While many Biola students spent their spring break relaxing on the beach, sleeping at their grandparents’ house or hiking the Grand Canyon, 42 students chose something different: hard labor and rewarding service as part of the Honduras Water Project team.

The Honduras Water Project is Biola’s longest-running ministry as it has been in existence for over 25 years. Over the years, they have partnered with Diaconia Nacional and traveled to various villages and towns, digging and ministering to people who not only need clean water, but also love and service.

On the first of seven days, these students entered La Avispa, a village with drinking water as brown as coffee. By the final day, the people of La Avispa were drinking clear, clean water. For a full week these students dug, preached, prayed and served. Adam Bosch, a junior international business major, was part of the team.

“We were only the second group of Americans to ever visit the village,” Bosch said.

Bosch described the whole trip as fun, yet heavy.

“There were a lot of healing, a lot of people came to Christ even the pastor’s mom and dad came to Christ, we washed people’s feet...” Bosch said.

The students broke up into three groups each day: men’s, women’s and children’s ministry. Often, the men would dig for hours, then led a soccer ministry. The female students worked alongside the women in the village and played with their children.

“We had nightly church services for the community,” Bosch said. “It was cool that we could show them that we cared for them through our digging, that we weren’t just there to preach to them but that we also could show them love through our actions.”

This drew many to the nightly services, to their soccer ministry and to hear the gospel, according to Bosch.

Knowing the difficulty of the trip ahead, the team intentionally bonded over the months preceding their travels. From bonfires to prayer nights to fundraisers, the 42 members truly did form what seemed to them a family.

Their Facebook page also featured a team member of the week over the past several months in preparation.

With the great legacy that this ministry has, even alumni are still affected today. Jocy Espinoza recently graduated with a double major in journalism and Spanish. While a student, she served as the logistics coordinator for three years and traveled to Honduras more than once a year.

“There is not a day that goes by where I don't think about the people I met and the friends that I made while working hard to bring not only physical water to the communities we served, but [Jesus’] living water as well,” Espinoza said.

Espinoza also got to fulfill her journalism internship as a journalist and documentarian for Diaconia Nacional.

“For them, water is only the beginning,” Espinoza said.

Written by Abbey Bennett, Media Relations Intern. For more information, contact Jenna Bartlo, Media Relations Coordinator, at 562.777.4061 or at jenna.l.bartlo@biola.edu.