Honduras through the Eyes of a Teenager
Caitlin is 16 years old and a student at Smithson Valley High School. She collected 26 back packs (mostly new) from her fellow students to take to Honduras.
I love people, and I will take advantage of any opportunity that is presented in order to help people and interact with them. From February 2-9, I was in Honduras on a mission trip. My first mission trip, I was also the youngest person ever to be a member of the Manos team. This created a lot of pressure on top of culture shock, fear, apprehension, nauseating malaria pills, and not knowing what to expect. I personally can say that all the positives definitely outweighed the negatives.
If you have talked to anyone that has been on a mission trip, I'm sure that they have all talked about how little they give and how much they get. That could not be more true. Other members on the team talked about how worthless they felt, and I feel the same way. As much as I did there, I feel like there was something more I could do. I know that I was not worthy of the love and the admiration that these beautiful people were so willing to give. The people of Honduras showed me God's love, they did not just tell me about it. The love that they offered was unconditional, in spite of my narcissistic, greedy, ignorant self. The high purity of their love was most obvious when I saw their physical possessions, or lack thereof. They had ample excuses to be unthankful, angry, and unloving, but continued to rejoice and pray for hope and strength from the Lord. If only more Christians and more Americans could be that way.
I especially loved the children and their patience with my ignorance and terrible Spanish. I was constantly surrounded by neighborhood children, who implored me to visit their house and play games with them. Although I do not want children of my own, I love being with children and interacting with them. The maturity of young children in Honduras was so astounding to me. I have had the opportunity to be around many children here in the United States, but few had the unselfishness and sense of community -that these children had. An unbroken family in Honduras was a rare find. Usually, the fathers were nowhere around. I learned appreciation of my family here and how lucky. I am to still see my Dad at all. Absolutely no children complained about their lack of family or family support, and almost all the children would have been considered unlucky and deprived in the United States. Also, the drive anddetermination that young eleven-year-olds possessed to excel in the schoolwork is absent in this country. At such a young age, there is no way that I would have applied for a scholarship to continue my schooling. Honduras helped me to appreciate the opportunities that I encounter everyday.
Easily, the most difficult part of the mission trip was leaving. The pain of separation from these people whom I had come to love so much is still unbearable. It has been so difficult to listen to Americans again, with their complaints about privileges and pleasures. My trip has been a catch-22. I absolutely must tell people about it, but none will truly, fully understand my experience. Every ear that has patiently listened to what is impossible to describe has been an absolute blessing for me. It is something that has to be talked about to be fully experienced. Despite this, however, I feel so blessed to have had this experience, and I hope to add to it this summer, next year, or both The support of my friends and family (including the people in this church) has been unquestionably pivotal in my continuation and initial participation in the Honduras mission. Thank you for listening and reading. It's so valuable to me that you care.
- Caitlin Pierce
St. Francis', San Antonio
Donations to help send mission teams from the Diocese to:
Diocese of West Texas (marked for Honduras)
P.O. Box 6885
San Antonio, TX 78209
Attention: Betty Chumney
