A family from Venezuela has just arrived in the city of Danlí in the south of Honduras and presented themselves to Honduran authorities. They have come a long way – through Colombia, into Central America through Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. But now, their 8-year-old son, who is with them, lies with his head on his father’s shoulder. He is unresponsive.
Fortunately, the United Methodist Mission in Honduras (UMMH) opened a clinic in Danlí two and half years ago and today, the Honduran migration officers notify the clinic when they encounter sick or injured migrants passing through. The clinic team arrived quickly to assess the boy’s health and agreed that he needed immediate medical attention…in a hospital. He was near death from severe dehydration, and the team convinced his parents to follow the advice. The specialized care saved his life.
In 2024, the Rev. Daniel Contreras, a new missionary assigned to UMMH, became the interim country director and he has confirmed that the small clinic served 10,000 patients last year. “The United Methodist Church in Honduras is committed to ministry with the poor and marginalized. Our health work started with a project for the elderly in Danlí, which then developed a fruitful partnership with the authorities. Sadly, the need for a clinic for migrants is greater now than it was before,” Contreras noted.
Others who are referred to the clinic, either by immigration officers or by word-of-mouth, receive direct care from the professional staff at the clinic. They see many cases of less severe dehydration, which they can treat, people with chronic diseases who have run short on their medications, malnutrition, respiratory problems, diarrhea, cold and flu, skin diseases, gastrointestinal infections, foot and leg injuries and wound infections. In most cases, migrants recover and continue their journeys, whatever their destinations may be.
Filling a gap with life-saving care
The Government of Honduras promotes universal health coverage but lacks sufficient funding to cover its own citizens, much less the transient population. The city of Danlí has seen as many as 1,500 immigrants passing through each day. Migrants’ need for free, accessible primary health care is great and so the government has found ways to partner with the church’s ministry, such as providing consulting rooms and an ambulance.
The clinic is open eight hours a day, five days a week, and they see an average of 67 patients daily. The volume of patients has continued to increase, but there is uncertainty about whether the flow of migrants to the North will continue as a new U.S. Administration changes policy and procedures for immigrants at the U.S. border with Mexico.
Although the Methodist Church in Honduras is small, it has found ways to contribute important resources to local communities through its mission and ministry. Health care for passing migrants was a needed resource that church members and leaders in Danlí believed they could provide. With a series of grants (currently working on a phase 3 grant) from Global Ministries through Global Health and United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), and partnership with immigration officials, the primary health care clinic they envisioned has become a reality. In addition, the Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, has a close relationship with the UMMH. Its support in 2024, the congregation’s third annual grant, helped to meet the clinic’s increased demand for services.
This content was originally published by the General Board of Global Ministries; republished with permission by ResourceUMC on March 4, 2025.