Bellevue has a long history of working alongside Impacto Church in Honduras. Specifically, Bellevue’s Young Adults Ministry has an ongoing relationship with the church in San Pedro Sula as they share Jesus and make disciples throughout the region. A Young Adults team returned there October 18. Read the summary below from one of the participants and pray about how you can engage in the Missionary Task internationally.
October 2022 was the fifth time I was fortunate enough to go on a week-long mission trip to San Pedro Sula, Honduras. As I reflect on my time this year and previous years, I am most reminded of the word “perseverance.” We are in a race. This race, however, is more like an ultra-marathon. We cross the starting line when we receive salvation in Christ–that’s where we, through the power of the Holy Spirit, can begin to show others the beauty of the race.
Mission trips push you to lean on the Lord, be prepared to share the Gospel, and live out your faith in a way that is difficult to do in other environments. You have a more real sense of the urgency of the Gospel and the reality that these Gospel conversations really are the difference between life and death.
As I look back on the years Bellevue’s Young Adults Ministry has partnered with Impacto Church, I see how lives have been changed. Some project participants have been called to full-time missions work; others have become engaged in local ministries. I’ve seen high school students graduate both high school and college and young adults get married, have children, start churches, and grow in their faith.
Each year I return to San Pedro Sula, the Lord teaches me something different. My first year, I developed friendships that felt like family. My second trip, the Lord stretched me, and I was able to lead a women’s Bible study, speak to a group of college students and young adults, and lead a team devotion. On the next trip, the Lord helped me learn to be content in the background, to dig deep with the other ladies on the trip, and to be an encourager, all of which furthered my love for training others. By my fourth trip, I saw the sovereignty of God in His timing, His provision, and even in the weather.
This year, I was honored to co-lead the trip, and the Lord stretched my faith to lean on Him when plans changed (as they often do in life) and to lead our team in a way that honored Christ.
Each year, the Lord faithfully transformed my life through this mission project. We go on mission to be obedient to the Lord, and He meets us in a fresh way each time.
I began by saying that when I look back, I see perseverance resonating as a central theme. We do all we can while we are on the field, but beyond the mission field, most of us come home and go back to our everyday lives. This is where perseverance begins. We must take the same boldness we have on mission trips to our family, friends, workplaces, and neighborhood, sharing the Gospel as the Lord leads–perhaps even multiple times with the same person.
We must live in a way that is different from our world, a way that reflects the holiness, glory, and hope of God, even when doing so is difficult. There is still work to be done in Honduras. There is still work to be done in Memphis. There is still work to be done in me, and there is still work to be done in you.
Learn more about upcoming opportunities at the 2022 Missions Weekend, taking place at Bellevue October 16.
Contributing Writer: Adrianne Woodruff