Casa de Luz
In places of great darkness, let there be a House of Light… Casa de Luz.
“First, we are challenged to rise above the narrow confines of our individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
It’s hard to believe there are still places in our modern world where children attending school is an exception instead of a norm; that there are still places where they are locked inside for fear of abduction in broad daylight; and still other places where the innocent are left to wander the streets among those that would prey upon them.
One woman, Marilyn Brautigam, had her eyes opened and saw an opportunity to make a difference. Her security/driver was also a local Pastor. Over time she learned of hardship in Pastor’s neighborhood and could not be still. That’s how it all started.
In 2007, the IFC adopted Casa de Luz as an International Mission Outreach. Through relationships developed in the U.S., the IFC was invited to apply their expertise in community and church collaboration to quality of life issues in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. As a result of their work, the Honduran community established a nonprofit organization consisting of not one, but two preschools, serving two different locales and hundreds of families through its ministry.
Casa De Luz exists to provide care and preschool education in the poorest barrios in Honduras. They execute this through strong relationships with the local church, and supporting missionaries on the ground to assist local Hondurans in solving their problems….teaching them to care for the local community through relationships, as opposed to providing care from the outside-in. Missionaries hire and train local community members to run the preschool, bringing economic development to the neighborhood. Participants pay what they can, making them a part of the process. A local board made up of local Honduran Leadership stewards the resources, which includes the local pastor and Institute for Community missionaries.
Click here to view the Casa De Luz Website.
Click here to view pictures from the Casa De Luz grand opening.
Click here to download the “Sponsor-A-Class” Program Flyer
“Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
– Margaret Mead
