Newsletter - July, 2012
| July, 2012 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 |
Santos Lopez has been in the bakery business for many years. As a young man, he started out as an employee at somebody else’s bakery. He eventually mastered the art of baking so well that he was put in charge of training others. On one occasion he was asked to train a group of women who were starting a bakery financed by a co-op. However, these women were unable to run the bakery successfully because of management issues and because they were never able to pay off the initial debt. Eventually the organization behind the co-op offered the bakery to Santos if he would assume the responsibility for it, as well as the debt. Santos accepted the offer, and he has owned the bakery for almost 16 years now.
The bakery has been a huge blessing to Santos and his family. Through its earnings, the family was eventually able to buy a modest house. Santos has now taught the bakery business to two of his sons, Nahun and Mario, who help run the business. Nahun and Mario now do most of the baking, and Mario’s wife, Dalila, runs the front counter at the bakery. Santos and his wife take most of the bread to various places in order to sell it. The sons bake three days a week, making approximately 2,125 bags of bread per week. They still use a large brick oven that’s heated with sticks of split wood.
At the same time, the bakery has needs. The Lopez family needs to repair or replace some of the equipment. They also need to enlarge the building. Right now, the working conditions are fairly primitive and cramped. The heat in their small working space is quite oppressive when the oven is fired up. The Society of the Good Shepherd has recently granted a small loan to this hard working Christian family. The loan is not going directly toward the renovations needed. Rather, it has provided the family with more capital to buy raw materials to make more bread. With the profits from the increased sales, they hope to be able to make the needed renovations over time. 
I recently visited this bakery and was blessed to see how well they all work together. I enjoyed hearing their story in detail and to learn about their love and commitment to God. Santos and his family expressed their gratitude to God for all of His blessings, to his congregation for all the support and prayers they have received for so many years, and to the Society for the financial help and for the vote of confidence in them. Thank you for making a difference in the life of the Lopez family and in the lives of so many others. Nancy Barahona
Click on the following link if you would care to make a donation to the work in Honduras: Donations
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