PROJECTS

Animal and Livestock

Samaritan's Purse trains groups of local villagers in animal husbandry techniques with the goal of providing them with additional income and food in the home. They receive animals after completing about 10 training sessions, and are invited to join the devotional times that the staff provides. Some of the animals we give include: cows, hogs, chickens, goats, and fish. We also provide seeds for corn, beans, coffee, and fruit plants in order to help them start their own gardens. Participants agree to give back one female offspring to our staff to be distributed to another family so that the project can be expanded to a neighboring community. This program is benefitting over 1,200 families in the departments of Santa Barbara, Cortes, and Yoro.

Evangelism
The evangelism team goes into areas where we have other projects with the goal of sharing the Good News with beneficiaries. In addition, we show the "JESUS" film as well as others in rural communities throughout the country. The team has also undertaken numerous Operation Christmas Child distributions, reaching out to young children with the Gospel. About 36,000 people have heard the Good News of Jesus Christ through our programs, and about 2,000 decisions have been made for Christ. We partner with local church leaders who provide follow-up discipleship classes, some using our evangelism materials, in order to strengthen their walk with the Lord.

The Power of Knowing: Voluntary Counseling and Testing Centers
The project offers free HIV tests with results available in 20 minutes, and pre and post-test, individual counseling. Samaritan's Purse operates two Voluntary Counseling and Testing Centers in San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa, the two largest Honduran cities. We also conduct outreach events at universities and textile factories. In 2010, about 23,400 were tested for HIV.

Prescription for Hope
Samaritan’s Purse-Honduras held a Prescription for Hope workshop in Belize this year, which aims to educate, to break down barriers of prejudice, and to encourage the local church to talk about the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Many participants described the workshop as a "revolutionary" event that changed their attitude towards the issue. The team is also involved in a number of local events by giving talks about sexual education in schools and universities, on the radio and television, and church home groups.

Ministry with the Garifuna Community
Samaritan's Purse, in partnership with the Bible Society, has started nine groups in the coastal Garifuna community where women gather together to listen to the New Testament once a week. Those who attend are fascinated and grateful to be able to listen the the Bible in their native language. A sewing micro-enterprise has been started here for the women living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. The program has taught women how to sew, and the aim is to provide them with a skill to make a living to support their families. The women are sewing school uniforms, everyday wear clothing, beach bags, and other products to sell to the tourists that visit their area. The women are also receiving extensive training on how to run a micro-enterprise and how to work in a group.

Project Santiago: Orphanage Support
Samaritan's Purse supports the operation of 11 orphanages and feeding centers through monthly food distributions. We also provide health and hygiene lessons to the children in these centers, as well as weekly Bible memorization lessons. Additionally, we have started micro-businesses in them, ranging from making tortillas, baking bread, making cleaning products, and sweet candy to help them supplement their incomes while also teaching the children how to run a business and manage money.

Water and Sanitation Programs
In 2010, Samaritan's Purse provided household water filters to about 600 families and built 160 latrines in 2010. Each community that has received a water filter or latrine has also gone through community health and hygiene workshops which were held to teach individuals how to prevent the spread of disease through proper sanitation and to improve their health conditions. Many of the communities that have received water filters have also taken part in the discipleship program, "A New Life in Christ."

Children's Heart Project
Our office has been sending children to the United States for heart surgery since 2004. From the inception of this project, 46 beautiful Honduran children have returned to Honduras with a healthy heart, and a number of families have received new heart in Jesus Christ because of the Christian witness and testimony of our staff and volunteers. Several of the Honduran staff have served as translators for the family and child during their stay in the United States.

Prison Ministry
We support and collaborate with a local prison in order to reach out to the inmates and their families. Our staff facilitated an Operation Christmas Child distribution where over 200 of the inmates' children heard the Gospel. We are working on developing a vegetable garden at this prison by teaching the inmates basics in agriculture practices. A small group of women have also recently been through a floristry classes to learn how to make flower arrangements so that they have a practical skill to use when they leave prison. The discipleship program "A New Life in Christ" has also been successfully completed with a group of inmates that attends the prison church.