Our mission to Honduras was packed with exciting ministry – pastors’ conferences in two cities, preaching in four churches, ministry in two prisons, a village outreach, hospital visitation, sharing at a missionary gathering, and several personal meetings with local pastors. In every place, the people were extremely open and receptive, with the pastors telling us that they hope we can come back for future ministry and one of the missionaries at the fellowship saying that he wished we could come every month.
We had originally been told that the village outreach would be a women’s meeting; however, when we arrived, we found that all the ladies had brought their children; so, we held an impromptu children’s meeting and shared the story of David and Goliath. To our amazement, we discovered that they had never heard this popular story from the Old Testament, prompting us to encourage the missionary who is working in that region to consider a new focus on outreaches to the children in the village.
On our visit to Honduras last year, we ministered in one of the prisons that we visited this year. This time, we found a totally different atmosphere and receptivity among the inmates. Due to a deadly riot in one of Honduras’ prisons, the government had made major changes throughout the entire system. The new officer who had been placed in charge of this facility told us that he believes that the only way his men can be changed is through the power of the gospel; therefore, he had made it mandatory for all the three hundred fifty inmates to attend any religious services that are offered. The men were all very attentive and responsive, clapping and vigorously singing during the worship time and applauding at every positive point during the message. We even noticed a few tears during the prayer time and saw that many raised their hands in response to the salvation invitation. Before we left the facility, we had a chance to talk and pray with the director. In that conversation, he shared that he hoped to implement a designated time for the inmates to read the Bible each evening and asked we could help procure Bibles for them. The atmosphere at the second prison was considerably different. All the inmates were required to be in the meeting; however, they were not provided seats, meaning that they had to stand during whole meeting while guards with fingers on the triggers of their rifles surrounded the assembly. Even in that unwelcoming atmosphere, a few of the men seemed responsive to the message we shared and came up to greet us after the meeting closed.
We dedicated one day of our time in Honduras to hospital visitation. We began by walking through the ward of the local government-run hospital – sharing the gospel, praying for the patients and giving small gifts to the children. The patients were all very appreciative that we took the time to visit them in their time of need, and most joined us in repeating the sinner’s prayer when we asked them if they wanted to receive Jesus into their hearts. There were two especially memorable encounters – one with a patient and one with a doctor.
The patient was a sixteen-year-old boy who had been attacked by a gang who tried to cut his throat and almost killed him. One of the team members shared the gospel with him and left him a tract to read. A few minutes later, another team member came by and, noticing that he was deeply engaged in reading the literature, asked him if he wanted prayer. He eagerly gave his life to the Lord.
When we entered one of the wards the doctor was making her rounds and examining the patients in the unit. Rather than saying that we could come back later, we asked if the doctor would mind if we took a few minutes to pray for the patients. She agreed and took a seat on the edge of one of the beds to listen as we shared. When he noticed that she was engaging with the message, Delron asked if he could talk with her a minute. She agreed, and he told her that one of the gospels was written by a doctor. She was intrigued and asked which gospel. He then told her about Luke and suggested that she could be like him – healing people’s bodies and also healing their souls with the gospel. Through her tears, she asked if we believed in prophecy and shared that someone had already prophesied the same thing over her.
Later that day, we visited a private medical clinic while treats patients who are unable to pay for medical care. The facility is beautifully maintained and equipped with the latest technology – a testimony to the faith of the lady who founded it. As we toured the facility, we were shown a new building which is nearing completion as a surgical unit; however, it was explained that it was a “faith project” because there are no funds to equip the facility once the construction is completed. We shared with the director about how God is using Project C.U.R.E. to equip the hospitals in Liberia and the Congo and promised to make a contact for them as well.
The main focus of our mission was the two pastors’ and leaders’ conferences with a focus on the baptism in the Holy Spirit – the result of our experience in the country last year. We discovered that many of the churches in the area were basically ignorant about the baptism of the Holy Spirit and even more were fearful of the move of the Spirit because they had encountered excessive and disorderly manifestations. Delron had Don’t Leave Home Without It, his book on the infilling of the Spirit, translated into Spanish and brought two suitcases filled with copies to distribute to the delegates free of charge. The delegates at both conferences were very eager to receive the teaching and almost everyone responded when we asked if they wanted to be baptized in the Holy Spirit or begin to have the Holy Spirit take a more active role in their lives and ministries. We were especially excited when the president of pastors’ association told us that he had been praying for two things: unity among the area pastors and an outpouring of Holy Spirit – both of which he felt had come through the conferences. Another of the leading pastors in a denomination that is not considered to be a Pentecostal or charismatic group told us that at a recent meeting of the organization’s leaders, they had said that the church needed a move of the Holy Spirit – again, he felt that the conferences were an answer to their prayers.
There were two signs of the hunger of the delegates for a move of the Spirit. Three delegates walked for hours plus took an hour bus ride to be get from their home in a distant mountain village to get to the conference. Then, they had to do it again in reverse to get home. When we had a question-and-answer session, we asked the delegates to write their questions on index card so they could be translated for us to read. Ten of the cards came in with the same question: “How can I be filled with Holy Spirit?” Of course, we covered that topic in the lessons and re-emphasized the points just before the prayer time, stressing Jesus’ promise that rivers of living water (referring to the Holy Spirit) would flow out of the bellies of those who believe. As soon as we called them up for prayer, those rivers began to flow!
After our last assignment, ministering in one of the local churches, the pastor summed up the feeling that we all had about this mission, “Your visit was like vitamins for our church!”
Distributing books
Holy Spirit book
Come, Holy Spirit
