In a rural Honduran community a group of peasants, or campesinos, had organized with the goal of soliciting land from the government in order to grow corn and beans, their nutritional base. Among them were five Evangelicals from a Pentecostal church.

The campesino group held its meetings on Sunday mornings. Since they lived some distance from one another, it was the only time during the week that they could meet. But the hour coincided with the meeting of the evangelical church that the five attended. They were caught between the pressures of the group and of the church, both of which demanded their presence, without excuses, every Sunday.

Finally the day came in which the campesino group decided that anyone who was not committed to attending the meetings and cooperating fully with the group would have to quit. The following week only two of the evangelical campesinos showed up. All five had consulted with their pastor, who prohibited them from continuing with the campesino group. That same Sunday the church excommunicated the two brothers who chose to go to the campesino group, for having disobeyed the pastor.

The campesino group continued to seek to improve its organization, and bit by bit the group learned more about the lives of the two Evangelicals who had decided to stay with them. Eventually, whenever they met, the first thing they did was ask Julian (one of the two) to read the Bible and pray. Julian gained more and more of the group's trust, to such a degree that it eventually named him treasurer. In this position of leadership Julian learned more about the campesino movement, including other groups that had obtained land.

The request that the group had made for land did not meet with success. The government claimed there was no available land. So the campesinos decided to simply occupy the land they had requested. The Honduran agrarian reform law says that no one has a right to own land if they do not put it into production, and should go to those who will. The campesinos therefore believed they had a legal basis for their action and they knew from the experience of other groups that the government bureaucracy rarely enforces the law without such pressure.

Three days after occupying the land, a group of soldiers arrived at five in the morning to forcibly remove them. The group refused to abandon the land. Among those resisting was Julian and the other Evangelical. Julian was beaten, captured and taken to jail for ten months. During that time, none of the members of the church visited him, since as far as they were concerned his imprisonment was God's punishment. Nonetheless, the campesino group, in spiteof its meager resources, provided for his family.

While Julian was in jail the group continued to try to obtain land, and decided to reoccupy the same land, this time with the support of other campesino organizations. Thanks to this campesino pressure the government entered into negotiation with the land's supposed owner, and the group was finally able to acquire it. Upon Julian's release he returned to find that his wife and three children where living on the same land where he had been beaten.

Julian had been reflecting deeply on the Bible during his months of incarceration and he returned with new force and new ideas. After discussing some of his ideas with the group, he began a literacy center which included Bible study. Some people met together so that Julian could explain the Bible to them. Others came to ask his counsel about family problems. Soon Julian was for all practical purposes the group's pastor.

With land, people's lives began to change. They had enough to plant not only for their own subsistence, but to sell and buy clothes and medicine. Julian continued to develop his ideas and began to organize a consumer cooperative, all the time maintaining his Bible teaching. Eventually an independent church developed not as a structure simply to bring people together for song, study and prayer, but with a strong communitarian sense.

Cases such as this are being repeated in many communities where the Honduran Mennonite Church is now carrying out social programs. After two years of work, the campesinos have accepted and trust us. We are sharing the Word of God together. Some of the people have said, why not organize a Mennonite church? They have offered to donate land for a building. But we are not sure how to respond. We are afraid to undermine the sense of community that the church already enjoys, since many people continue to consider themselves Catholic, and the Catholic Church has also provided pastoral support.

What work might a missionary do in this case?

How should MCC personnel work in such a case?

How should Christians resolve the conflict between structures and faithfulness to the Lord?