A Pentecost Harvest in Honduras

Worship service in Olanchito, Honduras.

by Leonardo Neitzel

Lutherans in Central America are experiencing a special flavour of Pentecost these days. The rainy season is starting, fields are seeded, fruit trees are displaying their best, and there is growth, abundance, and joy. The Church frequently uses these agricultural images in its proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as symbols of the spiritual growth and harvest produced through the work of the Holy Spirit. There is rain from above, budding, growth, ripeness, harvest, plenty, and gladness. Fields are prepared by the Lord for harvest in two dimensions: agricultural and spiritual.

The analogy that our Lord makes in Isaiah 55:10-11 is fitting here: “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth, and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out of my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

The Honduran Case

Lutheran Church-Canada started mission work in the northern part of Honduras in 2007-2008 in the city of Olanchito. Nicaraguan missionary Rev. Douglas Aguilar and his wife Ariana have worked ceaselessly in Gospel outreach, establishing home Bible study groups and a small congregation.

The work has been difficult and challenging. Olanchito is one of the most violent cities in Honduras and is at the crossroad of a drug cartel in the region. People are frightened and families are indoors by 8:00 p.m. Drug addition, crime, poverty, and violence are everywhere. Approaching Olanchito by car one evening, we had a flat tire right outside Olanchito. It was dark. A home security guard came to our help with a flashlight in his hand. He exclaimed, “Thank God it happened near our home. Had you been farther from the city, you’d have been in real danger.”

In this difficult place, Lutherans are reaching out with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Lutheran Women’s Missionary League–Canada, Concordia Lutheran Mission Society, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church (Regina), as well as individual Lutheran Church–Canada members, have been instrumental in funding the work of the Lord in Olanchito.

From Olanchito to La Paz

Meanwhile “Mama Doris”, as she is known by the people of La Paz (a town not far from Tegucigalpa), has also worked tirelessly, sowing the seed of Jesus’ love. She and her husband Frank started the Children of Love Foundation several years ago. Frank and Doris are members of St. Luke Lutheran Church (Oviedo, Florida), and have paved the way for regular mission team support in La Paz. The Florida congregation has conducted the baptisms of more than 350 children in La Paz, and provided various support in other ways. Lutheran Church–Canada and the Iglesia Luterana Sínodo de Nicaragua have now been invited to send a Nicaraguan missionary to organize a congregation in La Paz, provide them with Word and Sacrament ministry, and oversee the expansion of mission work in the region. The Children of Love Foundation will provide housing, a large and comfortable chapel, as well as a list of numerous contacts and opportunities for the future missionary and deaconess. St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Florida will provide financial support for the two, and will connect them with La Paz’ baptized children and their families.

Worship service at the Children of Love Foundation in La Paz, Honduras.

It would take many paragraphs to describe the blessed work done by Mama Doris and her congregation in La Paz; her humble and tireless service, her commitment to the witness of Jesus’ love and mission, is indescribable. Through her and others, the Lord of the Church has prepared the fields for a Pentecost harvest in La Paz.

Onwards to the capital

If this were not enough for our thanks and praises, the Lord has prepared another mission field in the capital Tegucigalpa. Tulio Meza, a student at the Seminario Teologico Reforma Luterana (Chinandega, Nicaragua) has been involved with outreach to children through his own home. He has focused on sharing the love of Jesus with relatives and neighbours, has prepared a place for group devotions at his mother’s house, and leads a weekly Bible teaching program for children. Tulio is well known and loved by his neighbours, and his family has been a strong supporter of his work.

LCC and ILSN are seeking, under the Lord’s guidance, to call and commission a Nicaraguan pastor and a deaconess to work with Tulio in La Paz and Tegucigalpa by 2014. As with all Nicaraguan seminary students, Tulio must first undertake a one-year vicarage before he can be officially called to La Paz or Tegucigalpa.

The Lord has opened these and other doors for the expansion of Gospel proclamation and the establishment of Lutheran congregations in Honduras. We praise Him for this special Pentecost harvest. My prayer—and I encourage you to join me in praying it—is that the Lord keep the eyes of our hearts open to His people in that region, to reach out to them with the love of Jesus. I also pray that the Lord will keep our missionaries steadfast in faith, focused on their mission work, as they preach and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to the Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions—providing healing, guidance, and care for all the people of Honduras.

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Rev. Dr. Leonardo Neitzel is Lutheran Church–Canada’s Executive for Missions and Social Ministry.

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