Spiritual landscape of Honduras:
- 80% of birth certificates do not have a father’s signature; a lot of children grow up fatherless, leaving mothers to raise and provide for the entire family
- Honduras has the #1 intentional homicide rate in the world mostly because of prevalent gang violence and drug trafficking
- Honduras is 80% Catholic and 20% Protestant, but these titles are mostly nominal and/or mixed with other religions; based on conversations that I’ve had so far, people have head knowledge of God as a “powerful creator”, but have no idea what it means to be in a personal relationship with Jesus
- The easy way to do drugs is to get high on paint thinner because it is so cheap; people douse rags in paint thinner and carry it around, literally getting high all day on the street.
While our team is walking around in the neighborhood, at the mall (on our days off), or on the streets during street ministry, my spirit always feels uneasy – not because I’m scared or nervous that something bad will happen, but because there is a distinct spiritual battle taking place. God has been making my heart sensitive to feelings of darkness, hopelessness, and lies taken for the truth — lies that sons and daughters are not worthy of fatherly love, that drugs are an easy substitute for reality, and that things will never change. But He’s also helped me to see the “new things springing forth”: children who used to live on the streets and get high on paint thinner 24/7 are running around, rough-housing and laughing like normal boys. Former M18 gang members who used to be on the streets now live at Zions Gate together, play soccer, work and disciple younger kids in the faith.
"Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." Isaiah 43:19
