Casa de Luz continues mission in Honduras amid pandemic

When the COVID-19 pandemic caused a strict lockdown in Honduras in March, missionaries Val and Ed Schubert faced a tough decision. Head back to the United States or stay in Honduras to continue their mission of serving families through Casa de Luz, a Christian ministry founded by the Gerald family of Gerald Auto Group which provides child-care services and education to some of the most impoverished citizens in the country.

Although the lockdown forced both Casa de Luz locations in the rural town of Zambrano and Tegucigalpa, the capital city of Honduras, to close, the Schuberts decided to remain in Honduras and focus their ministry solely on distributing food to those in need. Honduras and other smaller countries have faced some of the strictest lockdown measures in response to the coronavirus pandemic, making it nearly impossible to purchase food supplies and other essential goods. Until recently, residents in Honduras were only allowed to leave their houses once every 15 days to perform essential tasks such as going to the bank or seeking medical care. Currently, residents may leave their houses every 10 days and the day they may venture out is based on the last digit of their identification number or passport for American citizens.

Since many of the Hondurans that utilize Casa de Luz's services are day laborers who use their wages to pay for food for only the next 12 to 24 hours, the lockdown left many facing critical food shortages. Within days of the sudden lockdown, Casa de Luz received calls and messages alerting them to the fact that many of the families they served couldn't exist on the food supplies currently in their homes. It was at that moment that the Schuberts felt called to spearhead a program to help prevent malnutrition in the area.

"As with any challenge or difficulty, we have had a choice as to how we are going to respond to COVID-19. While many, including myself, have used the term 'crisis' to describe the moment at hand, I have come to believe that, in actuality, God has called us to a time of sacred opportunity rather than to crisis and chaos," said Val Schubert, president of Casa de Luz.

At first their mission was to make sure the 214 children and teens they serve didn't go hungry, but Schubert said God had bigger plans for them to make an even larger impact in the community.

"We at Casa de Luz have been given a sacred opportunity to spearhead the prevention of malnutrition and starvation in over a dozen different neighborhoods, feeding over 10,000 desperately hungry people in the past six months," said Schubert.

Working with a small team of six people, the Schuberts included, they have partnered with local mayors, federal emergency agencies, the Honduran military and the National Food Bank to distribute food to thousands. Each week food staples are delivered to the Schuberts who package them up for individual distribution. Every Friday they distribute food to anywhere between 150 and upward of 500 people. They space each distribution out by two minutes and help form lines that follow social distancing guidelines to help keep people safe. Casa de Luz has also traveled to remote mountain villages to distribute food to those who cannot come to them.

To date, Casa de Luz has distributed 67,700 pounds of food. Each food pack contains a variety of nonperishable food items that can be used for both cooking and baking. Packs contain staples such as corn flour, red beans, rice, dry cereals, oatmeal, pasta, baby cereals and foods, condiments for sauces, liquid or powdered milk, sugar, coffee and shortening.

Generous donations have allowed Casa de Luz's ministry to continue during the pandemic. Much of the funding comes from the yearly auction and fundraiser hosted by Casa de Luz founder, Marilyn Brautigam and the Gerald family, who own Gerald Auto Group. In the coming months, Brautigam and the Geralds will host a virtual auction to continue raising funds for the food distribution program as well as the school, which they hope will reopen in February.

When Brautigam started Casa de Luz 15 years ago with her brother, Neil Gerald, she couldn't have imagined how the ministry would grow. Especially in times of crisis, Brautigam said every person asks themselves why they are here and what their purpose is. The answer is often that they want to be part of something bigger than themselves. One of the best ways to do that is to be of service to others.

"In helping others we reach inside and help ourselves, even if we don't realize it's happening," said Brautigam.

For more information on Casa de Luz or to donate, visit http://www.cdlworld.org/donatecopy.html. To view a video about Casa de Luz, visit https://youtu.be/dAOuqhxVH_c.