Working With The Mountain People Of Honduras

Some Of The Most Needy People In Central America Live In Yoro, Honduras

The country of Honduras is divided into 18 departments; much like a U.S. state is divided into counties. The 531,000 people who live in the department, Yoro, are among the poorest of Honduras. The poorest people that live in Yoro are the Tolupan Indians that inhabit the remote mountain villages. There are around 10,500 Tolupan that have formed a labyrinth of trails that connect there villages across the primitive mountains of Yoro. But, this tribe began long before there were departments, national boarders, or European conquistadors. They are decedents of the Mayan civilization. The Tolupan tribe is the focus of our rural ministry in Honduras.

Our 2007 New Year’s celebration was special this year for 2 reasons: we spent it in the mountain villages of Yoro, and we spent it with our friends from Memphis, Tennessee, who came to work with us. Roy & Linda Campbell brought a team of 14 persons all involved with Eikon Ministries. But, our week long trip to the mountains started long before their December 27^th departure from Memphis. It was during the mid-1990s that Lord fashioned a ministry staff and a board of directors at YFC in Memphis. It was nearly 13 years ago that Roy and I ministered together in the projects and juvenile correctional facilities of Memphis. During this time Dan Medley, owner of Air/Sea International Travel, Inc., was introduced to the Memphis YFC board of directors. Who would have known it back then, that the 3 of us would put together a mission trip to Honduras that would usher in 2007.

Meeting physical needs is always an important part of missions. Need meeting is the platform to earn the right to be heard. Most of the luggage of the visiting team was devoted to clothes, shoes, vitamins, medicines, soccer equipment, toys, etc. The people living in some of the worst poverty that you can imagine truly appreciated such gifts. But, the heart of the mission was to encourage the few Christians who live in these remote villages, and to train them how to be and how to make genuine disciples of Christ. The Memphis group was divided into 2 smaller teams in order to minister to more people. The 2 teams of 7 were able to teach in 2 separate remote villages drawing from all the other neighboring remote villages around them.

Did I mention “remote”? We drove our 2 vans 5 hours from Tegucigalpa into the mountains literally until the vans could not pass any further. There we unloaded the vans and loaded the mules with the luggage, food and water for 5 days and continued on foot. It was 2 hours to the 1^st village, 4 hours to the 2^nd village. We ate military rations and slept in hammocks for our 5 day/4 night trip. Most of those villagers had never seen outsiders before. What a beautiful testimony to them to witness for the first time not only blacks and whites, but black Christians, white Christians and Latino Christians all working together serving the Lord in one accord. I know that this pleases our Lord.

Several goals were accomplished. We trained in “disciple making” around 50 persons who have never had the opportunity for such training (they practically have never received any prior Christian training). Around 25 made first time professions of faith as we shared the Gospel from village to village and from home to home. Also, the physical needs of hundreds were met. Additionally, Roy caught a vision to impact these mountain people, as he began to make plans with the Christian leaders of those villages for his next trip. It’s no surprise that he caught the vision… Roy came seeking God’s direction and seeking how Christ can continue to use him in world missions. He’ll be leading another team this summer; 30 will be coming in July, `07. We are planning to potentially visit 4 villages impacting all of their respective neighboring villages. And, Roy is recruiting medical, dental, and veterinary professionals to minister their skills.

But, you know what encouraged me more than anything? It was seeing my 4 Honduran foster kids grow spiritually. One day as a group of us were returning from a ministry “outing” we approached the center of the village where we came upon my 4 kids. They were in the middle of a group of about 12 youth from the village. As we walked even closer we noticed that they were all in prayer. Michelle and Kevin were praying with some of the villagers who wanted to place their faith in the Lord Jesus. It’s true what they say about missions… more is caught than taught. By my kids going and seeing, they learned so much.

Thanks Roy and Linda for coming to Honduras last month, lacing up your hiking boots and going with me to the mountains. Thanks for leading others, impacting the villages of Yoro, and helping my kids “catch” what it means to be a disciple of Christ. I am praying for our time together in July!