Palmer couple off to Honduras for year-long mission trip

PALMER — Local couple Ryan and Erika Lewis leave July 13 to spend the next year volunteering to teach school at Amor Fe y Esperanza in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, the nation’s capital.

Ryan Lewis is the son of Pam and Brad Lewis of Palmer.

Amor Fe y Esperanza — which means love, faith — is a government-approved home-school curriculum that offers educational opportunities for around 160 children whose families work in the Tegucigalpa trash dump.

According to the Lewis’, more than 1,300 people live in the toxic trash dump making $1 a day.

The couple has committed to volunteer at the school teaching upper level math and science classes.

They say the idea was just to spend time traveling together after graduating from the University of Idaho May 14, but their plans changed after a trip to the Tegucigalpa area in March 2010.

Ryan earned a master’s of science degree in geotechnical engineering and Erika earned bachelor’s degrees in biology and secondary education with a minor in German.

Proceeds from a fundraiser today in the parking lot of the Wells Fargo Bank in Palmer will help fund the couple’s mission trip. Donations of cash or items for the sale may be dropped off at the yard sale today.

People may also contribute online or by mail. Send checks payable to Orphan Outreach, Attn: Missions, 2001 West Plano Parkway, Suite 3700, Plano, TX 75075. Note that the donation is for account HO11-07LEW.

Online, people may go to orphanoutreach.org and use a debit or credit card to contribute. Note that Orphan Outreach charges a 3 percent transaction fee to people donating this way.

Follow their adventures online at ryananderikalewis.blogspot.com. For more information, contact ryananderikalewis@gmail.com.