Matt Engleby was my classmate in seminary. I got the opportunity to spend some weeks in Guatemala with him in 1988, where he had served for two years a Peace Corps volunteer in the 80's. He and I went on to do years of parish ministry but have stayed connected with Latin America. Matt took the plunge in a truly courageous way some years ago when he began living a great deal of the year in Honduras as El Hogar's Executive Director. When he is back in the States reconnecting with his family in New Jersey, he is tirelessly visiting churches and spreading the news of the hope and the tragedy that fill his day. People are making a difference in many lives.
Please read Matt's letter, watch the video, and pray for the many children's who flee such terrible poverty and crime. And if you are able and called, I commend this vital ministry to you for your generosity.
Mark+
Watch video here: El Hogar Vimeo Video
Mark+
Watch video here: El Hogar Vimeo Video
My dear Brothers and Sisters,
These past few weeks have seen significant and appropriate attention being directed toward the plight of vulnerable immigrants crossing the US border. We are seeing unaccompanied children and young mothers fleeing to the US at an unprecedented pace. The attention being directed toward this tragedy has been both compassionate and condemning.
Those of you familiar with the conditions of life in Central America are well aware that what we are witnessing is nothing new. Certainly the proportions are higher than before, but this exodus has been a tragic part of the life of the tragically poor in places like Honduras for years. While I, for one, am grateful for the concern directed to this matter, I am also well aware that the attention span of the media and individuals in the United States is relatively short. This issue may soon fade from the headlines, but regrettably, the causes that lie at the root of these immigration issues will remain for years to come. And I ask you to hold fast to these concerns and seek resolution in the US and support for organizations like ours in Honduras.
I take this opportunity to remind you all of the importance and incalculable value of the work of El Hogar Projects in Honduras. As an effective ministry of the Episcopal church in Honduras, we strive to provide a preventative approach to the concerns being addressed in the United States at this time. The children fleeing Honduras are motivated by a desire to survive. I ask you to imagine the desperation that a parent must feel when the only option for a child’s future is to send them into the wilderness. Such is life here. No one desires this outcome, but for many it is the only choice.
So, while we do what we can on the northern side of our border to create a just and compassionate response toward the unaccompanied children, in the end, these activities will only serve as a Band-Aid and not address the real causes that are the poverty and violence so present in everyday life in Honduras.
What must happen is that children who have no hope, who have seen parents gunned down before their own eyes, must have hope restored and a new future structured before them. That is our goal. The work of El Hogar is to lift children out of poverty that they may become productive members of the Honduras community. That is what we do, and we do it well. We give children an education, life skills, and a new sense of hope such that their future does not depend upon a desperate journey into the wilderness but rests, rather, on a new community formed of loving and caring people.
Please note that this is the only viable solution to the issues being played out at the US borders. Please remain faithful to us and these vulnerable children. I know for many of you, these summer Sundays are less engaging and lower in attendance, but please convey this hope to your communities as best you can.
I am attaching a few links for you to see. First is the presiding Bishops response to the immigration crisis. The second is a recent article written by Lynette Wilson of the Episcopal News Service about El Hogar, a link to our video on El Hogar and finally a New York Times article about the desperation in Honduras. Read them, learn them, inwardly digest them. As the salvation of these children depends upon such. As does yours.
The Rev. Matthew Engleby
Executive Director
El Hogar Projects
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
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