Juniors Harrison Waldron and Hayley Smith are bringing a mission program to Harding called “Keeping Kids in School,” which entails filling backpacks with school supplies for Honduran children.
According to Waldron, children in Honduras can go to school for free, but in order to attend, all students must have their own school supplies. Many families, however, cannot afford that extra expense and are not able to keep their kids in school. Waldron’s family helped start this program for the children as well as do continuing work in the church planting ministry.
According to Waldron, keeping kids in school is a part of Mission UpReach, an organization located in Santa Rosa de Copan, Honduras, that works with churches and villages in the area.
Deseo is the name of the program that works with elementary schools, Smith said. Deseo, a team of about five people, goes into the schools and engages in short devotionals with kids as well as talks with them about hygiene and self respect.
“Deseo has been going on for three years now and we just completed our full first year with Keeping Kids in School, Smith said.
Waldron said Deseo began when elementary school directors approached his mother asking if they would go into the school and teach the kids in the villages about Jesus. Waldron said there is a open door for them to go in and teach kids about God. He said the objective of Deseo is to teach and provide children with a positive future.
Waldron said the word “Deseo” translates to wish or a desire.
“We chose the word because we wanted to project on kids a desire for a better future,” Waldron said. “You can tell them all about a better future, but if you don’t wish for better circumstances or strive for better circumstances, then they are never going to improve.”
Smith and Waldron are working to bring Keeping Kids in School to Harding so other students can help them raise funds to fill and ship the backpacks to Honduras. There are flyers posted around campus including lists with recommended supplies for students to purchase to help fill the backpacks.
Waldron said he spoke with SA president senior Tyler Gentry and they decided to begin fundraising in October.
“We want to involve social clubs during club week to fill the backpacks because we thought it would be a good service project for clubs as well as big and little activities,” Smith said.
According to Waldron, this mission will also give kids Bibles. Waldron said the cost of the Bibles is included in the money needed for shipping, which is an important feature to the mission.
“When we deliver these backpacks the first thing we tell them is this isn’t a gift from wealthy people in America, this isn’t a gift from Mission UpReach, this isn’t from the Deseo team; this is from God,” Waldron said. “We show that by having the Bible as the very first thing they see when they open the backpack.”
