As I write this newsletter, 49% of Hondurans are without jobs as we continue more never-ending days in this pandemic. Before the beginning of the pandemic, 60% of the Honduran people lived on an average of $1 a day. Now 80% of the population lives on 50 cents a day. Dire poverty is mushrooming before our very eyes, and there is no real peak or end in sight.

A local pastor, Noel Gomez, has worked closely with the Society of the Good Shepherd in helping those who are in really desperate straits. He recently delivered food parcels to more than 100 families who live in the rural village of Balibrea. He told me he could tell never ending stories about all he has seen in the past couple of months while working with the Society. I asked him if he could perhaps share a few of his stories, which he has done below:

He told me that one family of eight had been without regular food for 22 days. They had survived by scavenging for edible leaves, roots, and wild fruit. When Pastor Noel arrived with food bags, the youngest son, Marlon, ran up and threw his arms around him. He told Noel, “My tummy hurts because I haven’t eaten.” Noel told me, “It’s hard knowing that there are hundreds and thousands of families in this same situation. This was just one with a face that we could help and embrace.”

Another situation concerned a fourteen-year-old boy who attends one of the local churches. He told Noel that he and his mother had been without food for more than two weeks. Noel began regularly delivering food parcels to them. The boy’s mother was surprised that a pastor would help her, as she is a prostitute. However, Pastor Noel has now been bringing food parcels to her and her son unconditionally during the past few months. As a result, her heart is opening to the love of God in ways that would have never been possible before.

Another man from a village church called Pastor Noel in despair. He told him that he knows that the Bible says that stealing is wrong. However, he said he did not know of another way to feed his starving children. (This man did not know about the Society’s food parcel program.) Pastor Noel told him to look to God in faith and watch how God would provide for him and his children. This man and his family are now regularly receiving food parcels, and he has not resorted to stealing.

As cases are on a rise here in Honduras, the effects are becoming more and more evident. We were delivering food parcels to an 88-year old man (shown in the picture below.) However, sadly he contracted COVID-19, and he died on the 23rd of June. His family is in forced quarantine, but we will continue to bring food to them and several other quarantined families.

The despair the pandemic has brought to Honduras has caused many people to turn to God. We are so thankful to be used by Him to be His hands and feet in the face of these needs and to keep our eyes wide open to His children who are living simply by faith in these difficult times. We thank all of you for making it possible for us to provide food for so many desperate families. 

Julie Nyhoff

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