Aldea La Paz

Love, Peace, Healing - April 22, 2026

Our day began early with a group picture of our Friends of Barnabas U.S. Team and our Honduran colleagues. We work together seamlessly.

Today, we visited the community of Aldea La Paz, The Peace Village, another agricultural community of about 215 persons in 54 families. The long, unpaved access road was very bumpy, but we arrived at a church and school facility with a peaceful garden.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus declared, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God" (MT 5:9). The church teaches us that peace is built on the foundations of justice and human rights. Health care is a basic human right. That means we are not just healers, we are peacemakers. Fostering healthier communities reduces the violence born of desperation.

Our U.S. Team hopes we bring back the spirit of peace we experienced here, a peace that can overcome divisions in our own nation.

Our team shared three crosses today: one with a community leader, who helped a team member practice Spanish as he practiced English; one with a chatty little girl, who told many stories in Spanish to an English-speaking team member who couldn't understand, but smiled; and one to a child in a family who remembered a team member from last year. It's all about connections and relationships.

We concluded our day with a devotional that focused on "God is love" (1 John 4:7-12). Today we experienced God's in our healing mission, in the love of parents and children, and in the community's much kindness to us. Love is our mission. Peace is our mission. Healing is our mission.

Steve