by Frank & Patti Holman

Through Seattle-based Agros International, Bethany Presbyterian is beginning its third year of a five year Journey with a Village (JWAV) in Honduras. Agros helps poor families buy and develop farm land in Central America through low interest loans and technical assistance. By service teams, prayers, and funds, Bethany has supported over twenty families in the opportunity to become owner-farmers of a community called Nuevo Amanecer (formerly Agros Uno). Last month Dave Campbell (first trip), Mona McCann, Nolan Olson, and Mark Pedersen (second trip), and Jane Frissell, Frank and Patti Holman, and Analicia Pedersen (third trip) made Bethany’s seventh visit to this community farm enterprise.

From the beginning to the end, the trip was full and encouraging. Despite some significant struggles through the last year, the village has a sound foundation of families, some visible agricultural success, the obvious help of new and experienced staff, and a more healthy and innovative organizational model. The team learned from one of our hosts, Victor Aguirre, the Agros Honduras Director, that Agros Honduras is pioneering a different and uniquely Honduran model of an “agricultural association.” The association of partner families assumes the loans together, rather than each individual farmer or family.

As innovative as this is, we also learned again that human and community transformation is more than adopting the right model. “When you invite poor families to go from one lifestyle to a more complicated organization, their reactions either push them forward or hold them back. That’s human nature,” explains Javier Calix, the new Human Development Social Worker for Agros Honduras. His more than six-foot Mayan-African frame aptly houses a big heart for Jesus and for the poor of Honduras.

The land of Nuevo Amanecer is bursting with new plantings and produce: corn; beans; a nursery of plantains; hibiscus; pineapple; bee hives; etc. The new agronomist for Agros, Mario Dugan, a former Director in the Honduran Ministry of Agriculture, recognized that the soil of Nuevo Amanecer needed to be dug-up from five feet down. Now, the farm looks Amish - healthy plants in orderly rows in every direction. Still, there are challenges remaining, including a continuing need for better access and delivery of potable water and irrigation water.

The team reconnected with two families who have been in the village since the beginning. The team also reconnected with another man who was there in 2005, Juan de Dios Aragon, who is hoping to convince his wife to move to the community. And we learned from the former Honduran Director, Norma Martinez, that some of the first families who left last year are doing well and are thankful for their experience with Agros Uno and Bethany. Norma is maintaining independent contact with them. Praise God.

There are now ten houses, although not all are filled. The village population is still in flux. Through cooking with the women, making puzzles and books with the children, and harvesting corn and tending the plantain nursery with the men, we started new relationships with many. Within some families there are struggles, but on the whole, there is much to be thankful for, and the longevity of this venture appears to be much more secure. We look forward to continuing our monthly prayer time [2nd Sundays] and toward planning future service team trips. Please join us in praying for these friends new and old.