W RG N e w s

Fa l l 2 0 1 3

VILLAGE UPDATES
R U CHEQUE SHALOM???
It was a study in contrasts, a lovely 16 year old girl sitting on a crude wooden bench made of two by fours that leaned precariously against the whitewashed wall of The Center. Alessas beauty and charisma make her much soughtafter by the all of the boys and far too many of the men in our area. and giggled with the embarrassed laugh of a teen that hasnt come to know herself yet. Next to her, Evy stared at me glumly, a raised eyebrow and head nod the only acknowledgement of Until recently, she was a prime candidate for The Takers that we discussed in a recent news- my presence. Standing a short distance letter these are the men that simply take a from the girls was a girl from her home and keep her around until she gets pregnant, and then send her packing. handsome young schoolmate of theirs, Eliezar. He turned aimAlessas charms, combined with never taking lessly in circles, talking to no one. school too seriously, put her in jeopardy of ending up on the low road in life. But recently Each of these young people has leadership qualities just begging to be released. Yet their she pulled a complete 180. Out of the blue, homes, their culture, and their history all line Alessa broke up with the young man who up against them. These formidable powers wanted her to spend time with him instead of beckon them to join the ranks of the nameless, her studies. Applying herself to learning infaceless masses of disparaged souls that make stead of flirting, her grades began to rise dramatically. She walked with a newfound poise. up the majority of the Honduran culture. Alessa was always a bit shy, unless she was dancing, and even then she never made eye contact with her partner or the audience. She often appeared unreachable, lost in her own world. Now she is willing to talk and let me in to her thoughts, even to the point of telling me why she broke up with her boyfriend. Finally, Alessa is starting to come into her own, realizing she was made for a higher purpose than creating another statistic on the poverty scale. The day I discovered her sitting on the bench outside The Center, she was off in that distant place again, head down, feet kicking at the dirt. Her demeanor was quite a change from the happy and confident person I talked to several days before, the young lady who was starting to understand her worth. A few feet away from Alessa, perched two other girls of the same age. Diminutive in size, likely due to malnutrition, Kristas legs dangled, swinging back and forth, giving her the air of a kindergartener. She looked up at me What is going on? I asked, addressing my question to the wind since none of them would look at me. Fidgeting and more rearranging of dust ensued. Finally, Eliezar, who can be a bit of a clown, locked his strikingly green eyes on mine and said somberly, We are not Cheque Shalom. Translation: Something is Rotten in the State of Linaca. Strange as it may sound, this was music to my ears. We actually love hearing the kids tell us this. It means they are not playing games. They are taking the relationships between them seriously. They are willing to fight it out, but so often they need help to figure out how to fight fair. For those who dont know what Cheque Shalom is, I will give you a brief recap. Cheque is from the Honduran/Spanish word meaning To Check and Shalom is Hebrew for Peace. Cheque Shalom is the exercise we do to check, and maintain, our peace with one other.

It is sort of a silly name that we made up for a profoundly meaningful exercise that has revolutionized our work in Honduras. It has taught us, or rather forced us, to live in peace with one another if we want to stay connected to the larger family we have created. More on the mechanics of this exercise under Houses of Shalom on the next page. Maybe it is a trend everywhere, but the youth of Honduras can be particularly snarky, and the fights between them can border on the absurdly juvenile. Most of the time resolving the issues between them requires helping each party to see the pettiness of their perceptions. That day, feelings were so hurt among these four friends that I wondered how many of them might actually drop out of the group. There were three separate fights going on between the four of them. The young men of The Center are not always the most verbal participants, combined with the fact that Eliezar was outnumbered 3 to 1, did not give me a lot of hope for discussion. Alessa, who is not given to volunteering much about anything, ever, was the most hurt of all and the one most closed off to discussing what was going on. After much probing on my part, finally Evy admitted that she had hurt Alessa. What happened after that left me with my mouth agape. One by one these young people opened up in a way I have NEVER heard any Honduran open up. Eliezar was particularly

The girls in the picture above are not those discussed in this story and all names have been changed to protect the identities of our youth.

Bu s i n es s N aHe m espoke to each of the girls in turn but first addressed vulnerable.

loved. The atmosphere that enabled these four young people to resolve them as a group, Look, we have been friends since we were little their issues is something we have worked hard to create and one that kids. We have been in this center together for years. I love each of you takes constant vigilance to maintain. like a sister and I am sorry that I hurt you. Please forgive me. After everyone said their piece, Alessa began to squirm a bit and I was His words, spoken with humility and deep feeling behind them, broke hoping that there wasnt something left unspoken. Finally she let it the dam releasing a torrent of emotion. With no further prodding, each out. What came next shocked everyone. This formerly closed off and one spoke, mentioning something positive and very personal about the undemonstrative young lady asked in a child-like voice, Can I please others. I assure you this is not any part of the Honduran culture that we have a hug? have ever witnessed in the villages. This is something new, born out of a deeper spirituality one that recognizes the importance of the conThree sets of arms extended toward her and every face revealed a look nectedness we all share one that tells them it is worth being vulnera- of wonderment as Alessa jumped up to give her friends a heartfelt ble to pursue peace. embrace. This is why I love Cheque Shalom. True peace means something altogether different to those who have hurt one another and Many villagers will cut off their nose to spite their face. They rarely worked through their pain to forgiveness and restoration. admit to wrongdoing, or apologize. What they are very good at is excuses. My guess the reason for this is because most have never had a safe enough environment to make mistakes in and still be forgiven and It is far more precious.

Selected Verses from James 4 New Living Translation

What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? You are jealous of what others have, but you cant get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you dont have what you want because you dont ask God for it. And even when you ask, you dont get it because your motives are all wrongyou want only what will give you pleasure. So humble yourselves before God. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Dont speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging Gods law. God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor?
WE HAVE ANOTHER $20,000 MATCHING GRANT THANK YOU for helping us fulfill our last matching grant. Because of that we now have a new grant! Meeting this challenge will enable us to finish off our year with every goal met. Please designate Match Grant on your check. Donations are 100% tax deductible.

HOUSES OF SHALOM
So often in Honduras, we find ourselves literally living out the words of the Scripture. What happened with the kids in the example above was a poignant example of James 4 in action. While we are adherents of the powerful teachings of Jesus, we have friends who dont believe as we do, but have practiced the exercise of Cheque Shalom with great success. Whether you are an atheist or a Muslim, Hindu, Catholic, or Baptist, Cheque Shalom is simple and it works. So we decided to pass this little exercise out to the communities where we work. Brigades of Road Scholars began going door to door, to visit every home in the villages to teach their fellow countrymen how to live in peace. The teams began by explaining our odd Honduran Spanish/ Hebrew term, the main idea of which is to be at peace with yourself, with God, and with others. First you have to love yourself. If you dont love yourself, you have little to give anyone else except your dissatisfaction, and that breeds anything but peace. They explain that the next step for us, as followers of Jesus, is to be at peace with God. But this step is obviously omitted by those who do not believe in God. The final step is to be at peace with your neighbor. The practice of this requires complete honesty or it will be an exercise in futility. step, the problem is resolved.

The villagers have been so enthused about this process that over 500 of them met with us recently to learn even more. We call the homes where these family members live The Shalom Houses.

One of the more humorous examples of the result of teaching Cheque Shalom happened in If our lack of peace lies with anArauli when two parents literally other person, we follow the teach- dragged their feuding daughters to ing of Jesus in Matthew 18. Go to The Center. Shoving the girls the one who has offended you and forward, their exasperated mothspeak to him/her alone. Do not go ers said, DEAL WITH THEM! to someone else with the percep- These two are not Cheque Shalom tion of what happened between and we are at wits end!!! you. If you work out your problem between the two of you, then In the few years we have been you have made a friend; and you practicing Cheque Shalom we have not diminished this person in have seen bitter enemies become the eyes of another. friends. We have seen villages that had tribal feuds going back Should step one not produce the hundreds of years lay down their desired result and you are still at hatred and begin to relate to one odds, then you take one trusted another with respect. How far person back with you. If the prob- might this goodwill spread? lem persists, you take it to the group whatever the larger setIt is never too late to be a peaceting is for the relationship. Almost maker. Just ask Alessa. always, before you get to the third

World Resources Group * 509 Flamingo Drive * West Palm Beach, FL 33401 Contact: Nelle Pettit Smith * npsmith@bellsouth.net * 561-758-2198 Like us on Facebook at World Resources Group Please Send WRG Donations c/o Janet Cunningham 8688 Yearling Dr. * Lake Worth, FL * 33467