What is the mission?

Mission is a word that explains the purpose or reason why something is done. In the context of Honduras, St. Mark United Methodist Church's mission is: "Putting the Gospel into Action."

By reaching out to individuals in Honduras, and working beside them as they take their faith journey, members of St. Mark UMC (Atlanta, GA) are providing the kind of love and compassion described by Jesus in Matthew 25: 34-40. Mission team members are also enriching their own lives by learning to love and care for people over 1200 miles from Atlanta, GA that live in a developing country where opportunity for sustainable work, education, health care, transportation, housing, and personal safety are limited.

The work is performed in cooperation with nearly a dozen other North Georgia Methodist Churches that have formed a loose organizational structure supporting their mutual work in Honduras. Dr. James Thompson, former Superintendent of the Atlanta Emory District of the North Georgia Conference, has been the heart and soul guiding this coordinated work, as a volunteer. The work does not receive financial support from the North Georgia United Methodist Conference.

Although not all the collaborating United Methodist Churches include a range of services as wide as St. Mark's, jointly they provide: (a) construction of facilities, (b) work with children, and (c) medical services. St. Mark UMC's teams provide all three of these services and typically spend about a week on site.