God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV)
Honduras Mission is Growing
The Honduras Mission is growing quickly. Earlier this spring I had the opportunity to visit the various mission sites throughout the country. What a joy to have the opportunity to witness the baptisms of two young ladies while in Comayagüela! The congregation is served by Missionary Pastor Junior Martinez from Nicaragua (below left). LCMS Missionary Pastor Herb Burch administered the baptisms.
Here are a few more photos from the mission in Comayagüela. What struck me about the congregation is that they came together to build the little church with no outside assistance. It was built with love and care on land given by the members.
This mission was so beautiful I had to add just a few more photos.
While in Honduras I visited a newly purchased worship facility in Choluteca. It needs some work, but will serve the needs of the community for many years.
Trafficking of humans and illegal drugs is an ongoing problem in Honduras, which is situated between El Salvador and Nicaragua. The overloaded little van we were traveling in was stopped twice by military men who checked our passports and asked a number of questions before letting us continue.
We visited another possible mission site in Los Chagüites, which is in southern Honduras, near the border of Nicaragua. One Lutheran man lives nearby, and does outreach to the community. Since he had not had the opportunity to commune for an extended period of time, we had an impromptu communion service under a small shelter.
Working from Home
I love my work, but in the past many weeks, I have been even more thankful that I do the work that I do, as much of it is online. From writing stories and editing photos, to posting content on social media and websites, I am able to do those things from anywhere that has an internet connection. Meetings and training sessions are all being done online. An app on my phone allows me to even do audio interviews and podcasts from anywhere in the world. (Below is a link to a recent podcast that I did from the United States, just using my phone)
When the virus began spreading in the Dominican Republic and lockdowns began, all non-essential businesses were closed, as was our regional office. I knew I would be working alone from my home for as long as it took for things to open back up again. After just a few weeks of looking at the walls and visiting with myself, I made the decision to return to the United States to ride it out near family and friends, where I would have opportunities for hugs and in-person conversations. Travel to other countries to take photos is obviously not possible, but I have quite a stash of recent photos that will have to suffice for the time being.
The Work Goes On
Since the lockdown, my work load has actually increased. In the Latin American and Caribbean Region, we are making the most of the time of lockdown by adding training sessions. Currently we are in the midst of a 6 week training course on how to reach out with God's Word as it pertains to abortion, assisted suicide and end of life decisions. This has been invaluable. We meet via Zoom every Friday afternoon.
In addition we are receiving training on a number of different Microsoft applications which will help us to be more organized and efficient as we work together as a team.
I continue with my usual work of providing internal and external communication for our Latin America and Caribbean region. A number of stories have been written, some of which are on the international website, and others will be coming out in various LCMS publications. A couple of the stories are linked below. Other interesting events are unfolding even during this time of lockdown, so I am working to share them in the near future.
Pastors seeking to reach congregation members with online services and Bible studies have reached out to me from the mission field, and also here in the United States. It has been a joy to be able to assist them with getting the Word out to people in various ways that allow for no contact. I continue to receive requests for technical assistance of some sort a few times per week.
Did you know?
- An estimated 5 million Venezuelans have left their country due to the ongoing humanitarian crisis. Some 35,000 of those immigrants are now rebuilding their lives in the Dominican Republic.
- Our missionaries in the Dominican Republic have a curfew from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m.
- Missionaries in the Latin America and Caribbean Region celebrated Spirit Week in order to boost morale during the lockdown. Each one submitted a photo of themselves and their children dressed for the theme of the day—Sports day, twin day, and retro day were a few of the possibilities.
Please Pray
- Thanking God for our missionary team in Puerto Rico, as they continue to experience earthquakes.
- For the Venezuelan people as they rebuild their lives in other Latin American countries.
- That God would provide comfort for His people during these days and weeks and months of lockdown.
