Newsletter - June, 2010

The Least of These My Brethren

June, 2010

Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me." Matt. 25:40

Published by the Society of the Good Shepherd, P. O. Box 122, Amberson, PA 17210. (717) 349-7033

How a Young Man Is Helping His Church

The Pan-American highway runs from North America through all of Central America. Except for one small gap, it runs all the way down South America as well. It is the largest continual motorway in the world. In what has turned out to be a huge blessing to the people of Siguatepeque, it runs across the edge of Siguatepeque. Along the stretch of the Pan-American highway between Siguatepeque and Comayagua, you can see many small businesses that sell Honduran crafts.

The Alberto family is one of the many families who sell Honduran goods along the highway. At the present time, the portion of the Pan-American highway that runs across Honduras is being widened. As a result, the government had to tear down the Alberto’s home and business. However, the government built a new house for them and a new cubicle for their business along the widened highway

Antonio Alberto, the oldest son in the family helps his mother by working in her business. He also helps to take care of his two nieces. In addition to that, he wants to help his congregation financially, in view of the fact that the members there are very poor.

When looking at these needs and the responsibilities that he has, he considered looking for a job in one of the large cities, such as San Pedro Sula. However, that would mean that he would have to leave his work at church. At this time, the church has only a few leaders and not enough for all the work there is to do there. For that reason, he decided that the best thing to do was to look for a way to earn some extra money locally and to continue helping in his church.

While he was looking for a way to earn more income, someone told him about the ministry of the Society of the Good Shepherd. So he applied for a loan to start his own business selling crafts and other articles for tourists (since this was the line of work he had experience with). Antonio makes some of the crafts himself, such as the small trucks shown in the picture on the preceding page.

About a month ago, Antonio was granted a loan, and he has used it to build a stand along the road and to purchase inventory to sell there. During our visit to his business, Antonio enthusiastically told us that his business is going well and the sales are good. He expressed his gratitude towards God for this opportunity and to the Society for the help they gave him.

Please pray for this young man so that his business may prosper day by day and that God will provide for him, his family and his congregation. We know that Antonio is a great blessing to his community and God is using him in his work with the youth, so we ask that you pray that God may continue to give him wisdom, energy, strength, and that huge desire to continue to serve Him.

Click on the following link to read our Past Newsletters

Click on the following link if you would care to make a donation to the work in Honduras: Donations

A Word to Our Supporters

The ministry of the Society of the Good Shepherd began in Honduras a little over ten years ago. The directors made the decision back then to use only volunteer labor and to pay all of the travel and administrative expenses of the Society out of their own pockets. This worked reasonably well during the early years of the Society.

However, over time, as the work load of the Society has increased, we have found it necessary to hire helpers to help operate the ministry. The state of Pennsylvania now requires non-profit ministries like ours to hire an independent CPA firm to audit our records each year. And as more people have become involved in the work of the ministry, our travel expenses have increased. Despite these extra expenses, the directors have continued to bear these costs out of their own pockets.

We are now asking, with the permission of our donors, that we be allowed to set aside 10% of the donations we receive to cover the expenses we incur in operating the ministry. The other 90% will go totally to the work in Honduras. We don’t foresee ever needing to change this ratio.

At the same time, if you would prefer that all of your donations be spent directly on the poor in Honduras, just let us know and we will honor that request for everyone who asks. Thank you for your support through the years and for your understanding in this matter.

David Bercot