LU Serve Now team assists with clean water, food initiatives in Honduras

Earlier this month,10 Liberty University students and two trip leaders traveled to Tegucigalpa, Honduras, to partner with World Gospel Outreach and a local church to meet the physical and spiritual needs of the community.

The trip, which ran Oct. 5-11 (during Fall Break), was facilitated by LU Serve Now, Liberty’s disaster relief initiative. Students spent the week distributing bags of beans and rice, assembling water filtration systems, and transporting large pilas (water basins) to local families. The team also took time to share the Gospel while building relationships with the families.

Junior Yanci Sanchez recalled meeting an elderly disabled woman who had endured multiple hardships but continued to trust in God’s provision.

“Her faith through it all was so strong,” Sanchez said. “She lives by herself, and her conditions were just so hard to see, but how she still puts in an effort to be in community with the church and going every Sunday was really inspiring. She also inspires her children who don’t know the Lord and is a light to them, showing all the things the Lord has provided for her in her time of need. I really connected with her.”

Sanchez, who has a Hispanic heritage herself, also served her team by helping with translation and explaining the culture.

Trip leader Dr. Tim Yonts, who serves as director of student development with LU Serve, said this was Liberty’s first trip to Tegucigalpa in partnership with World Gospel Outreach.

“These trips can be life-changing for the students who go,” he said. “Several students said the trip completely transformed them and is something they are going to hang on to for the rest of their lives. It was life-changing not only because you are in another country and are seeing something different,but also because  but they saw a level of poverty many of them had not seen before. So, they were challenged to process that in a biblical way.”

While students may be tempted to respond to the destitution of others with feelings of guilt, Yonts urged them to use the experience to motivate them in advancing the Great Commission.

“Instead of guilt, it should generate gratitude in students and a willingness and passion for missions, whether that means they go long term or go on an internship, or they become very missions-focused in their church and they become people who can champion the cause for Christ around the world.”

Senior Cooper Cross, a strategic marketing management student, said he appreciated the opportunity to serve internationally with fellow students. He credited the university’s spiritual atmosphere with propelling students out into the world to share the Gospel.

“Having people my age who are that passionate about delivering the hope of Christ and serving the local church — whether that’s in our community or abroad — is a really impactful experience,” he said. “It is countercultural, and I’m proud to be part of a group of students who are going against the grain.”

The trip to Honduras was one of two LU Serve Now trips during Fall Break. Nine students and three leaders traveled to Asheville, N.C., to assist Samaritan’s Purse in rebuilding efforts following the devastation of Hurricane Helene in September 2024. On Oct. 13, Liberty sent a team of faculty and staff to Boone, N.C., to further assist with various rebuild projects.

“Whenever I take students places to do Serve Now projects, the organizations we serve with are always impressed with our students,” Yonts said. “The Serve Now program is comprised of students who are interested and passionate about serving in this capacity. Taking that cohort of students is really valuable because it puts the best foot forward for the university. These students are good representatives of the kind of students Liberty is producing.”