We just finished an exciting week of exploration into the jungle mountains between the Patuca River in Honduras and the Nicaraguan border.  Tripp Sloan, Robert Jackson, Chuck McDaniel from Lexington Baptist Church in South Carolina and I were trekking with Marlon Muñoz.  We were investigating mission opportunities and humanitarian needs in the Rio Platano Biosphere, one of the most remote areas of Honduras.

Our first stop was at Pastor Juan’s.  After a brief night at his house on the river bank in the village of Subterraneo he led us on a six hour hike to Jardines, one of the five villages where he pastors.  News of our arrival spread quickly and by two o’clock the locals gathered at the small wooden church for worship and testimony.  Pastor Juan is doing a great job of ministering to the people in this isolated area and he welcomes our help to more effectively reach these villages.

From Pastor Juan’s area we moved on up the Patuca for another long hike into Agua Frescas.  There we met Roberto Calderon, his wife, and thirteen children.  We went to bed that night on the dirt floor in the large common room of the Calderon house with the sound of a Honduran soccer match blasting from a small transistor radio.  There was celebration throughout the household as the radio brought news of Honduras’ victory over Mexico.  The next morning we had church at the Calderon’s as our team shared testimonies and witnessed to the family.  No one accepted the Lord that morning but they were open to our message and welcomed us to return as soon as possible. 

After the house church service we moved on deeper into the jungle.  We met a local Christian named Alejandro on the trail and he led us on to La Selva.  Once again we were warmly welcomed into the homes and encouraged to return as soon as possible.

This was a very tough week for us gringos as we struggled along the steep, muddy jungle trails.  But I believe it was also a very profitable one for the kingdom.  We were an encouragement to the few local Christians we met and a blessing to the sick we encountered as we prayed for them and shared what medicine we had.  We made contacts and laid the groundwork for future XMA teams to help share God’s love with these warm, gracious people.  Please join us in prayer for these new friends and consider joining an XMA team in 2009 as we come back to share Christ through personal testimony, the Jesus Film, medical and dental work, and other human needs help.

Randy Pierce

Click this link to see Jardines on Google Earth.  You can see the Patuca River on the left and the Coco River/Nicaraguan border on the right side http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=14.4081,-85.3356&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Check out our TribalConnection channel on YouTube for short videos from this trip:

www.youtube.com/tribalconnection1