Juan’s Story

Juan (name changed) is an excellent example of how the gospel is spreading in Honduras
as Mission UpReach transforms families in our community. When we rst met Juan, his stepfather was in prison and had been living with, though not married to, Juan’s mother. She performed odd jobs trying to care for Juan and his two siblings. The thought of pursuing a spiritual life did not exist for them – they were simply trying to survive.

Juan was introduced to the DESEO program at his school when he was in the fourth grade. During the second year of the program, Juan was chosen along with 40 other students to participate in the rst ever Mission UpReach Upward basketball camp.

During an early session, Juan caught the attention of our sta when he angrily threw the basketball in the face of another player in revenge for an accidental infraction of that player. Phil Waldron stepped in and benched Juan as a result.

That simple act of discipline got Juan’s attention. Soon he grew closer and closer to our sta and to the work of Mission UpReach. Today, Juan attends church regularly and helps with Bible classes and our youth program. His stepfather was released from prison and married Juan’s mother. They were both baptized and their family is now seeking God together.

What is DESEO?

Juan’s family situation is not unusual in Honduras. Many homes are unstable with little reliable family structure. Sexual abuse of young girls is rampant and the teenage pregnancy rate is 25% (the second highest in Latin America). A typical Honduran child will have four men in the home as a father gure before the age of 18. The USA government spends 50 times more on healthcare and 20 times more on education per capita than the Honduran government. Many families lack an understanding

of basic health and hygiene practices. The lack of understanding and public programs to meet these needs has put Honduras in the bottom third of all countries when it comes to healthcare and education.

Our DESEO program exists to teach values like honesty, integrity, respect for authority, hygiene,
and courtesy. DESEO is fully coordinated by Mission UpReach. Our sta teach these Bible-based values classes in the classrooms at local public schools during the course of a normal day’s classes.

The core values of DESEO are God, education, health, security, empathy, and a vision of future success. In Spanish “deseo” means “a wish.” Our program shows these students that life does not have to be the way it has always been and that they can pursue big dreams in their lives. They are learning that their families can be transformed through Mission UpReach’s programs, so “that they may have life and have it to the full,” John 10:10 (NIV).

DESEO is now in its sixth year. We are working in nine schools and have a sta of 13 full-time teachers. Since its inception, the program has provided weekly instruction to more than 5000 school children. We are continuing to expand the program to more schools and age groups, but as we do this, our fundraising, sponsorship, and sta ng needs continue to grow.

How does DESEO relate to evangelism and church planting?

The goal of Mission UpReach is to see the Kingdom
of Heaven expand in Western Honduras through individuals who have been transformed by the power of Jesus. The DESEO program plays an important part in this goal by equipping and training future leaders.

In this way, DESEO is helping to create transformational social change for entire communities. Following their school day, additional tutoring and extracurricular activities are provided for any students who would like to participate. Almost 50% of the children from the schools where we work join us for these extracurricular activities.These children are transported to MUR facilities where they spend time with their Christian mentors and teachers, who, in turn, share the welcoming environment of the church family.

These children grow to love the church family and in turn encourage their families to begin coming. Over 30 families have visited through an introduction by DESEO.

What does it mean to be a DESEO school sponsor?

We need Christian mentors who can be a part of the work we are doing with these schools. It is impossible for our sta to provide all of the personal Christian relationships that are needed to love these 1000+ children, and our prayers are that the program will grow far beyond its current level. Our sta availability and funding have become the main bottleneck to expanding the program to other schools.

Mission UpReach needs donors and volunteers who are willing to develop an ongoing, personal relationship with each and every school. Our volunteers will become a familiar name and face at the school and for the students and faculty, all in the name of Jesus. These relationships will provide even greater opportunities and capacity for our mission. We need to find dozens of American families who can help us demonstrate Christ to these schools and students.

If you are unable to visit a school personally, we encourage you to communicate with the students and teachers through your sponsorship team to help encourage the school and students.

Letters, small items of support, videos from you, and visits will be so impactful to our e orts to bring Christ to Honduras. Above all this, we believe your prayers are one of the most powerful things you can provide.

What will you be expected to do?

The key support activities that we encourage include:

• Visiting the school at any opportunity that you come to serve with us
• Participating in any service activities that happen at the school with a brigade: VBS classes, medical clinics, Upward basketball, etc.
• Regularly sending cards and letters to the children and sta at the school to demonstrate that you are thinking of and praying for them
• Working with your sponsorship team to develop a unique strategy for the school and help to implement it with our sta
• Supplying small
  gifts to the school (suggestions will come through your sponsorship team and Mission UpReach)
• Praying for your school and being a Christian example for the children and stay there

What will it cost?

To continue running DESEO, Mission UpReach has to employ two or three sta members per school, plus expenses to transport the children to and from our basketball and tutoring programs. The total expenses for DESEO comes out to $20 per child per month and we can fully implement the program at one school for about $20,000 per year.

A typical sponsorship for one family to support
one school will be $150 per month.We call this amount
a “school sponsorship unit.” Once we have families donating 10 school sponsorship units of $150 per month, we will have covered the full cost of serving that school. In turn, that allows us to take the program to a brand new school.

Some families may want to sponsor more than one unit per month. We encourage this when we have at least four families involved in a school. This ensures that we have enough personal interaction between the sponsors and the school during the year, and helps us form a sponsorship team.

All funds donated through the DESEO school sponsorship program go directly to the implementation of the DESEO program. Your donation will never be used to pay for fundraising or other administrative expenses incurred by Mission UpReach.

Our hope, our “deseo,” is that this program would grow to be active in dozens of schools throughout Honduras. Your sponsorship will help us release more of our general funds to continue to replicate and expand the program into many other schools and communities!

How do I get started?

You may have questions or want to discuss the details of this program with one of our sta members. We understand that this is a signi cant commitment
of time and money, and we want to be sure that the impact of your generosity is understood and can be fully leveraged to the glory of God. If after reading this document you are curious to learn more, please contact Donna Waldron at donna.w@missionupreach.org or 919-428-4304.

Or you can write to us at:

Mission UpReach Inc.
3221 Dundee Road
Longview, TX 75604