faq

The GSCH works with the Honduran government, which includes DINAF (Honduran child protection services), to fit the best home for the children. DINAF is working on an initiative to reunite children with their family members, so several children have left to live with a safe family member (could be a parent or grandparent, aunt, etc.) The Honduran government is also working on increasing foster care placements. Children also are required to leave the home once they are 18 years old.

When the children turn 18, they are required by DINAF to leave the home. The GSCH works with the children to arrange housing as well as college classes and/or job options. The GSCH has a Youth in Transition program to assist these children. 

The children come from various backgrounds of poverty, abandonment, abuse, complex family situations, or neglect. Most often, DINAF (Honduras’ child protection services), is made aware of a child’s situation and then places a child with GSCH. 

Children are taken care of by house-moms and dads that are called Tias and Tios (Spanish for aunts and uncles.) The tias/tios live in the casitas (Spanish for little house) with the kids and provide love, food, and devotionals, as well as oversee chores and homework. The GSCH takes great care in selecting and training tias/tios that love God, have extensive experience working with children, and ensure the children’s safety.

Each child has daily chores that they are responsible for, including making their bed and doing their own laundry by hand. We also have several training areas on campus, including a sewing center, wood shop, farm, and cafeteria.

Though we have had several U.S. couples adopt from the GSCH in the past, it is a very time intensive and complicated process. Honduras recently became a part of the international Hague adoption convention, which prevents couples from “choosing” a specific child that they want to adopt, unless they are 8 years old or older. Therefore, couples must go through the general Honduras adoption process to get a younger child, which considers all abandoned children in Honduras, and this process can take up to 5 years. To be adoptable, a child must get an “abandoned” status, which means that they do not have any relatives in Honduras that would claim them, or the relatives signed off that they could be adopted. If you are interested in adopting from Honduras, we encourage you to talk with Nightlight Christian Adoptions.

The children attend the Good Shepherd Christian Academy (GSCA), which is a bilingual Christian school on our property. They attend GSCA from K4 through 9th grade, and then they attend the public community school for 10th through 12th grade. The GSCA is also open to children in the surrounding community.

Many of the children do have several loving family members, but they cannot care for the child for a variety of reasons. The family members have an opportunity to visit their children at the GSCH once a month on visitation Saturdays. Unfortunately, several do not have any family or contact with any family members.

The GSCH takes child protection very seriously and has extensive safety protocols in place. We also have an official GSCH Child Protection Policy that all guests and employees are expected to sign before interacting with the kids. 

 Our default amount for child sponsorship is $43/month, which helps to cover the child’s food, education, caregivers, counseling, and medical care.  Many of our sponsors choose to give more than $43. However, we are happy to receive whatever monthly sponsorship amount you feel you can give.

Each child needs 17 sponsors at $43 a month to be “fully sponsored.”

The full amount needed for each child is $750 per month.  This covers all aspects of the child’s care: 3 meals a day, 24-hour caregivers (including campus nurse, guards, maintenance staff, psychologist, and social worker), a private bilingual Christian education, weekly therapy, and medical care.  This means that each child needs about 17 sponsors with a $43/month commitment.

This need arises from the monthly expenses per child being greater than the cost of one sponsorship. Each sponsor that the children has is special to them, and it gives the kids the opportunity to receive encouragement from multiple sponsors.

Please send an email with your name and your child’s name to mailtochild@thegsch.com, and he/she will reply to you within a month. Feel free to send pictures!

• It can take a while to ship to Honduras, but that depends on how soon a team or scheduled cargo shipment is going to the GSCH. If it is a Christmas gift, the GSCH team has a process for organizing and sending gifts months in advanced of Christmas. Please email gschkidstaskforce@bmdmi.org to confirm details for shipping a Christmas present. If you would like to send a non-Christmas gift, please include the child’s name and mail to:

 BMDMI (GSCH Sponsor Gift)

11 Plaza Drive

Hattiesburg, MS 39402 

Please email info@bmdmi.org to inquire about the timing of the next shipment. 

We prefer that you send educational, inexpensive fun items, or need-based items like clothes. Please refrain from sending expensive gifts like electronics. You can see the list of children’s sizes here on the Children’s Sizes Page.

Honduras was initially hit very hard by COVID-19, but implemented strict quarantines and has been declining in cases. Luckily, the GSCH has not had any cases on property, and only one employee who was exposed. There have been several teams who have visited the home since COVID-19 started and they have not had any issues. 

We are currently accepting resumes for full-time Orphan Care Missionaries at the children’s home. We are looking for committed individuals or couples with a specific skill set who can come alongside the Honduran leadership at the Home.  Please see the job description here and email gschkidstaskforce@bmdmi.org if you are interested. We are also accepting applications for longer-term interns (minimum stay of 6 months) that have experience at the GSCH and/or speak Spanish; we hope to expand the intern program further in 2022. 

Yes! We love hosting teams from churches or other groups. We have a brief team screening and scheduling process in place as our schedule can fill up quickly. We have team housing available for up to 30 team members at a time. Please contact gschkidstaskforce@bmdmi.org if you would like an application.

The GSCH has several different buildings with visitor housing on property, and can house up to 30 team members at once. The rooms are stocked with linens and towels, and have mostly bunk beds. There is hot water and fans. Teams eat most meals at the cafeteria with the children, but it can also be arranged to hire a cook for your time.

For short-term visitors (group size 1-4), the fee is $350 per week, which covers all food, housing, and transportation for the week. For Teams of more than 4, BMDMI (our parent nonprofit) requires that all visitors pay a team fee of $850 per person. These fees do not include the cost of airfare, which can be anywhere from $400 – $800 a person. BMDMI can arrange group plane tickets for teams of 4+ as well. 

Honduras has two main seasons – dry and rainy. During the dry season (November – April), it can get quite hot, but it is cooler at night. Typically November through February are not as hot. During the rainy season (May – October), it rains often and is cooler during the day. The majority of the year is warm, but not hot, and cool in the morning and night.

The GSCH is located in the beautiful, lush mountains of the Zamorano Valley on 70 acres. It is about an hour drive from the airport in Tegucigalpa and 20 minutes from the BMDMI mission home in Zamorano.

We love making church partnerships! We host several church teams on property each year. We also have many Sunday schools and youth groups get involved by sponsoring a child. You can also host fundraisers, supply drives, or display child sponsorship cards at your church. Please email gschkidstaskforce@bmdmi.org to get connected. 

See the list here. You can bring these items as a team member or email info@bmdmi.org to arrange shipping.