Escalating rhetoric and meetings Saturday.

Hello friends and family,

The political crisis in Honduras continues. We are safe and have no reason to believe that we are in any additional danger due to the crisis. We continue to covet your prayers for safety, wisdom, and peace here in this place.

The president of Costa Rica continues to function as mediator between deposed President Zelaya and the current administration in Honduras. The first round of talks last week do not seem to have produced any results and the two sides have agreed to meet again on Saturday (7/18). In an effort to increase the stakes of these meetings and strengthen his bargaining position, former President Zelaya has very unwisely escalated his rhetoric these last few days. He has declared a "deadline" of this Saturday stating that he will consider the talks over if he isn't restored to power. He has even gone so far as to call for "insurrection" by his supporters in Honduras. This is coming straight out of the Hugo Chavez playbook from Venezuela. All of this rhetoric seems to have served its purpose and re-emboldened the protesters here in Honduras. There are reports of roads being closed due to protests. Remember that here there is really only one road between major cities, so it is not hard to effectively shut transportaion down in the country by simply erecting a few barricades at strategic locations. All of this has put several members of our group in the very difficult position of deciding to go through with pre-arranged travel plans this weekend or cancel and reschedule important trips to the USA. We also have some students here with us whose parents have requested that they return home due to the crisis. We are trying to arrange the safest and most effective way to honor the request of the parents.

While none of this affects our family directly, it does affect our "extended family" here at Loma De Luz and we urgently ask you to pray for safety and wisdom as "we" make difficult decisions about when and how to travel.

Of course, we also ask you to pray for the escalating situation here and for the talks on Saturday. Please pray that peace will prevail and that tensions will decrease.

Lastly, we want you to know that the work of Loma De Luz continues each day in the midst of the political crisis. Please pray for God's financial provision and for each worker here as we continue to do what God has called us to do - serve the people of Honduras.

Thank you and God Bless!

DF 07.16.09

** for those of you who are interested, here is another excellent article from the Wall Street Journal from July 13th entitled:
"Why Honduras Sent Zelaya Away"