Antonio Update

On our first trip to Honduras we met Antonio at AFE, the school in the garbage dump. Jeony introduced him to us and we developed a friendship. He was the oldest student in the school and had an amazing story. He had arrived at the school with a mask on, a baseball bat and a knife demanding to be taught how to read and write. Eventually he became a leader among the students, sometimes even using his intimidating nature to make them study. I met him during school hours. A few hours later, I went into the garbage dump for the first time and was shocked to see Antonio there working. He would go to school in the morning until noon when he would go back to the garbage dump to work to late evening. Unfortunately this is still the case with about half of the 160 students at AFE.

At the time of his graduation, AFE was not approved for a Junior High so Antonio went to a vocational school called El Sembrador. He was excelling there until his spring break. On his way back to school, he was robbed at the bus stop. The thieves beat him up and stole all his books, clothes, and tuition money. He came back home broken because he didn’t know how to get back. When we saw him, he was in tears over the situation.

This is where Project Transformation steps in! When Jeony told us the circumstances, we immediately called Washington Cathedral about covering the cost of his tuition. The church agreed and we were able to send Antonio back to school on scholarship. He continues to excel in the school and will finish up a welding program. Next year he plans on coming back to AFE while studying in a nearby school to finish his degree. He will teach some of the younger kids at AFE, now that we are going to have our own vocational school.

Antonio is an incredible example of the power of God to transform anyone. No one and no circumstance is outside of God’s grace. Pray that we would continue to see God transform more and more people. We want to see hundreds and thousands of Antonios break out of the garbage dump and pursue God’s will for their life.

Washington Cathedral: HQ of Project Transformation

When I met Elise at seminary, I knew that I had a found a great wife but I didn’t realize that God had also connected me with a fantastic base to see His dreams of transforming slum communities into reality. Washington Cathedral’s mission is to become the greatest caring network the world has ever seen and Project Transformation is one arm of that. Without Washington Cathedral (which for one thing, supports our salary!) the Tegucigalpa Dump would not have two people working to bridge the gap between Honduras and the states and funnel resources into such a desperate community.

Washington Cathedral is paving the road for Christians to engage in God’s mission in a more relevant, appropriate way. It does so with a nod to the legitimate Christian communities growing in developing countries, it does so through reconnecting social action with the local church (which in some cases has been reserved to secular humanitarian agencies). It does so through mobilizing the local church to fully engage in God’s mission as a body once more, instead of scattered congregants each involved in their individual missions. I am so excited about what God is doing through Washington Cathedral’s mission both now and in the future, and the possibilities that this new Recreation Center will create.

A building that can build building. A larger space for the auction, quadrupling our fundraising efforts for Honduras. A magnet to the community to learn about this new wave of God’s mission. Though so many miles away, Elise and I are relentlessly praying and fasting that a miracle would occur and God would break down the barriers to the Recreation Center becoming a reality.

Medical Team from Ohio State

Who would have though that 1000 miles away I would have to put up with slurs about the Florida Gators from an Ohio State Buckeye? Well it is true because a medical team from the Ohio State University just came for a one day clinic at the garbage dump. The day before they arrived, we went into the garbage dump to invite as many people as we could to the free clinic the following day. On the next day, we had a line out the door before we could even set up. By the end of the day, we had seen over 150 families and had to turn many away because of time. I worked as a translator for two separate rooms. I was shocked by how these families were suffering from common ailments because of lack of clean water or sanitation. Many of the children had suffered from colds or flus for months because they did not know how to treat them and did not have the proper medicine. Even worse, I saw minor sickness progress into major ones because there was no one to warn the people. I saw a six-month-old baby, the same age as my son Elijah, who looked sick and malnourished because of the conditions in which he lived. It was the first time in his life that he had seen a doctor in his life as he had been delivered by a grandmother figure. It broke my heart to know there were many more babies going through the same experience yet it also reaffirmed our goals here.
After seeing the need, I am further convinced that we are on the right track in wanting to build a clinic/pharmacy for the families living and working in the garbage dump. Following a model proposed by Project Global Village, we would construct a clinic in an area near the garbage dump. Then we would train a nurse practitioner from the garbage dump to manage the clinic. Through our various connections we could stock the clinic with all the supplies needed for proper treatment. This is one of our goals for 2008. The need is great but we serve a great God and HE will use us to accomplish great things. Please keep this idea in prayer as we look for the proper place to build it and the right time and connections.

Adult Work Team Blesses AFE

We just finished a week with our Adult Work Team from Washington Cathedral. It was an incredible week as these individuals poured out their hearts to the children at AFE. AFE is short for Amor, Fe, y Esperanza which is a school servicing the children who live and work at the garbage dump. The work team also poured out some sweat constructing a much-needed third school building. For the second year in a row, we worked alongside a work team from the Bethel Church in Georgia led by Ray and Jane Singleton. The school is growing and growing in the number of children. In fact, lack of facilities and teachers have forced AFE to turn some neighborhood children away. In addition, there are now eight kids at AFE who have moved up to the eighth grade but have nowhere to go. If there is no place for them to go to school, they will just go back to work in the garbage dump. We have decided to offer a junior high/high school for these children which will be in the third building.
The third building will actually be three floors and our team helped with the construction of the first two stories. It was such a beautiful scene to have out adults hanging out with the children and connecting with them in deep ways. The last day was a tear jerker as the children put on a special program for us to show their appreciation. They were especially thankful for Washington Cathedral providing two snacks and a full meal this last year. Many of the kids told us that was the extent of the diet. Then the children bid us farewell. Everyone on our team was moved by God in a special way.
The last day, the adults on the team came up with a great way to bless the school. They went to a hardware store and bought tools for the school that would help them with all future construction. All the workers were extremely grateful for the new tools and couldn’t believe the team’s generosity.
If you are interested in coming for a work trip or an exposure trip please contact Elise White Diaz at elisewhitediaz@gmail.com for more information. We believe a short term trip can be used by God in incredible ways. The team will be sharing at Washington Cathedral on Mission Week in April.