Youth Share Prayer And Advocacy Letter With The Honduran National Congress
May 24, 2018
Early in the morning, more than seventy youth, pastors, and staff members of ASJ (formerly known as AJS) gathered on the steps of the Honduran Supreme Court to meet with the committee responsible for naming the finalists for Honduras’ Attorney General. After an extended time of prayer, the youth read the following letter, demanding a transparent process and quality candidates.
Esteemed members of parliament,
As pastors, youth, and leaders of diverse Honduran churches who love our country and want to respond to God’s call to be brave Christians and advocate in the important decisions that generate well-being in the country, we express the following regarding the process of the election of the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General:
- We recognize that
our beloved Honduras, rich in natural and cultural resources, has suffered from corruption, drug trafficking, and violence.
We do not accept that this continues to happen in the future, and so we want to do everything possible to change this regrettable situation so that our country can reflect God’s desires for his people.
- The desire of criminal groups and corrupt networks to co-opt the selection process for the next Attorney General worries us enormously. We are well aware that there are strong pressures from groups of political, economic, and criminal power,
who intend to name an attorney who is weak, incapable, and easy to manipulate, who will not represent any danger for them and their interest in illicitly enriching themselves. In this sense, we reject this illegal intervention and demand that members of Congress, in this crucial moment for the nation, put first the sacred interests of the country as they designate such an important state official.
- We believe that the role of the Attorney General is key in order to confront criminality and corruption in Honduras, and in this way ensure that the office of the Attorney General complies with its constitutional mandate to represent society’s interests and to investigate and prosecute those who break the law through illicit actions.
We demand that the Attorney General selected be the man or woman that the country deserves,
someone who pleases God, who is respectable, competent, diligent, independent, and brave, a person committed to lead the fight to reverse the impunity that for so long has damaged the country of Honduras.
- We ourselves commit to pray without ceasing for a transparent and ethical selection process that does not respond to any external pressure or interest contrary to the mandate of the Attorney General so that whoever is selected can respond to Honduran public’s yearning for justice.
- We want a real change for our nation, which is why we feel the obligation to declare and maintain vigilance in this process, which we will accompany through prayer, fasting, intercession, and advocacy, until the selection of the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General that Hondurans deserve, and that God desires.
“Blessed are those who act justly, who always do what is right.” Psalm 106:3
Dear friend, I couldn’t stop looking at the picture. Of course, there had been plenty of inspiring photos from this summer’s Prayer Walk for Peace and Democracy. The sea of blue and white rising and falling as hundreds of thousands walked the Honduran hills through Tegucigalpa, flowing like a never-ending stream. Catholic nuns praying their rosaries alongside Pentecostals dancing in the streets. But the picture that still knocks me flat is the closeup. The one of the two men standing side by side (picture enclosed). They are exhausted, and the shorter collapses into the taller. The tears mostly hold joy and relief, but they are mingled with something darker. After all, there had been threats—promises of harm done to themselves and their loved ones if they led their followers through the streets of Honduras in prayer. Despite the fear and intimidation, Pastor Gerardo Irías and Monsignor José Vicente Nácher forged ahead. They knew Honduras needed unity and, above all, prayer before the looming November 2025 presidential elections. As an ASJ supporter, you know that these kinds of threats aren’t out of the ordinary, and your support has helped slow and reverse violence in Honduras. Today, I am writing to share a way you can continue standing with brave Hondurans like Pastor Gerardo and Monsignor José in hope. The Evangelical pastor and the Catholic archbishop put the word out as widely as they could to their churches, hoping to mobilize 20,000 to walk and pray. Instead, an estimated 230,000 walked in the capital of Tegucigalpa alone. It was a historic moment. And without your past support for ASJ, it may have never happened. After all, two years prior, Pastor Gerardo and Monsignor José didn’t even know each other’s names. They first met in 2023 at ASJ’s offices. They were two of many civil society leaders convened by ASJ to discuss safeguarding democracy– especially before the election in 2025. It was at that meeting that they shook each other’s hand and learned each other’s name. It was at that meeting–and many subsequent meetings–where old religious prejudices began to be replaced by trust and mutual affection. So, when the moment came this summer to act, Pastor Gerardo and Monsignor José knew what they had to do. And they knew that they had to do it together.
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Dear Friend, On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of Hondurans flooded their streets with prayer and peaceful demonstration. Reports from our team members who attended said it was like an inspirational sea of people all wanting the same thing for their country: peace. One of our ASJ-US colleagues said he walked past Pentecostals dancing and playing music, a woman praying the rosary, nuns walking, and priests and altar boys in full robes–all walking in the same space together for peace.
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