Mission UpReach Newsletter - March 2016

March 2016 Volume 9, Issue 2-3
Mission UpReach Newsletter
Focus Edition: DESEO
DESEO program grows to reach
over 1,000 children annually
Our DESEO program was started in 2011. At that time, we
had two staff members and a small office in Santa Rosa.
The vision was to create a bridge between the school
environment and the church family. The desire was to
transform cultural values in the younger generation that
would spread throughout the entire community.
DESEO, in Spanish, means “a wish,
dream, or desire”, however the acronym
stands for the various values that Mission
UpReach instills in the children. The
words are: Dios primero (God first),
Educación (Education), Salud y Seguridad
(Health and Safety), Empatía (Empathy),
and Objectividad (Objectivity). God should
always be first in the children’s lives.
Secondly, we educate them on values like
health and security. Next, we encourage
the students to have love for each other
and confidence in themselves. And last, we mentor these
young people to seek out their dreams and believe that they
can become more than what is expected of them in their
current family and communities. Currently, many of these
students drop out before high school because of a lack of
hope. We want to show they can dream big and accomplish
goals that may seem unrealistic in their present culture.
DESEO began with two full-time employees providing
instruction directly at three or four schools each week.
Our teachers collaborated with the Christian leadership
training staff of MUR to provide a spiritual component.
Jesus said, ‘Let the children come to
me and do not stop them, because
the Kingdom of heaven belongs to
such as these.’ — Matthew 19:14
Today, DESEO has grown into an incredible ministry.
We are working to spread the good news of Jesus Christ
to children all around Santa Rosa. DESEO travels into
elementary and high schools around the city and instructs
students on morals, values and hygiene issues. More
importantly, we carry the truth of Christ.
The program is administered
by Yulema Reyes and supported by 12
staff members. The group consists of 6
Hondurans (Brayan, Carlos, Damaris,
Kerlin, Mayra, and Sara) and 6 AIMers
(Abbie, Dakota, Kyle, Malia, Nathan,
and Tristen.) The 12 team members are
divided into pairs and provide instruction
to a variety of ages. Currently, DESEO is
assisting 9 elementary schools. Damaris
and Carlos collaborate with one high
school to teach the same, but ageappropriate,
curriculum. The DESEO program has resulted
in over 30 children introducing their families to the local
church in Belén. Six families are regular members. DESEO
is teaching over 1,300 students weekly and since its
inception an estimated 5,000 children have been involved
with the program.
We know that the future of the church, both in and
outside of Honduras, is in the hands of today’s youth.
Our goal is to equip these children with biblical morals
and values that will help them in their daily life while
introducing them to Christ and His will for their lives.

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Basketball leagues score for DESEO program
Another component of the DESEO program is the Upward
Basketball Leagues and tutoring project. In 2012, DESEO
began inviting the children we were instructing to join
us as we launched a basketball league. The program was
started to create a doorway to the families through the
children. The DESEO team organizes several leagues with
children from the different schools and for various ages.
Each league lasts several months with the last few weeks
including personal visits to the homes of the participants
in order to meet and involve their families.
The tutoring component began last year, and runs in
parallel with the basketball leagues. The boys and girls
alternate daily between learning basketball and receiving
tutoring in mathematics and Spanish. English classes are
also provided by the native English speakers. Tutoring
has been effectively used as an incentive to encourage the
children to work toward better grades, with the reward of
participating in a basketball league.
Although playing basketball and becoming better
students is important, our central hope is that these
relationships will build a bond with the children and their
families to engage them in attending church and learning
more about Christ.
Spotlight on two of our DESEO heroes
Yulema Reyes has been serving
with DESEO for over 5 years,
and recently became the
administrator of our DESEO
team. Yulema first learned
of MUR from friends she had
studied with in Guatemala.
After attending a youth retreat
and a basketball camp, she
accepted a MUR position in
2011. She arrived with a strong
desire to mentor children in a
Christian organization.
As the administrator, Yulema must collaborate closely
with the public school system - scheduling classes,
working to assure that supplies are available, and designing
the biblical component of instruction. DESEO’s goal is
to demonstrate the love of Christ to the children in our
region, but it is just as often that the team experiences the
reciprocal love from the children and sees Christ in them.
DESEO, through people like Yulema, is planting seeds
that are growing throughout the families who are touched
by the program. The children share with their families,
families share with their neighbors, and neighbors share
with their communities. Christ is being spread all around
the city through the work of DESEO.
Yulema emphasizes that the DESEO program is
important because no one else in the country has shown
such a focused interest in the children. Education at this
age on values like safety, hygiene, respect, and faith is
necessary to create a more responsible, stable, and Christcentered
society.
Meet Carlos Vasquez. Carlos is a vital part of our DESEO
team and has been working with us for about three
years. Carlos’s story is unique
because he is a product of the
DESEO program. Carlos first
encountered Mission UpReach a
few years ago at his high school
where two of our DESEO team
members invited him and his
classmates to join a basketball
league. Carlos joined and later
began regularly attending the
church. A position at MUR
became available and Carlos
didn’t hesitate to accept.
Carlos is one of our 12
team members who travels to schools to teach. After a
morning of teaching, Carlos heads up the basketball league
and coaches one of the teams. The basketball leagues
provide an effective method to engage the students in
extracurricular activities at the local church building.
When asked what he enjoyed most about his job with
DESEO, he responded, “The children! I work with kids for
one simple reason, they are the future of our country.”
This statement exemplifies what MUR knows to be true.
Children are the future of their communities, but more
importantly, they are the future of the church.

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DESEO School Sponsorship Program
to be rolled out later this year
DESEO exists to teach values like honesty, integrity,
respect for authority, hygiene, and courtesy to school-aged
children. DESEO is fully coordinated by Mission UpReach
and our staff teach Bible-based classes in local public
schools during the normal day’s classes.
In Spanish “deseo” means “a wish.” Our program
demonstrates to these students that life does not have to
be the way it has always been and that they can realize big
dreams in their lives. They are learning that their families
can be transformed through Christ and that they “may
have life and have it to the full,” John 10:10 (NIV).
We are in nine schools and have a staff of 13 full-time
teachers. Since its inception, the program has provided
weekly instruction to more than 5,000 school children. As
we expand to more schools and age groups, our staffing
needs continue to grow.
MUR will be introducing the DESEO School
Sponsorship Program during 2016 to help us manage
this growth. These sponsorships are an opportunity for
individual families, perhaps working together through a
congregation, to have a direct impact on and interaction
with one of our DESEO schools. As a sponsor, you will
collaborate with from four to ten other families and will
focus on your chosen school. Your sponsorship team
Brigade highlights
On February 27, we welcomed our first brigade of the
year to Santa Rosa! Tusculum Church of Christ based
out of Nashville, Tennessee arrived with 15 members to
lead a medical brigade. They worked in the community
of El Derrumbo, which is 20 minutes outside of Santa
Rosa. During their time in the village, they served over
700 people, allowing them to receive free medical
care. Many people in Honduras, do not have affordable
medical care, so their health issues go untreated.
Our medical brigades offer medication and doctors’
consults that would not be available in any other way.
These brigades provide opportunities for us to begin
discussions about Christ to the people in these villages,
allowing our church planting teams to follow up with
will help us develop meaningful programs and activities
that are appropriate for your school and for the program
in general. When you visit Honduras, we will provide
opportunities for you to interact directly with the students
and staff of your sponsored school.
Our hope, our “deseo,” is that this program would
grow to be active in dozens of schools throughout
Honduras. Your sponsorship will help us release funds to
continue to replicate and expand the program into many
other schools and communities! More details about the
DESEO School Sponsorship Program will be communicated
soon. Contact us if you have a specific interest.
biblical studies. We are grateful for the contributions
of the Tusculum brigade as they touched many lives in
Western Honduras. Thank you to Tusculum for their
hard work!
The Pine Tree Church of Christ, from Longview,
Texas, provided our first VBS brigade of the year. Their
team included a 13-member youth group. The teens
and young adults collaborated with our DESEO team
and assisted them in spreading the good news of Christ
to children all across the city. The brigade taught the
kids, through skits and other activities, about the
wise and foolish builders as described in Matthew 7.
Most importantly, the brigade demonstrated to the
participants the love of Christ by simply spending
personal time with the children. Thank you to Pine
Tree Church of Christ for your time and the effort spent
spreading Christ in Western Honduras!
The work of our brigades is one of the greatest use
of resources directed at expanding Christ’s kingdom
in our area. It is a blessing to observe these groups
demonstrate to everyone they encounter the love of
Christ. Brigades are a key component to our ability to
meet our goal of 1010 new congregations in our region
in this generation.

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A note from Donna
It has been an honor and privilege to watch as God
has taken our first dreams that evolved into our
DESEO ministry and blessed them beyond what we
dreamed or imagined. We started out in 2011 in just
three schools and a team of two. It was truly magical
to watch the children respond to the program we were
developing. Mostly we could see just how hungry they
were for loving, consistent attention. Right away we
found the school directors surprised that we actually
fulfilled our commitment to arriving on time and
weekly, as promised. The children’s fascination with
the Bible stories and their love for singing served
to spur us on and think about how we might touch
more children. Today, as I observe some of the same
children that were in the program those first years
leading and serving in our local church, and some
of them now members of our DESEO team, I am in
awe of God and how He was and continues to work.
While our focus has been expansion, we have also
maintained a focus on quality. Today, as we serve over
a 1000 children in nine schools, in addition to our
basketball leagues, tutoring and high school outreach,
we are amazed at how God can take a dream coupled
with hard work and determination and use it for His
glory and His purposes. Dream with us, participate
with us, and consider how you can become a vital part
of the continued growth of this outstanding ministry.
2016 Brigades/Visiting Teams
February 27th- March 5th............Tusculum C of C
March 5-12th..............................Pinetree C of C Youth
March 12-19th............................Auburn Student Center
March 12-19th............................Southside C of C
April 2-9th.................................North Atlanta C of C
April 9-16th...............................VCOM
June 4-11th.................................Southside C of C
June 4-11th.................................Columbiana C of C
June 11-18th...............................Burnt Hickory C of C
June 18-25th...............................Pinetree C of C
July 9-16th.................................Lexington C of C
July 9-16th.................................Snellville C of C
July 16-23rd................................University C of C Youth
July 16-23rd................................Disciple Trips
October 3-7th.............................LaVergne C of C
Mission UpReach
Board Members
Scott Bedichek, Ft. Worth, TX
Phil Berry, Coral Springs, FL
Wayne Kellis, Gilbert, SC
Moises Matos, Decatur, GA
Matthew Schick, Powder Springs, GA
Dorris Shelton, Dunwoody, GA
Jeff Simpson, White Oak, TX
Adam Spencer, Longview, TX
Jon Stacy, Huntsville, AL
Donna Waldron, Pendergrass, GA
Phil Waldron, Pendergrass, GA
Planned Giving
Available
Remember that with Mission
UpReach now having official IRS
501(c)(3) status you can leave
a bequest in your will that will
bless future generations with
new church plants in western
Honduras. All you need to do is
include Mission UpReach, Inc. in
your will stating what size bequest
you would like to make.
Change of
Address
As of January 2015 we have changed
our mailing address to the following:
Mission UpReach, Inc.
1809 W Loop 281
Ste. 100, PMB 107
Longview, TX 75604
Please send all checks, donations and
correspondence to this new address
in Longview, Texas. You can still
correspond directly with us at:
Phil and Donna Waldron
Apartado Postal #255
Santa Rosa de Copán, Copán
Honduras, Central America
waldronfam@me.com
Phone: 706-534-7060
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