A team from Samford University recently returned from a weeklong medical mission trip to Roatán, Honduras, where they provided care to nearly 1,000 patients across five church-based clinics. Led by professor Kim Benner from McWhorter School of Pharmacy, the group included five Doctor of Pharmacy students, one pre-pharmacy student, one nursing student and professor Lora Shelton from Moffett & Sanders School of Nursing.
The team partnered with e3 Ministries, a local Roatán pastor and members of First Baptist Church of Pelham. In total, 18 volunteers from the U.S. worked alongside 18 local translators to deliver medical and spiritual care in underserved communities.
Each day, the group set up a clinic in a different church. While the evangelism team worked in the surrounding neighborhoods to support church planting efforts, the medical team served patients with compassion and excellence. Over five days, the clinics saw a total of 991 patients.
Students were deeply involved in every aspect of care. They began by triaging patients, taking vitals, conducting interviews and working with provider mentors to determine diagnoses and treatment options. In the on-site pharmacy, they filled prescriptions and counseled patients using interpreters. Students also staffed an eyeglass clinic, where they fitted patients with glasses that allowed them to return to daily activities and read their Bibles more clearly.
An ultrasound technician joined the team, offering students the opportunity to observe real-time sonography and learn more about diagnostic imaging. Several students also explored the evangelism side of the mission, sharing their personal testimonies and the love of Christ with members of the community.
For fourth-year pharmacy student Jon Coley, the experience was both professionally and spiritually impactful. “This experience in Roatán, Honduras was nothing I could have imagined,” he said. “Allowing my faith to meet my future profession in such an opportune way was so special.” He noted how quickly his clinical and communication skills grew in just one week.
This was Benner’s sixth mission trip with pharmacy students, but her first with this group. She noted how every medical provider poured into the Samford students by teaching, mentoring and fully engaging them as active participants in every area of the clinic. “I’m not sure I’ve seen a group that has responded so positively to our students like this one did,” Benner said. “They definitely left with a very strong impression of how Samford students can provide care in our communities.”
One memorable moment came when the students sang during morning worship, a spontaneous performance that quickly became a daily tradition and earned them the nickname The Samford Choir.
The team made a lasting impression and was warmly invited to return for future mission trips. “It was an amazing week,” said Benner. “Beautiful relationships were forged, and our students returned not only as better practitioners, but as people whose hearts were changed through service.”
