The View From The Last Page

December 29, 2014

By Rick Bandstra, Volunteer Executive Director, Association for a More Just Society

Some years draw to a close like a good book — you knew the end was coming but part of you doesn’t want to let it go just yet. Perhaps the book even shaped you in some way, and parts of it will continue to echo in your thoughts for years. And so, to no one’s surprise, 2014 comes to a close, but it remains a year that will stick with me and ASJ (formerly known as AJS) staff for a long time to come.

Here is just a selection of what made 2014 special:

Anti-Corruption: In what will likely lead to ASJ’s greatest impact yet, the president of Honduras signed a first-of-its-kind anti-corruption agreement with ASJ and Transparency International.
Education: Major advances have occurred for the 1.5 million students in Honduras’ public education system. The strides forward include higher test scores (a 20 percent jump in math), reaching 200 days of class, and impressive improvements in a new United Nations study.
Peace and Justice: The homicide rate in Honduras, which was the highest in the world, is expected to fall by about 20 percent. Our anti-corruption and anti-violence work has played a significant role in this process.
Land Rights: ASJ launched an index that holds the government accountable for reforms that protect poor families from having their homes taken from them.
Health: ASJ investigations revealed corruption in government purchasing of medications, resulting in six officials being arrested. The UN is now helping to handle purchases, with ASJ providing oversight in the process.

In addition to all this, nearly a hundred families graduated from our family training programs, and hundreds more at-risk youth participated in our specially-designed youth groups. Our lawyers, investigators and psychologists helped achieve 14 convictions in cases of violence and dozens more cases are in process.

Outside of Honduras, our work grabbed attention in the media, and publications with articles featuring ASJ ranged from the Calvin College Spark to the New York Times.

But all of this is not to say that 2014 didn’t come without pain and grief as well. Indeed, we would hardly be following Christ’s example if it didn’t. We grieved with families in our programs who lost loved ones to violence, with those whose homes had been snatched away, with those who were victims of sexual abuse, with those who worried about their children’s future, and with those who suffer under the weight of corruption and violence.

And so, through the excitement and the tears, we hold on to hope — a hope that, no matter what the year brings, compels us to continue following the One who proclaims liberty to the captives and the oppressed, who proclaimes good news to the poor, and who proclaims the year of the Lord’s favor.

Thank you for being a part of this work and a part of the work that’s to come.

Rick Bandstra

Volunteer Executive Director, Association for a More Just Society

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ASJ-US and ASJ-Canada Joint Statement on Honduran Elections

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

Artisans of Fraternity, Guardians of Hope

November 28, 2025

A call to action for Honduras

November 2025 ASJ-US Statement about Honduran Elections

By Elizabeth Hickel • November 25, 2025

The Association for a More Justice Society-US Supports the Network to Defend Democracy; Calls for Free and Fair Elections in Honduras November 25, 2025

Context Updates on the 2025 Elections in Honduras

November 13, 2025

Honduras’s Institutional Crisis Deepens Ahead of the 2025 Elections

HOPE

By Elizabeth Hickel • November 12, 2025

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.