Ricky’s Transformation

October 28, 2015

Today 18-year-old Ricky works collecting bus fares on local buses, earning money to support his mother and two younger sisters. However, six months ago, he was in a juvenile detention center doing time for selling cocaine. He is one of many youths in Tegucigalpa that attribute the changes in his life to the Association for a More Just Society’s (ASJ, formerly known as AJS) Impact Clubs run by the ASJ-supported Gideon Project, saying “whenever I came to club they told me what I was doing was bad and that I needed to seek God. I asked God to get me out of drugs and he responded.”


Using a methodology developed in Romania, the club mentors meet with at-risk youth like Ricky every week. They tell a story that highlights a value, like respect or honesty, play teambuilding games, do a craft or other skill-building activity, and do service projects in the community. The club mentors show at-risk youth that they have other options besides life in the streets. More than 250 youths have responded to this message and are involved in the clubs.


On June 4 and 5 the Impact team hosted a camp for 136 of the Impact youth, which included a workshop on conflict resolution, team-building games, and of course, lots of time to play soccer.


One of the highlights of the camp was the visit of pastor Erwin Luna from Guatemala. Luna is a former gang member who shared his testimony of transformation with the youth, many, like Ricky, who are at high risk for becoming involved in gangs and drugs. After watching a documentary in which the work of Luna, who runs group homes for former gang members was featured, he told the young men and women “Life is not a joke. You need to take it seriously and live for Christ.”


Due to his recent experiences, Ricky took a special interest in what Luna had to say, and Luna noted that he and Ricky were able to share a conversation at the evening campfire about Ricky’s past and how he hopes to change in the future. Luna said, “I think he really took what I had to say to heart.”


Through weekly club meetings, and special events such as the recent camp, the ASJ-supported Impact Clubs are having real success in empowering Honduran youth to transform their lives.


December 2, 2025
ASJ-Canada and ASJ-US Congratulate the Honduran People,  Call for Full and Transparent Results As sister organizations committed to justice, peace and hope in Honduras, ASJ-Canada and ASJ-US extend our deepest congratulations to the people of Honduras on the peaceful conduct of their national elections on November 30, 2025. With the initial tally showing an extraordinarily close vote, we call on election authorities to do what is necessary to ensure a transparent count of the remaining ballots in order to guarantee public trust in the final outcome. We commend the Honduran voters for their dedication to democratic participation and their commitment to shaping the future of their country through civic engagement. We also recognize the efforts of electoral authorities, civil society organizations, the international community and the thousands of volunteer observers who worked to ensure a transparent, orderly, and secure process. We are especially proud of our sister organization, ASJ-Honduras, for their unwavering commitment to democracy demonstrated through their electoral observation efforts, their analysis activities, and their consistent call for a fair and orderly process. Now that such a process has been achieved, the work turns to counting the votes with accuracy and transparency. The results remain close, increasing the possibility of a contested result. We support the work of the election officials at the National Electoral Council to give Hondurans confidence in the final results by conducting their count with rigor and transparency. We remain hopeful that the spirit of peaceful participation in the democratic process embraced by the electorate will carry forward into the post-election period to come. We look forward to continued collaboration with ASJ-Honduras as we all work together toward a just and hopeful future for all Hondurans. Matthew Van Geest President, Board of Directors ASJ-Canada Russ Jacobs President, Board of Directors ASJ-US
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Dear friend,  I couldn’t stop looking at the picture. Of course, there had been plenty of inspiring photos from this summer’s Prayer Walk for Peace and Democracy. The sea of blue and white rising and falling as hundreds of thousands walked the Honduran hills through Tegucigalpa, flowing like a never-ending stream. Catholic nuns praying their rosaries alongside Pentecostals dancing in the streets. But the picture that still knocks me flat is the closeup. The one of the two men standing side by side (picture enclosed). They are exhausted, and the shorter collapses into the taller. The tears mostly hold joy and relief, but they are mingled with something darker. After all, there had been threats—promises of harm done to themselves and their loved ones if they led their followers through the streets of Honduras in prayer. Despite the fear and intimidation, Pastor Gerardo Irías and Monsignor José Vicente Nácher forged ahead. They knew Honduras needed unity and, above all, prayer before the looming November 2025 presidential elections. As an ASJ supporter, you know that these kinds of threats aren’t out of the ordinary, and your support has helped slow and reverse violence in Honduras. Today, I am writing to share a way you can continue standing with brave Hondurans like Pastor Gerardo and Monsignor José in hope. The Evangelical pastor and the Catholic archbishop put the word out as widely as they could to their churches, hoping to mobilize 20,000 to walk and pray. Instead, an estimated 230,000 walked in the capital of Tegucigalpa alone. It was a historic moment. And without your past support for ASJ, it may have never happened. After all, two years prior, Pastor Gerardo and Monsignor José didn’t even know each other’s names. They first met in 2023 at ASJ’s offices. They were two of many civil society leaders convened by ASJ to discuss safeguarding democracy– especially before the election in 2025. It was at that meeting that they shook each other’s hand and learned each other’s name. It was at that meeting–and many subsequent meetings–where old religious prejudices began to be replaced by trust and mutual affection. So, when the moment came this summer to act, Pastor Gerardo and Monsignor José knew what they had to do. And they knew that they had to do it together.
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