The roots laid at Centennial Farm in Romeo are what helped spark a regrowth for an ailing nation half a world away.
"The Lord will put you in a place where he wants you. You don’t necessarily make the decision as to where you want to go do mission work."
Bill and Ellen Gass feel they were called to some of hardest hit areas of Honduras shortly after it was devastated by hurricane Mitch in 1998.
"Everything had been washed away, they lost everything, they didn't have anything left and had no food because, economically, there was no way to get food into that country. The roads and bridges were all washed out and it was a mess, so we jumped in and started doing what we could."
What they could quickly turned into everything they can and now, after 2 decades of working to help Hondurans, the Gasses have transformed housing, food, education and lives in the region.
In just the first years of their missionary work Bill and Ellen built 175 houses. They have since built a 235 foot drawbridge across a river so kids could get to school, 3 orphanages, and 59 schools across 8 states.
The 2 retired teachers have had a countless number of equipment stolen over the years, and have even had to spend many nights with armed guards at their side.
Bill and Ellen call their effort "Mission of Hope" because it’s what you can’t see that matters most to them.
"I believe that we are instilling the love of Christ through what it is that we are doing, so they can see him through the things that have happened around mission of hope."
Since it's beginning in 1853 the family farm has made a living supplying metro Detroit restaurants with fresh produce. Now the money raised from sales mostly goes to helping support their mission.
If you would like to help they have a website MissionofHope-Honduras.org.
"One of the greatest things is the sense of community, the sense of empowering people to understand that they don't have to be helpless, that there is hope, there is help to be compassionate to one another by working together."
