Stop the Violence in Honduras, Missionary Prays

Caspar Geisterfer, a Christian Reformed World Missions missionary in Honduras, says he has recently come across several instances of violence that are making his heart ache and have caused him to cry out to God in prayer.

He is also asking members of the Christian Reformed Church to spend time in prayer, seeking God’s grace in bringing peace to neighborhoods and communities in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa that are beset by beatings and murder.

In a prayer letter to CRWM, Geisterfer details how God has been blessing his ministry, but he recounts as well the instances of violence.

In once instance, he writes, he made a pastoral visit to a church where its members were struggling with the painful reality that a gang member had extorted money from the church.

“It was easy to see that the congregation was very preoccupied with this incident of extortion, but also very thankful that we had intervened and taken steps to put a stop to the extortion,” he writes.

While there, he met a woman who was recently widowed.

“Her husband left work one day, (three months ago) and never came home. His body was found recently, and it was determined that he had been murdered. She was left with three children,” he writes.

Then, on a recent Sunday night, he writes, “a young man of 16 came to church and accepted Christ as his Savior. He did this because he witnessed the murder of two other young men, and is now afraid for his life. He did not want to die separated from Christ.”

On the same night, “a brother of a church member was beaten by a group of young people close to my home. The sister and the mother all tried to intervene, and they were also beaten,” he writes.

“These are some of the things that I must balance in my life as I minister here in Honduras. I ask for your prayers, especially so that I can be as Christ to the people I live with,” he writes.

While the scope of the violence is deeply troubling, other aspects of his ministry are prospering.

For instance, the Christian education program he initiated several years ago “is growing in marvelous ways, for which I am extremely grateful,” he writes.

A training module in biblical worldview is ready, and 30 people are being trained with this module. Meanwhile, Sunday School teachers in more than 50 churches are being trained as Christian educators.

“I am amazed at how God has worked with this group of people as workers in his kingdom,” he writes.

Capar Geisterfer serves as a consultant and trainer for CRWM in Honduras. His wife, Leanne, is World Renew’s team leader for Honduras.