Hope for those with HIV 07/25/2011
 Ramon works with the coffee roaster at Casa Hogar. Geovany Granera was walking outside the hospital where he is a doctor, when he saw a man who was very upset standing under a tree. Geovany went over and asked him what was wrong. The man said the emergency room had turned him away because he was infected with HIV. Doctors did not want to treat him or even touch him. The man had bad sores all over his arms, and no one would help him.
As a doctor, Geovany began to see more and more the discrimination that HIV/AIDS patients received in Honduras. There was a lot of fear and ignorance surrounding the disease. People with HIV were shunned by family and friends and even doctors. People were afraid they could easily contract the disease and wanted nothing to do with anyone who had it. Geovany, also a pastor of Iglesia Gran Comision in Choluteca, Honduras, decided he and his church needed to help do something about the discrimination. Geovany saw that almost all of the patients he saw with HIV had one thing in common: hopelessness. Although people are able to receive free medication from The Global Fund and the Honduran government, many of them do not follow through because they are poor, they are ostracized from their friends and family, and they see little reason to continue to live. Add Comment Microloan Program 07/19/2011
 Glenda, a microloan client, gets her sewing maching ready. The Great Commission Latin America church here in Choluteca is trying to do its part in tackling some of its country’s biggest issues. One of those issues is unemployment. Statistics are hard to come by, but church leaders say that it is obvious that at least 25% of the population is unemployed but that the actual number most likely surpasses 50%.
Four years ago, the church began a microloan program. Because there are few jobs available to people, one good way for them to earn money is to start their own business. Many people, however, do not have any money to help get a business going. This is where the microloan program comes in. Trip to Danli 07/11/2011
 Miguel explains to the crew what they'll be doing next. Last weekend, we took a trip to Danli, Honduras – sort of a mission trip within a mission trip. We went to get a chance to visit another Great Commission Latin America church and to help serve them. On Friday, we made the 4 – 4½ drive to Danli, stopping in Tegucigalpa to hang out at the mall and eat at the food court. Our hotel Friday night proved to be a bit of an adventure. Our apartment complex in Choluteca is just outside the city, so the nights are really quiet. Our hotel Friday was in the middle of the city, which meant we had to try to sleep amidst the sound of traffic, a barking dog, crowing roosters and some really bad karaoke singing. We also saw enough cockroaches to keep some people on high alert.  We put in a transparent roof section to let more light in. On Saturday, we split up into two teams. One team worked on a construction project. A grandmother who attends the church lives in a small shack with 10 other people. She sleeps in a little room with a leaky roof. The past two months in Honduras have been the rainy season, which means it rains almost every day, and her sleeping conditions were not healthy. Miguel, a carpenter who goes to the church, helped us rip off the old tin roof and put on a new one. While one team worked on construction, another team went out into the neighborhood to meet people living there, distribute some rice and talk with them about Jesus Christ. They got to talk to several people, and we went back later that night to pick up a few of them for church.  Sandra is one of 11 people that live in her home. On Saturday night, we attended church and a church picnic Sunday afternoon before heading back to Choluteca. It was great meeting people in a sister church in Honduras, but we were glad to get back to home, sweet, home Choluteca . In Christ, Ed Choluteca newsletter 06/24/2011
 The church in Choluteca just completed a short newsletter talking about many of their projects. Check it out to see more of what Honduras LT participants are doing this summer. A Thousand Questions 06/15/2011
At our first LT worship service, our speaker was Geovany Granera, the pastor at our home church this summer in Choluteca. He finished with a video that challenges people to respond the way Isaiah did to God's question: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” "Here am I! Send me!" First week complete 06/14/2011
 Kids wait for breakfast at the malnutrition clinic. We just wrapped up our first week at the first-ever Honduras Leadership Training. We’ve settled in more quickly than I thought we might, and LT participants have been able to do a lot of ministry already. For this first blog post, I’ll give you the basics. There are 11 college-age LT participants (eight gals, three guys), representing five Great Commission Ministries Churches, and one Great Commission Ministries staff couple, me and my wife, Beth. We’ve also been joined by Francisco Castillo, a native Honduran (or catracho in Spanish) who is living with us and helping us get around, translating for us, etc.  Emily hangs out with some kids after church. We’re in Choluteca for eight weeks, serving one of our sister churches that is part of Great Commission Latin America (sorry for all the organization titles; no more, I promise). The church has a variety of projects it has started to help its community, including an AIDS orphanage, AIDS support groups, a neighborhood of affordable housing, a malnutrition clinic, a preschool for children living in poverty, English and computer classes for teenagers, a microloan program, a tortilla factory, a coffee factory and other things I’ve probably missed. These projects are all done with a heart to serve and care for people and also to share with them the gospel of Jesus Christ. The church is taking on big issues in Choluteca and Honduras: malnutrition, unemployment, illiteracy, HIV, poverty and most of all, the need for a Savior. The church is well-known in Choluteca for its work in the community. (In fact, I met the mayor of Choluteca today at the opening of the English and computer classrooms.) Our hope this summer is to play a role in assisting the church in the challenges they are tackling.  The view from our apartment. Our living arrangements are nice. We are renting apartments, with four students per two-bedroom unit. We have air conditioning, a mini-kitchen and, most importantly, wireless Internet. We also have a pool but haven’t had much time to use it yet. The complex has a housekeeper who cleans our apartments each day, and the staff is very friendly. (I’m already Facebook friends with the main desk attendant.) Well, there’s a brief introduction to what we’re doing this summer. We would love for you to pray for us this summer. I’m hoping to update this blog at least once a week to give you a glimpse of what we’re up to. In Christ, Ed Ed Courtney is a pastor with Great Commission Ministries Churches and serves at The Rock at the University of Missouri-Columbia. |
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