14 Jul 2014 Medical mission trip to Honduras

Christ the King’s Honduras medical mission trip began on Saturday, May 28, with the departure of an “early team” with the purpose of making sure everything was unloaded, separated and delivered to the correct destination before the rest of the missionaries arrived the following weekend.  

From St. Joseph Parish, the early team included Veronica Bausom and Rita Strause, who joined 12 other dedicated missionaries for this necessary logistical undertaking (a huge semi-truckload of materials was shipped early and was combined with previously warehoused items).  

Other missionaries began arriving on Friday, June 6, with the final arrivals on Saturday, June 7.  Clinics operated Sunday, June 8, through Friday, June 14, with boxing remaining supplies and restocking the warehouse on Saturday, June 15, followed by a departure at 10:30 p.m. to begin the journey home.

The CTK Honduras medical mission includes transforming rudimentary classrooms and community centers into three vitally important medical clinics (with a pharmacy and reading glasses station) that are the only source of medical care for many Hondurans all year. At the eye clinic, individuals were screened and “prescriptions” filled with corrective lenses. A community center was transformed into a dental clinic where oral health screenings and the extractions of hundreds of decayed teeth were conducted.

A construction team focused this year on running electrical services through a convent school and other needed repairs. The mission also included establishing a medical clinic in the Trujillo hospital and staffing two operating rooms with surgeons, nurses and an anesthesiologist to provide numerous orthopedic and general surgeries.

A school team assisted public school teachers in skills lessons, PE lessons and Bible study.  

More than 6,000 Hondurans were served, and about 100 missionaries were blessed to have been a part of this service.

Along with Veronica and Rita, St. Joseph Church supported missionary efforts of:

• Craig Strause, assisting on the construction team.

• Susan Denys, who provided physician services at the rural clinic in the Maranones community.

• Mary Leath, who oversaw a dozen teens who lived their faith through a wide variety of service opportunities throughout the mission.

• Kate and Alan Caffrey, who provided nursing triage and clinic leadership in the Los Leones community.

• Father John Marconi, who provided spiritual blessings throughout the week to not only the Hondurans served but also to the missionaries.

This is the second year that St. Joseph Church has provided support for missionaries for the CTK Honduras medical mission trip. Next year, Christ the King will be providing another opportunity for service about the same timeframe in June. Physicians, nurses, pharmacists, construction workers, bilingual missionaries and spirit-filled individuals are welcomed and needed.