Excerpt from Mission Trip Journal 2011 - Veracruz, Copan, Honduras

By Eugene Ziebach on Monday, August 22, 2011 at 10:35pm

Our Tuesday evening service was one that will be remembered. Even as we arrived we could hear thunder in the distance beyond the mountains and hoped we would be able to return the short distance to our compound before it began raining. The service began with beautiful Latino music, but included a couple of old hymns which we were familiar.

Pastor Luis Santos of the Mission Bautista staff preached a sermon using a Romans 3:9-20 text. In short he urged all present to examine themselves before the Lord. He reminded all that there are none righteous, not even one among us. He made it clear that from birth we are all sinners. Pastor Luis simply called a spade a spade, and we are what scripture describes. All the while the impending storm grows nearer, flashes of lightning visible, and the thunder louder.

At invitation time, Pastor Luis lays it on the line. He informs all he has done his job, he has preached the gospel, and the next step is up to each who heard the message to examine his or herself before God. At that moment the storm lashes out in full fury, lights go out in the church, and the congregation sits in the dark silence sensing God's power in the storm. It was sort of like God accented Pastor Luis's command to the congregation. Moments later the women began softly singing "Amazing Grace". It was a wonderful experience which ended only when vehicles from the clinic compound arrived short while later to shuttle team members back to the safety of our quarters. The storm continued for what seemed like over an hour.

Ministry in Honduras 

2010 Mission Trip - La Campa, Honduras by Eugene Ziebach November 25, 2010 (Excerpt from my 2010 Trip Journal.)

Often, we who go on mission trips are asked by others, "Why do you go? Are there not enough people at home who need to hear the Gospel? Why don't you take care of home first?" These are good questions. However in Piper's book, his response to this is: It may be, and I tend to believe, that God has occasion for us to leave reached people in order to work among the unreached. As Piper suggests, "the task of missions may not be merely to win as many individuals as possible from the most responsive people groups, but rather to win individuals from all the people groups of the world." So we are not really talking about maximizing numbers, but instead helping ensure every group be reached with the testimony of Christ and that "a people be called out for His name from all the nations."

Brother Bradley preached from Paul's writing in the Book of Philippians, but we know from Paul's other writings that he was grasped by the vision of unreached peoples. One can be certain his idea of being a missionary was not merely the winning of more and more people to Christ, but instead reaching more peoples or nations. This was Paul's vision as a pioneer missionary.

Piper furthers his premise by offering scripture from the Apostle John's writing in Revelation 5, whereby the task of the church is "to gather the ransomed from all peoples, languages, tribes, and nations." In John 11:52, the apostle states that "the children of God will be found as widely scattered as there are peoples of the earth."