Dear Cornerstone Family,
One Sunday a quarter we try to secure one of our mission supports—a campus minister, a church planter, or a missionary—to report on their work and minister to us. Today is one of those Sundays.
I am thrilled to welcome Rev. Aaron Halbert to the Cornerstone pulpit today. Aaron was born in Honduras and lived there until he was 10. Rachel, his wife, grew up in the Mississippi delta. By God’s kind providence, they met on a blind date in 2004 and quickly realized they both had a passion for missions.
Because of Aaron’s background, he had a desire to one day return to Honduras and plant churches. Rachel served on several mission trips to Haiti during which she realized the great need for God’s Word to be preached worldwide. Coming home from one of those trips, she told her mom she wanted to marry a man who would be a missionary. When her mom asked her what she would do if she couldn’t find a missionary, she said, “I won’t marry!”
Well, in 2006, Rachel and Aaron were married and moved to Honduras to teach in a bilingual school outside of Tegucigalpa. While there, they became even more aware of the need for churches that teach the transforming power of the gospel (Rom. 10:17).
Aaron and Rachel moved back to Mississippi, so that Aaron could get an M.Div. from Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS) in Jackson. While there, Aaron served at Second Presbyterian in Yazoo City as the youth director and intern. Rachel taught at the local Christian school, and then later left the classroom to be a full-time mom to their now five children.
Aaron planted Iglesia Presbiteriana Gracia Soberana in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. His vision is to see many more churches planted in Honduras, laying foundations for the first Presbyterian denomination in Honduras.
The Lord has given Aaron a tender heart for the lost coupled with gifts for evangelism and preaching. As one of many churches who support the Halberts’ work, Aaron has come to visit us, to report on the work in Honduras, and to preach God’s Word from Luke 19:1-10. Please listen closely to the message the Lord has laid on Aaron’s heart.
Further, be instructed by the example of Aaron and Rachel. And, if I may be so bold, follow them as they follow Christ. How remarkable would it be if the Lord called certain children and youth from Cornerstone to the mission field in the coming days? And how remarkable would it be if parents, feeling a holy burden for the salvation of the nations, encouraged their children to strongly consider the noble call of foreign missions? Moreover, how remarkable would it be if someone today––maybe you––was called to the mission field today. Oh, I pray so. Truly, I do.
Beloved, lift up your eyes! The fields are white for harvest, but the laborers are few. Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest that he might send more workers into the field (Matt. 9:38, Jn. 4:35).
Your servant
