The Gospel To Santa Lucia

Evan and Carmen Williams are veteran missionaries serving since 1981 and since that time they have labored for the Lord in church planting ministries in the countries of Ireland, UK, Spain, and latterly in Honduras, through BIMI. Laterally God has blessed their ministry with the establishment of a local church in the mountains above the capital city of Tegucigalpa in a town called Santa Lucia. He has also used that ministry to commence and serve five other Church Plants in other areas along with a Bible Institute to help train local believers to serve in the ministry that God would call them to in those areas.

During their third term of service to this field, Evan and Carmen are planning to take one-month furlough trips to the USA each year in order to report to their churches and to present an exciting new ministry in the form of an Evangelistic outreach to their community via the provision of a bi-lingual education for the children of families that attend their church. They propose to commence this new ministry in the Feb. 2021 and will need the support and the help of missionary teachers from the USA who would be prepared to serve their Lord alongside them in this great work.

If your church would be interested in having them to your missions conference or to your Bible seminary, college or institute, they can be contacted via BIMI or directly via the contact page on this website. May God bless you as you consider their ministry for your support.

Walter Evan Williams

Born into a Protestant family in Northern Ireland, I confessed Christ as my Saviour by age nine. My growth in grace led me to dedicate my life for missions at the age of eighteen. When twenty-one,opportunity arose to serve the Lord as a missionary relief worker with an Anglican mission to Honduras.

Through personal Bible study, while in Honduras, I came to believe in Biblical principles known clearly to me today as Baptist convictions. During my ministry in Honduras, I met and fell in love with Carmen, which led to our marriage. Shortly thereafter, we returned to Ireland joining the Comber Baptist Church.

After four years of studies at the Irish Baptist Theological College, in Belfast, we were called by the Holy Spirit as church planters in the Canary Islands for 12 years, where God used us to re-establish a local church plant in Lanzarote that had fallen on hard times and to train a group of national brethren to form a strong leadership there. In December 1999 we were once more called of God back to Ireland, toattend our son's special educational needs, but before leaving I was able to present one of those men to the church as a candidate pastor. Shortly after we returned to Ireland he was called and took charge of that work.

When back in Ireland I was first called to pastor a Baptist church in Belfast for two and half years, during which time God gave me the privilege of serving Him, as an extension of that ministry over seas, in the mission fields of India, Costa Rica and Honduras as a conference speaker. After much prayer and consideration I knew that God had given us a heart for missions and God lead me from there into an itinerant preaching and teaching ministry in Baptist churches throughout Ireland, the UK and Honduras. It was while I was preaching in the latter, during the summer of June 2004, that both Carmen and I received a definite call of God to serve as church-planters amongst the people there. After much prayer we surrendered to that call.

Providentially working through our friend and sending pastor, Dr. Bob Zemeski, we were led of the Lord to BIMI, to aid us in our endeavours to reach that precious field of harvest. After two years of deputation in both Europe and the USA we arrived in Honduras on November 15 th , 2008. Under God’s guiding hand we were lead to commence a pioneer ministry in the town of Santa Lucia and since then God has opened many doors of opportunity for the Gospel and we rejoice at what He is doing in our midst to the salvation of precious souls. We do trust that as you pray God will put us upon your heart for consideration for your church's partnership in this ministry, through both your financial and prayerful support, in order that it may continue.

Maria Del Carmen Williams

I was born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, into a traditional Roman Catholic working class family. By the time I was two, both of my parents were saved and had joined a Baptist church. At the age of sixteen, while attending a young people’s meeting, I realized my sinfulness and asked Jesus Christ to be my personal Saviour.

Things dramatically changed in my life: I was involved in evangelism and as a Sunday School teacher I went with our evangelistic team into the outlying towns and villages of my country to teach and hold Bible Clubs. At the age of eighteen I dedicated my life in service to my Lord.

I graduated from college in 1979 as a primary school teacher and by law was obligated to serve one year in the countryside. Assigned to El Sembrador, an evangelical boarding school for boys, I felt led of the Lord to stay two more years and it was during the final year that Evan came to work with us and even though I left to work in another part of my country, Evan kept in contact with me.

I had been praying that God would give me a husband who knew and loved Him, and who wanted to serve Him, yet I did not feel I was suited to the task of being the wife of a pastor or missionary. Before Evan left for Ireland in 1983, he felt that I was the woman that God had for him, so he asked me to marry him, sharing with me his desire to serve the Lord in full time ministry. I knew then this was God’s will for my life. Believing God was answering my prayer, I accepted.

Since then I have been serving the Lord at my husband’s side as we have sought to be faithful to His call upon our lives.

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Current Ministries Through The Local Church

Door-to-door tract and newsletter distribution
Personal visitation of contacts
Home evangelistic Bible studies
Baptism of converts
Street evangelism
Bible institute classes
Training national workers
Children's and youth ministries
Discipleship class
Evangelism team ministries: to provide evangelistic and pulpit support to both ours and other national Independent Baptist churches and missionarie

Ministry Goals

Further develop our local pioneer church plant
Nurture to maturity our five other church plants
Further develop our youth ministry
Finish our church building project
Start other church plants in the mountains of Santa Lucia
Secure license to commence our primary school ministry
Seek full-time missionary teachers from the USA
Start an evangelistic local church primary school ministry

We shared with you in our last update how that we were preparing ourselves to commence the fitting out of our Church school project (phases one and two) so as to move our church family from our present rented accommodation so as to use that money to build our third phase, the church auditorium. We have already received donations towards our need for this but if you or your church family would like to make a donation toward this then please send your gift to BIMI, marking it clearly for this purpose.

I remind you of the the trades men we will be needing to complete this project and would ask you to make this request a definite point of prayer for us. We need more block layers, plasters, electricians, plumbers and dry wall guys. These needed men can come in any order they can and not necessarily together, so if you have a man in your church you would be willing to sponsor to help us for one or two weeks please make contact.

As from November 15, 2008, Evan and Carmen have been serving their Lord faithfully as representatives of their supporting churches and friends, in the town of Santa Lucia. During that time they have endeavored to reach souls for Christ, many of which have come to know Him, while others have been restored; having strayed from their lord, discouraged by the false teachings so prevalent in the surrounding churches. Today Evan and Carmen are administering the Word of God to 185 people, in six different locations in and around Santa Lucia. Each Sunday they see 80 to 90 of these souls come out for Sunday school and morning worship, while the rest attend their other meetings.

Despite these blessings, Evan and Carmen’s desire to reach more souls continues to weigh heavily upon their hearts and they have been seeking the Lord’s direction on how this may be achieved more effectively. During that time the Lord has gradually impressed upon them the value of starting an affordable bi-lingual church school ministry, as a part of their evangelistic outreach to their community. The ministry of this school would not only provide a first class English-speaking education for grades Pre-Kinder through 7 th. , but would also provide a powerful incentive for parents to bring their children out to the Baptist church on a regular basis, where they will receive a true presentation of the Gospel of Christ.

The reason for this ministry

As Evan and Carmen surveyed Santa Lucia, they discovered that due to the staunch Roman Catholic tradition and the charismatic confusion caused, both in the Catholic church as well as in the many Pentecostal churches in the area, people are not as receptive to the Biblical teachings given by the Independent Baptist as they might be in other areas. Yet the Lord has brought before Evan and Carmen a need and desire that all the people have, regardless of they religious affiliation; that is a quality English education for their children.

Until now such an education has been restricted to the higher income families, especially if the teachers in the school are employed from the USA. This means that none of the working class families can ever aspire to have their children receive this opportunity, which in turn would help them escape the life of poverty imposed upon many by the minimum wage ethos so prevalent in the country. Even the higher income families struggle to meet the costs of this education on their own.

God has therefore laid on Evan and Carmen’s hearts a ministry which, while meeting this desire and need of the people, could be used of God to bring whole families under the sound preaching of His word, confiding that “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105) and “Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).

How may this ministry be achieved

With the help of self supported teachers from the USA, either retired, short term or full-time missionaries, Evan and Carmen propose to begin this ministry for the children of families that attend their church on a regular basis (at least twice a week). In order to qualify, each family must have regularly attended church services for one year and on the basis of that, their children may register for classes during their second year of church attendance. The attendance of the family on a particular year will determine whether or not the child can be registered for the following year’s classes. (It should be stated at this stage that the school tuition will follow the requirements of the national curriculum in Honduras so that, should a child be disqualified from registering for the following year by their parents failure to comply with this rule, the child will be able to register for schooling in the public school with no detriment to their education.)

Each family will be required to pay a minimum enrollment fee, in accordance with their financial possibilities, which may be spread throughout each school year in monthly payments. These payments will help cover materials, uniforms, maintenance and security costs of the church school facilities, but the actual tuition of their child will be free. However, for those of extreme poverty, Evan and Carmen propose to commence a sponsorship program in which for just $50 per month churches from the USA and Europe may help these children realize their dream of having a good quality education. Their parents will be required to donate a few work hours to the school each month in order to engage them in their children’s education.

Needs of this Ministry

Beginning in Feb. 2021, this ministry will need a school administrator, director and a Pre-Kinder teacher. Each year thereafter it will need the help of an additional missionary teacher in order to add another grade to the school. If you, or your church know of any qualified primary school teachers who may consider or be thinking of using their skills in service to their Lord (either for short term or full-time missionary service) then please put them in contact with Evan and Carmen. Perhaps your church would even consider sponsoring a teacher from your congregation to come help for a period.

The ministry also needs churches that will see the benefit of this outreach and be prepared to sponsor a child at $50 per month, in order that scholarships may be offered. If your church would like to consider getting involved in this ministry, then please consider having Evan and Carmen come to your missions’ conference to present their vision and the need for this ministry.

It goes without saying; this outreach needs prayer—much prayer. This is a huge undertaking, one that Evan and Carmen do not enter into without first being convinced of the Lord’s guidance. Would you uphold this ministry in your prayers, asking God to flourish, provide for, and bless it to the salvation of precious souls?

Finally, may God bless you as you consider your participation to help this new endeavor for God’s glory.