Honduras Mission Update

Above photo: Luther’s Rose mural just outside the church doors in Comayagüela, Honduras.

The letter below is a report on the mission in Comayagüela, Honduras, from Deacon Tulio Cesar Meza. Tulio works as an evangelist alongside Missionary Pastor Junior Martinez.

The mission congregation in Comayagüela, Honduras

We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.
2 Thessalonians 1:3-4

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!

It is a pleasure to address you always, with the enthusiasm of showing the great blessings that our Lord gives us at every moment of our lives.

This time of pandemic has been a new experience for many people worldwide. The social situation and the negative effect that this has caused is a common theme among people. Work restrictions, unemployment, the rising price of food products, the suspension of urban and interurban transport, medicines, and the improvised virtual educational system – these are some of the frequent topics of conversation.

Adapting to this new way of living with a disease remains a cause of fear and concern for us. It is something that costs us a bit due to the change in routines, customs, and care, among other things. Unfortunately, we (Hondurans) are not such a developed culture compared to other societies that are better prepared to assimilate situations that require individual commitment from society. Our leadership group, of the Comayagüela mission, has always been active and responsible in implementing health precautions encouraged by the government. This caused some of our formal activities to stop due to the alarming outbreak of virus infections and isolation recommendations. However, despite the complexity of the situation, we have had the opportunity to do some necessary work on the chapel facilities and its surroundings. We will show you some of what we have done during this period of confinement.

The isolation caused us to stop Saturday Bible lessons and other activities. By not incurring the expense that corresponds to cover our craft activities and snacks on these days, we invested that money in the necessary repairs of our chapel and different areas that are on our premises.

The main door of the chapel was somewhat deteriorated due to exposure to the sun and rain. It was also necessary to paint it and also rekey the lock. The railings needed to be painted since Rain and the environment had already deteriorated parts of the metal. We replaced corroded portions with new parts.

Here in Honduras, “The Day of the Child” was celebrated on September 10th. We made packages of varieties of sweets to give to the children who participate in our mission programs. We managed to make 65 bags with sweets. The group is always good at working together even while practicing social distancing. The ladies are always willing to work and they truly motivate the rest of us to stay active.

These types of activities remind us that God is always present despite the situations in which we find ourselves. The community sees that we remain active and that we continue to care for the children who are part of our Christian education program. These activities also reinforce our program with “Lead a Child” ministries.

Alfredo is very creative with wood and paint. Here are a few samples of the artwork he has done to help beautify our worship and recreation spaces.

Each of the members that make up our group have unique and different gifts to help at our church, which greatly assists with the work needing to be done, and keeping our church dynamic. We are very grateful for your help and attention to our Lutheran Church here in this place. We are aware that the pandemic has affected many countries, and that the recovery is not immediate . Despite that, we feel blessed by the Lord through all that He provides to us during this time.

We say goodbye to you for the moment, with faith and hope that very soon we will be able to meet with many of you again, and share good moments, experiences and learning as we serve together in communion with our Lord Jesus Christ and His Word. We share with you the design that we used in the candy packages delivered to children on “The Day of the Child.” The creator of this art was our member Kimberlin Zerón. It reads, “In His Hands rest the best seeds for life and happiness.”