Dear Friend,

Many people have been asking me how things are going in Honduras, and honestly, that’s a hard question for me to answer. Lately, it feels like things have been heartbreakingly difficult and unexpectedly good at the same time. So, I think I will tell you stories about both those realities because woven together, they describe this hard and complex work of justice that we have committed to do together.

First, the heartbreakingly difficult part.

2023 has been such a hard year. Let me share some of the stories my friends have been telling me.

At church, last Sunday, my friend Luis, who has been sick for a while now, told me how a few days earlier, he had decided to go to the hospital and stand in line with thousands of other sick people to try to get an appointment to see a doctor. He told me he had waited for over twelve hours in the sun! He finished his story by pulling out an official appointment card from his wallet, and I almost cried—both in relief that he would finally see a doctor and in total frustration over how hard it had been to accomplish.

Last week, I stopped to chat with my neighbor Maria, and she shared how disappointed she was that her daughter’s school had combined two classes into one because they don’t have enough teachers this year. She is worried about how she will keep her daughter motivated to learn in a classroom with 52 other children.

More and more, friends are expressing anger that the politicians they elected so enthusiastically two years ago seem more focused on staying in power than on doing the hard work that will create jobs, make their neighborhoods safer, and keep their children healthy and in school. This disappointing lack of action following such high expectations has been hard for all of us to take.

That is the first part of my story, and it is the part that keeps me up at night worrying about what will happen next and strategizing about what ASJ can do about it.

But the second part of the story is that 2023 has been a year of incredible creativity and remarkable progress for our staff at ASJ.

ASJ staff have spent the year focused on doing what we do best: identifying problems in health, education, and security, looking for solutions to those problems, and publicizing our findings as a way to spur the government to action.

Government authorities have not loved all the media attention our reports have received because they know it makes them look bad. But the interesting thing is that while they criticize us and our reports publicly, many have started reaching out for our help behind the scenes.

A few months ago, the minister of education called Carlos Hernandez (ASJ-Honduras’ Executive Director) and told him that every time ASJ is on TV talking about our ideas for improving Honduran schools, he gets a call from the President saying, “Why aren’t we doing any of these things! Take care of it now!” Carlos laughed and said he was happy to help, and now he and the minister have regular meetings to talk strategy--how to get textbooks to every child, how to provide summer school so kids can make up for missed days, and how to get more teachers in the classrooms. The minister seems excited about the possibilities, and so are we!

Jaime, our police expert, was surprised to receive an invitation to a high-level meeting to discuss the police strategy for working on homicides. Jaime went to the meeting where he carefully laid out ASJ’s ideas, and after two follow-up meetings, the police chiefs asked him and his team to do some training with the police before the end of the year.

And this year, hundreds of people, from church leaders to businessmen to academics, are forming alliances with ASJ to work together to challenge the government to do better.

For ASJ, this is what justice looks like--working with a government that doesn’t necessarily want to work with us to make life better for the Hondurans whose lives are the hardest. It is difficult work, but it is not too difficult; it takes a long time, but not too long. Along the way, God reminds us of what is possible and of the impact our work can have.

We do this work for Luis, Maria, and the millions of others who keep hoping that justice will reach them. We don’t give up because they don’t give up.

Thank you for partnering with ASJ and leaning into the tension of progress and challenges in Honduras with your support and commitment to the work of justice and flourishing. We look forward to all God will do through each of us this year. Would you consider a gift to support the work of ASJ in Honduras?

All donations to ASJ between now and December 31st will be matched up to $250,000, thanks to a generous ASJ partner. Your generosity fuels our ability to have an impact. Thank you.