Please Pray for Honduras: Now is the Time to Move Forward

Big news has come from Honduras today. Here are portions of the article from the Associated Press:

"All 158 Peace Corps volunteers in Honduras left the country on Monday, weeks after the United States announced that it would pull them out for safety reasons.

The region is plagued by gang violence and Honduras is considered to have the highest murder rate in the world. Honduras President Porfirio Lobo said Monday that the Peace Corps volunteers had been affected by rising crime, but neither he nor U.S. officials have cited specific attacks as reasons for the withdrawal.

A recent U.N. report said Honduras and El Salvador have the highest homicide rates in the world with 82.1 and 66 per 100,000 inhabitants, respectively, in 2010. Guatemala had a rate of 41 per 100,000 last year. All three are more than double the homicide rate of 18 per 100,000 in Mexico, where drug violence has drawn world attention."

As the darkness is seeming to grow in this country, the fact is that the Light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is shining in a new way in this country. Through the efforts of the Honduras Church Planting Movement Project of WME and the work of those who have been trained and trained others, 159 new churches have been planted in Honduras. I was struck by the fact that 158 Peace Corps workers left, but the HCPM project has seen 159 churches planted! God is moving and the Light shines brighter in the darkness.

At this critical time, the Honduras project needs prayer more than ever before. Please pray for all missionaries and Christians who are working in Honduras. Pray especially for the HCPM team and workers in the CPM process: Adiel, Jacobo, Carlos, Oscar, Mario, Daniel, and Beto as well as many others who have been trained. Pray for safety: Carlos was robbed at machete point in the last couple of weeks, but was unharmed.

Pray for the CPM training that will be happening in La Ceiba on February 16-19. Many new church planters will be equipped. The whole Honduran team will be involved in this training as will Randy and Keith Travis, David Parish, and Caleb Gentry. Anthony Fouts will also be coming from the US for the training. Please cover this event in prayer for protection and for God's power and word to be communicated effectively toward the result of multiple church planting movements.

In spite of the dangers, now is the time to move forward. Our friend, Missionary John Mattica posted these words on facebook today: Interesting occurrence today: the Peace Corps has left Honduras. The last of their people flew out today. Sited reason: too violent. Now it's up to the missionaries to move in and fill the void. Anyone interested?

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