By Avery Walker, Copy Editor
Ouachita offers students many ways to live out the great commission and serve their community, whether that be in Arkadelphia or across the world. One such opportunity is the mission trip that the Hickingbotham school of business takes every spring break to Honduras.
The Honduras mission trip is led by Johan Eriksson, professor of Entrepreneurship and Global Business at Ouachita. What started as simply a Bible study for a group of guys quickly became an annual undertaking to serve others and spread the gospel. Professor Eriksson described the process of bringing this trip to fruition: “In 2023, we took our first group to Honduras, and since then we’ve gone back every year. We build homes, hold daily church services, take daily prayer walks, organize VBS’s, make repairs and play with kids.”
The primary purpose of the Honduras mission trip is to build homes for those in great need of safety and stability. “In Honduras, there are very few men and family structures,” Eriksson explained. “The women and children live in mud huts and are very poor. Our heart is to build homes for these women and kids; they live in these houses for free with the condition that the kids go to school and church.” By building these homes, the Honduras mission team helps families break out of the cycle of poverty and provides them with a safe and comfortable place for their kids to grow up.
To raise funds for this trip, Eriksson’s Entrepreneurial Mindset class put on a car wash fundraiser cleverly titled “Wash-It-All,” which took place on Wednesday, Oct. 22. The students in this class were given the project of creating a business venture that generates money, all of which goes towards building the houses in Honduras.
Junior business major Maddy Kate Pulley was involved in organizing the car wash. She described the process behind the event: “My group went back and forth on what exactly we wanted to do and landed on a car wash, as it was not something that was currently an event on campus. We wanted to get the community, as well as all students involved, so we came up with the idea to use all the men’s social clubs to help us wash the cars. We created stations for each club, and they were very generous in helping sign up and work it. We also had food trucks and games for people who maybe didn’t want their car washed but just wanted to come hang out.”
At the end of the day, the campus showed up and made the students’ hard work worth it. “We don’t have an exact number [of funds raised], but we had about 50-60 cars come out and support,” Pulley explained. “It was definitely a challenging group project, but we are so thankful and proud of the event we put on and everyone who came to support!” Because of this creative and successful business venture, students who wish to go on the mission trip are financially supported. Now, they can take part in what Eriksson described as a “wonderful opportunity to be Christ’s hands and feet.” Because of the hard work of the Entrepreneurial students and the generosity of Ouachita’s campus, a family in Honduras will be blessed with a comfortable home.
While the Wash-It-All fundraiser is over, there are still many ways to support the Honduras mission trip, from donating funds to praying for the team! Eriksson and the rest of the mission team will leave for Honduras over spring break, living out the great commission and loving their neighbor from across the world.
You can still donate today! Text OBUCARWASH to 41444 to support those going to the Honduras Mission Trip and join in prayer for the work they will do.
