Articles by
Steve Dennie

Travel Articles

Honduras: Sambo Creek

Follow these articles in order to get the chronological tour of Central America. San Pedro Sula | La Ceiba | Sambo Creek | Around La Ceiba | A Wake | The Dump | Nicaragua

Steve Dennie

January 1997

Drive out east of town, across the river, past the dump, another 15-20 miles or so along the nice paved highway, then take a left on a rough road and head straight toward the ocean, and you come to Sambo Creek. It's a small, pleasant village with dusty roads and simple homes and a recently-built United Brethren church which is very dear to the hearts of Roger and Betty Carey.

The Sambo Creek church stands just back from railroad tracks, maybe 40 feet from the front door.

"This church is so much bigger than the original church they had," Betty told us.

There are seven rows of four-foot green pews, with a 2-by-10 plank connecting each set of benches to form one long pew across the width of the sanctuary. Cement blocks provide some support under the middle of the planks.

A yellow cloth covered the small pulpit, which stood on a raised platform. A homemade communion set lay next to the pulpit. The windows were shuttered; no glass or screens. Sawdust blanketed the floor.

Kids, cute kids, roamed everywhere, and they thronged around us, goading us to take their picture. I had never seen kids so eager to mug for the camera. One youngster ran up to me and asked me to take his picture. I aimed and snapped, and as soon as the flash went off, he turned around and yelled victoriously to his parents in a nearby house. As soon as I would take one kid's picture, another would run in front of me--"Take my picture." And every snap, whether of one kid or a whole group, yielded a cheer. It was fun.

Pastor Antonio Lopez, a big, jovial guy you can't help but adore, had come with us, and we had stopped along the way to pick up his daughter, who spoke fairly good English. After looking over the church, we walked with them to the parsonage. We turned on the last road before the ocean and walked past thatched and steel-topped homes clear to the end of the road. A creek out back of the pastor's house ran through the white sandy beach into the sea.

Roger and Betty sat under a tree in the yard, he on a log and she on a chair, and kids gathered around them. Roger gave them candy, and then pulled a balloon from a pocket and began stretching it.

"This is one of my favorite things to do," he told me.

He blew it up, very long, and twisted it into the shape of a dog. He gave it to a boy, and then started on a second balloon, which promptly blew up on him.

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The Careys are from the Woodbury UB church in Michigan. Roger retired from General Motors about 15 years ago.

They first went to Honduras in 1986 on a UB work crew, thanks to a kind woman who volunteered to pay their way, passports and everything. They have come back every year--this year, for two months--and have worked on numerous projects. One year they stayed six weeks to help build the Bethel Institute dormitory, assisting three different work crews from Pennsylvania.

Betty told us, "One of the biggest thrills of my life was the first time we ever built a church. We sat in on the dedication service, and you sit there and think to yourself, I helped build this church for these people, and they are so thrilled by the fact that they have this church, and it took so little effort on our part to make them so happy."

The project dearest to their hearts is the Sambo Creek church, probably because they raised the funds, brought down the work crew (five from Michigan, 12 from Pennsylvania), and stayed four weeks to make sure the work got done. The previous wooden building was eaten through with termites and the floor was caving in. "We felt we needed to replace this church," Betty said.

Before coming to Honduras each year, they pick up clothing from garage sales, buy pencils, ribbon, toys, games--"Anything we can fit in a duffel bag," Betty said. This year, they had bought 15 pounds of candy from Sam's Club, plus some one-dollar watches Roger found at a Dollar store and some earrings and barrettes for Betty to give to girls. They love bringing stuff to give away. It's something they look forward to each year.

"I've seen a lot in the 11 years since we've been coming down here," Roger told me. "You don't forget. I'm going home at the end of February, and I won't be able to wait until the next January when I can come back. I love it here."

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