Washington Adventist University Students and Staff Helped the Needy During a Two-Week Mission Trip to Honduras
Takoma Park, Md. (July 28, 2016) A recent two-week mission trip to Honduras was undertaken by seven Washington Adventist University (WAU) students and staff who provided much-needed help at the Centro Educacional Adventista (CEA) in Peña Blanca.
From June 14 to 27, 2016, the WAU students spent time painting the CEA’s administrative and library buildings, and also providing health presentations and training on dental hygiene, hand washing and the value of physical exercise. Peña Blanca is a small town located near Lake Yojoa, the country’s only inland lake, which is nestled at the foot of Mount Santa Barbara. The mountainous region is home to many of the nation’s neediest people.
The WAU students also helped in the classrooms, providing a Bible class for students in grades 1 through 11. In addition, they visited the town orphanage, which is run by Pan-American Health Service, Inc. (PAHS), a non-government organization that operates in the mountains of Northwestern Honduras. PAHS focuses primarily on childhood malnutrition and basic education for people with few resources. At the orphanage, the WAU students and staff conducted Vacation Bible School with the theme “God is Wild About Us” for more than 40 children between the ages of 2 and 12 years old.
“I believe that God used this mission trip to get me out of my comfort zone and to work on my character,” said Monica Chica, a freshman biology major at WAU. “God used our lives to impact the lives of others. These were people who needed to hear words of hope, love and encouragement, and I believe we were able to do that.”
Washington Adventist University sponsors several mission trips each year. The university’s motto is “Gateway to Service,” and mission trips in the past five years have included destinations in Brazil, Costa Rica, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Mauritius, Philippines, Russia, St. Kitts, Tanzania, the United States and Zambia.
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Washington Adventist University is Montgomery County’s only four-year private college. Part of the Seventh-day Adventist system of higher education, Washington Adventist University has been educating college students since 1904 on a 19-acre campus in suburban Takoma Park, close to the nation’s capital. Approximately 1,100 students of all faiths participate in the university’s eight graduate and 42 undergraduate programs. The 2016 edition of U.S. News & World Report ranked Washington Adventist University among the best regional colleges in the north.
Media Contacts:
Angie Crews, 301-891-4134, acrews@wau.edu
Donna Bigler, 240-286-1169, dbigler@wau.edu