Why I Said Yes

Hi everyone and welcome to the first official Hailey in Honduras blog post! I am so excited for this journey and for you to come along with me.

For those of you that don’t know, I am about to spend 27 months in Central America. I will start in Antigua, Guatemala where I will attend language school to learn Spanish. After two months in Antigua, I will make the journey to Trujillo, Honduras. I will be a nurse at an organization called Finca del Nino (aka Farm of the Child), a children’s home for abandoned and abused children. Our mission is to care for these kids and show them the love of God. At Finca del Nino, these sweet kids are able to speak to counselors and therapists about the trauma they have endured. In addition to their physical and mental healing, we also focus on their spiritual healing. Finca del Nino is a Catholic mission that shows the kids and surrounding community the love of Jesus and our Father. Finca del Nino has biweekly communion services, daily morning and evening prayer sessions, Sunday mass at the Cathedral in Trujillo, Franciscan sisters, and so many other opportunities for spiritual growth.

I first heard about Finca del Nino in 2022 from my friend Allison but quickly dismissed the idea that I could ever be a missionary in a foreign country. Funny how God works! In April of 2025 I went on a retreat where I went to confession and adoration. During this confession, the Lord healed some old wounds that were preventing me from fully living in God’s joy. After confession, I was praying with Jesus in adoration. It was almost Holy Week and to prepare I wanted to read Jesus’ passion. When I read about Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, I felt a connection with Jesus saying “Not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). Up to this point in my life, I tried to control everything. Letting that control go was hard, but in that moment I felt God calling me to surrender my wants to Him. Of course in my mind I thought God was telling me to trust Him in the timing of meeting my future husband. Little did I know He was really preparing my heart for mission.

Over the next few months I prayed a lot with Luke 22:42. I let it guide many prayer sessions when I was frustrated and sad about not being a wife and mother yet. However, I kept praying for the Lord’s will to be done and that I would have the strength, courage, and boldness to say yes to whatever His will in my life may be. In September of 2025, I was visiting my friend Allison in Houston. We went to lunch with some of her small group girls and had the best time! They were all so kind, encouraging, fun and a pure joy to be around! They invited me to go on a mission trip to Belize with them. After our lunch and all the fun we had I just couldn’t say no!

Over the next 3 months, I kept joking with Amber, my sister, that I was going to love being on mission in Belize so much that I was going to stay there and not come back. A specific incidence where this happened was at the Fort Worth location of SEEK 2026. I was hanging out with Amber, joking again about probably staying behind in Belize, when Amber looked at me and said “Hailey, if you’re serious about mission, go and talk to some of these organizations recruiting for their missions. You never know where it could lead!” With that encouragement, I walked around to multiple incredible organizations to hear about their specific missions.

One of the groups there was Finca del Nino. Allison, my friend who I mentioned earlier, was a former missionary for them and was tabling at the Finca del Nino booth. I tried to talk to her but she wasn’t there when I walked by. Luckily for me she was staying with me hehe. That night, Allison and I had a really great conversation about Finca del Nino. She answered so many questions I had and told me all about her time while she was in Honduras. The more I found out, the more I felt like God was answering my prayers and showing me His will.

Growing up, the church I went to (Good Shepherd Catholic Community) hosted mission trips to our sister church in Honduras. I wanted to go every year, but you had to be 18. Unfortunately by the time I turned 18, our church stopped going because it was too dangerous. Fast forward to college, I became passionate about protecting the innocence of people, specifically children. Once that innocence is taken away, its hard to get back. Now to my time in Houston. I watched a movie about Mother Cabrini (a saint who opened up an orphanage for oppressed Italian children in the late 1800’s) and became inspired to open my own orphanage (where Archie would be the best little therapy dog). Two other wants in my life have been wanting to live on the beach (and turn 30 on the beach) and learn Spanish. Well, Finca del Nino is an orphanage in Honduras for abandoned and abused children where I get to live on the beach (and have my 30th birthday on the beach) and learn Spanish! It felt like God was wrapping Finca del Nino up with a bow and giving it to me as the best present.

Throughout the discernment process I felt the Lord’s hand gently guiding me towards mission and toward Finca del Nino. It took a long time to get here, but to finally be aligned with the Lord’s will for me is a gift in it of itself. I am forever grateful for the Lord’s mercy and grace in my life. Moving to Honduras is scary and overwhelming and the more I think about it the more I think “Hailey, what are you doing?” But at the same time, I am filled with joy and excitement for this opportunity. I can only imagine the transformative experience this mission will be and again I am so excited for you all to be able to join me through this blog. I humbly ask that you continue to pray for me, my fellow missionaries, the Finca del Nino/Farm of the Child staff, and most importantly, the children at Finca del Nino.