Central Florida Team Trains Honduran Clergy in Evangelism

Editor’s note: Some surnames of those featured in this article have been withheld/faces blurred in photos because of age and/or work in sensitive areas of the world. 

A team from the Jesus Film Project, a ministry of Orlando-based Cru® (known overseas by its original name, Campus Crusade for Christ International), including members from the Cathedral Church of St. Luke, Orlando, and St. Mary of the Angels, Orlando, traveled to Muchilena, Honduras, from April 11-18 to train Honduran clergy and others in evangelism using tools from JFP. Starting in 1979 with the classic film Jesus, which has been dubbed into more than 2,265 languages and counting, JFP now has more than 200 additional films in its repertoire: silent, feature-length, one-minute and five-minute films.

The trip and training came at the impetus of the Rt. Rev. Lloyd Allen, who has proclaimed 2026 a Year of Evangelism for the Episcopal Diocese of Honduras. After a May 2025 mission trip where JFP personnel from the two churches served in Honduras, Allen connected with JFP leadership through two visits to the ministry’s Orlando headquarters. There, he said, “I witnessed firsthand a renewed and accessible approach to sharing the gospel. I returned to Honduras with a renewed sense of purpose and shared this vision with our clergy, deans and lay leadership.”

“He asked us for some tangible help, so we worked with our leadership to formalize a partnership between the Jesus Film Project and the Episcopal Church in Honduras to provide them with equipment to use our media and lead Jesus Film Project evangelism training,” explained Marcus, who works for JFP and was part of the team the Cathedral sent to Honduras in May 2025. The April 2026 team included Shannon, who also works for JFP and belongs to the Cathedral; Heather Palumbo, another JFP employee and member of St. Mary of the Angels, Orlando; Missy Tereck, also from St. Mary of the Angels; and Jim, a JFP photographer.

The group put together a 4 1/2-day program to train the clergy on how to use JFP tools for personal evangelism, small-group evangelism and larger evangelistic events, with Shannon and Palumbo as primary trainers. The Honduran clergy took turns celebrating the Eucharist for the group each day. In addition, Palumbo brought with her more than 600 books her church collected for Episcopal schools in Honduras, responding to Allen’s request for library donations at Central Florida’s January Diocesan Convention.

Tuesday, the first full day of the team’s ministry, focused on a morning testimony workshop, emphasizing how to tell the story of God drawing each person into his family. “We used some Jesus Film media to demonstrate how the apostle Paul would share his personal testimony, what Jesus would say about himself,” Shannon said. “We shared that precedence, and then they had to write their own stories.”

“Tuesday afternoon, we had the Short Film Festival, which was the small-group evangelism idea,” she continued. “We used some of the Jesus Film short films, which are designed for all ages. … The format was to show a film, discussion, show another film, small-group discussion, have someone share a personal testimony and share the gospel. After, they worked on their plans for doing this in their own parish.”

Wednesday focused on personal evangelism: how to use some of these same short films to initiate spiritual conversations and share the gospel. Using the Jesus Film app and the GodTools app (another Cru® product), the priests, translators and team members went into the community to practice sharing their faith.

“Fifty people went out to share,” Shannon said. “During the debrief we learned that in two hours, we initiated conversations with 93 people, and 77 watched the film. We shared the gospel with 26 people. We got follow-up contact information from 30 people, and nine people prayed and received Christ. They got to see the success of using it.”

Thursday, the team did equipment training, and those being trained refined their testimonies. “We trained them on the 11 projectors donated by JFP, one for each deanery,” Shannon said. “They worked on ministry planning, what to do with what we’ve learned so far and watched the longer film Magdalena.

“We had about 100 people in the audience, and 16 people came forward asking for prayer,” she said. “Two people shared personal testimonies. After someone shared the gospel, seven people recommitted their lives to Christ, and three people chose to begin a relationship with Jesus that night.”

Friday was a debrief, with each deanery sharing some of its plans for evangelism efforts with its dean. They filled out surveys and left feedback for Allen, followed by a celebration.

“This training was not limited to a small group,” the bishop said. “It involved the full participation of our diocesan clergy, along with postulants and candidates to the permanent diaconate, as well as key lay leaders – 59 individuals in total. This breadth of participation reflects our desire for a unified, diocesan commitment rather than an isolated initiative.”

“We were very, very well received, to the point that one night after the large film showing, two priests approached me,” Palumbo said. “One came up to me at first, gave me a hug, and said, ‘Thank you for this opportunity,’ and the other one came later and grabbed my hand. … When they went out for personal evangelism, they were a little surprised that people responded so well, and that was a delight to see.”

Still another blessing of the trip came in the form of three students whom Bishop Allen recruited to serve as translators when the scheduled translators were unable to come. He went to an area Episcopal school and interviewed students to determine their English proficiency. The three young women he chose stayed with the group all week, helping with both translation and technology issues. Before the time together ended, two of them prayed and acknowledged genuine faith in Christ, which they had not been certain of before, and one is still praying about that decision.

“The next day, you could see the veil lifted from their faces,” Shannon said about the two who now have faith. “None of them is just doing this on an emotional high or a whim. They’re each taking this to heart and making a personal decision. For me, that was extremely significant.”

The two churches are planning another combined trip in June, this time taking high school and college students as a part of the team. “It works both ways, you know,” Palumbo said. “We’re going down there to serve, but these kids have the opportunity to participate in missions and evangelism, and then they’ll come back knowing how to do it here. It’s prolific.”

Allen remains excited about the impact of the trip. In a letter describing the impact of the evangelism training, he said it can be described in “three pastoral movements”:

1. Evangelism begins with relationship. What we experienced – especially during our evening time in Puerto Cortés sharing the Word and witnessing for Christ – reminded us that evangelism is not a program or a method, but an encounter. It is about listening to people’s stories, building trust and walking alongside them. Following up is not merely administrative; it is pastoral care. When we reach out soon after an encounter, we honor the person and create space for genuine connection.
2. Evangelism requires ongoing discipleship. What has been especially encouraging is that this is already beginning to take root. Evangelism does not end with a first conversation; it continues through mentoring, teaching and accompaniment. We are exploring ways to strengthen this through our schools and ministries. One simple but powerful realization is this: While fewer people bring physical Bibles to church, nearly everyone carries a phone. Tools like the Jesus Film app allow us to meet people where they are, using what is already in their hands to share the gospel in accessible ways.
3. Evangelism leads into community. The goal is not simply individual conversion, but incorporation into the body of Christ. This means connecting people to the life of the Church – baptism, the Eucharist, fellowship and service. It also means responding to human need with compassion, as acts of mercy often open doors for deeper spiritual transformation.

In all of this, I sense that the Lord is gently but firmly calling us back to the essentials – not to reinvent the Church, but to remember who we are. The Year of Evangelis is not meant to be another program that passes, but the beginning of a renewed culture of mission that will shape all we do. We are commanded to go, and go we must.

Please continue to hold us in your prayers as we take these steps, trusting not in our own strength, but in the one who sends us and walks with us.