By Daniel Johnson, Sports Editor

Seven ACU students and one alumnus learned first hand that you don’t have to be a Bible major to do mission work.

The combination of students from the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication and College of Business Administration spent Jan 3 to 8, shooting video, taking pictures and developing a marketing plan for the non-profit organization Mission Lazarus in Chouleteca, Honduras.

“It was really cool,” said sophomore Brian Eschochea, electronic media major from San Antonio. “I actually got to learn more over there than I have in any class because of the on hand experience.”

The students used equipment from the JMC Department to document Mission Lazarus’ various ministries helping the Honduran people. The more than nine hours of video accumulated will be used to create a promotional video while the more than 1,000 photos taken will to create a brochure. Both of which will be used to help the organization raise funds for their ministries.

Sponsor Joyce Haley, adjunct professor of advertising, said the students will finish the video and brochure next month and present the finished product in Chapel on Feb. 27.

“Now we really have to get busy,” Haley said.

Mission Lazarus founder and ACU alumnus Jarrod Brown will also be there for the Chapel presentation.

In addition to the hands- on experience, a majority of the students received three hours of credit for the trip. The students paid or raised money to pay the near $1,000 fee for traveling expenses.

Haley led the two teams made up of JMC majors while Dr. Monty Lynn, professor of College of Business Administration, led a team of COBA majors. Lynn and the COBA majors helped develop a marketing plan to help raise funds.

“It was kinda like we were indirectly helping the Hondurans by helping Mission Lazarus,” Eschochea said.

Lynn said students toured all parts of the organizations ministries to get a feel for the work Mission Lazarus did.

Brown started Mission Lazarus in 1998 after Hurricane Mitch damaged Honduras’ economy and landscape. According to the Mission Honduras Web site, the hurricane killed 5,273 and injured 1,932,482 people.

The hurricane destroyed at least 70 percent of the country’s crops and destroyed most of the roads.

Haley said she was most impressed by the hard work of the students and dedication they showed to helping the organization.

“The whole time we were down there, they really worked together beautifully,” Haley said. “You could really tell they really enjoyed being with the Honduran people and were getting a lot out of the experience.”

Haley said she hopes this experience will not be the last for ACU students at Mission Lazarus.

“I would love to see it happen again,” Haley said. “I actually got to learn more over there than I have in any class because of the on hand experience. “