David Bercot. A few weeks ago, my wife Deborah and I were in Honduras. While there, Deborah had a conversation with Alisson Portillo, one of our loan recipients. Alisson told Deborah, “You have no idea of the wide impact that your microloans have.” She then went on to explain how the loan the Society made to her to equip a dental clinic has blessed so many poor people, many of whom she treats for free.
Based on that conversation, that evening at supper, I brought up the topic to Luis Vega, one of the local directors. I asked him about some of the people to whom the Society has made interest-free microloans over the past twenty-two years. Some of them I have been able to keep up with, but most I have lost track of. So Luis, Deborah and I had an enjoyable conversation about various loan recipients through the years and their businesses and how the Lord has prospered them in their work.
I then asked him about a couple, Xavier and Oneyda Calix, to whom we made a loan 20 years ago. They had a small pottery business, and they needed a loan to build a storage shed for their pots. Their large decorative pots are still made by hand the old-fashioned way on a potter’s wheel. Before the newly made pots can be put in the kiln, they first have to dry. Yet, they had no place out of the weather to allow their pots to dry. So we loaned them about $1500 to build a drying shed.
Xavier and Oneyda promptly paid off their loan, and their business quickly grew. Over the years, I would see their large decorative pots in front of various restaurants in Siguatepeque. I also heard they had a contract with a Honduran hotel chain to provide decorative pots for them. But I had not heard about Xavier and Oneyda for years. So Luis suggested that we drive over to their place of business the next day.
Their business is still in the same location, but what a change! What was once a field overgrown with weeds is now a beautiful courtyard where they are able to display their many products. The drying shed we enabled them to build is still there, and it was filled with their newly made pottery.
Xavier and Oneyda were not there when we arrived, but we were able to visit with their thirty-year-old son, Xavier, Jr. He is in charge of the export portion of the business, and I quickly discerned that he was a highly competent businessmen. Xavier, Jr., gave us a tour of their present plant, courtyard, and show room. He explained that they now not only sell all throughout Honduras, but they export their ceramicware to El Salvador, Guatemala, and the United States. He and his mother design many of the decorative vases that they have added to their inventory line, and his sister hand paints many of them.
The impact on others from the original loan has been tremendous. When we met them twenty years ago, the business supported Xavier and Oneyda, plus four other families. Now, it not only supports Xavier and Oneyda, but 25 other families as well! So the original $1500 has had a tremendous impact on many lives by providing them with employment.
When a business prospers, it sometimes draws people away from God, so Luis and I inquired about their present spiritual lives. We were comforted to hear that they are still very spiritually active. In fact, Luis explained to Deborah and me that the Calix family has provided important assistance to the Society over the years.
As their business has grown, they have been able to purchase their own truck for deliveries. They have made this truck available free of charge to the Society for our use when the need arises. A few years ago, when heavy flooding and mudslides hit El Salvador, they let us use their truck to take needed food and various emergency supplies to El Salvador to help those affected by the flooding.
As we drove away from their business, Deborah and I thanked God in our hearts for the precious donors who made this original loan possible, which has blessed so many people.
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