Olancho, Honduras

At five feet tall, Dr. Nestor Salavarria is quiet and unassuming. But in Honduras' biggest province, Olancho, he's a giant. Since he came to Olancho 17 years ago to help start the Luke Society's first Latin American ministry, its reach has extended throughout the region and into the hearts of countless individuals.

One needs only to look at the Clinica de El Buen Pastor in the small town of Santa Maria del Real to see the impact. More than 75 patients visit the clinic each day, seeing one of the five doctors or the dentist for less than the cost of a McDonald's Happy Meal. The quality of care is high enough to draw people from the nearby cities of Catacamas and Juticalpa, and from Tegucigalpa and Trujillo, hours away.

With X-ray facilities, gynecology, pediatrics, dental care, a modern lab, ultrasound, electrocardiogram, and a fully stocked pharmacy, it's no wonder that people turn to the clinic; their alternatives are often expensive and short on modern medicine.

But the work in the clinic barely scratches the surface of the Luke Society's involvement in many of Olancho's communities.

A few years after his arrival, Nestor led a Bible study for students of the nearby agricultural college. The group organized an outreach concert in Catacamas, a city of 25,000 people a few minutes away from the clinic. Many of those attending accepted Christ, and Nestor found himself with a new church called Encuentro. Several of the original students have gone on to pastor other churches; one, Roberto Rubi, now serves as co-pastor of Encuentro and as an environmental educator for the Luke Society. His wife, Silvia, is a physician at the clinic.

The ties between the church and the clinic are numerous, as several church members serve as community health workers or staff members. More than 1,000 people have become believers through Encuentro, and Nestor has helped plant 28 other churches throughout the province, including three for the Pech Indians.

Commonly referred as "Payas," the Pech -- like most of Honduras' indigenous groups -- were once a vast people, but fewer than 10,000 remain. Before Nestor visited the Pech tribes 14 years ago, they had never heard the gospel of Christ. Now three of the five Pech communities northeast of Catacamas have churches, each led by Pech pastors. We drove two and a half hours over bumpy dirt and gravel roads to visit the largest of these, Subirana, where the Luke Society has initiated several programs to improve community health, sanitation and nutrition.

At the local church Roberto and Dr. Gerardo Flores presented the dangers of Chagas -- an insect-borne disease that affects the heart -- and other important health practices before weighing the children under five. Weight monitoring helps them identify which children need additional help and treatment in a community where malnutrition is common. Gerardo visits most weeks to disciple the pastors and elders of the Pech churches and to monitor other initiatives.

The Luke Society has provided seeds for 180 families in the different Pech communities to supplement their diets with tomatoes, peppers, onions and cabbage. An irrigation project on the village's communal land allows the Pech to grow plantains. Seeds from the first crop will be used to grow more trees, and the fruits will feed Pech families and eventually produce monetary income for the residents.

Recently the first 16 of 70 planned latrines were built by a brigade of North Americans, an important aspect of the ministry in Olancho. Gerardo inspected one new latrine and was pleased to see that the family had kept it clean. The father expressed his pleasure that his family was able to have a latrine for the first time.

"When I first visited 14 years ago," said Nestor, "there was even more poverty. I can see changes, but the change is slow."

Fredi Nolberto Martinez is one of only two Pech Indians he's aware of in the whole of Honduras who has graduated from high school. He now works with the Luke Society's environmental education project. He and his wife have volunteered to live for a year in a community for refugees from Hurricane Mitch that was built by a variety of churches and organizations including the Luke Society. Fredi is educating the 40 refugee families, as well as other communities, in sanitation and disease prevention.

The environmental education program also reaches 2,000 children and 80 teachers in seven local schools. In addition to teaching preservation and history, the program incorporates community health.

"Most people working in environmental protection are interested only in the trees, wildlife and fish," says Dr. Jose Manuel Garcia who is also involved in the project. "But we believe the emphasis should be on the diseases related to the environment, like parasites, infectious disease, respiratory infections, malaria and diarrhea. Still, we don't forget the other aspects, the trees, the wildlife, the soil, the air."

The Luke Society is currently growing 5,000 trees to plant around the community, particularly along the river to prevent erosion. Jose also leads groups of students on hikes into the wilderness to teach them the importance of conservation.

As the work has grown, Nestor has come to rely on the dedication and skills of his staff. He has stepped down as pastor of Encuentro to devote more time to running the ministry and to spend with his wife and five daughters who live in Tegucigalpa for better educational opportunities. He relies primarily on Dr. Gerardo Flores.

"When I met Gerardo for the first time," said Nestor, "I saw a doctor carrying a child with a urinary infection close in his arms as the mother followed behind. I thought, 'this is a doctor with compassion, a good doctor to have work with me.'"

That was 11 years ago, and since then, Nestor has attracted more gifted individuals either for brief visits or long-term commitments. Each person adds a different element to the team.

"Dr. Garcia brings intelligence," Nestor said. "Gerardo's gift is compassion. And with Silvia it's love. She has a great love for the people."

Visiting nurses and aspiring doctors and missionaries are also a regular part of the mix.

"I would like to someday go to the mission field in Africa," Nestor said. "I can't go now, but I can help train others to go. Missionaries can learn community health work and cross-cultural work with the Pechs and Tolpan and Garifuna."

Currently a young man from Costa Rica is training to go to Mali to work with a nomadic tribe. Another young woman who spent time with Nestor is now working in Algeria.

After 17 years of watching God bless his efforts in Olancho, Nestor hasn't lost his enthusiasm, and his vision hasn't dwindled. His future hopes include a facility to train the Pech in modern technologies, a Christian radio station in Catacamas, the country's first evangelical university, and a mobile clinic that would service indigenous communities throughout Honduras. Each of these projects is large but would involve other agencies, individuals and churches that share his goals.

As his wife, Gloria, says, "He's involved in a lot of things. But he still wants more."