No more violence

"As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace." 1 Peter 4:10 (ESV)

In Honduras, violence is an everyday occurrence. Turn on the radio or open the local newspaper and gang crime, homicide and theft dominate the headlines. Young people often get caught up in this culture of violence, as gangs take advantage of poverty, low self-esteem and neglect. In the community of Jesús de Otoro, the teenagers of one church-based Compassion project are taking action to address this.

No More Violence is an awareness programme that Compassion staff set up to witness to the young people within the community. Twice a week, a group of 40 change agents from the Compassion project visit the local high schools and speak to teenagers their age.

Ana was one of the young people who benefited and is now involved as a change agent. “I used to be very quiet and withdrawn. When I was growing up, I felt that I did not belong and had serious low self-esteem issues. All those feelings diffused as I kept coming to the project. The tutors taught me about the extent of God’s love for me, and the letters from my sponsor also encouraged me. Today I realise how worthy I am before God’s eyes. Through the No More Violence programme, I was taught about self-esteem, and now I help other teenagers my age to overcome those feelings,” Ana explains.

Ana and the other the change agents have become God’s hands and feet, reaching the hearts of young people and spreading hope and God’s kingdom.

Prayer:

Heavenly father, we thank you for this group of young people and how they are seeking to serve you through this programme. We pray that they’ll see real transformation in their community. Amen.