The Honduras Mission Trip: A Two Part Story
By Larry Daniels
How I Became an International Evangelist
My wife and I had been on a couple brief mission trips to Mexico. We had helped a missionary couple build a house for themselves and teams of workers that assist. When we had a chance to join Worldwide Crusades on a church planting effort in Honduras, we jumped at the opportunity.
Our plan was to observe, help with filming, assist with a medical clinic, and be open to any way God could use us to support the crusade. We expected to be in the background, assisting others.
Expectations changed the day before we boarded the plane. I decided to check my e-mail one final time. An e-mail from our interpreter contained words I will never forget. In one run-on sentence it read, “Please bring a message, you preach Saturday, welcome to the mission field—Ernie.”
I immediately called Ernie, explaining that although I had spoken to large groups, taught Sunday school, and had sat through many a sermon, I was not an evangelist. He confidently told me everything would be fine and we all would have a great time.
After some prayer, I decided to take the Apostle Paul’s words in Philippians 4:13 to heart, “I can do all things through Christ who strenghtens me.” For the next 10 hours I shut out the world and worked on my first evangelistic message. A message that would be delivered through an interpreter to people of a culture I knew little about after flying all night and part of the day.
At about 6 PM, Honduras time, I stepped on a platform in front of about 300 people in a city park. As I began the message, I could hear church members behind the stage praying in Spanish for our mission on that night. Although I speak very little Spanish, I knew that I was not on the platform alone because my Christian brothers were there with me.
The interpreter was skilled, the speaker was inexperienced, and God’s Holy Spirit was present with all His power. At the conclusion of the message, twelve souls came forward, invited Christ into their lives, and joined into discipleship with the local church. I returned to our hotel with the satisfaction that I had been a faithful servant, knowing angels were rejoicing for the souls that had joined the Kingdom.
A Complete Medical Check-up
I didn’t understand exactly how a medical clinic, or medical brigade as they are called in the mission field, fit into a church planting crusade. In the USA we think of a medical exam as a look-over by the doctor and some lab tests. However, this approach leaves out what is the most important element when it comes to our health, our “spiritual health.”
In Honduras, my wife and I had the opportunity to participate in three medical brigades. With a volunteer dentist, doctor, and others with medical knowledge, we traveled to locations where basic health services were not available. Assisted by members of the local church, we then held a day long medical clinic that included a spiritual check-up.
It was at these clinics I realized how fortunate we are in America. Over-the-counter medicines that we take for granted were out of reach for many people. Aspirin, ibuprofen, vitamins, antibiotic skin creams and other basic remedies we buy at any grocery store were not available or were too expensive for people living on less than one dollar a day. As a result, many suffer for long periods from conditions that could be cured for a few cents. Frequently, minor medical problems become serious life threatening conditions because of the lack of simple treatment.
Because of my life long dependence on eye glasses, I was assigned the fitting of reading glasses. What a reward it was to see the face of an elderly person light up when they were able to read for the first time in many years. To change a life, all it took was some love and a one dollar pair of glasses.
There was sadness too, infants suffering from malnutrition who probably would not reach adulthood. The old men and women who had worked their lives in the fields and now were going blind from cataracts. There is no Medicare in Honduras. In the USA, even the poorest person could have the cataracts removed but in Honduras they will loose their sight.
I was touched by the gentle, friendly people who were grateful for our caring enough to come. I was also moved by the concern Hondurans who have achieved success have for the less fortunate in their own country. Each day as we began the clinic, the dentist led a prayer. The prayer was always the same. He gave thanks for the opportunity for us to show Christ’s love and prayed that we would perform our tasks with perfection since we were doing them for God.