Yuri Susana Gomez Herrera, 35, lives in Nueva Suyapa, a scenic mountainside community on the outskirts of the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa. She lives in a sector called Cerro la Bandera where families face challenges such as water shortages, food insecurity, unemployment–and the ever-present threat of gangs.

Yuri has a contagious smile that lights up when she speaks about her husband, Manuel*. She grew up with an abusive stepfather and feels blessed to have been married to Manuel for the last 20 years. Smiling, she says, “He is not just a good man. Responsible. Respectful. He is a good father too.”

Through World Renew’s local partner, Ministerios Cristianos de Mayordomía (MCM), Yuri participated in trauma healing workshops that helped her to forgive her ailing stepfather who she now cares for. She admits, “If I had not healed my heart in the trauma healing workshops, I wouldn’t [be] taking care of my stepfather, after so many years of abuse, of screams, of insults. But God heals my heart and now I can take care of him with love…as if he were my own father.”

Trauma healing also helped Yuri to grow in confidence. And, after going through the necessary training and certification, she now facilitates trauma healing workshops—helping other women in her community to see that they too are wonderfully made by God and deserving of respect and love. She shares, “Before, everything scared me, I did not have the courage to express myself in front of others…now I have the confidence to express myself. After being healed in the workshops, my heart was touched, and I am encouraged to help others to be healed.”

But Yuri’s heart aches–for her husband and her eldest child, Roberto*, 18. Like many Hondurans, Manuel and Roberto have fled to the United States. Manuel left in search of work and Roberto to escape gang recruitment. With Manuel gone, Yuri is left to protect and provide for her three other children, Susana 14, James, 7, and Iker, 8. She has known trials and tribulations, but she knows God is with her and she has seen him working through the generosity of the people who support World Renew’s Free A Family® program.

As a participant in the Free A Family program, Yuri has not only been able to access trauma healing, get training in becoming a counsellor, but her family is also one of 50 families in her community who World Renew has provided with water tanks to store more water for irrigating their home gardens. Growing their own vegetables ensures they can prepare nutritious meals and helps reduce the amount they spend on food. Yuri says, “We are grateful to World Renew because the agricultural water tank has been really helpful. We can keep more water and save money.” Today, you can share Christ’s hope with families struggling with poverty.

You can be a part of the story of change for families like Yuri’s. Become a monthly donor today and discover more ways Free A Family support is helping Yuri and her family to look to the future with hope. $27 a month is all it takes to equip a community with the resources needed so one more family can join World Renew’s programming. As a thank you, World Renew will start sending you our quarterly issue of Family-to-Family Magazine, keeping you connected with some of the inspiring families whom you come alongside every day.