Honduras missionary ready to go back again
By SHARON KERR Staff Writer

Shasta Parker was one of the "new kids" on the recent First Baptist Church trip to Honduras, but like many of the old hands, she returned to Jasper with a missionary's zeal to "go back with more."

Even though First Baptist Church in Jasper sponsored the mission, Parker said they had members from several area churches.

"We had people from Trinity, Hillcrest, United Methodist... I can't remember them all, but we all pulled together. We had all ages, too, from youths to a 75-year-old man," Parker said.

Collectively, they saw 2,800 patients in the clinic at Cebadilla, which is 60 miles from the capital of Tegucigalpa. The group also distributed 20,000 prescription pills and had a dental team working the entire week.

"It took four hours by bus to get there," Parker said. The trip was definitely an eye-opener for her when she saw living conditions. "We showered with a water hose," she said.

"We set up and distributed 150 boxes of clothes and ran out. Next time I hope we get more." They also distributed bags of rice and beans they bought in the capital. "We paid $5 each for real big bags."

"We saved nine babies including a blue baby and another one with tetanus," Parker said. They sent the sick infants for medical treatment in the city.

"We did all this on $6,000," Parker said, but she is not counting the hours of volunteer labor of people like herself. Some people were retired but most gave up their vacations and paid their own way to participate in this humanitarian program.

Parker said a few people did get sick, but most were over it in a day. Team captain Terri Cheeley has been going on mission trips to Honduras many years, and Parker said she knew just how to get people back on their feet.

Parker has no medical expertise. She is a bondsman, and she said that is the beauty of a trip like this- anyone, with any skill level, can help.

"You don't have to have medical or dental training to be useful," Parker said. She weighed people and took their blood pressure. She said other volunteers cleaned dental tools in bleach. "Even people with limited physical ability can count out pills," she said.

"Anyone with medical skills is definitely prized," Parker said, but there is something for everyone to do. She said they put a roof on the Sunday school rooms, and hoped next year that more people with construction skills would join the group.

They conducted vacation Bible school every day for 150 children and all of their church services were wellattended.

"It was the best time in my life. I've never been anywhere like that before," Parker said. "The amazing thing is we saw every patient and didn't have to turn anyone away. I can't wait to go back and do some more."