Prayer-Based Partnership With Holy Trinity, Melbourne, Yields Scholarships for Honduran Parish

The roots of the new mission partnership between Holy Trinity, Melbourne, and St. John the Apostle parish and school in Siguatepeque, Honduras, were planted in prayer, according to the Rev. Tom Phillips, rector at Holy Trinity. The connection between the two churches continues today through a sense of love and compassion that can only come from those with a heart for Jesus. What started as a prayer association years ago has now become a full-fledged collaboration between the two churches with mutual kingdom benefits.

While members at Holy Trinity can revel in the satisfaction of knowing they are helping spread the gospel in a less-industrialized nation, the members at St. John the Apostle are reaping the rewards of the faithfulness of their ministry partners in the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida.  It’s an alliance neither church takes lightly.

“Holy Trinity has been praying for Honduras as our partner diocese during our weekly Prayers of the People for years,” Phillips said. “When the opportunity arose last year to come alongside what God is doing at St John’s, our parish immediately embraced the chance to participate tangibly in what God is doing in Honduras.”

The latest outpouring of generosity from Holy Trinity comes in the form of 10 full-tuition scholarships for students – at $1,100 per student – to attend St. John the Apostle Episcopal school, plus an anonymous gift for one fully funded annual teacher’s salary. The donated funds will be presented to leaders at St. John’s in October when a delegation of 12 members of Holy Trinity visit the Honduran parish.

The purpose of the visit to Siguatepeque, however, is not simply to present a check, trip coordinator Bill Borger said. It is to focus on building a relationship between the two churches that will last a lifetime and allow the Holy Trinity attendees to discover the deep-seated needs at the church and school.

“Relationships are extremely beneficial and crucial if you want to get anything done,” Borger said. “So we’re not going down there with the intent of, ‘Here’s what we can do to help you.’ We want to find out what they need, how their culture works and what we can do best from their perspective, not ours. The other part is to actually get to know the students we are sponsoring with the scholarships and develop a relationship with them and their families, and to also worship with the community.”

Upon hearing of the donation to St. John’s by the parishioners of Holy Trinity, the Right Rev. Lloyd Allen, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Honduras, expressed his appreciation in an email to Phillips.

“Your note truly came at the perfect time, as we are coming very close to finalizing our preparations for the upcoming enrollment season,” Bishop Allen said. “Hearing that there are already commitments for scholarships, along with the generous offer to underwrite the annual salary for a teacher, fills us with deep gratitude and hope. It is a tremendous blessing.”

The money donated was enough to support 17 scholarships, and Borger said the plan is to roll over the extra funds to extend the program into 2027. “I think ours is a very giving church, a very generous church,” he said. “They see a need and they act on it.”

The hope is that St. John’s parishioners will see Holy Trinity’s generosity as an extension of the gospel of Christ, and it will help make disciples of disciples in Honduras.

“During Easter [at Holy Trinity], we were talking about the unstoppable gospel in the book of Acts,” Borger said. “We have the opportunity to go to Honduras and impact the lives of particularly these children who go to this church and school every day. They are brought up in a Christian community, and we are giving them the tools where they can take the gospel out to members of their community and spread the good news of Jesus.”