Called to a greater purpose

As the CEO and president of R.E. Lewis Refrigeration in Creston, Wayne Hanson keeps plenty busy. Despite this, he’s devoted time to two nonprofits near and dear to his heart.

“I just felt like I needed to do more,” Hanson said. “I honestly felt like God was calling me to do more.”

El Faro

This calling began after a trip to Venezuela in the early 2000s. Though the trip was dangerous, it inspired Hanson. When he came back, he told his wife Michelle that he felt called to do more. By 2008, Michelle agreed.

“I had been researching different places to go,” Hanson said. “Guatemala was one of them, Honduras, just Latin America.”

With 10 children in the middle of their teenage years, Hanson could see how his kids were in a period of their lives that’s generally self-centered.

“If kids can just get a glimpse of — especially kids in America — if they can get a glimpse of how the world lives,” Hanson said. “One of the first things that I learned about missions when I went out was two-thirds of the world’s population, which is almost 5 billion people, live on less than $10 a day.”

The couple decided on Guatemala, creating a nonprofit that would go on to merge with El Faro (The Lighthouse) — one of the largest Christian outreach centers in Central America.

El Faro was originally started in 2001 when Phil and Nikki Ephraim of Chicago bought a piece of land in Guatemala, sight unseen.

They weren’t sure what El Faro would amount to, but they began to build. It has been running as a foundation serving as a place for camps, retreats and community outreach programs since 2003.

“From the first trip on, I mean, it just got our hearts,” Hanson said. “We love the people of Guatemala; they’re special. That’s been the story ever since.”

Situated on 56 acres of abundant jungle, El Faro’s mission is to express the love, grace and mercy of Jesus Christ to the people of Guatemala.

The facility has the capacity to hold 250 people in dormitories and private apartments.

“We have a pretty large staff in Guatemala. We have roughly a dozen missionaries plus support staff, and about three-fourths of them at least are Guatemalan,” Hanson explained. “That’s amazing. It’s Guatemalans. Guatemalans serving Guatemalans.”

El Faro has many volunteering opportunities. From teaching English to painting buildings and serving meals, there are many ways to serve the people of Guatemala.

The program offers the opportunity to serve short term from one week to three months. It provides a chance to experience life in a different culture.

Each year, the Hansons take two or three trips to Guatemala. Between the trips and the financial support, Hanson said it requires them to sacrifice both time and money.

“But if you’re called to do something, you should be willing to give that up,” he said.

War Horses for Veterans

While El Faro was in full swing, the Hansons were approached by their friends Pat and Andy Brown to get in on the ground floor of an equine-focused nonprofit.

From there, War Horses for Veterans was formed — an organization in Stilwell, Kansas, that uses the therapeutic powers of horses to help veterans and first responders heal from PTSD.

“He was into Morgan horses, and I’ve always been into quarter horses, so he wanted to get this program started, and Morgan horses really weren’t very good for that,” Hanson explained. “So he was looking for opportunities to partner with me on some quarter horses and then take my advice on purchasing quarter horses to be used for the program. Today we have probably 20 horses down there, and about half of them have been donated by Michelle and I.”

War Horses for Veterans is a five-day program that equips combat veterans and first responders with skills for successful leadership after adversity.

“It’s 100% paid for. It’s no cost to the participant,” Hanson said. “So we work 100% off of donations. We fly them in, we have a bunk house they stay in when we’re having a program, we have chef-prepared meals. Nutrition’s a big deal when you’re working with people, so we try to use proper nutrition while we’re doing it too.”

War Horses for Heroes has approximately 10 sessions each year, serving people from all over the nation. The program serves five participants at a time. In each session, there’s a mentor — someone who has already been through the program.

As a board member, Hanson has been able to go through some of the programs. “It’s probably one of the most rewarding experience to being a board member, going down and getting to participate with these people,” he said, “And then I’ve gained lifelong friends through it.”

The participants start by working in a round pen with the horse. This is a method often used to gain trust and respect between horse and rider. From there, it’s straight to bareback riding.

“We go right into challenging them,” Hanson said. “Veterans and first responders, they’re willing to take chances on their life every day. So when we challenge them to do these things, it’s a pretty small chance compared to what they’ve been doing.”

After connecting with the horse bareback, participants saddle up and start riding. By day three, they are learning how to rope.

“We have cattle. We teach them that they can go and box cattle and chase cattle down the fence,” Hanson said. “So we challenge them to deep depths. The more they can accept the challenge, the bigger the transformation.”

In recent years, equine-assisted therapy is a growing field in mental and physical health care to promote emotional well-being, personal growth and healing. This unique partnership with horses can support treatment for conditions like anxiety, PTSD, depression, trauma and more.

As prey animals, horses are sensitive, always aware of their surroundings. They bring a calming and nonjudgemental presence that naturally suits them for therapeutic work.

“When you get in a round pen with a horse, the horse actually will mirror your heartbeat,” Hanson said. “They will mirror your actions and attitude. So if you’re aggressive, the horse becomes aggressive, and when you are able to relax, the horse is able to relax. It’s this tiny miracle that’s happening right before your eyes, and when the participant sees it and feels it, it’s just unbelievable.”

The 2026 sessions are already filled with applicants as the program has taken off.

“We’ve been able to help a lot of people save their marriages, save their life,” Hanson said. “We’ve had a number of people that were suicidal and now they’re functioning, they have jobs. So there have been lots of great, great successes.”

Balance

R.E. Lewis Refrigeration has been in Creston for nearly 70 years. They go from the design work all the way to installation of industrial refrigeration systems for food processing, food manufacturing and food distribution.

Though he’s phasing himself out of the day-to-day leadership at R.E. Lewis, he’s been balancing full-time work with two nonprofits for more than a decade.

How he’s able to do it? In his words — a great wife.

“Honestly, if you don’t have that beside you, it’s, it is really difficult,” he said. “It’s difficult to manage my job, let alone volunteering at the level that we volunteer together.”

For them, nothing is more rewarding than being directly involved.

“If you want to be part of a nonprofit organization, you need to put your boots on the ground. You need to be part of learning about it,” Hanson said. “It’s impossible for you to understand what happens with the people of Guatemala if you don’t. And then you learn of all of the things you can do. It’s the same with War Horses for Veterans. If you really feel called to help with that, you’ve got to put your boots on the ground and learn about what these people deal with every day, what are their struggles, because there are all kinds of them.”

Though not everyone is able to give back in the same way the Hansons do, he sees how every little bit helps.

“Recently we had one of our really special horses that has served so many veterans and needed surgery,” he said. “It was put out that we needed financial help to get this horse surgery, and people stepped up. That’s amazing. But if you’re not part of the organization to understand that, you’ll never learn that where it is you can help.”

A major help for the Hansons in this journey has been Iowa State Savings Bank. As they are often needing to wire money outside of the country, the cost can add up.

“Some of the other banks will charge up to $75 to wire money outside of the country. And Iowa State Bank has done that for free for us from day one. That’s amazing,” he said. “There’s so many ways that people can help.”