Featured Missionaries for May 2008

Gerardo and Iris Martinez

Gerardo and Iris Martinez are in ministry together in Honduras, where Gerardo is a vicar at the Catedral Santa Maria de los Ángeles. They have 3 daughters—Daniela (17), Sara (13), and Alexandra (15).

The Martinezes have been connected to St. Marks for about twelve years. Gerardo went to a Catholic seminary, and he started out at a parish in Danli, Honduras, called Cristo Rey. St. Mark’s and Cristo Rey had a strong link, with several missions trips earlier in the decade. At that time Gerardo lived in Tegucigalpa, as he still does, but spent up to four days a week in Danli. Later he added another church service in a small mission church on Sunday’s at 3:00 p.m.

Gerardo began to work with the Bishop of Honduras to accomplish various ministries goals in the diocese. He worked with the youth in the diocese, and he and Iris, his wife, also participate in Marriage Encounter. They not only do Encounter seminars but also follow up and meet with couples afterwards to encourage them in building healthy marriages.

Gerardo works as chaplain of El Hogar de Esperanza y Amor (the House of Hope and Love), an orphanage for boys who have been abandoned or who have been designated by social services for care at El Hogar. The orphange is in Teguicigalpa and has 90 boys at this time. This February they will open the home to girls, when five girls will be added, all sisters of boys currently in the orphanage.

He serves as chaplain of St. Mary’s Institute, where boys go to learn a trade. The Institute used to be on the campus of the cathedral but is now located outside of Tegucigalpa. It is a boarding school where boys can learn about HVAC, wood working, metal working, and soon to be added, auto mechanics. Students are 8th, 9th, and 10th graders, and some come from El Hogar and others from poor families who would never be able to provide their children with this kind of training.

Gerardo’s main responsibility is as vicar of the cathedral in Tegucigalpa. If the cathedral were self-supporting, Gerardo’s title would be Canon. There are many things going on there: camps, Bible studies, weekly prayer and fasting, kid’s clubs, youth ministries, women’s meetings, preaching and teaching, and a robust participation in worship.

Iris, who holds an M.A., works for a government agency that helps teens with addictions. Daniela will be graduating from the international academy that the girls attend, and she hopes to come to college in the States.

Gerardo would like to continue a partnership with St. Marks in which St. Marks would provide people who could help with the marriage enrichment program. There is a huge cultural need in Honduras to see solid marriages that are healthy and to receive teaching about the bibilcal pattern for marriage.