Planning for the Mission Honduras Student trip of 2003 began in early September, 2002. Eventually 13 Gehlen Catholic students and 5 adults committed to the over Easter annual trip.  The eleven seniors were: Katie Loutsch, Kendra Homan, Adam Erdmann, Bonnie Driscoll, Neil Ruhland, Brent Langel, Jodi Langel, Megan Langel, Emily Heuertz, Rachelle Ruhland, and Staci Langel.  The juniors were Megan Reistoffer and Dustin Sitzmann. Joining these 13 students were Margaret Moir, Matt De Vries, and Francis Seivert. Paul Gengler and Richard Seivert would join the full team for the last three days of their mission.
On Wednesday, April 9^th, our entire school had a big send-off in the gymnasium for the group.  All K-12 students and teachers, along with family members and friends, were at the assembly.  Also present were students and parents from the 5 Catholic elementary schools in Sioux City. They were invited guests because those schools had worked hard in collecting a great deal of the medicines and shoes taken on this trip.  Gehlen Catholic Mission Honduras publicly thanks Norb Janning and all those students, schools, and families from Sioux City that helped with this project. Today there are countless numbers of children in Honduras who are benefiting because of these efforts.  Thank you Catholic schools of Sioux City.
The mission team overnighted in Omaha Wednesday evening and left for Honduras early on Thursday morning the 10^th of April. After changing planes in Houston they were on their way to Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The pilots of the Continental plane they were on tried to land in Tegucigalpa twice but bad weather and poor visibility forced them to turn around and land in San Pedro Sula. Once in San Pedro Sula they re-fueled and waited for the weather problem to clear. They eventually arrived in Tegucigalpa about 2 hours late. All-in-all it was quite an experience.
Sister Valerie Knoche and Sister Barb Zimmer were at the airport waiting for the team to arrive. They hired a bus to take the team to El Guante, Francisco Morazon, to the Parish Center of San Jose de Cedros, (about 1 ½ hours north of Tegucigalpa); the site of our mission work. Once in El Guante the team, like all others before them, went to the mission compound of the Church of St. Rafael. After unpacking the 32 bags full of medicines, shoes, toys, and clothes, the team had an orientation with the Sisters and Tacha Alvarado, the sisters assistant and cook.  They began to settle-in to what would be their home for the next 9 nights. Paul Gengler and Richard Seivert would join the team on Wednesday, April 16^th.  Early the next morning the team began their mission work in earnest.   
After a small breakfast on Friday morning, the 11th, the team began their manual part of this mission by traveling to the small village of Santa Cruz where they began to build a new church.  They returned that day, tired but exhilarated, and after washing their own clothes, piece by piece, in a pila, participated in a village 'Way of the Cross.'  On Saturday the team continued their construction in the village of Santa Cruz. They returned to the compound a little early that day and participated in an informal sharing with the children of the village of El Guante. On Palm Sunday, the team divided duties and participated in different village ceremonies. Some of the team members were full participants by reading parts of the Passion - which they had been practicing for weeks prior to this trip. On Monday the team was back at work at the new chapel construction. In the afternoon they traveled to the Trade School of 'El Nuevo Amenecer,' and the orphanage of 'Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos.' At the orphanage, currently holding about 700 children, they were allowed to bring toys.  They interacted and played with the children for hours.  To the students on this trip the visit to the orphanage was one of the highlights. Most say they will never forget it. On Tuesday the team was back for their last day of construction at the site of the future chapel. On Wednesday, their full day off, they traveled to Tegucigalpa and took in many sights.  They were at the airport as well to pick up Paul Gengler and Richard Seivert who had left from Omaha, Nebraska early that morning.  After sight seeing in Tegucigalpa the entire team of 18 Iowans and the Sisters had lunch together at a pizza shop. By mid-afternoon the entire team was on their way back to El Guante for the last three days of their mission.  On Holy Thursday, April 17^th, the team had a very special morning. The dedication of the Clinic began at approximately 9:00 A.M. This was one year to the day that land was set aside for this construction.  It was an amazing experience attended by many hundreds of villagers, many who had walked for hours to see it. This clinic, under construction since last fall, will be state of the art by Honduran standards and will bring very needed health care to this area. Gehlen Catholic Mission Honduras Changing Lives and Mission Honduras LeMars raised over $60,000 during the past year for this construction. Richard Seivert, director of Gehlen Catholic Mission Honduras, and director of Mission Honduras LeMars accepted a plaque in honor of all those in LeMars and the surrounding area that contributed and worked hard to get this clinic built. After the clinic dedication the team divided into groups and went to different village parishes to celebrate Holy Thursday services. The village of El Guante treated the entire team to a special dinner this day - they all chipped in and prepared a special fish dinner for the team members.  Eventually that evening the entire team was back at St. Rafael's for 7:00 services.  Adoration followed until about 11:00 P.M. After adoration, the males on the team participated in the 'Procession of the arrest of Jesus,' in silence. This procession, in the dark, went from the old chapel in El Guante, to the Church of St. Rafael.  On Friday morning, Stations of the Cross took place on the main road through El Guante. The procession went from the old church to St. Rafael's with each station being set-up at different homes along the way. Hundreds of people were involved. Richard Seivert played the part of Jesus throughout the entire procession and Margaret Moir played the part of Veronica.  Seivert said, "playing the part of Jesus was a very humbling experience for me and it taught me a great deal about these wonderful people from Honduras - it was the highlight of my trip." Later that same day, at 3:00 P.M., the team had divided and some had gone to different villages to participate in the Passion and Death of Jesus - what an amazing experience to celebrate this sacred day in this culture. This day was also special for the village of El Higuerto, because a whole group of us stopped in that village at about 1:00 P.M., on our way to 2 other villages, to tell them to assemble all the children at 4:00. We said we would return with a surprise for the children. Right at 4:00 we pulled into this village and the little Church was full of all the village children (probably 150 or so). We then began to pass out all the toys that had been purchased for these children by the women that had been on our January medical team. The women and nurses on that team had fallen in love with these children and made our student group promise they would get these toys and school supplies to them - it was a little bit like 'Christmas at Easter time.'  Later that evening the women of El Guante celebrated the 'Procession of the Sorrowful Mother' - women only. Again, what an amazing experience for the young ladies on this team.  The men had to stand off on the side and watch. This took place right down the main road in El Guante in the dark of night.  Early the next morning the team left for Tegucigalpa to return to the States.
Each day and night, the young people and adults on this team, got to interact with dozens and dozens of Hondurans. As special as all of them were, the children of Honduras will forever be etched in the memories of this team.  The smiles and gentle good nature of the children met will always be a part of each and everyone.
Mission Honduras 2003 also got to be part of another very special event. One of the villages this team visited was the small and very poor village of La Lajita. This village had lost their water supply 6 months ago because of deterioration in the old galvanized piping. Gehlen Catholic Mission Honduras and Mission Honduras LeMars promised them, through the Sisters, that we would help. The villagers themselves had already dug up the old line but did not have the money to purchase the new piping. They needed to purchase 55 sections of 4 inch pipe.  As we left to come home to the States the Sisters were still working on this deal. By the following Tuesday, the Sisters had purchased and delivered the piping to this village. Within two days water was once again running into the village of La Lajita.   
The team landed safely, Saturday April 19^th, at 8:30 P.M. in Omaha, Nebraska. By 11:30 P.M. Holy Saturday evening, they were back in LeMars, Iowa, and one of the greatest experiences of their young lives would be over - or maybe, IT WAS JUST BEGINNING.
God Bless  Sisters Val and Barb, and Tacha, and all the children and wonderful people of Honduras that have touched our lives.  You have given us more than we could ever hope for.