Cañada de Balín

Called to Serve - April 24, 2026

On our last day in Honduras, our medical mission served Cañada de Balín. The community has 250 residents and 60 families. We ended up serving fewer families than we had anticipated due to it being harvest time, a vivid reminder that of the fact that 90% of the people work in agriculture.

The closest health facility is 2.5 miles away but rarely has a doctor or sufficient medical supplies. The community lacks a midwife and there is no health promoter.

The school, where we set up our medical mission, serves 46 students in grades K - 6. Students can go to upper grades by commuting 25 minutes away. Many of the young adults have immigrated to the U.S. or moved to an urban area for work.

One of our team members shared this reflection on our final evening in Honduras:

"Maybe today was not your best day, but at least you didn't have to contend with the following: aching all over from working in the fields or from mosquito-transmitted diseases; having to rely on unfluorinated water piped down from a spring up the mountain; needing to cook breakfast on a wood burning stove; having to go outside to use a cinderblock outhouse with no toilet seat and a flush mechanism consisting of a bucket of water; a prohibition on putting toilet paper down the commode; abundant earth dust from the rocky dirt road close to your house; no way to keep out the mosquitoes; no possibility of seeing a health care provider or dentist, plus no drug store you can get to. If you had a washing machine (instead of a concrete scrub board) and a clothes dryer, consider yourself lucky. If you had a nutritious meal, not mainly beans and rice with corn tortillas, you ate well. Be thankful for what you have and your privileged status in life." We are truly blessed and are called to be a blessing to others."

At our closing communion service this evening, we prayed: "We do not know the suffering of all the people of Honduras, but we came in unity with the desire to serve. May this meal be a symbol of the bond we feel for each other, our brothers and sisters here in Honduras and in the Church and in our world. " Amen.

Steve