SUNSET'S EIGHTH MISSION TRIP TO HELENE

Today, June 14th, a team of 25.3 volunteers left Portland International Airport on their way to serve the islanders of Helene. They were easy to pick out in the airport crowd since they were wearing their fuchsia (looked like hot pink to me) colored mission trip T-shirts. This team is comprised of nineteen high school students who recently graduated, and six adult leaders. This team has already spend months working together to raise funds for this trip by working as servers at a men's retreat, writing support letters, staffing a golf tournament, doing yard work with RENT A YOUTH, and seeking a church wide special offering. In addition, all these volunteers were required to attend specials classes to learn practical ministry skills they will use while on this mission trip.

The presence of excitement and expectation was obvious on these faces and in their chatter. This group called Team Sunset is off on a God Adventure. They will be working at a local school, helping rehab an islander's home, providing VBS and sport camps, doing home visitations, sharing their testimonies in the local churches, rebuilding the only baseball court on the island, and helping to clean up the public spaces on the island. But these mission trips are far more that service projects, they are cross cultural experiences. Being in an islanders shanty house, see how they live, hearing their stories is unforgettable. This is also a time to build friendships with individuals who's lives are vastly different from our own.=2 0As volunteers, this groups of folks will be asked to put aside their American understandings of life and try to live every hour of each day as if Christ was living through them. For a moment in time, they will be challenged to full live beyond themselves. 

Today, their Helene journey begins. For those of us who have served on the past seven trips, our journey continues as we pray for their needs and look forward to their emails. Let's pray that Team Sunset will serve with diligences and this trip will have a lasting impact in the lives of our island friends in Helene.

Oh yea, about that .3 volunteer. The team leaders, Scott and Allie Roth are expecting their first child. We are told December 25th is baby's date. Imagine that!

posted by Scott G. in Portland, Or    6/14/09

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What's better than island time?

While recently in Helene, the Blue Team was discussing the events of the past Sunday. After talking about our experiences, one of our team members blurted out," Hey, today is Monday so yesterday was Sunday". We all had a good laugh. Somehow, it felt like Sunday was already two or three days in the past.

We were on island time. More than that, we were on "God time". There is something unique about serving in Helene that slows life down into one or two hour blocks of time. These unrushed blocks of time seem to be full of new experiences and relationships. They are very peaceful.

Romans 1:20 describes God as being eternal. He is in time but simultaneously, free from the restrictions of time. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. God is always in the moment. In fact, He creates time, moment by moment. When we slow down our rushed lifestyles to island time, then we are more likely to be in the moment. There, we can encounter our God who desires to fellowship with us.

For me, one of the take away lessons from our mission trip to Helene  is to slow down my daily pace, refocus my wandering attention to the task at hand, try to be in the moment, and become more aware of God's presence. Each day seems richer with opportunities when I am on "God time'.

posted by Scott in Portland, OR                  7/9/08

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An islander named Willis

Team Sunset is comprised of 6 smaller work teams. Each smaller team is escorted by an islander to various work projects. These islanders guides show us how do our task "island style". For the past two days, I have been working with Willis. He has an African-Carib background with just a touch of pirate blood for good luck.

Willis is amazing. Willis never seems to complain. He has a wonderful bright smile. He seems to have the strength of a man half his age. He is almost forty years of age. His arms would be the envy of most gym rats at 24 hour fitness. I have seen him carry rock, move dirt, and make concrete by hand. I have yet to see him winded. His attitude is to work first, then have fun when the job is done. 

Willis is a noble working man. I heard a lot about the "nobility of the everyday working person" while I was in college. I worked my way though college and most of the guys I worked with, well they did not seem noble to me. They seemed to work hard when the boss was in view, after that, it was slow down time. That is not Willis' approach to work. He loves Jesus. Willis works flat out. Willis never seems to show off. He is not too proud to do any task assigned to him. He just does what he needs to do in a full hearted kind of way. I loved spending the last two days with Willis. Hard, sweaty, muscle tiring work seems honorable when I work along side Willis.

Willis does all kinds of jobs like manual labor, being a fishing guide, and " a bit of this and that don't you know". But his main profession is as an artist. He is also well known as a wood craver. And a lot more.


posted by Scott in Helene     6/25/08  

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SUNSET RETURNS TO HELENE FOR THE SEVENTH TIME

On June 14th, a team of 24 high school students and 6 adult leaders will leave Portland, Oregon for a two-week mission trip to assist the islanders of Helene. This will be Sunset's seventh mission trip to the Bay Islands in the past four years. So far, 175 folks from Sunset have been commissioned to serve in Helene.

This trip's service projects include VBS, home visitations, tutoring in the bilingual school, Clean Sweep, sports camps for the children, construction of a community playground near the school, and rehabilitation of an islander's house.

Please pray for this team's safe travel, good health, willingness to serve "outrageously", and many opportunities to share their faith.

May God's blessings be on Team Sunset.

posted by Scott G. in Portland, Oregon  6/13/08

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Spring Break 2008 - Trip Recap

We landed back in Portland at 9 PM on Saturday night. We all had bug bites. Some folks had sunburns from Friday's activities. One volunteer has a very sore knee. We all have hearts full of praise, thanking God for this opportunity to serve Him and our island friends.

During our brief mission trip we were able to:

*build and install new window screens on the school that 70 % of the island children attend
*help re-level an individual classroom that was sinking on it's foundation by 12 inches on one corner
*bring down 700 new reading books were graded into specific reading levels, grouped by themes, and placed in easy to identify plastic bins. The school library looks great! Now, it is more user friendly for both students and teachers
*home visitations in the five villages with a focus on elderly "shut ins"
*sport camps were held in each of the villages
*VBS "Kids Clubs" were provided for each village
*public spaces in a village called the Bight were cleaned of garbage and trash. This helps to reduce the health risk of disease and restore the beauty of this area.

Going on a mission trip is a cross-cultural experience. Third world poverty is the norm in Helene. These islanders have an ethnic mix of African and Caribbean backgrounds. On this island, there are no social agencies, no AAA, no MasterCard to solve the islander's daily problems, just God and His working though other peoples. We were all impressed by the prayers of the islanders. They prayed with a simple and honest convictions, knowing that God has answered their prayers, time after time. Their prayer life is far more personal than most of ours. We felt blessed to pray with them.

We also realized that we tend to "stress out" on many non essential issues. One church is having a revival. Last year, there were just 15 islanders attending. This year, about 50 now attend regularly. Four of the male leaders of this church have been active in a two-year bible study with our host agency, Alternative Missions. It is great to see the first fruit of spiritual renewal in Helene.

Thank you again for your prayers and support of this mission trip. As the team leader, I was delighted to watch each volunteer move out of his/her comfort zone and have to use his/her God given natural and spiritual gifts. I would not be surprised to learn in a few years that one of our volunteers has been called into full time mission service.

This trip was an amazing time of service and praise. God willing, we will be able to return to Helene for Spring Break 2009. I hope you will consider going with us. These trips to Helene seem to turn into God Adventures. Helene is a place of surprises, changes of plans, and great opportunities to serve.

This is your invitation to come join us in a God Adventure in Helene.

Alright? OK!
Scott G. for Team Sunset

And we're off, well, almost...

27 members of Team Sunset leave bright and early tomorrow morning at 4:00 AM for the week-long spring break trip to Helene. Please pray for safe travels and that all of our personal luggage and supplies arrive safely.

Helene, Bay Islands Honduras Medical Clinic

Dr. David Spiro (Edmonds, Washington); the Alternative Missions stateside medical director recently returned from a visit to Helene where he served with Deirdre Greer and brings this report...

I am happy to report substantial growth at the Helene Clinic in the Bay Islands of Honduras since I first became involved in 2001. Many needed developments have become a reality. The newly remodeled clinic is now very well organized under the leadership of Deirdre. By linking with key medical providers and excellent philanthropic medical supply groups in the U.S. the clinic is now equipped with an outstanding well-stocked pharmacy, diagnostic, treatment and minor surgical supplies.

Deirdre's background in home health has been a particularly good fit for Helene in dealing with nearly all of the chronic diseases on the island; including diabetes, hypertension and stroke. She is rapidly learning minor surgical techniques which are imperative in a setting where emergencies are common place. Her treatment in infectious disease, dermatology and orthopedics are areas where she has lesser experience, however she is an eager learner and consults with visiting doctors or myself regularly via email. I estimate that Deirdre sees an average of 60 patients a week, and she integrates her faith with her excellent empathetic medical care very well.

Funding for Deirdre, medical supplies and emergency transport are still areas of continual need.

In summary, I believe the healing compassionate heart of God is being well represented in the isolated and under served community of Helene.

What an amazing effort and dedication...

I, Tom Hackett, want to recognize and salute the dedication, effort and genuine care of Deirdre Greer, Dr. Spiro, all the visiting health care workers, donors and Helene staff that make the clinic happen. Your service over the years has saved so many lives and shown the love of God in everyday life. Your expressions of love do not go unnoticed. I know that Jesus would want you to hear...Well done!


Deirdre Greer checking up on Jared one week after his arrival.