meanwhile in Honduras, David was given a send-off by his friends before his move to Pinalejo, an hour from San Pedro Sula and a whole world away.

Why we are here...

Our main purpose in Honduras is to act as liaisons between those involved in the Maine Honduras Partnership. We help coordinate the logistics for teams traveling between the United States and Honduras.
One component of the work is to organize medical teams that come and work at the clinic in Pinalejo, Honduras (right next door to where we live). The clinic is run by AIEH, the social services network of the Evangelical and Reformed Church (E&R Church) and currently does not have a doctor serving it. Our goal is to host a medical team every month during 2007 so that we can provide free medicine and continuity of care to the people of Pinalejo and the surrounding mountain villages.
The other set of trips that we help to coordinate are construction teams from Maine that have been invited to be part of projects in E&R churches here in Honduras. These projects are spread throughout the northwest corner of Honduras and include building community daycare centers, pastor’s houses, church expansion projects, school kitchens, and classrooms.
In addition to Mainers traveling to Honduras, a delegation of Honduran Youth will be traveling to the United States this summer to attend part of the General Synod gathering to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the United Church of Christ followed by a week at Pilgrim Lodge. Accompanying them will be the President and Vice President of the E&R Church.

In all we do, we work to keep in mind the basic goals of our Partnership as outlined through our covenant together:
· Experience the all-inclusive, world-wide nature of the Church;
· Engage in service that builds up the Body of Christ
· Support Christians in another land to share and live out their

understanding of Christian faithfulness;
· Help the partners deepen their understanding of what each is called to be

and do in their respective settings within the global family;
· Help each to become sensitive to the cultural differences in lifestyle and

daily life concerns of the other;
· Work together for a just peace locally and in the world at large;
· Engage in exchange visits

Introducing...

Here we are: the 2007 Mission Team through the Maine Conference United Church of Christ. We work on behalf of the Maine Honduras Partnership with the Evangelical and Reformed Church of Honduras.

Introductions...from left to right

David R. Lopez: Mission Intern: a native Honduran from San Pedro Sula, completely bilingual due to 7 years of living in Miami, has a great talent for connecting with the Honduran people through his cultural understanding, great at coordinating medical clinics, uses his natural charm to score discounts at hardware stores for church-based projects

Liz Charles: Mission Director: a "PK" from Skowhegan, Maine continuing her work through the Maine Conference in a foreign context, very organized, her tenacity for details allows us to get things done efficiently, her knowledge of Spanish is helpful, working at creating a Pilgrim Lodge utopia in Central America, working on spending more time in a hammock

Artie Flanders: Mission Intern: a native of Wiscasset, ME, a construction specialist who helps us navigate hardware stores and negotiate materials, knows the pharmacy of the Pinalejo clinic like the back of his hand, has the ocean and Pilgrim Lodge in his blood, keeps his machete well sharpened as he loves any excuse to wield a sword as part of his daily life