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 Mary Hurd and her
husband Fred simply could not ignore the cringing poverty
of The Bottoms. Theirs
is an inspiring story of sacrifice and unwavering devotion to God's
calling. It's a story that began in 1988, when this couple
from Orlando, Florida, were married.
“Well,
I always told Fred that no matter where he goes, I would follow,” Mary says.
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 She
followed her husband on vacations to Honduras, an impoverished country where theyhad
begun sponsoring children.
Honduras
lies about 1,000 miles southwest of Miami in the historically
volatile region of Central America. At least fifty-three
percent of the nation's six-and-a-half million people live in
poverty.
During his trips to Honduras, the retired trucker sensed an
urgency to move here and save children's lives.
“Fred
always called me, “Oh ye of little faith,' because I said 'Fred,
what if we can't make it down there?' All we had was his retirement.
And he couldn't wait to go raise money or go through a board because
he said if he'd done that, hundreds of children could die down here.
They needed help now.”
By
1997, Fred and Mary had a permanent home in Choluteca. In the
beginning, they distributed bananas and vitamins throughout The Bottoms. The
following year, a missionary team from North Carolina built a place of worship
for the community. The Hurds named it Mount Carmel Baptist Church.
And
so it began: the Mount Carmel Baptist Mission. But if
not for the grace of God – and the mission team's unbreakable
commitment to serve – the work here might have ended a few short
years later. In August 2002, Mary and her team
suffered a painful loss. Fred
was driving to pick up a load of children to take to the market.
That's when the heart attack struck.
“I
felt like 'Lord, you took Fred home. And I know that you don't want
me to desert the children. And upon this, I stayed. And the Lord has
opened up the Heavens and poured out the blessings.”
Despite
some protest from her family, Mary says she never plans to return
to the U.S. and abandon the work she started with her husband.
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