Honduras International Mission

By Armando Ruiz

In 1999, after much praying for a mission opportunity to work with the Episcopal Church in my native Cuba, God probably confused my geography and sent me to Honduras. While I was there building houses for poor people displaced by hurricane Mitch, my eyes were opened to the extreme poverty and the incredible love and compassion of Christ for all his people as manifested by the Episcopal Church of Honduras. Since then I have become a missionary for Christ and His Church.

As a new member of St. Matthew’s, I cherish the fact that St. Matthews is a mission oriented church that accepts the challenge of our presiding Bishop to take an active role in promoting and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of which its number one goal is "To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger."  Since 2004, Honduras International Mission has been working and building relationships with the Deanery of El Paraiso, a poor, remote and beautiful Province of Honduras, and they have asked for help in educating their youth.

Here are some facts:

• The Honduran government lacks the means to fund secondary education
• The people and Church in El Paraiso see secondary education as a foothold out of  extreme poverty
• The desire, commitment and determination of the young people in El
  Paraiso is incredible
• The Episcopal Church in Honduras is experiencing explosive growth
• A program under the Honduran Scholarship Committee has been established and is working to achieve this goal

The Honduran International Mission is one of the many ministries of the St.
Matthew’s Outreach Commission.  We are helping to meet the needs of God's children, because you give, pray and care.