Las Iglesias de Mario

When I started leading my own teams to Honduras and was deciding which of our Honduran friends to invite, my Uncle Tom told me "I never go anywhere in Honduras without Mario."  Every single time I return to Central America I remember anew why Super Mario has leveled up to Super Duper Mario!  He drives where no driver is willing to go.  He has his own vehicles.  He has an intimate knowledge of the roads from Choluteca to Brus Laguna.  He is a cultural liaison, watchman, and interpreter.  This all being said, Mario is a pastor.  Pastor Mario and his wife Lesly run three churches in La Ceiba.

On this year's Rio team, we had a chance to interact with Mario at each of his church locations.  Each in various levels of completion and serving different communities of individuals, Mario says he seeks financial support but doesn't want volunteers to help build.  He said that is the work of the congregation.

After just a few minutes, it was obvious who Mario and Lesly are really called to help.  They have a huge heart for children.  Not only do they want to share the word with the youth, but they also want to be able to provide a safe place to teach what a loving community looks like.  

Watch Mario and Lesly talk about each of their three churches, and decide which one you want to support.  Giving to these two puts the Word in kids' hearts and food in their bellies.

To donate, just visit the AHMEN website at AHMEN.org.

Indicate with your donation that it is going to the Rio de Agua Viva team.

Then, email me to tell me how you want your money directed toward Mario and Lesly!

Last, you have got to think about going to Honduras with us next year to work with these two!

The group of guys we were blessed to call Rio de Agua Viva 2025 outshined combinations of years of progress in community development.  That doesn't mean we do not require YOUR help because TOGETHER, we are the difference.

 

The Tomato Sandwich Book

 

It's a cookbook. It's an art book. It's a coffee table book. It is an anthology of writing, photography, and visual splendor dedicated to the tomato in its most iconic Southern presentation - the tomato sandwich. Pre-order yours today! Go to thetomatosandwichbook.myshopify.com to get your copy! Use the word for my Uncle Tom's first profession in Mexico for $7 off discount code.

#thetomatosandwichbook

#tomatosandwich

#tomatotime

#tomato

A School in Need

On June 4th, 2025, Timothy “Hemp the Artist” Thompson, Pastor Mario Miralda, and I visited the Garifuna community of Ciriboya to meet with teachers at the primary school and members of the local teachers union, COLPROSUMAH.

What we found were teachers and administrators happy to meet someone who someone cared. We were greeted with smiles and camaraderie after an all-morning journey, and we responded with “We love you. What can we share with the world on your behalf?”

You know, it’s funny. You can go halfway across the world and teachers will have the same complaints:

• No materials
• Not enough desks
• Students are “just off” since the shutdowns
• Underpaid

However, the Centro de Educación Básica Alvaro Contreras also lacks major repairs and reconstruction. The school requests immediate help as the teachers fear much of the building will imminently collapse on them and their 125 students while they are teaching one day.

What do they need? They are requesting a complete rebuild due to termite infestation and the deteriorating effects of being located just a few meters from the Caribbean Sea. They also lack accessible potable water, functioning restrooms, a library, and a playground.

The need is urgent. Would you please consider having your church, university, company, or organization join us in recruiting the talent and funds to help the children of Ciriboya have a safe place to learn?

The teachers of Ciriboya can’t do it alone. Neither can we. However, TOGETHER, we are the difference!

THE Team

I can hardly believe that the Rio team has been going strong since 2013.  The only years we missed were 2020-2021 due to the shutdowns.  I pray for this team throughout the year.  I pray for AHMEN.  My vision is that we will get back to where we were in the old days when the organization would send 12+ teams a year, no problem.  Much of the design of my team is to enable those passionate about Honduras to learn to lead their own teams.  That is precisely why I diligently recruit college students and professors with the capacity for long-term, renewing investment for the organization.

God's plans make mine tremble.  What grew instead was a team of friends new and old.  As I begin to tell the tales of AHMEN's Rio de Agua Viva 2025 team I must first introduce this all-star team cast by the Lord Almighty.

Patrick Whittington. Gardening Expert. Proficient in Communication.

David Hutzel. Finance Expert. Sensemaker.

James Iverson. Logistics Expert. Intercultural Broker.

Timothy Thompson. Multi-Faceted Artist. Living Historian.

Michael Franklin. Leadership Visionary. Change Agent.

THIS was the team.  What we were able to accomplish in four short days was nothing short of God's grace and our willingness to be along for the ride.  Join me as I detail each of our streams and how they united into the single river once again, the river of living water, Rio de Agua Viva.

Sign up for next year's team today.  Click here for more info on what the Rio team is like.  Donate to our ongoing mission.  It ain't me, babe.  It ain't this year's team no matter how amazing the stories to come are.  We are a movement of dozens of families uniting to build positive relationships with Honduran communities through sustainable education workshops.  It is the intercultural dialogue for us.  For, together, we are the difference!

Learn & Teach in Honduras this Summer!

 

Let's Get Ready to Rumble!!

 If you have been paying attention to the news, then you know WWE's own Linda McMahon has been picked to run the U.S. Department of Education.

Well, on AHMEN's Río de Agua Viva team, we have some wrestling of our own to do.  We aim to teach local women and children ways to body slam poverty out of their lives.

This is a tag team effort, so join us today!!

Together, we are the difference.

Dr. Michael J Franklin's Resume and CV

Learn to Lead Your Own Medical or Educational Brigade by Joining the Río Team!

 

Río de Agua Viva 2025

LEARN and Teach!

Over the last eleven years, AHMEN’s Rio de Agua Viva team focused primarily on sharing knowledge with community leaders.  We ask focus communities what types of education would be beneficial for our team to bring and plan around those concepts.

This last summer I visited with my dear brother, Dr. Luther Castillo Harry, Secretary of Science, Technology, and Innovation for the Republic of Honduras.  I asked him what AHMEN needed to do to remain relevant.  He encouraged us to keep bringing the medical brigades, keep partnering in community development, but he recommended we take our mission a step further.  “The focus of the world has been on Honduras as a victim of the narco-state and U.S. politics.  Very well-minded people seek to ‘help’ Honduras.  You come to teach, but why not bring people to learn?”

As always, we welcome all those called to join us, but we specifically aim to recruit teachers, professors, college students, and high school graduates to come to Honduras with us on a leadership training team.  This team will have three main objectives:

·       Address local needs via educational training

·       Facilitate team membership as community service hours, school/university credits, and/or CEUs

·       Train and equip volunteers to lead their own learning and teaching teams in the future

The team dates (7-10 days) for Summer 2025 will be released by Halloween 2024.  The team fee will be around $1,200 per person which includes all in-country travel, food, and lodging.  It does not include airfare or one’s worldly pleasures.

Where will we go?  It depends on how large our team ends up becoming, the greatest need, and the common interest. 

·        Cruzadas del Evangelio (AHMEN’s base operations in La Ceiba and home to the Shalom Dorm for At-Risk Young Women)

·        The mountain community of Yorito welcomes a strong planning focus to help the dozens of NGO members and community agents ensure every home has clean drinking water.  The mayor seeks help long-term planning in sustainable development.  Medical brigades are also welcome.

·        The shoreside community of Ciriboya hosts the first public Garifuna hospital in Honduras.  Medical and education brigades requested.  Additional goals involve evaluating the revitalization of the healthcare facility.  You will be speaking Garifuna after just a few days!

·        Journeying up the river in La Moskitia to conduct medical brigades and lead community health seminars entails adventure few ever have the opportunity to experience elsewhere.  A linguist and nature lover’s delight!

·        Las Islas de La Bahía: We will participate in the first interest group meeting with future potential community agents on the beautiful Roatan island.  SCUBA and snorkeling encouraged!

As you can tell, AHMEN can introduce you to many places where you may begin to open the doors of your educational institution to learning in Honduras.  By joining the 2025 Rio de Agua Viva team, you will not only engage deeply with leadership in multiple areas where AHMEN teams serve, you will train as a team leader to plan the ways you will partner with AHMEN in the future.  Email us for more info at AHMENinHonduras@gmail.com today!

 

Shine Bright, Like a Diamond!

 **This blog is by Dr. Ezekiel Nichols of the La Ceiba Jewelry School Project**

Hello, I am Dr. Ezekiel Nichols, an economist. Currently I have just laid the ground work to establish a business ministry for the people that live in the La Ceiba dump.

 

The idea is to get some kind of workable skills they can use to better themselves. Several years ago we had a jewelry maker that would spend time with residents showing them how to make jewelry but never had true success with this project.

 

Now that Covid is through, we have started the jewelry project back up again. However, we are still a good ways away from getting it to the dump. Carol Iveth Lopez Diaz is a woman who is 39 and suffers from spina bifida. Several years ago, she learned how to make jewelry but has never really had a market for her products. Today we just finished the transfer of 20 sets of earrings and bracelets to bring her work to the American market. We are still working on IRS rules and getting a reliable supply chain established but we are one step closer to our vision at the dump.

 

To learn more about this ministry or to ask how you can help, contact me today at nicholsezekiel@gmail.com .  Also, if you would like to purchase some of Carol’s jewelry, stop by the site below today.

Will You Sit Down and Pray With Me?

 

Super Mario Chair Fund

 

Buh dun duh dun dun duh, DUNH!  Super Mario is what I have come to know him as over the years.  There is really no problem too small or large he can’t fix. 

One time after a long week of work in and out of Tocomachu, Ciriboya, and Limon, the medical brigade I was on went out dancing at the local festival in our honor.  After many a do-see-do, lawnmower, and fisherman, Super Mario gave us the go sign as soon as he detected the smallest chance of trouble entering the discoteca. 

Other times he has gotten our trucks out of the mud, solved logistical crises, become a pseudo-interpreter, and served as an information hub.  However, what makes Mario so super is his work as a pastor.

Pastor Mario’s church, “Arco de Jehova,” in La Ceiba continuously grows.  More children, teenagers, and their families join the church for the lively services and personal sense of community.  The knockout sermons aren’t too bad we hear either!  What Mario and his wife “Pastora” Leslie (Princesa Durazno) are running out of, however, are CHAIRS!

In order to accommodate growing attendance, Mario asks for 100 chairs or $1000 in donations to purchase the chairs the church prefers.  He and Leslie will gladly accept chairs donations on the AHMEN Christmas container and urgently need help purchasing the seats they have in mind now.

Why should you donate?  Mario and Leslie are liaisons to AHMEN in Honduras.  Mario teaches clean water using Sawyer Water Filters, and Leslie makes jewelry using natural materials to fundraise for projects.  Their success, for many AHMEN teams, is our success.  If a set of 100 chairs is holding them back from the confident and comfortable cathedral expansion in the name of Christ, then let’s break down this barrier with Mario and Leslie together!

Donate to the Super Mario Chair Fund today!  You can donate here by selecting Rio de Agua Viva team and then emailing where your donation goes to AHMENinHonduras@gmail.com.  You can also make out a check to AHMEN with “Super Mario Chair Fund” on the “For” line and mail to AHMEN at 287 Tommy Robinson Road Jasper, AL 35504.

Thank you for your help expanding God’s kingdom in Honduras with AHMEN today.  Tomorrow, let’s talk about how you can volunteer on a team to serve on the ground!

Together, we are the difference!

 

Don't Make People Wait. Take Action on What God Tells You..

One rainy day in Murfreesboro, Tennessee I received a message from an unknown Honduran number.

The person on the other end knew many details about me and our work in Yorito, Yoro, Honduras.

After many chats back and forth and confirmation with people in Yorito I actually knew, I decided this person was not a scammer.

In fact, he was an advocate. He wanted to do something to help his people and knew AHMEN did too.

Four years later, Roberto was the fundamental impetus for beginning the second round of educational workshops in Yorito with AHMEN's Agentes Comunitarios de Salud Integral.

What is the moral of the story? "Trust but verify?" Not at all. The moral of th story is that the conviction from God to continue our work in the tiny mountain town was already on my heart. Looking back, I had already made attempts to get the workshop going again in 2019. It just took a little push from Roberto and for the pieces to fall back into place. When Greg Thompson and I made the decision to contract Bayron Morales to start a round two of workshops in Jutiapa, it only made sense to follow suit in Yorito.

The moral of the story is not only listen to God but act on what the Holy Spirit calls you to do.

What is God asking you to do with @AHMENinHonduras? How can you help?

Together, we are the difference.

Renaissance in Yorito: AHMEN Begins Sustainable Education

Everyone who has met Sergio over the years knows he is a mild man of smaller stature.  However, our physical characteristics do not define us.  Sergio is a giant among men for his persistence and wishes for his community.  AHMEN's Rio de Agua Viva team has been lucky over the years to count on Sergio's participation in our community empowerment workshops; however, it is Yorito that is the true lucky one.  Watch Sergio's interview below and learn about what makes this friend of mine so powerful.

Now that you know a little about Sergio, it is time for me to tell you something just as important.  AHMEN does not currently have volunteer team going to Yorito.  The people of Yorito want and need a yearly medical team and a regular group of educational volunteers to come teach organic gardening practices.  While, Sergio is a man that can make mighty things happen, it is together that we are the difference!

How can you help?

Sometimes Equity Involves Inviting Men to the Table

 

Equity isn't always one direction. When a group of all women community leaders train on the empowerment process, it is a male perspective increasing diversity in the group. Who is this lone man who has joined ACSI-Jutiapa? JOSÉ MERAZ!

Do you know whose voice is missing, whose voice would also illuminate the diversity of AHMEN's community empowerment program.  YOURS!  Sure, many people are already on the job, in the group, and receiving the feedback.  However, your unique experience would propel the sustainable development process even further.  Contact me today to learn how to join the momentum of change. Alone, we can spark change, but together, we are the difference.

Moving Parts are Moving: Río Team Recruiting

Happy New Year!

I don't want to scare you this close to Valentine’s Day, but I've got to tell you now that the Río team canoe is running out of seats.




And we need you to sign up fast!




Don't miss out on an opportunity to help us keep the team fee to a low $1000 per person. Join us June 1-8 to "teach the teacher" to the Youth and Women's Networks of Jutiapa and Nueva Armenia. Check out our schedule below:
June 1: Atlanta to Roatan Island (only $512 as of 2/4/24)
June 2: Ferry from Roatan to Mainland, Practice Lessons, Cultural Welcome Celebration
June 3-5: Community Development Lessons
June 6: AM Graduation and PM Ferry to Roatan
June 7: Fun in the Sun
June 8: Return Home

What will you be teaching, you might ask? Well, we are open to your suggestions but have some from your students as well:

-Microbusiness/Microloan

-Human Rights (Women and Children)

-Baking and Bake Sales

-Clean Water Culture from Kindergarten to the Retirement Home

-Water Safety and Lifeguarding

-Community Gardening and Compost

To sign up, you can send in your full team fee of $1000 or reserve your spot with a $100 deposit online at ahmen.org or send in a check made out to "AHMEN" with "Rio Team" on the "For" line and addressed to AHMEN/Andrea Nuss 287 Tommy Robinson Rd. Jasper, Al 35504.




Let's make this year's team the best one in ELEVEN years! Join us today to make a difference in helping local Hondurans build the country they want to see their grandchildren inherit. Together, we are the difference.

AHMEN's Community Empowerment Program - Agentes Comunitarios de Salud Integral - 2023 Report

 If you follow AHMEN on Facebook, Instagram, or Youtube, you get a glimpse into our regular interpretation of our community involvement initiatives in Honduras.  However, what you don't always receive all the time that we are working to provide more of is the viewpoint of the end user.  It doesn't really matter what we think about how our donations and the way we use them on local education efforts function to the benefit of Honduran families.  What counts is how they are important to the community members who attend and receive training at our quarterly empowerment seminars.  Take a look here at how two attendees sum up their training and how it contributes to their capacity as leaders.

If this side of the story interests you, then why don't you join us in Honduras next summer to meet the individuals attending AHMEN's community agent training program?  Contact me here to learn more!  If you are not the traveling type but want to see this program continue, why don't you begin contributing to our efforts today?  Email me here when you do.

Together, we are the difference!

Yorito Tornado Relief

One of the benefits of AHMEN's community agent training program is that AHMEN's Rio de Agua Viva team receives regular, up-to-date information from local sources.  It's not always good news.

Last fall, a tornado struck Yorito, Yoro, Honduras and severely damaged many buildings and homes. 

AHMEN is not currently equipped to fund rebuilding projects across the town, but we can with your help.

Tornadoes have followed me my entire life.  One landed in my backyard in Smyrna, Ga when I was six-years-old.  Another hit St. James Elementary in Montgomery, AL just an hour before the bell was to ring on spring morning.  I remember seeing paper falling from the sky hours before the 2011 Tuscaloosa-Birmingham tornadoes.  I knew something weird was about to happen.  Yet another followed me to Nashville, TN in the spring of 2020.  If you have similar tales of storms invading your personal space, or have even lost everything due to one, you know how vulnerable and exposed storm damage can make you feel.

AHMEN's Rio de Agua Viva team would like to establish a rebuilding fund for cases just like these so that during unpredictable times we can help.

Would you consider taking our message to your Sunday School class, church, local organization, and family?  A one-time or regular donation will mean the world to families left without rooves, walls, and windows.

Visit AHMEN.org to donate.  Email me when you do.  Then, share this blog with others so we can amass a relief fund for Yorito's recent storm damage and other towns which experience weather loss in the future.  Maybe you would even like to lead a building team to go repair the dozen or so houses left in disrepair.  Contact AHMEN today to learn how to get started!

Without friends and family to help, we are all alone in times of need.  However, with your support, together we are the difference.

Women's Empowerment in Honduras

AHMEN's Rio de Agua Viva team and those of us involved in community empowerment find ourselves working with women on a regular basis.  Oftentimes, there aren't any men in the room other than ourselves.  

This is not because men are not appreciative of education and do not want their communities to thrive.  No, we do not discriminate on invitations.  In fact, we wholeheartedly believe that every classroom functions better with a variety of opinions and backgrounds.

One reason that AHMEN's community empowerment workshops tend to boast a majority female participation rate is that women in Honduras can be said to be left out of traditional educational spheres.  So one might make the argument that where society's machismo leaves women out of education for the sake of learning, AHMEN makes up the difference!

I remember hearing from the adults around me when I was a teenager back in the early 2000s that the reason that we did not see a lot of men at the free medical clinics our brigades supplied was because the men were out working.  With authority, the male leaders of our medical staff would say "The women had to bring the kids in to be seen by our teams."

While this may have been true, could we also not say that the men did not see it as their job or role in a patriarchal sphere to walk the family five miles to see the only physicians available locally for months?  Feminists understand that the domestic chore of caring for the children is considered "women's work" by the dominant culture.

On the other side of the patriarchy we understand that society prioritizes the education of men because men belong in the public sphere.  After all, what is a woman to do with an education when dinner needs preparing? 

Such regressive attitudes prevail in our modern society even in the most cosmopolitan countries.  However, their prevalence in Latin America leave women without the ability to truly care for themselves or their families. Gibbons et al. (2022) write: 

    Education is the key driver of women’s empowerment. Education reduces women’s poverty     (McCarthy, 2015), allows them better employment opportunities (Spierings et al., 2010),

    empowers them to have the number of children they desire (Poelker and Gibbons, 2018),

    improves women’s health (Alsan and Cutler, 2013), and increases their political

    participation (Fanny and Oluwasanumi, 2014; Bird, 2019). 

AHMEN's Rio de Agua Viva team believes the woman at the well, Mother Mary, and Mary Magdalen were deliberately given a voice in the Holy Bible to crumble the façade of misogyny.  We therefore work with purpose in educating women so that they do not need to wait on society to change so their children may have a better life.  Women can be the change they want to see in their communities right now.

If you agree with us, why don't you consider a monthly donation toward community empowerment in Honduras through AHMEN by visiting AHMEN.org?  Email me when you do so I can get your gift to the right cause!  If you are a more "hands on" type of activist, why not join our June 1-8 team to go work directly with the women we serve?  Either way, contact me today to learn more!

Together, we are the difference.