In the summer of 2023, generous donors contributed over $100,000 to medical debt relief through the Debt Jubilee Project: For the Healing of the World, a collaborative effort of the Board of World Mission, the Moravian Ministries Foundation, and the Southern Province Commission on Congregational Development. Over $25,000 (25% of the total raised) was allocated for debt relief at the Ahuas Clinic. These funds cleared existing debt from patient accounts while also allowing the clinic to invest in medication, equipment, and supplies to better serve future patients.
Clinic administrators determined that, in order to provide debt relief to the community members who needed it most, patients would be prioritized in this order: 1) patients with terminal illness; 2) HIV patients; 3) patients with disabilities; 4) single mothers; 5) elderly patients. We recently heard from two of the patients whose debt was forgiven. Here are their stories:
Tonicia Martínez: Tonicia is a beautiful 55-year-old woman from Paptalaya, a village very near Ahuas. Her grandfather was one of the very first Moravians in La Moskitia. Tonicia has been sick with HIV / AIDS for 16 years and goes to Puerto Lempira regularly for treatment, which requires travel by boat or plane. She is a single mother and the cost of this travel is difficult for her to manage. She expressed her appreciation for the $10,675 in debt forgiveness that she received through the Debt Jubilee Project, saying, “Thank you very much. God is great. God never sleeps, he’s always over the earth.” When asked if she wanted to share who God is to her, she said, “God is good. There’s nothing evil in him. In the eyes of the Lord everyone is the same. I believe in Him because he has taken care of me in my life.”
Elma Reyes Molina: Elma is a 27-year-old single mother of one daughter born in 2023. She is originally from Ahuas and has lost both of her parents, so she came to the clinic looking for help when she began experiencing difficulties with her pregnancy. These issues left her with 3,000 Lempiras in medical debt (about $120). When asked how she felt about this debt being relieved, she began crying and said, “I have no words.” She expressed her gratitude for those who had contributed to the Debt Jubilee Project and emphasized the relief that this support has provided her. Despite often being left alone in her life, as an orphan and single mother, she stated confidently that whenever she needs something in her life, she knows that God will provide. “Without God, I am nobody.” She hopes that young girls in the church hold fast in their faith, saying “God is big and without him we are nobody. With God, you can do anything.”
