Our Little Roses, Honduras
View pictures from the February 2010 mission in Honduras!
Future Trips to Our Little Roses
St. George's makes two annual trips to OLR: one in February for adults, and one in June for adults and youth.
Please contact Patsy Curry at 385-2078 for more information. If you want to learn more about Our Little Roses please visit www.ourlittleroses.org.
Committed to Breaking the Cycle of Poverty through Education
This June, the members of the St. George’s mission trip to Our Little Roses visited with fourteen outstanding young women who have graduated from high school and are now working and attending universities. We visited them at their homes - two very special houses called Transition Homes - where the girls learn independent living skills as they pursue their educational goals.
In Honduras less than 42% of Honduran girls graduate from sixth grade! Less than 2% of university graduates are women. In twenty years the OLR ministry has established an extraordinary track record of educational successes. Here are some of those success stories:
Paula attended the Honduran Military Academy in high school and will graduate this year from college with a degree in industrial engineering. She worked full time while attending the university and she has accepted a job in administration at a local manufacturing plant.
There are two girls with careers in dentistry: Jensy is in her final year of dental school and will begin a year of community service as a dentist. Eugenia is studying to be an orthodontist.
Odalis graduated from high school with a degree in social service and now works full time for the organization “Food For The Poor” in Honduras while attending the university. Her sister, Dulmys, works in the office of the mayor of San Pedro Sula and is studying tourism at the university.
Francis, Karla Patricia, and Heather are working as teachers’ assistants at the Holy Family Bi-Lingual School and attending university.
Many of the members of the St. George’s group have known these girls for 15 years. What a testimony to the steadfast support that St. George’s continues to give to this life changing ministry to see these young women and hear of their amazing accomplishments. These young women are beacons of hope for the younger girls who see in them that hard work and taking advantage of the opportunities given to them by Our Little Roses can truly make a difference.
These stories and future educational opportunities depend on the support of churches such as ours and individual donors and sponsors. What a joy to support a ministry where we can see how education is changing the life of a deserving girl into a world of success. And there are fifty-five younger girls studying and hoping to pursue their life goals also! We cannot let them down.
Patsy Curry
In His Garden
One of the most powerful images of my first visit to the Our Little Roses home in Honduras is a “before and after” comparison. While the February mission trip group was waiting at the Miami airport for the flight to San Pedro Sula, Patsy Curry showed us photos she had taken when she was at the home in December to attend high school graduation. One of the photos was of a girl who had just arrived at the home, a 10-year-old named Carolina. Patsy described her as looking “shell-shocked.” Carolina and her 8-year-old sister, who also came to live at Our Little Roses, had never been to school. The face in the photo was empty, from poverty and neglect.
The Carolina I met that day had been transformed by three months of being nourished physically, emotionally, and spiritually at Our Little Roses. It was a blessing to witness the change in her life, and also see the love of Christ reflected in the faces of the 60 other girls currently at the home who have been rescued by this ministry. We had the privilege of spending time with the girls, both in large-group activities and in quiet conversation one-on-one. We baked cupcakes and helped with math homework. We had lessons in spiritual gifts from God, and the girls talked about giving and receiving special gifts and talents. We did a lot of reading. Thanks to generous St. George’s parishioners, we had taken a huge duffel bag filled with crisp, new books. All around me, in the courtyard and the library and the craft room, the air was filled with affirmation: “Good! You read so well. That is a beautiful painting. I like your hair that way. Come sit next to me.”
We ended our trip by visiting the transitional home near the University where OLR alumnae live with a house mother while they are students. We were greeted by a vibrant young woman who plans to be a chemical engineer. It was hard to believe that she, too, was once shell-shocked. Grace abounds.
Lisa Ellis
2007 Mission Trip Video
To see a short highlight video of the 2007 Our Little Roses Mission Trip, click here.
A Special Reunion for Jensy
Jesse Gore was in high school when he went on the St. George’s trip to Our Little Roses in June 1995. Little did he know the impact he would make on Jensy, a shy little 9-year-old girl, who had only been at Our Little Roses for three months. When Jensy and Jesse met again 13 years later during her trip to Nashville, Jensy told him that he was her very first friend from the United States and that she had never forgotten him. She remembered riding on his shoulders and she had nicknamed him Goliath! What a special reunion and testimony to the miracles that happen when we respond to God’s call to mission.
“Smile for Success”
Jensy was also reunited with another special friend- Nancy Peacock. Nancy met Jensy in Honduras over eight years ago and Nancy noticed that several girls, including Jensy, had badly misaligned teeth. Nancy returned to St. George’s to start the “Smile for Success” fund to provide orthodontic treatment for the girls. Jensy now has a beautiful smile and her experiences with the orthodontist led her to a career in dentistry. Jensy expressed her gratitude to Nancy and to all who contributed to the orthodontic “Smile for Success “ project - a project that created beautiful smiles and changed lives.
Make dreams come true for Jensy, Ingrid, and Leyla
Jensy had a wonderful time here being with so many special friends including Brad Thomason, Cassie Roop, Charlotte and Jerry Cook, Beth Ross, and Boo Sanders, all of whom became her friends in Honduras. She made a trip to Sewanee with John and Anita Hayes to see her “sister” Ingrid Zalaya who is at St. Andrews. Ingrid gave them a tour of the campus and shared the wonderful news that she had made Honor Roll for her first semester. The girls saw photos of their “sister” Leyla who graduated from high school in Honduras in November. Her sponsors Susan and Bob Tuke were there to share the excitement with her. Leyla plans to attend medical school.
These young women are so very grateful to St. George’s for supporting them and helping them make their dreams come true. What wonderful role models for the 60 younger girls in Honduras!
Please give prayerful consideration to going to Honduras on this summer’s trip, June 20th to 29th. It will be a life changing experience!