Footsteps Missions

I went with Footsteps Missions to Honduras on a scouting/vision type mission, interested in further missions for our church and support for this ministry. What I was greeted with was a special endeavor of cross-cultural bridge building that has been lovingly established over the last 10+ years. The staff were a warm and welcoming family of believers eager to please and listen and serve. There is a strong emphasis on community involvement and interdependence. This not only fits the culture but also encourages participation and growth among the partnering families. While there, I was stretched as a leader, learning what it looks like to train humbly, to welcome conversation, and to empower others to lead as well. We brought over donations, purchased supplies, trained staff, viewed areas of construction and ministry, participated in children's activities, supported personal endeavors of accomplishment, and so much more. I can't wait to return and be a part of this fruitful and growing ministry.

I have been on several volunteering trips together with 20-25 other volunteers from the Bay Area to help with tech-related and light construction projects in Santa Barbara, Honduras where footsteps run most of the programs to benefit economic orphans (adding some pictures below). All of the trips were great, and I have very good memories. This non-profit is rather small and thrives on volunteering groups helping as they have a lot of needs. The work you do depends on the skills of each volunteer. I am a techie, so I helped to install network equipment, and fix old computers, other people did painting or helped with kid-related activities. I took my then 10-year-old son on my second trip, and he really enjoyed it as this is a family-friendly type of volunteering (on that trip we had 13 adults and 12 kids), it also was eye-opening for him to see how people who are less fortunate live as we had the opportunity to walk some of the kids home, and see they live in little shacks with no electricity, running water or sewer (adding a picture of one of the nicer homes where one of the families lives that invited us to take a look inside).
The trip was very well organized, and we felt safe and welcomed by the locals. We stayed in a hotel that had air conditioning and ate very good meals (portions are smaller than in the US but way more healthy as they cook everything from scratch). The work was not really hard, but we felt we were making an impact. There is free time after dinner, and we got to know the other volunteers (we played a lot of board and card games at night, and shared stories). Overall I would describe it as a vacation with purpose. Would definitely go again in the future if the opportunity comes...