UBCentral

Marilyn Reeck, a United Brethren endorsed missionary living in La Ceiba, Honduras, sent this update on the political situation in Honduras. It was sent on Wednesday, July 1.

In Honduras the presidency is a one four-year term without possibility of reelection. Mel Zelaya was in his third year as president. Hugo Chavez has been his mentor and he was leading the country in a direction that the country did not want to go.

The last thing was ordering a vote to change the constitution so that he could be reelected (as Hugo Chavez had done). Both Congress and the Supreme Court declared it illegal. He fired the Joint Chiefs of Staff when they confiscated the ballots, which then led to them having him forcibly removed from the country. He has declared that he will return to the country tomorrow. All of the entire world has voted in his favor.

At the moment, we are safe and far away from the action in Tegucigalpa, the capital city. Roger is in Israel, but my daughter Chrysti and her family live here, and two of my daughters are visiting from Texas.

My main concern at the moment is that there are eight kids and three leaders here from North Carolina and a missions trip. Decisions have to be made about their return, but at the moment roadblocks do not permit us to get them to the international airport three hours away. All national flights are cancelled.

Please pray  for the safety of these kids and for us to make the right decisons in this regard. Pray especially for peace in Honduras, that God will give the new leaders wisdom in how to handle this situation.

Dennis and Debbie Osberg are former UB endorsed missionaries in Honduras. They continue serving at Academy of the Pines, a school outside Tegucigalpa, but are no longer under the United Brethren umbrella.

On Monday, June 30, Debbie emailed information about the political upheaval which had occurred the day before, when the president was deposed. She was in the States, expecting her husband Dennis and daughter Amanda back on July 1 (they made it safely, but reported that the airport was full of people trying to get out).

Here is Debbie’s report. You’ll be especially interested in the ten-point explanation of what has happened there.

As you have heard by now, Honduras is in turmoil. There have been peaceful demonstrations in the capital city with thousands of Hondurans supporting the removal of the President and seeking justice to prevail. Pray for wisdom and truth to be revealed and for peace to return to Honduras.

A Honduran friend recently sent out this email with the current facts.

1. The event this morning should be taken as an arrest against a Honduras citizen, Manuel Zelaya, who broke the constitutional Honduran law in multiple occasions over the last few days.
2. This SHOULD NOT be taken as a coup d’état.
3. The vast majority of Honduras firmly opposes Manuel Zelaya and are in favor of his arrest.
4. The current news being portrayed in international networks appear to be heavily tilted toward a contrarian view of most Hondurans.
5. The majority of Hondurans are not in favor of Manual Zelaya and are extremely proud of our congress and military for their stance in favor of democracy and peace.
6. The events happening today were caused by an attempt by Manuel Zelaya to manipulate our country and its constitution to fulfill his ultimate goal of remaining in power indefinitely.
7. The world should be proud of Honduras as we are the first Latin American country to stand against a tyrannical leader who has tried to topple democracy and peace in our country.
8. Declarations made by Hugo Chavez should be discredited immediately. He should, as President Obama said, allow Hondurans to solve this issue through open communication following LEGAL processes.
9. It is not only in the interest of Honduras and its citizens that democracy prevails (supported by the events today and Manuel Zelaya’s arrest) but also in the interest of the United States that no other countries align with Hugo Chavez (and his puppets) to build his empire against democracy and peace.
10. In case Hugo Chavez tries to use military force in Honduras, we hope and pray we can count on the United States to stand alongside Honduras against the fight against tyranny and oppression.

Doug and Ruth Weber and family, UB endorsed missionaries in Ecuador with HCJB Radio, are spending the summer in the States. A week before they returned, Ruth’s stepmother, Jean, passed away. They flew to California for the funeral, and will return to Indiana today, June 30.

Two changes regarding their work in Ecuador:

• About Doug’s work: “I will be stepping down as the Radio Director for Latin America and instead be working with some the new media opportunities in the region when we return. These will include things like YouTube, Podcasting, Twitter, Facebook, cell phones, etc. I am pretty excited about the possibilities that some of these media present for creating new audiences in Latin America.”
• About Ruth’s work: “Before leaving Ecuador, Ruth decided to leave her current position as a third grade teacher at the Alliance Academy International and teach Educational Therapy next year. That is a big change for her and will allow her to slow down a little, working only half time. We are hoping that this change will help her fibromyalgia symptoms to be a bit more manageable.”

A UB medical team arrived back from a ten-day trip to Honduras on June 27, one day before Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was deposed in a military coup. The Honduran Congress has already appointed a new president. A nationwide curfew from 9 pm to 6 am is in effect for June 29-30, but the country seems to be at peace, at least in the immediate aftermath.

The coup happened on the same day that Hondurans were voting on a proposal which would enable President Manual Zelaya to seek re-election. The country’s Supreme Court had declared the referendum illegal.

The coup has been widely condemned, with statements to that effect coming from both the United States and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

From Kevin Lam of Mt. Olivet UB (Mt. Solon, Va.): “Five of our church members at Mount Olivet are from Honduras. After hearing the news of the government upheaval in Honduras this morning, they are very upset and concerned for the safety of their families back home. We ask for prayer for these 2 families as well as all of our brothers and sisters living in the midst of this turmoil.”

Troy and Julie Hendricks, UB endorsed missionaries in Spain, returned to the States after Troy’s father died unexpectedly on June 10. They were set to return to Spain today, June 24. But then serious medical problems arose with Troy’s mother, Susan, prompting them to cancel their return flight. Here is information sent out by Troy and Julie on Wednesday, June 23:

Sharon had not been feeling well for several days before Troy’s dad passed away unexpectedly. She continued to worsen and became quite jaundiced, and Sunday was admitted to the hospital for what we thought/hoped was gallstones. 

Yesterday morning the doctors did a procedure with a scope to try to move the stones, but found no stones. However, the (bile?) duct was 100% blocked by something. In the afternoon they did another procedure to insert a drainage tube in the liver, to drain the bile that had been backing up in her system.
 
They will be doing more tests to determine both what the blockage is, and exactly where it is located, but are concerned with it’s location near/on the liver. 

As you might imagine, so much has happened with Troy’s father’s unexpected death, and now with his mother’s illness in such a short time that I don’t think any of us are able to process the information. We are just doing what needs to be done at the moment.
 
We have cancelled our return flight to Spain that was scheduled for tomorrow (Thursday), and will determine a return date once we know more about what is actually going on with Troy’s mom.