November 24, 2021
ASJ-US Executive Director Jill Stoltzfus shares an inspiring opportunity to join us in creating something wonderful—an education system where Honduran children can safely play, learn, and dream
Dear Friend,
November is a big month as Hondurans elect a new president, and 2022 will be an even bigger year as a new government transitions into power. This change brings both challenges and opportunities for our work in health, education, and security.
Amidst great change, we are committed to our mission—to be brave Christians joining a country’s call for justice and peace. This desire to be courageous doesn’t mean that we aren’t ever afraid, but it does mean that we choose to love beyond our fear in our work.
I write this letter days after virtually attending a press conference in Honduras and witnessing one example of what loving beyond fear looks like. At the press conference, ASJ pulled together a group of universities, teacher unions, and civil society organizations to present a thorough plan to transform Honduran public education over the next ten years—an initiative born out of the knowledge that though the children we love don’t get to pick presidents, their lives are affected by their policies.
Sitting in the front row were representatives of five top presidential candidates.
This is what courageous love looks like—speaking truth to those in power.
I listened to my coworkers bravely present how access to education has worsened since the pandemic began.
- Before the pandemic, Honduras had 1 million of 3 million children outside of the education system.
- Today, that number has grown to be over 2 million children who are not receiving an education.
One of those 2 million children is 15-year-old Lizzy (second from left), who dreams of becoming a businesswoman, but whose family couldn’t consistently afford internet for online classes during the pandemic.
I watched as the groups at the press conference cast a vision for what they hope the Honduran education system will look like in 10 years. It was the kind of vision that gave me goosebumps—based in gathering solid research, well thought-out proposals, and groups of people together around common goals. Goals as big as improving graduation rates and also as detailed as noting how many books and chairs specific schools were missing.
After the press conference, I sent a message to
ASJ-Honduras Executive Director Carlos Hernández asking what it meant to him to have so many key partners—“all in one space”—advocating together to create a more just education system in Honduras.
“At ASJ, we are very encouraged! We have built this alliance with many groups—all together representing more than 200,000 students, teachers, and leaders.
We have all come together to build a proposal to strengthen education in Honduras for the next 10 years. The pandemic has exacerbated the failures in the educational system that ASJ had already been working on, but this alliance allows us to be stronger and to be able to influence the next government with sustainable transformation for the future of education.
This proposal is also supported by other groups like the Honduran council of private enterprises, the association of private universities of Honduras, civil society, the association of municipalities of Honduras, the foundations that work in education, and also by international cooperation. This is undoubtedly a new stage in our advocacy work—with the goal of building a more just society and to create an education system that will benefit our young girls and boys.”
I write this letter not knowing who will win the presidential election in Honduras on November 28. But I do know the groups that came together at this press conference, including ASJ, will work to hold whoever is elected accountable to achieving this beautiful vision of a better education system for Lizzy, and all of Honduras’ 3 million children. And I do know that we will continuously strive to be Brave Christians who love beyond fear, because justice is possible when courageous people work together.
Please join us in creating something wonderful—an education system where Honduran children can safely play, learn, and dream.
Will you give a gift to contribute to this important work of justice?
Together, we can create a more just society.
With gratitude,
Jill Stoltzfus
Executive Director, ASJ-US
