A letter from Gloria Wheeler in Honduras
Advent 2013
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18-19
Dear Friends,
Evelia, Abilio, with children Valeria and Anthony
When Jesus goes to the Temple and reads from the book of Isaiah, he undoubtedly provides the key to his ministry and mission on earth. It is a way of saying that the old order will pass away, and a time of favor and grace is proclaimed. The destruction of the present logic for relations between the rich and poor, the landed and landless, between those in hierarchies and the common people, and between men and women is far reaching and important today.
We are called to work with the poor and those without privilege. The correlations with Jesus’ time are many. There is hope for a change, for a chance for a new order, for new opportunities, for a better life. This is the story that Tim and I live out in our mission assignment. This is the time of year when people’s wishes for something different and more just are particularly poignant as they reflect on what has passed, on what could have been fulfilled but was not, and on what can be during the new year ahead.
I am called to work for reconciliation and peace. I have a special call to do this with women in remote communities who are struggling in their everyday situations that have been handed to them because of their social class and the culture around them. My mother had a big influence on me. She made every effort so that my sister and I could escape the social and cultural confines that might limit us. Education was my way out. People I work with may reach only part of the way out of the confines that bind them, but when we put it into perspective that may be quite a bit, a chance at a better life.
The story of Evelia tells us of the struggle of many young women and the work of reconciliation and peace that is possible within this context. Evelia spent most of her childhood living with her grandmother in a town near where her mother, a young mother with several children, and father lived. Perhaps it was thought to be her best option to live away from her family, for this is not unusual in this culture, in which family lines expand or contract according to the needs of the moment.
Evelia never finished primary school, and she was taken by a young man named Abilio from the same town when she was thirteen. For a time they lived in San Pedro Sula, but they had to return to her hometown when a gang decided to take their house over. Her life with her partner was difficult at times. Besides living in poverty, she suffered from physical and emotional domestic violence, and abandonment at times. She gave birth to a boy and a girl, and now had to provide all of her needs during the times that Abilio was not present, when he would take off with someone else. She did this by doing any type of job that came her way. She often would go and pick coffee beans and earn a few dollars a day doing it.
Evelia with her mother and daughter
In the spring of 2011, the housing project being sponsored in the town by U.S. Presbyterian Churches in partnership with the local government was something new and good taking place. Evelia signed up and was accepted, but only God knew how she would eventually participate since she didn’t own a house lot, one of the main requirements. The other requirement was to work in a small group on each other’s houses. This she did without fail as the project progressed. She and Abilio mixed cement, made blocks and worked on the construction phases of several houses in her small group.
Evelia assisted me in the kitchen for every visiting mission team that came over a year’s time. “ Evelia,” I said, “what are you going to do about a housing lot? The project is going to finish, and you still haven’t started your house.” Her husband tried to get a loan but was unsuccessful, and then the mayor responded to her request and gave her a small piece of municipal land on the edge of another neighborhood. She, with the help of her small housing group and her husband, sprang into action, and the building began. A mission team helped pour the floor one day. Something else happened while they were working together on their house.
Yes, the actions of the community project and the work in small support groups helped her and her husband to find more common ground and a degree of reconciliation. As they worked together mixing concrete, they were actually cementing their relations in a more solid way. Evelia told me one day that because of our talks in the kitchen, she had been able to make Abilio respect her more. It turns out that one day he had told her that he was going to leave her and take off. She said, “Very well, if you leave don’t think about coming back again. I’ll be looking for someone new to help me raise my children.” She had become more confident as a person and was able to speak her mind. Also in cases where there has been domestic violence, the house was often deeded to the woman, which helped too.
With those words from her, he took off. She gathered his things and put them in a bag in the middle of the room so he could take them and went to sleep. When she awoke in the morning, she found him asleep in a chair, having changed his mind and realized that his future was beside her and in the home that they were building together. God’s reconciling hand had reached Evelia and her husband, and peace was now possible. Abilio made a new commitment to Evelia and their children.
This is an example of good news coming to a young woman, of the half steps toward a change, of a better life with reconciliation and peace. With this example, we are filled with hope and encouraged to continue in lifting up others and being able to marvel at the transformation possible with the presence of a loving God in people’s lives.
Thank you for your support to us in so many ways and for being present throughout the year. We also give thanks for the presence of God when people are brought together, for providing opportunities for reconciliation and peace as people go about daily activities to improve their lives. Housing projects are possible because of a loving church reaching out in the world. Besides the physical improvement in lives, the improvement in human relationships and self-esteem is profound as part of the process. We ask that you, too, receive the comfort of a loving peace as we all prepare for the transformation that we are told will come, for a new order, and for a New Year.
Faithfully,
Tim and Gloria Wheeler
Apartado 15027, Colonia Kennedy
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
The 2013 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 20
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