Joel Aycock sees expansion for His Hands Mission International in Honduran villages

MADISON – Joel Aycock is continuing his dedication to His Hands Mission International in Honduras for villagers to have potable water and an introduction to Christianity.

Aycock founded the non-profit organization to provide both drinking water and the “Living Water of Jesus Christ.” He felt the call to be a missionary as a teenager on one of the many trips that he took to Honduras with his church, Asbury, from Madison. Joel fell in love with the culture, food, and people of Honduras and knew that he wanted to help improve their living conditions in some way.

After graduating from Samford University in May 2007, he was praying for God to lead him as to how he should fulfill his calling as a missionary. After reading an article about how Samaritan’s Purse uses the Biosand Water Filter to bring pure water to people all over the world, Joel knew that this what he was being called to do in the Copan Mountains of Honduras. He left in his pick-up truck from Alabama with his brother Nathan Aycock and drove over 2600 miles down to Honduras in July 2007, to begin his water purification project using the biosand water filter.

Joel stayed in Honduras until December making and installing water filters in villages throughout the Copan Mountains. When he came back to the United States for Christmas, he felt that this water project was a thing worth continuing and started His Hands Mission International, a 501c3 Non-Profit organization, to help support his calling to serve in Honduras.

“2024 was a productive year for the ministry in both a physical and spiritual sense,” Aycock said. “Our agenda for 2025 is already loaded with many more projects and trainings. We’re excited to start year 18 in Honduras.”

Currently, Aycock is working in several Honduran villages:

• El Paraiso — Started with a community transformation project in La Zonita and spread to El Eden and Santa Cruz de Virginia to install roofs, pour concrete floors and start discipleship programs to share the Gospel.

“We also installed 113 filters over three villages (San Isidro, El Pinalito, El Tapiche), completed community transformation projects in La Zonita (27 homes), Eden (24 homes) and Santa Cruz de Virginia (33 homes),” Aycock said. “We completed discipleship training classes to lay the foundation for a church to grow.”

• Ocotepeque – Trained pastors to build, install and maintain water filters. “Building filters is hard work. There’s nothing easy about sifting sand, mixing concrete and making 200-pound filters, but these pastors worked hard to make them for two villages. Pastors had opportunities for evangelism because of how hard they worked to build filters,” Aycock said.

• La Moskitia – Requires an eight-hour drive and 12-hour boat ride. Aycock had to cancel trips because of collapsed bridges and tropical storms. When his team arrived, they visited churches that have been ‘planted’ and worked on church construction in Rio Platano. Eight churches are now meeting that didn’t exist six years ago.

With partnership with Fluidtrol for fiberglass filters and Iglesia Amigos in Honduras, they have installed water filters, planted churches and helped an area with great need for the Gospel, Aycock said.

Aycock will complete about 120 surveys with villagers and one-on-one ministry. His team will teach in three remote villages to build water filters and complete community transformation projects.

“The summer of 2025 is shaping up as one of our busiest seasons since before COVID-19,” he said. Aycock has talked with six U.S. churches planning a mission trip. “We love teams coming down to minister with us. It’s a blessing to share a first-hand glimpse into (our) work and show the Honduran people that churches all over America care about their physical and spiritual well-being.”

“We hope to continue our work for many years to come,” Aycock said.

Mailing address for His Hands Mission International is P.O. Box 18111, Huntsville, AL 35804. For more information, email Joel.Aycock@hishandsmission. com, or visit hishandsmission.com or visit Facebook/His Hands Mission International.