Jacque, a teddy bear mascot for Abiding Savior Lutheran School’s kindergarten class, returned from an eight-day trip to Honduras last Friday with its tour guide, Erik Beishir.

“Every year, Abiding Savior Lutheran Church goes on a mission trip to Honduras,” Beishir said. “This year, the primary mission was to drill water wells for villages that don’t have a clean water supply.”

While away, Jacque sent photos to the students via Facebook. Members of Abiding Savior Lutheran Church at 4355 Butler Hill Road have been active in Honduras for the past five years, Beishir said.

“There is no infrastructure for clean water down there,” he explained. “They lack the ability to drill a well. But with our support and other mission-sponsored organizations we’re able to go there and utilize equipment that’s already there to drill these wells and hook them up to the filtration system.”

Thirteen members of the church joined two members from other U.S. churches on the trip this year.

“We did visit a village where we dug a well two years ago that was close to where we were this year,” Beishir said. “We were able to talk with them about how the well is working. They said that when other villages were out of water last year, folks were able to come to their town and get water. There was enough water to go around. It was very rewarding to hear that from them.”

Resources are very limited in Honduras, yet Beishir felt blessed to visit.

“It was refreshing to see how well they respected their pastor. Despite the poverty there, they still walk around with a happy heart,” he said.