Midlife Men on a Mission

Plan Third Trip to Honduras

by Lann Malesky

        FPC’s Midlife Men on a Mission are at it again. They will begin their third mission trip to La Entrada, Honduras on Saturday, November 4 and will return on Sunday, November 12.

        Henry first challenged the midlife men (we’re still awaiting a definition of “midlife man”) of the church to join him on a mission trip over three years ago. Thirteen men made the first trip in 2004, twelve went in 2005, and this year we expect over 20 participants.

        Wow! Henry, certainly tapped a yearning in the men of FPC to reach out. Veteran Midlifers Brad Ward, Bill Freeborne, George Fesak, Henry Brinton, John Trax, Andy Wescoat from London, Dave Thalman from Winchester, and yours truly will be making our third trip. Returning Midlifers Kevin Strickler, Phil Beauchene, Ken Bingham, Scott Zimmerman, Jeff Cator, Syed Hafeez and David Garcia will make their second trip. New Midlifers Dave Wender, Charles Speer, Daryl Salmons and Charles Uphaus, plus “Kids of Midlifers” Sam Brinton and Ian Ward, will join for the first time this year.

        We will return to the mountains of northern Honduras to work at Rancho Vida, a Youth for Christ camp, and at Plan Escalon, a boarding school for poor kids sponsored by Tree of Life Ministries. We again plan to carry medical supplies to Lisa Armstrong’s clinic located in the coffee growing area along the Honduras-Guatemala border. Many of you have already supported her efforts through your purchase of Green Parrot coffee.

        We men could flit around the world from one improvised location to another, but we choose to return to La Entrada, where we have established connections and made friends. We may even be making a small difference in that cross roads community.

        Our trip is not all work, however. We meet as a group every evening for thoughtful discussion and reflection. We then often adjourn to the local ice cream parlor before an early wake up call and more work at the camp and school.

        As in the past, each Midlifer has pledged $1,500 to participate in this mission, a sum which covers air fare and in-country transportation, accommodations and food in La Entrada, and supplies and equipment for the project. However, we always spend more on our mission than we raise among ourselves. This year we have augmented our contributions with the proceeds of the sale of Henry’s book, Balancing Acts, and the coffee we brought back last year.

        Members of FPC have supported us in the past and we would appreciate your help again this year. We think that we make a small difference in the lives of the people in La Entrada, and we will use your contributions to support the project and not to defray our personal expenses. Checks may be made payable to Fairfax Presbyterian Church, with “Midlife Men” in the memo line.

        As an alternative, we invite you to contribute needed over-the-counter medicines and related items for Lisa’s clinic and the clinic at the school. If you plan to make these contributions, please use the list, enclosed as an insert in this issue of The Octagon, as a guide. On the other side of the list is a letter you can use to request your physician or dentist to donate medical supplies. Please only contribute unopened items that have not expired. You may leave your donations in the church office.

        We thank you and so will the clinic and the school.