The Year in Review
Prov. 19:17 – One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his good deeds.
Here at the end of 2024, I would like to paint a picture of some of the projects the Society of the Good Shepherd has been involved in this year. This is not done to call attention to ourselves, but to praise our donors who have made all these ministries possible. Our two primary ministries in Honduras are (1) providing interest-free microloans to worthy Christians and (2) building health clinics.
Most people in Honduras survive on a GDP per capita of only $3,231 a year. Due to inflation, it gets harder and harder to live on this meager amount. For example, beans, rice and eggs are the staples for most Hondurans; yet, they have doubled in price over the past 3 years. During that same period, the minimum wage has gone up only 10%. For many Hondurans, the only way out of dire poverty is to operate a small business.
However, loans are extremely difficult to obtain in Honduras. According to the World Bank, in 2023 the interest rate on the average bank loan in Honduras was 20%. The highest interest rate charged by Honduran banks was 32%. The poor rarely qualify for bank loans. Even if they could obtain a loan, how could they ever hope to pay such steep interest rates? This is the reason the Society offers interest-free loans to hardworking Christians in Honduras.
Let me tell you about some of our loan recipients this year.
Near the beginning of the year, we provided Angie Velaquez with a microloan to help her grow her e-commerce business. Angie is completing her nurse’s training, while running her business on the side. She purchases various items from a Honduran importer, and then sells them to a select group of clients. When Angie gets a new shipment of merchandise, she advertises the items on a WhatsApp group made up solely of her clientele.
Alexi and his wife Sandra own “Los Brothers” bakery. Earlier this year, they were at an extremely low point in their lives. It seemed like everything was working against them. Just when it seemed they would have to shut down their bakery, they witnessed God’s provision through a small business loan from the Society. The loan enabled them to keep their doors open and to begin expanding their business.
Roni Zelaya is able to attend seminary and successfully manage his dairy business. Roni comes from Olancho, the dairy capital of Honduras. While attending seminary, he works hard selling cheese. God has blessed his business, and with a loan from the Society, Roni has been able to expand his business. We were excited to hear that he has become engaged and hopes to marry his fiancée in May.
Oscar Lanza obtained an interest-free loan from us to develop his small farm. He has since reported that he had a very successful watermelon crop this summer, and he is currently planting his second crop.
In Taulabe, the Society has provided loan funds to various small savings and credit cooperatives. Last December, we provided funds for a group of farmers who grow sugar cane. Their crop was highly successful, and they paid their loan back in a few months. This year, those very same funds were recycled to another farmers’ co-op that grows coffee.
In the area of healthcare, the Society provided funding for a major upgrade to a clinic in the nearby city of Comayagua. With these funds, the clinic was able to construct a waiting area for patients, build benches for seating, install burglar bars on the windows, and build shelves for the clinic’s medical files.
Back in Taulebé, the dental clinic we have been building has finally been able to accept patients. The Society not only provided the building, but it also has provided three dental chairs for the clinic.
As to medical projects, the most EXCITING event for us this year was the completion and grand opening of the diabetes clinic in Siguatepeque that was mostly funded by the Society. The clinic will save the lives of many, and it will improve the lives of thousands of other people.
I could fill many more pages with details and stories, but the overflow of praise is clearly reflected in this short summary. We pray for God’s blessings on your lives in the coming new year.
The Society of the Good Shepherd, P. O. Box 122, Amberson, PA 17210 • (717) 349-7033
Click on the following link if you would care to make a donation to the work in Honduras: Honduras Donations
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