Recently (July, 2010) a group of 10 members from Unity Presbyterian Church in Fort Mill, South Carolina, traveled to Honduras on a mission trip through PC USA. They carried a supply of soccer balls, shoes, cones from Peace Passers to the children there. This Presbyterian team helped build houses in a small village called Copantle, in the Department of Copan. Some of the balls were given to the school in this community.

Emily Morris of Unity Presbyterian Church in Fort Mill, SC presents a soccer ball to the children of the small community of Copantle in Honduras. Soccer equipment provided by Peace Passers were donated to the school in Copantle.

The majority of the equipment from Peace Passers, along with shirts and shoes brought by the Unity team were give to a boy’s home in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. The boy’s home, called El Hogar Diamante, provides training in a safe, educational environment for orphaned boys and for boys whose families cannot care for them. “The soccer balls brought great joy to the children we met in Honduras. We were thankful for the partnership with Peace Passers,” stated Joyce Sullivan, the leader of the Unity team.

A mission team from Caldwell Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, NC (www.caldwellpresby.org), has delivered 80 sets of jerseys & shorts donated from Flagler College (St. Augustine, FL) shoes (from donors nationwide), 20 balls plus other equipment from Peace Passers, to the indigenous community of San Rafael el Arado in Guatemala. The mission team was working through Common Hope (www.commonhope.org), a Minnesota-based nonprofit that provides assistance to Guatemalan families in the areas of education, healthcare, and housing. The church sponsors a child from San Rafael, helping to provide schooling, healthcare, and other services to her and her family, as well as support to the community as a whole.

Sally T, A member of the mission team says “Students from San Rafael were very excited to receive the soccer gear, since soccer is a popular pastime in Guatemala. The young women were especially happy to be included in the soccer plans and also recipients of the gear. Guatemalan children begin practicing their soccer moves with limes and other found objects by the time they are two or three years old. Yet rarely do village children have an opportunity to play with appropriate footwear and other gear. Mostly they play pickup games on dirt roads or empty fields after their chores are finished. Now the San Rafael school is planning scrimmages with neighboring communities. With these donations from PeacePassers, San Rafael students will enjoy their favorite sport even more!”

We would like to thank the Men’s Soccer team from Central Christian College (McPherson, KS) for their jersey donation to PeacePassers. In an excellent example of collaboration we were able to provide the jerseys to Playforhope.org who mentors youth players in Rwanda. The joy in this picture and the excitement of new jerseys is priceless!