Rosa begged the police for help, but they said there was not much they could do outside of introducing her to someone. Rosa was dubious, but soon she was meeting a gentle-eyed man named Mateo who promised that he wanted to help her. He worked as an investigator for an organization called ASJ, he told her. He wanted to help her recover and to achieve justice in her case. “I need to move to a different house,” she told him. She was afraid that her husband’s killers had seen her or her granddaughter, who were both in the house at the time of the murder. “They said they’d help me, and I believed it and didn’t believe it at the same time.”
Standing Up, Speaking Out
November 26, 2019
Since 2005, ASJ (formerly known as AJS) has helped over 700 people find justice and hope after violence. Our homicide investigation and victim care program is so effective,
a recent study estimated it saves six lives every month. Rosa is just one of many whose lives have been changed through this project, and who is now contributing to a safer community.
Rosa’s smooth face makes it difficult to believe she has great-grandchildren. She’s lived nearly her whole life in a sprawling Honduran community which has historically struggled with violence.
Despite the gang violence in her neighborhood, Rosa worked hard to carve out a happy space for her five children. Rosa’s life changed forever when a gang member fatally shot her husband inside their family home. Rosa knew who was responsible, but she was paralyzed. “I didn’t know whether to cry or to shout or what to do,” she said, “I was so afraid.”
But sure enough, Mateo showed up the next day to help her box up her possessions. She felt much calmer in her new house, which was in the same neighborhood, but away from the crossfire of the warring gangs.
Encouraged by Mateo’s kindness, Rosa began attending the therapy sessions he recommended to help her process her grief and fear. “I have steadily recovered over these two years,” she now says confidently. ASJ staff then offered to help her testify against one of the responsible gunmen, who had been arrested due to ASJ’s collaboration with the police.
Though Rosa was scared, she trusted ASJ to protect her and agreed to testify.
Together, she and Mateo created elaborate alibis so that no one in her community would suspect that she was collaborating on a case. ASJ staff drove Rosa to court and earned permission for her to testify as a protected witness, which meant she could give her testimony draped in long black robes, with a voice distorter to hide her identity. “I felt like a mummy!” Rosa remembers. “When I testified, I was at first so nervous, but I steeled myself and concentrated on what I had to do. They asked why I wanted to testify. I said, I have no motive other than seeing that they stop killing people. We’re tired of so much death.”
Rosa is confident that she never would have given this testimony if not for ASJ’s support. In spring 2018, her husband’s killer was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Since then, Rosa has joined our network of community informants, volunteers who report crimes and even notify us about potential violence that the police can prevent. ASJ continues to train vetted police officers in our crime-solving methodology so that they can help hurting family members like Rosa find justice.
Hondurans cast their ballots during the November 30, 2025, general election, which saw historic voter turnout and a peaceful process supported by more than 12,000 national and international election observers working to safeguard transparency.
ASJ-Canada and ASJ-US Congratulate the Honduran People, Call for Full and Transparent Results As sister organizations committed to justice, peace and hope in Honduras, ASJ-Canada and ASJ-US extend our deepest congratulations to the people of Honduras on the peaceful conduct of their national elections on November 30, 2025. With the initial tally showing an extraordinarily close vote, we call on election authorities to do what is necessary to ensure a transparent count of the remaining ballots in order to guarantee public trust in the final outcome. We commend the Honduran voters for their dedication to democratic participation and their commitment to shaping the future of their country through civic engagement. We also recognize the efforts of electoral authorities, civil society organizations, the international community and the thousands of volunteer observers who worked to ensure a transparent, orderly, and secure process. We are especially proud of our sister organization, ASJ-Honduras, for their unwavering commitment to democracy demonstrated through their electoral observation efforts, their analysis activities, and their consistent call for a fair and orderly process. Now that such a process has been achieved, the work turns to counting the votes with accuracy and transparency. The results remain close, increasing the possibility of a contested result. We support the work of the election officials at the National Electoral Council to give Hondurans confidence in the final results by conducting their count with rigor and transparency. We remain hopeful that the spirit of peaceful participation in the democratic process embraced by the electorate will carry forward into the post-election period to come. We look forward to continued collaboration with ASJ-Honduras as we all work together toward a just and hopeful future for all Hondurans. Matthew Van Geest President, Board of Directors ASJ-Canada Russ Jacobs President, Board of Directors ASJ-US
A call to action for Honduras
The Association for a More Justice Society-US Supports the Network to Defend Democracy; Calls for Free and Fair Elections in Honduras November 25, 2025
Honduras’s Institutional Crisis Deepens Ahead of the 2025 Elections
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.
Calvin alums turn faith into action through nonprofit
MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Thank You for Moving Forward With Us this Summer!
When Policies Shift, Families Pay the Price * by Jo Ann Van Engen
