Calvin alums turn faith into action through nonprofit

A vibrant mural created by Esan Sommersell at ASJ’s Grand Rapids office reflects the organization’s mission of seeking justice in Honduras and inspiring communities around the world to do the same. Below is the text on a plaque next to the mural.IN LOVING MEMORY Dionisio Diaz Garcia was a lawyer who worked for ASJ and was assassinated in 2006 because of his work defending a group of security guards. Dionisio was always passionate about helping people whose lives were most difficult without asking anything in return. After his death, he was referred to in the media as "the lawyer of the poor." Dionisio was a loving father, husband, and friend. He left a meaningful legacy and incomparable example we should all follow. We believe that his desire and enthusiasm to do justice still lives in all of our hearts and in the Association for a More Just Society. Written in 2020 by Dionisio's wife Lourdes Albir (now deceased) and son, Mauricio Diaz.

Kurt and Jo Ann Van Engen Ver Beek wanted to change the world when they graduated from Calvin University back in 1986. The pair have done so one country at a time, starting in Honduras where they live most of the year. They founded The Association for a More Just Society—ASJ—that has offices in Honduras as well as downtown Grand Rapids.

ASJ USA’s mission is clear: “We strive to be brave Christians, dedicated to doing justice in Honduras and inspiring others around the world to seek justice in their own contexts,” according to the ASJ USA website.

Today ASJ USA collaborates with ASJ Honduras to promote justice and peace there, shares experiences and lessons learned with people and organizations working in other countries, and challenges people of faith to seek justice in their own communities.

For the Ver Beeks, doing justice began early. “We were interested in helping the poor in the United States or overseas,” said Kurt Ver Beek. He and his wife were in Grand Rapids over the summer and spoke to Grand Rapids Magazine then. They have since returned to their home in Nueva Suyapa, a notorious Honduran barrio run by gangs.

They volunteered at Baxter Community Center, Other Way Ministries, and did internships with World Renew, based in Byron Center. World Renew offered them jobs in Central America working with local partners doing work in rural development and agriculture. They stayed two years, then moved to Honduras to do the same things with World Renew.

The pair also began running a semester abroad program for Calvin, bringing students to Honduras for what came to be called the Justice Semester. “We were teaching the students all the stuff we wished we had known when moving to Central America,” said Jo Ann Ver Beek, who today works in communications, strategic planning, and as a donor liaison for ASJ.

“We became more and more convinced that in Honduras—where there was an abundance of nonprofits working with orphanages, small businesses, and street people—there was no one addressing why people were in the streets,” said Kurt Ver Beek. “Why the poverty? Why corruption and violence, and who is working on that?”

ASJ-Honduras was birthed in 1998, soon after that first semester abroad program. “Everything we do in Honduras is about making the country a better place so people don’t have to leave,” said Ver Beek. “The Bible has a huge emphasis on justice and protecting the vulnerable; that’s the way we were taught to live out our faith, and we do so by helping strengthen the Honduran government.”

ASJ-USA was founded in 2000 to offer financial and prayer support to ASJ-Honduras, as well educate North Americans on justice-related issues. Three quarters of ASJ funding comes from U.S. churches and individuals, said the Ver Beeks.

Executive Director Carol Hernandez is the public face of ASJ-Honduras, a man who meets with government officials and speaks to leaders and the public. He travels with a body guard because of death threats, not uncommon in Honduras. In fact, ASJ’s labor rights program leader Dionisio Diaz Garcia was shot and killed by a professional hitman in December 2006. His killers remain free as of today.

Kurt Ver Beek runs the investigation piece of ASJ’s four-point strategy to improve lives in Honduras. These data-driven investigations look into issues such as low school attendance because schools are closed many days a year, lack of adequate textbooks in schools, gang violence, corruption, and more.

ASJ-H presents the data via press conferences, sometimes one or two a week, as a second part of its strategy. Communicating their findings and naming names can help bring change, leaders say. The remaining strategies are building alliances with the Catholic church, universities, schools, and businesses, and lobbying the government for change. ASJ also serves as consultants to nonprofits interested in doing similar work.

“The things we’ve learned in Honduras can be used here in the United States. The degree of problems is worse in Honduras, but the problems are very similar,” said Ver Beek.

There are about a million Hondurans in the United States, said Ver Beek, about half with legal status and half without. Twenty-six percent of the Honduran economy comes from the $6 billion in remittances sent back to Honduras from friends and family living in the U.S, he added.

The Ver Beeks and ASJ constantly seek justice for the poor and vulnerable through encouraging government transparency and providing support and accountability in education and health care. They do so in Honduras, but also share those experiences with justice-seeking organizations and people around the world. And right here in Grand Rapids.

“If we can do it in Honduras, you can seek justice right here in Grand Rapids,” said Kurt Ver Beek.

Two books offer insights into the work of ASJ and the Ver Beeks.

• Call for Justice: From Practice to Theory and Back by Kurt Ver Beek and Nicholas Wolterstorff. The pair discuss theology, politics, human nature, and government systems in the work of justice. The book and an accompanying reader’s guide are available on the ASJ website.
• Bear Witness: The Pursuit of Justice in a Violent Land by Ross Halperin (Liveright, an imprint of W.W. Norton & Company) is the gripping tale of Kurt Ver Beek and Carlos Hernandez, best friends and fearless advocates who face down gangs, business tycoons, and the Honduran government in the quest for justice.

How You Can Help

• Support ASJ’s work in Honduras through prayer, encouragement, and donations
• Contact ASJ-USA for help to figure out how to help your local community
• Lobby lawmakers to fix the immigration system in the U.S.
• Connect with people who are different that you to push back against the us vs. them narrative
• Ask yourself how you can help fix what’s broken in your local schools, policing, government offices.
• “Be part of the solution instead of sitting around complaining,” said the Ver Beeks
• Visit asj-us.org for more information on the work and mission of ASJ

Ann Byle

GR|MAG is the definitive resource on the people, food & drink, culture, arts & entertainment, lifestyle and news of Grand Rapids, Michigan.