A letter from Osmundo and Ana Ligia Ponce in Honduras
September 2003
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Dear Brothers, Sisters, and Friends,
From June 29 to December 20 last year we were studying English at Maryville College in Tennessee. We had a great time! We had the opportunity to meet many friends from different parts of the world. We visited Presbyterian churches in different states in the United States, and we shared with brothers and sisters who wanted to know about the work in Honduras. We also studied English with excellent teachers at Maryville College. We want to say to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and to the Christian Commission for Development in Honduras: Thank you so much for giving us this experience. May God bless all of the people who made possible this wonderful experience.
Osmundo and I are in Honduras again working in the Honduran Theological Community. We continue to teach and to carry out responsibilities with the Christian Commission for Development in ecumenical relations and gender programs. This year, the Honduran Theological Community received teachers from the Latin American Biblical University of Costa Rica, who taught “The Life and Mind of the Church in Latin America” and “History and Theology of Salvation.” In these intensive courses were students from the Lutheran Church, the Methodist Church, the Episcopal Church, the Christian Reformed Church, the Assemblies of God, and the Elim, Transformation, and Pentecostal Church. We want to give thanks to God because these opportunities help lift up the Protestant church in Honduras.
The Honduran Theological Community has a center in La Ceiba, a beautiful port city where the people are very friendly. Students from the Moravian Church, Methodist Church, Lutheran Church, and Mennonite Church participate in theological education here. In Santa Rosa, we have another small group of students from the Mennonite and Elim Churches. We have approximately 170 students in the basic education program, 130 students in the Center for Pastoral Studies, and 55 students in the university-level program, all operated by the Honduran Theological Community.
On the first Friday of every month we have a theological dialogue meeting where we assist pastors and leaders of the Protestant and Catholic churches. Representatives of many churches in Honduras come to these sessions, which gives us the opportunity to serve as bridges and to know each other better so we can work together as brothers and sisters in Christ. At the theological dialogue meetings, we discuss important issues in Honduras. For example, 83 percent of the population lives in severe poverty, and they feel threatened by political decisions taken recently. The poor people have no access to education, and the health system is being privatized through something called the “Strategic Plan for Health.” A public health issue that the government has not addressed is the sexual exploitation of children between the ages of 11 and 13. According to a report by Casa Alianza, a non-governmental organization, there are between 8,000 and 10,000 girls and boys being exploited in Honduras.
The Christian Commission for Development and the Honduran Theological Community are very grateful for the support you give us to serve the poor through local economic development, empowerment, theological education, and other services. God bless you.
Yours in Christ,
Osmundo and Ana Ligia Ponce
The 2003 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.249
