New Year, New Blessings
2023 has come and gone, and Manos de Dios kicked off the new year, 2024, with a bang. What better way to start the year than to travel to the beautiful country of Honduras and serve God’s people, our friends, who live there? Manos de Dios chooses to start 2024 by being a blessing to others.
This mission trip has been in the works for many months, starting all the way back in August of 2023. Since then, Manos de Dios missionaries have been working closely with our Honduran partners and friends to bring about this January adventure. Together, we planned and executed the following for these areas:
Education
Graduation Party
Manos de Dios celebrated the latest round of high school graduates. This event gave the students a chance to spend time together and celebrate their successes before going off to college.
Scholarship Awards and Ceremony
Manos de Dios interviewed and awarded the latest candidates for the Manos de Dios scholarship. After conducting interviews, members of the mission team visited the homes of the candidates to deliver the good news. ¡Te sacaste la beca! You got the scholarship!
Scholarship Awards and Ceremony
Manos de Dios hosted a ceremony at Iglesia Manos de Dios and brought the community together to celebrate and honor scholarship students from past and present. We currently have 53 scholarship students in our Manos program including 27 in grades 7th-12th and 26 in college. This is the largest number of college students since the inception of the program back in 2001.
Honor Roll Dinner
This dinner was a special moment for the families of the high achieving graduates. The efforts of the students and their families were recognized in this event.
Career Fair
This event marked a unique opportunity for our graduated Manos Scholarship recipients to give back. Manos college students and current professionals organized and led an event focused on career paths for the younger scholarship students.
Club Aventura Book Club
Manos de Dios hosted a meeting for members of Club Aventura, the literature club. “The Island of Missing Trees” by Elif Shafak was the source of the discussion, as it was the latest book Club Aventura had chosen to read.
Club Intercambio “Around The World” Fair
The language exchange club, Club Intercambio, organized and hosted a fair of countries around the world as an exhibition project to showcase their mastery of the English language. The Manos Missionaries were treated to this fair and given the opportunity to speak English to our Manos English-as-a-second-language (ESL) students.
Outreach
Vision Clinics: Manos de Dios and El Buen Pastor Churches
Manos de Dios carried out a series of vision clinics in two locations: Iglesia Manos de Dios in Danlí and Iglesia El Buen Pastor in Santa Maria. Locals came in and had their vision checked. We were able to fit 256 pairs of reading glasses and made 126 referrals for nearsightedness to a local optometrist that we have partnered with in the last few years. This clinic was a great ministry opportunity where our missionaries prayed with and offered solutions to locals in need.
Copa Manos
Copa Manos 2024 marked the return of a fan-favorite community outreach event. This event promotes the healthy athletic lifestyle of soccer and calls the community together to support the youth who participate. This edition of Copa Manos featured more teams in a tournament style format as well as an exhibition match for the smaller children.
Proyecto Manos Fit
Our Manos Fit event featured a nutritionist’s presentation and a Zumba class led by local professionals. This event kicks off an initiative of promoting fitness and health in the community of Danlí.
Casitas Project: Manos De Dios Church
For our signature “Casitas Project”, we chose to give Iglesia Manos de Dios some much needed care by painting the outer walls and fences. This update gives the church a much-needed restoration and a sense of welcoming to our congregation and the local community.
Visit to Ojo de Agua: St. Mark’s Kindergarten Project
A small team was sent to investigate the updates and work that has been sponsored by St. Mark’s Episcopal in San Marcos at a local kindergarten in Ojo de Agua. This program started over 10 years ago and the latest updates include a breakfast program and the improvement of the school campus.
Spiritual Growth
Vacation Bible School
VBS was organized and led by a special team on two occasions. In Danlí, VBS was part of Iglesia Manos de Dios’s Sunday service. VBS also took place at Iglesia El Buen Pastor in Santa Maria, which is a village town about one hour from Danlí. We were blessed with 77 children enjoying the celebration of Epiphany with a story, crafts, music, and a Rosca de Reyes snack!
Music
We had the privilege of bringing on a Young Adult Travel Award recipient who was musically gifted. Avery Delleney was able to share her gifts with musically inclined members of Iglesia Manos de Dios as well as the music ministry.
The Blessings Continue
This trip was an incredible journey full of joy, adventure, God-moments, and memories that will last a lifetime. Thankfully, what was true last year is also true this year. This is not the end. Every mission trip marks the beginning of a new year full of programming and ministry work that continues long after the Manos mission team leaves. Please keep Manos and Honduras in your prayers!
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