A letter from Mark Wright serving in Honduras
November 2014 - Relationships Turned Upside Down
During the first week of October I had the privilege of serving a delicious hot lunch to men, women, and some families who are homeless and hungry, alongside several of my young friends of the Presbyterian Church of Honduras. It was a beautiful, well organized, and thoughtful ministry that sought to lift up the dignity and image of God in everyone regardless of the circumstances in which they found themselves. For young Honduran Christians whose material circumstances were often very difficult, serving others in need touched them deeply.
But the thing that made this experience truly remarkable was that the young Hondurans were serving alongside their young North American friends from Westminster Presbyterian Church, not in urban Tegucigalpa, but in urban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Missional relationships had been turned upside down this time. Hondurans were spreading the Good News in word and deed in the United States.
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Honduran youth serve meals to people who are homeless (Broad Street Ministry, Philadelphia)
I have shared before about the beautiful partnership between the youth of the Honduran Church and the suburban Philadelphia youth group known as “Imago Dei.” For a number of years now the groups have been sharing games and music at retreats in Honduras and working side by side in service projects for Hondurans in need, but on this cool October morning we got to experience the gospel of Jesus Christ in a new way.
It was a deeply moving experience for me as I began to see the trajectory of God’s kingdom as it twisted, turned, and grew like Jesus said it would—like seeds that are scattered, and lights that shine, and an out-of-control mustard bush.
This particular little piece of the Kingdom story began at the end of the 19th century when U.S. Presbyterians sent the first Presbyterian missionaries to Guatemala. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the Presbyterian mission started churches throughout many parts of Guatemala and founded several schools, hospitals, and centers for theological education. Then in the 1960s the Guatemalan church began looking outward as well, sending missionaries into Honduras. The history of the Honduran Presbyterian Church began with these missionaries sent from the Guatemalan church over 50 years ago.
Today this “Grandchild Church,” the Honduran Presbyterian Church, is connected directly with the PC(USA) through mission co-workers like Ashley and me and Tim and Gloria Wheeler, and with presbyteries and congregations of the PC(USA). And we stand on the shoulders of those who were faithful before us. And, for me, something grand happened that Saturday morning in early October this year when young people from the Honduran Presbyterian Church were able to be missionaries themselves in urban Philadelphia. The faithfulness of U.S. Presbyterians from over a century ago was returning to bless hungry people in the U.S. through the love of Honduran and U.S. Presbyterians together.
The Apostle Paul writes in his first letter to the church at Corinth about the way the gospel is sometimes propagated and the way kingdom grows: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth....For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 3:6, 9-11).
One plants, another waters, one lays a foundation upon which another can build, and God weaves it all together—that’s the way mission happens.
Thank you for being a part of this ongoing history of mission. Your prayer and financial support provide two of the critical elements in making a more-than-a-century-long story like this a reality. Your support is not only a blessing for the present work, but a way to honor the work of the past and to ensure the continuation of faithful Presbyterian mission for the future. Together we are God’s servants, God’s field, God’s building, and partners through time.
Mark <><
The 2014 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 43
The 2015 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 28
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