Why Honduras?
"Give me a place to stand on, and I will move the Earth." -Archimedes
Why is WME focused on the nation of Honduras at the present time? World Missions and Evangelism has ministries in many nations as we showed in a recent blog (January 12, 2012). In that post, we wanted to highlight that WME is impacting many nations and that our vision is for the whole world. But it is also true that our church planting focus has narrowed in the last few years to this CPM project in Honduras. Why is that? I thought that in this posting, I would share how we think Honduras is pivotal in a Whole World strategy.
I. Poverty: Moral, Spiritual, Economic, and Educational
Honduras is a poor nation in so many ways. Honduras is a nation of many needs. Jesus told us that "Blessed are the poor" (Luke 6: 20) and Honduras is one of the poorest nations in the world, and especially in the Western Hemisphere, if we are talking about Economic Poverty. But Honduras is also one of the poorest nations in terms of Education with a very high illiteracy level. And then Spiritually, Honduras has much poverty. Although "Christianized" as a nation, the vast majority of the nation has not followed the pure gospel of Jesus Christ. And Honduras has a number of people groups that are desperate for the gospel. And finally there is the Moral poverty. 1 week ago the United States required all field personnel of the Peace Corps to leave Honduras. That meant that all 158 workers flew out last week. The reason: a wave of murderous violence. Honduras now has the distinction of having the highest murder rate in the World! It's current percentage is number 1 in the world, and as a way of comparison, it is 4 times Mexico's murder rate, which has received continual attention this last year or so! This is because of the drug/gang violence that has overtaken the nation. Indeed, 2 pastors that were about to receive CPM training with our materials were killed in the violence last year. The combination of Economic, Educational, Moral, and Spiritual poverty has converged in Honduras into a Perfect Storm of Need!
II. Position: The Center of the Center.
I pointed this out in a blog article a bit over a year ago. Honduras is the literal Central Nation of the Western Hemisphere. Its geographical location puts it in a position of influence for all of Latin America. There is North America and there is South America, and in the middle are the 7 nations of Central America. In Central America, there are 3 nations on the north and west and 3 nations to the south and east, and in the direct center is Honduras. You cannot travel by land from South America to North America without going through Honduras, and this accounts for some of the reason for the drug wars that are now happening there. The central location of Honduras makes it a kind of Bulls eye in the battle for the soul of Latin America. For good or for bad, what is happening in Latin America is amplified in Honduras. And vice versa, what happens in Honduras can be amplified in all of Latin America. Honduras is centrally located to affect all of the Western Hemisphere.
III. Potential: The Epicenter of World Change!
Flowing from the first 2 observations, Honduras is literally pregnant with potential for the Kingdom of God. Because of its centrality, as the "poverties" mentioned above are engaged and defeated in Honduras, the dominoes of dominion will begin to fall in the surrounding Central American countries as well. As the stronghold of economic poverty is broken in Honduras, they will begin to be broken in wider concentric circles. As illiteracy is erased in Honduras, knowledge will be released in larger proportion as well. When the violence of the drug trade is confronted and defeated in Honduras, the illegal traffic of drugs will have a setback in the whole hemisphere. When multiple church planting movements are released in Honduras, they will cross national boundaries both north and south and affect all the way from Canada to the tip of Chile and Argentina! You may say this is a dream and I say Yes it is ...a dream and a vision of the Kingdom of God moving forward and every people group in this hemisphere reached with the gospel of Jesus Christ!
And I will take it further. Not only Latin America will be affected, but all the world. Already there is the beginning of a world missions movement from Latin America. Latin believers are already moving to different places in the 10-40 Window to take the gospel. When the Honduran/Central American/Latin American Church Planting Movements multiply exponentially, they will not stop here, but will become a vast Sending Platform to seed CPMs in the farthest reaches of the world!
The mathematician Archimedes was right: Give us a place to stand....a place to start....a place of need that becomes a place of potential....and the whole world will be moved before it is done!
Why is WME focused on the nation of Honduras at the present time? World Missions and Evangelism has ministries in many nations as we showed in a recent blog (January 12, 2012). In that post, we wanted to highlight that WME is impacting many nations and that our vision is for the whole world. But it is also true that our church planting focus has narrowed in the last few years to this CPM project in Honduras. Why is that? I thought that in this posting, I would share how we think Honduras is pivotal in a Whole World strategy.
I. Poverty: Moral, Spiritual, Economic, and Educational
Honduras is a poor nation in so many ways. Honduras is a nation of many needs. Jesus told us that "Blessed are the poor" (Luke 6: 20) and Honduras is one of the poorest nations in the world, and especially in the Western Hemisphere, if we are talking about Economic Poverty. But Honduras is also one of the poorest nations in terms of Education with a very high illiteracy level. And then Spiritually, Honduras has much poverty. Although "Christianized" as a nation, the vast majority of the nation has not followed the pure gospel of Jesus Christ. And Honduras has a number of people groups that are desperate for the gospel. And finally there is the Moral poverty. 1 week ago the United States required all field personnel of the Peace Corps to leave Honduras. That meant that all 158 workers flew out last week. The reason: a wave of murderous violence. Honduras now has the distinction of having the highest murder rate in the World! It's current percentage is number 1 in the world, and as a way of comparison, it is 4 times Mexico's murder rate, which has received continual attention this last year or so! This is because of the drug/gang violence that has overtaken the nation. Indeed, 2 pastors that were about to receive CPM training with our materials were killed in the violence last year. The combination of Economic, Educational, Moral, and Spiritual poverty has converged in Honduras into a Perfect Storm of Need!
II. Position: The Center of the Center.
I pointed this out in a blog article a bit over a year ago. Honduras is the literal Central Nation of the Western Hemisphere. Its geographical location puts it in a position of influence for all of Latin America. There is North America and there is South America, and in the middle are the 7 nations of Central America. In Central America, there are 3 nations on the north and west and 3 nations to the south and east, and in the direct center is Honduras. You cannot travel by land from South America to North America without going through Honduras, and this accounts for some of the reason for the drug wars that are now happening there. The central location of Honduras makes it a kind of Bulls eye in the battle for the soul of Latin America. For good or for bad, what is happening in Latin America is amplified in Honduras. And vice versa, what happens in Honduras can be amplified in all of Latin America. Honduras is centrally located to affect all of the Western Hemisphere.
III. Potential: The Epicenter of World Change!
Flowing from the first 2 observations, Honduras is literally pregnant with potential for the Kingdom of God. Because of its centrality, as the "poverties" mentioned above are engaged and defeated in Honduras, the dominoes of dominion will begin to fall in the surrounding Central American countries as well. As the stronghold of economic poverty is broken in Honduras, they will begin to be broken in wider concentric circles. As illiteracy is erased in Honduras, knowledge will be released in larger proportion as well. When the violence of the drug trade is confronted and defeated in Honduras, the illegal traffic of drugs will have a setback in the whole hemisphere. When multiple church planting movements are released in Honduras, they will cross national boundaries both north and south and affect all the way from Canada to the tip of Chile and Argentina! You may say this is a dream and I say Yes it is ...a dream and a vision of the Kingdom of God moving forward and every people group in this hemisphere reached with the gospel of Jesus Christ!
And I will take it further. Not only Latin America will be affected, but all the world. Already there is the beginning of a world missions movement from Latin America. Latin believers are already moving to different places in the 10-40 Window to take the gospel. When the Honduran/Central American/Latin American Church Planting Movements multiply exponentially, they will not stop here, but will become a vast Sending Platform to seed CPMs in the farthest reaches of the world!
The mathematician Archimedes was right: Give us a place to stand....a place to start....a place of need that becomes a place of potential....and the whole world will be moved before it is done!
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