Honduras

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