Honduras Mission: Arrival

(This story was sent to us from Sr. Larraine after their arrival in Honduras for this upcoming week's mission)

Hola Epiphany de Tegucigalpa, Honduras!

We have arrived without any travel problems, and are settled into the Franciscan Friary at St. Maximilian Kolbe. We were delighted to learn that tomorrow (Sunday August 16) is the grand fiesta of St. Maximilian Kolbe, so we will experience a full morning of procession, liturgy and street fair. After lunch our friend Jorge will be chauffering us to the statue of Christ at Picacho, which overlooks the city. (Jorge’s eldest son is named Jeffrey, so he and Father Jeff have hit it off). Like us, many mission teams have a tradition of beginning their week with a prayer and blessing at the foot of this 5 story high statue.

Tonight at the friary we are sorting out the project materials, and preparing the water filtration systems for installation in the buckets that John has picked up. Tomorrow we will meet up with our friends Dr. Ana (a native Honduran) and her US husband John at Pricemart to buy the rest of the buckets that are needed for the project. Although they are not Catholic, Ana and John are helpful and supportive friends. They do clinic work for the poor in 4 or 5 different remote communities every week. For several years, they have been working very hard to build a women’s hospital for the poor.

Many Epiphanites have expressed concerns and various opinions about the political crisis here in Honduras. What we are learning here fully corroborates the messages we were receiving in the US: that the world’s assessment of what has been termed a “military coup” is fraught with misunderstanding, and is helping to further a deepening crisis that is affecting all Hondurans. When we return, we will hold a special session between the Sunday liturgies on August 25 to give a more detailed explanation of the true situation.

Our friends here are the poor themselves, Franciscan friars, lay catechists and lower middle class entrepreneurs. Along with most Hondurans, they are deeply distressed that the campaign of misinformation that has been deftly put into place by Zelaya and his followers has been accepted without question by most of the world, including persons of faith and justice. The situation is complex.

Please keep our friends and their beautiful nation in your prayers.