Reflecting upon my recent trip to Honduras, I find myself experiencing two extremely different emotions. One the one hand, I am extremely excited! The people of Central America are passionate for God. Only one word comes to mind to describe the church that I encountered there – HOT!!!! In Honduras and Guatemala alone, we planted more than 500 churches last year. During this intense week of training and planning, we are confident that more than 3000 churches will be planted in Central America during the next few years. All I can say is WOW! God is great and He continues to bless His church.
On the other hand, my heart is extremely heavy. Much of Central America continues to be ravaged by poverty and violence. The local newspapers were filled with stories of assassinations, murders, kidnappings, drugs and violence. In fact, recently one of our pastors, who had denounced the violence and drugs in his community, was killed while baptizing new believers in the church. Armed men burst into the church with machine guns and shot the pastor and many members in retaliation for the pastor’s words of peace. Again, all I can say is WOW! The sacrifice of our Central American pastors is overwhelming.
Historically, the church has flourished during times of intense suffering and persecution. What is occurring now in Central America now is no different. In the midst of intense pain and suffering, Jesus Christ continues to offer hope through His church. Thank you for partnering with us to train and send out 3000+ church planters in Central America who will offer the hope of Jesus Christ in the midst of intense persecution and suffering. For $100 per month, or a one time gift of $1200, you can help ensure that our church planters receive Biblical training, mentoring and practical resources, like Bibles so that they can effectively share the Gospel “until all have heard.” Please send your tax-deductible gifts to World Missions, P.O. Box 8016, Cleveland, TN 37320-8016 and designate your gift for Latin American church planting Project # 102-9094