Teenage boys playing a rough game of soccer, the field turning muddy from so much play, and coaches and fans on the sidelines yelling encouragement “¡Sí se puede!”—“You can do it!”—is a common sight in Honduras. On a recent morning, though, the shouts of “You can do it!” from the coaches took on a deeper meaning, because the “coaches” are also mentors for Impact Club, a program for high-risk youth run through the Association for a More Just Society’s Gideon Centers.
Soccer Tournament: Mentors For At-Risk Youth Say “¡Sí Se Puede!”
October 28, 2015
This particular morning the mentors were hosting a soccer tournament for the youth. However, the mentors encourage them not only in soccer matches but also in their lives, investing in them so that they know that they have options besides spending idle days on the street. Impact Clubs use a methodology developed by a group of youth workers in Romania. It involves four main pillars: value and spiritual formation, skill development, and community service projects.
There are eight clubs in four Tegucigalpa neighborhoods that meet weekly. Gideon Center mentors lead them in a story, games, service projects, and of course, a game of soccer.
As a group of boys who were waiting for their turn to play gathered around, two of them, Darwin (18) and Jonathan (17) said proudly that they were both taking classes; Darwin wants to be an engineer, and Jonathan wants to work with computers. They were hesitant to describe what they were like before joining the club, but eventually said that they spent most of their time on the street with friends “who weren’t up to good things.”
When asked why they hung out on the street, with bad company, Darwin thought for a moment and said, “I think it’s because we thought nobody cared about us. But now we know that our mentors care about us, so we behave better.”
Nazaria, the project coordinator, notes that before coming to Impact Club most of the boys were highly vulnerable to joining gangs because they did not have support networks that encouraged them to participate in more positive activities.
Although it’s still a challenge to work with the boys, Nazaria is excited about the progress they’ve seen. She says the boys are beginning to understand that they can study, serve their community, have fun in healthy ways, and eventually work instead of being on the streets.
The soccer tournament that the mentors hosted was just one example of the kinds of possibilities the club opens up for these young people. Sandra, one of the project’s mentors, noted that the boys often think people from other neighborhoods are rivals to be hated—but this tournament showed the boys that they can play with youth from other neighborhoods without conflict.
153 youths from four neighborhoods participated in the tournament; each neighborhood wore a different color shirt and mentors and young women in the Impact Clubs cheered on the sidelines.
The teams enjoyed playing on a beautiful field, with referees in a Tegucigalpa park; this was an exciting opportunity in itself because the boys usually play pick-up games on dusty streets.
As she observed the teams eat their morning snack, Sandra ended by describing the hope she sees in the members of the Impact Clubs, “We love these boys a lot, they are difficult sometimes, but we love them. One time a woman asked me ‘You work with those good-for-nothings, don’t you?’ and I said ‘Excuse me, but they are not good-for-nothings.’ We know that they have problems, but we also see a lot of possibility in them.”
Thanks to the support of mentors like Nazaria and Sandra, the members of the Impact Club are beginning to see the possibility in themselves.
Honduras’s Institutional Crisis Deepens Ahead of the 2025 Elections
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.
Calvin alums turn faith into action through nonprofit
MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Thank You for Moving Forward With Us this Summer!
When Policies Shift, Families Pay the Price * by Jo Ann Van Engen
Inspiring civil society in the US with a vision of a more just society
Dear Friend, On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of Hondurans flooded their streets with prayer and peaceful demonstration. Reports from our team members who attended said it was like an inspirational sea of people all wanting the same thing for their country: peace. One of our ASJ-US colleagues said he walked past Pentecostals dancing and playing music, a woman praying the rosary, nuns walking, and priests and altar boys in full robes–all walking in the same space together for peace.
Love, Labor, and the Price of Leaving By Jo Ann Van Engen
Prayer Update (JUL 16- Election Process Turmoil)
