In February, some two-dozen Mainers will descend on La MA?¡sica, a small town in the north-central part of Honduras, to bring supplies and construction manpower to the hurricane-devastated community.
A delegation of members of the Westbrook-Warren Congregational Church United Church of Christ, the First Parish Congregational Church of Gorham and the First Congregational Church of New Gloucester will spend 10 days working on an expansion project at a growing church. Six of the 23 missionaries are high school students.
To help raise money for the trip, the Westbrook-Warren church will be hosting a dinner-theater evening Saturday, Oct. 27 that will feature the actress Susan Poulin, chosen in 2003 by Portland Magazine as one of the 10 most intriguing people in Maine. Her show, “A Visit with Ida,” will follow a 6:30 p.m. dinner.
“Ed and I are cooking, and we like to eat, so therefore, the food will be good,” said Deborah Delong, wife of the Rev. Edward Delong, pastor of the church.
The church’s fundraiser has been extremely successful in the past, and ticket sales – at $25 a plate – have been brisk. There are a few tables left, but Deborah Delong said if the interest is great enough, more tables will e added.
The cost for each person going on the trip is about $1,200, which covers room, board, airfare and construction supplies. Each member of the group brings a suitcase filled with things like medical supplies, school supplies, clothes and bibles, though they check the prices in Honduras first to see if it’s cheaper to purchase the supplies there.
Devastated by Hurricane Mitch in 1996, Honduras has seen a number of United Church of Christ missions from Maine. The Delongs will be going to Honduras for their third trip and will be taking their daughter, Jocelyn, a Westbrook High School student, for her third trip, as well. The Westbrook-Warren Church has been involved with the missions for about 10 years, Edward Delong said.
Every year the missions go to a different city with the intent to help build, rebuild or renovate a church, “but our main mission is to be with the people,” Edward Delong said.
“They wouldn’t want our resources if it wasn’t based on an understanding of who and what we are,” his wife said.
Last year, in the urban city of Yoro, the state capital of Yoro where a few side streets are paved but not the main street, the Delongs and the other missionaries worked on rebuilding the roof of a pastor’s house and community center.
“It took all week to do, because it was all done by hand,” said Deborah Delong.
While in La MA?¡sica, the group is expecting to again spend a lot of time mixing concrete by hand as they work to expand an existing church with a growing community.
Edward Delong said his first trip to Honduras in 2004 was an “eye opener. We came back with a new appreciation for everything. Lights running everyday…”
“Clean water,” added his wife.
“The EPA,” said Edward Delong. “We also came back with a real appreciation for the people.”
He said the people are some of the hardest workers he has seen, incredibly strong though much slighter in stature than many Americans. He said he was touched by their deep sense of community. When a resident got sick, everyone went to see him.
He was also impressed when the construction manager of the project was asking if John Kerry was going to win Super Tuesday. Many people in America, Edward Delong said, probably don’t know what Super Tuesday is.
“It’s very interesting how aware and astute and how concerned they were,” he said.
A CLOSER LOOK
Dinner-theater Saturday, Oct. 27, 6:30 p.m. dinner, followed by “A Visit With Ida, with Susan Poulin, Westbrook Warren Congregational Church, 810 Main St.
Dinner choices are pork loin, chicken Kiev, vegetable lasagna;
$25 per person; call Lorena at 854-0499 for reservations.
Benefit for the Honduras Mission Team, Westbrook-Warren Congregational Church.
Mixing mescala (cement) the Honduran way (l. to r. Peter DeLong, Bruce McFarland, Jacob LaViolet, and a local worker)Send questions/comments to the editors.
