October 19, 2021
One year after Hurricanes Eta and Iota devastated Honduras, ASJ Co-Founder Jo Ann Van Engen shares the stories of families that ASJ is walking alongside.
Early this week, my husband, Kurt and I drove to Rivera Hernandez, a sprawling neighborhood of almost 200,000 people in northern Honduras. Last year, many of the families ASJ worked with in the community had their lives turned upside down by devastating back-to-back hurricanes.
Over the past year, ASJ has tried to respond well to each of these families’ needs. Some, we helped buy new beds, refrigerators and stoves to replace those that had been washed away in the flood, others needed lost cell phones replaced so their children could access online school. For the most damaged homes, ASJ hired construction workers to rebuild broken roofs, walls and floors.
Kurt and I wanted to see how the families were doing, so Tuesday morning, we ducked through the doorway of a small home to talk with 61 year-old
Isabel and her granddaughter, Karina. ASJ staff met Isabel five years ago, after her son was killed by gang members, leaving her responsible for her then two-year-old granddaughter. I sat down on the bed with a chatty and confident Karina.
ASJ has forged a relationship with Isabel and her granddaughter Karina over the past five years.
“I’ll be eight next month and I am in the 3rd grade,” she announced. “They just opened my school again and I walk there by myself. I’m learning my times tables!” (she proudly got out her homework and filled out some worksheets while I watched). “When I grow up, I’m going to have a house with a garden that has flowers and little animals!"
Her grandmother looked over at her and smiled.
“Karina is my comfort. I lost my mind for a while after my son was killed. I was in therapy with Aline (the ASJ counselor) for five years. And then last year the hurricane hit and I felt so overwhelmed again. It was an answer to prayer when ASJ showed up. They helped me get a new roof and furnishings. I don’t know what I would have done.” She put her arm around Karina as we got ready to leave and said softly, “My dream is for Karina to be able to stay in school and have a good life.”
Karina shows Jo Ann her school worksheets.
Later in the day, Kurt and I met
Alicia and her daughter, Ruth. Alicia is tall and strong; Ruth looks just like her. As we settled into chairs outside, Alicia handed a cup of cinnamon and chamomile tea with a drop of anointed oil to Jairo, the ASJ investigator, who wasn’t feeling well. She smiled as he took a tentative sip and assured him it was just what he needed.
Alicia and Ruth welcomed us into their home with a new bedroom and bathroom.
Alicia’s husband was murdered last year and ASJ reached out to her with grief counseling and investigators. When the hurricanes came and destroyed her home, ASJ helped her rebuild. She proudly showed us her new bedrooms and bathroom and then we chatted about life as her daughter leaned on her knee. One of the things she said keeps running through my mind:
“You know, lately I’ve been realizing that we all need to learn how to love better. I think the best churches are the ones that teach us how to love well. Some don’t teach that at all it seems. But, it’s what I am trying to teach Ruth.”
Alicia’s life has been so hard and yet being with her I felt embraced by her love. She made me realize how little I understand the human spirit, God’s grace, and where we find strength in hard times.
Ruth plays with friends outside her home.
At ASJ, we come alongside those whose lives are most difficult, and try to meet their needs—both immediate things like new roofs and refrigerators and longer-term, structural changes like good schools for their children and a justice system that protects them when they are in danger.
Alicia and Isabel reminded me why God loves those whose hearts have been broken and why he persistently urges all of us to help each other pick up the broken pieces and use them to build a more just and flourishing society.
Thank you for being part of this work. May God shine his grace on all of us.
Jo Ann Van Engen
ASJ-US Co-Founder and Creative Development Lead
