Where there is despair, hope...

Dear friends of Christ,

God is very much alive. On Wednesday AJS-supported justice workers and 150 residents of affected neighborhoods in northern Honduras met with top officials from five different Honduran government bodies urging them to address the killings earlier this month, the death threats against four community leaders, and serious problems with the land-titling process. And they listened. All these officials promised to act quickly to improve the situation.

I am pleased to tell you that security measures for our threatened friends, including a government body guard and increased patrol are among the promises from the Ministry of Security.

Please read the article adapted from a Revistazo (the AJS online journal) article detailing the talking points of these visits.

Read the full report by clicking here.

Thank you for all for your notes of encouragement, especially for your prayers and advocacy efforts on behalf of these justice workers and community leaders. God is moving.

I haven’t shared any poems, liturgy, anything in many months—very sad. I have this prayer taped on the wall at the office and I see it as I type away. In times like these I find it especially fitting. Dare we start acting the very opposite of what we see in the world? Dare we ask God to help us be instruments of justice and peace in our communities? Pray that God gives us the courage to pray this prayer.

A prayer

“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace

Where there is hatred let me sow love;

Where there in injury, pardon

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

Where there is sadness, joy;

--Saint Francis of Assisi

Love, Love and more Love,

Grace