Our third mission to Honduras took us to five different cities where we held three pastor’s conferences, two marriage conferences, and one evangelism-and-discipleship in addition to ministering in three church service, a prison, and a hospital during our busy ten days in the country.
We began our time in the capital city of Tegucigalpa where were held a pastor’s conference and a marriage conference and ministered in a local church. One pastor who participated in the pastors’ conference shared with us that he had driven six hours to be present and would then do the same trip in reverse at the end of the day. Another pastor told us that, even though he had been in the ministry of pastoring and pioneering churches for twenty-three years, he felt that he had learned much valuable advice during the day-long seminar.
As exciting as the as the ministry at the conference was, it was not the only exhilarating moment of our day. On our way to the meeting, our driver rushed to make a left turn through a gap in the oncoming traffic, not seeing that there was a truck approaching from the right side. When Delron yelled out a warning, he was able to stop just inches short of a collision while the vehicle he was trying to beat through the intersection also screeched to a halt just short of crashing into our vehicle. This is story is not intended to suggest that he was a careless driver but to illustrate the necessity of divine protection in the congested and aggressive traffic of Honduras – a necessity that was accentuated a few minutes later when his GPS directed him to turn the wrong way on a one-way street. When he realized that he had made this erroneous turn, he quickly pulled into the next available street – the city open-air market which was lined on both sides by street vendors displaying their merchandise of every sort – fruits, vegetables, electronics, housewares, clothing, and every other imaginable commodity. They took up not only the sidewalk but most of the road, leaving only inches of clearance for our truck to pass through – making us question if it was even permissible for vehicular traffic to use this road. When we met other traffic trying to squeeze through the street from the other direction, we couldn’t imagine how two vehicles could maneuver through the maze for produce and peddlers that was almost impassable for just our truck. Miraculously, both our truck and the oncoming vehicle managed to forge a path through the congestion, exited the market unscathed, and made it to the ministers’ meeting on time.
On our second day in Tegucigalpa, we held a marriage seminar where we enjoyed a wonderful time of fellowship with many new friends that we met in the city. At the end of the evening, we concluded individual ministry to all the couples who wanted new blessing upon their marriages. On Sunday, Delron ministered at the church that had hosted us in the city. Halfway through sermon on doing the impossible, Peggy came up to the pulpit with a word that people needed prayer. When almost the whole congregation came forward for special prayer, there was a great move of the Spirit as we witnessed many of the people begin their journeys toward answers to the impossible situations they had been facing.
The next morning, we traveled to La Esperanza, the homebase of the missionaries who host us when we are in Honduras. That evening, two other missionary couples joined us dinner. One of the ladies shared a most amazing testimony with us. A lady came to her for prayer because her doctor had told her that the baby she was carrying had died and that he would need to do surgery the following day to remove it. She was asking for prayer for peace during the operation and for God to comfort her over the loss of her baby. When the missionary’s husband joined them, he was unaware of the woman’s request and began praying for a smooth delivery and for health for both the mother and the baby. When his wife tried to correct him and tell him what the woman had said, he simply responded, “Well, God didn’t tell me to pray that way!” After the prayer, the woman felt the baby move inside her belly as it came back to life! The next day, she had an easy delivery of a perfectly healthy delivery.
Our next assignment was another marriage seminar in a rural town which was attended by not only the local believers but a number of pastors from the area who were not able to come to either of the two pastors’ conferences that were to be held later in the week.
Back in La Esperanza, the following day, we made a visit to the local hospital where we spent time sharing and praying with patients in the surgical ward and children’s and also visited the women’s center where pregnant woman from the distant villages who don’t want to travel while in labor are housed while they await their delivery date. All the women were very open to our ministry, and several requested individual prayer for salvation and other needs. That evening, we held an evangelism-and-discipleship conference in a local church where we minister to members from the congregation and a number of pastors from other churches who came to be encouraged and instructed on how to more effectively reach their city for Christ.
One of the highlights of the trip came the next day when we visited the local prison. But, before we share that story, we need to give you some background. On our first mission trip to Honduras, we ministered in the La Esperanza prison, but only about forty men came to the meeting. The next year, all the inmates were present. The difference was that a new warden had mandated that everyone attend all religious services. After the meeting, he commented that he was implementing a reading time each day and wished that he could obtain enough Bibles to give to each inmate under his charge. Delron immediately contacted one of Teach All Nation’s ministry partners who distributes Bibles around the world and inquired if they had Spanish Bibles available. Unfortunately, they did not have Spanish testaments available. Next, he contacted another ministry that publishes Christian literature in over three hundred languages. They responded that they could provide lots of other materials for use in Honduras but that they had no Bibles in stock. However, the director volunteered to reach out to a partner of theirs to see if they might have the needed Bibles. They did have the desired Bibles and sent them to the missionaries in Honduras who has already distributed them at the facility. Delron also asked the warden about the illiterate inmates and offered to see if I could get audio Bibles for them. The warden replied that he felt that this would be a valuable asset and that he would even arrange to connect the audio device to their intercom system so the entire compound would be able to hear. With a couple quick emails to another ministry partner, Delron was able to arrange the donation of audio Bibles which we planned to deliver on this visit. If you happen to be a follower of the Mission Network News podcast, this story may seem familiar – that is because the whole event was featured in one of their episodes. When we arrived in the country, we were greeted with the news that there was an issue at the prison and that all outside visitation was suspended until further notice. Of course, we immediately made the matter a topic of special prayer, which was soon answered with the news that not only was our visit approved but that Peggy could have a special visit with the female inmates. When we arrived at the facility, the warden warmly greeted us and thanked us for our ministry to and concern for his inmates, promising to see that the audio Bible would be connected to the speaker system so that they could listen during their free time. Inside the facility, the men applauded and cheered when he displayed the device and explained how it will be used. After leaving the prison, we met with the director of a local clinic to deliver a suitcase full of medical supplies that we had brought with us.
Over the next two days, we held pastors’ conferences in two different cities. In each meeting we had capacity attendance, with pastors traveling long distances to be present. In fact one pastor shared that he had ridden his motorcycle from a town on the border of El Salvador to attend the meeting. The topic of both of these conferences was “Understanding Your Spiritual Authority” and we were able to give a complimentary copy the Spanish version of Delron’s Finally, My Brethren book to each delegate.
We concluded our mission with preaching the Sunday services in two churches in La Esperanza, both of which concluded with powerful prayer times for the congregations.
