Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Our recent trip to Honduras was one of the best prison ministry trips we have ever had. A team of 7 of us worked in the prisons near Tegucigalpa, Honduras the first week in March. I met the team on Feb. 28 after I arrived from Guatemala City where I had been working for a week with a medical team from Evergreen Park, IL. That team of 29 saw 1700 patients and the spiritual clinic, where I worked, ministered to each one of them. We had 7 local pastors working with us every day and over 200 people prayed to accept Jesus as Savior.

On Tues. morning, March 1st, our team met with the Director General of the Honduran Penitentiary System, Jaime Banegas and evangelical Chaplain Jimmy Hughes, who works as the only non-Catholic Chaplain in the country. Our team was asked what we wanted to do in the prisons for the week and we were given complete access to the entire prison system. We were also allowed to take photographs anywhere we wanted to. This access is unprecedented in my visits to 27 countries. We distributed 475 Bibles, 300 bars of soap, and 100 toothpaste/toothbrush sets. We ministered to 65 women at the Cefas prison and 131 youth at the Nuevo Horizontes prison. At the maximum-security prison in Tamara, we ministered to 66 men in the segregation unit (Casa Blanca), 209 men in the Cervino Multiple unit, 30 men in the Maximum Security unit (see our Special Report), and 8 men in the hospital. The men of Casa Blanca have asked us to come back and build a church in their unit. On Fri., we ministered to over 60 men at the medium security prison at Comayagua. In addition to working in the prisons, we ministered at a rehab. home, churches, and distributed 400 pounds of beans/tracts to families living in housing erected as an aftermath to Hurricane Mitch, which completely devastated the country in 1998. Many lives were touched by the Gospel message and we are invited to return at any time.

Our team had a very interesting mix of: three Romanians, a Mexican, two Chaplains and an ex-convict who is now an ordained minister. There was remarkable unity and focus as all team members submitted to the proper authorities with few exceptions. Only inexperience in prison work created any incidents of concern. Thankfully, the Lord protected us and gave us favor in this country. Praise God for all that He did in this place. What a remarkable opportunity it is to serve the Master in this way.

Chaplain Rob Brown

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I will be posting to our Website a complete newsletter report on our trip to the prisons in Honduras last week but I felt I needed to send a special report on one part of that ministry. We ministered in the largest and most dangerous prison in Honduras; Tamara National Penitentiary.  We were given “carte blanche” access by the miracle grace of God. We ministered one-on-one with every inmate in the maximum-security section which houses 30 of the most dangerous men in the country. They are there for kidnapping, murder, and assault outside and inside the penitentiary. Four of these inmates, including Juan Carlos Miralda, are accused of the bus massacre in San Pedro Sula, Honduras just before last Christmas. Many of these men, including Juan Carlos, prayed to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and we gave each one of them a Bible with instructions on how to read it. They all expressed thankfulness for the ministry of the Hope of the Gospel in a place one inmate described as “hell on earth”.

Below is the AP account of the arrest of Juan Carlos.

Police Arrest Presumed Bus Massacre Leader
By Associated Press

Tuesday, January 4, 2005

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – President Ricardo Maduro said Monday that police have arrested the alleged mastermind of an attack on a public bus that left 28 passengers dead two weeks ago. The suspect was identified as Juan Carlos Miralda, 24, one of the leaders of the violent Mara Salvatrucha 13 street gang. In addition, police seized a 22 cal. gun,15 grams of cocaine and several cutting weapons.

Ten other gang members have been arrested in connection with the bus killings. All have been charged with homicide.

The massacre took place on a bus filled with workers returning home and shoppers buying gifts for Christmas. A car carrying two armed men cut off the bus, after which one of the men got of the car and started shooting. He then climbed aboard the bus where he continued to fire, while two other men fired from behind the bus. The majority of the 56 passengers aboard the bus were women and children.

Chaplain Rob Brown