Pictured are some members of the Florida Baptist Children’s Homes’ most recent mission trip to Honduras. They are with some of the children at Renacer, an orphanage outside of Tegucigalpa. The group had to cut their trip short because of unrest in the Honduran government. The mission team was able to leave the country just days before soldiers stormed President Zelaya’s residence and removed him from power. From left are Stephanie Wells, Amanda May, Jay Boyd, Lauren Boyd, and Paul May
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LAKELAND, Fla. – Having been tipped off that there was a state of unrest in the Honduran government, Ron Gunter gathered his group of missionaries together and calmly told them that as a safety precaution they were going to cut their seven-day mission trip short and try to arrange for an earlier flight out of Honduras.
The Florida Baptist Children’s Homes has been conducting international childcare missions for more than a year and this was the first time that a mission trip was threatened because of instability with a country’s government.
Gunter was able to arrange for a flight out the next day. Three days later on the morning of June 28 about 100 soldiers stormed President Manuel Zelaya’s residence in Tegucigalpa, the capital city. He was then put on a plane and taken to Costa Rica. Later that day, Roberto Micheletti was sworn in as President.
The coup occurred over a dispute over whether or not President Zelaya could convene a process for rewriting the constitution in order to allow him to run for re-election, which the current constitution forbids.
Ron Gunter, vice president of international childcare for the Florida Baptist Children’s Homes said that they are committed to their mission objectives in Honduras and plan to return as soon as they can.
“We have two mission locations in Honduras that we are focusing on that desperately need our assistance and the assistance of many others. The first is an orphanage just outside of Tegucigalpa called Renacer and the other is the city dump in Tegucigalpa, called Trash Mountain,” Gunter said.
“At Renacer we are working to help make numerous repairs and improvements in order to expand the capacity of the facilities. Renacer currently houses 75 children, but has the ability to eventually house 120 children once all of the improvements are made.”
“At Trash Mountain we are conducting various ministry activities at a Christian school that serves children at the dump. On our next trip we were planning to build four or five new homes for families living at the dump.”
Dr. Jerry Haag, president of the Children’s Homes said that they take the safety of all of their mission teams very seriously, but that they balance safety with the need to take informed risks in order to care for and share the gospel with some of the world’s most disadvantaged children.
“We are committed to making sure that every mission trip is as safe as possible. We take the warnings issued by the U.S. State Department very seriously and always proceed with caution. However, we can’t sit back and wait for the world to be 100 percent safe before we go,” Haag said.
“We can’t guarantee complete safety on any mission trip. Wherever we go there is a measure of risk even when things may appear to be quite tranquil and serene.”
Gunter said that their next planned trip to Honduras is full and no one has cancelled despite the situation.
For more information contact the Florida Baptist Children’s Homes at 863-687-8811 or online at www.FBCHomes.org.
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