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Ministries look for stability as coup standoff appears to be ending

After four months of political instability, deposed president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, and his opponents arrived at a power-sharing agreement. If Congress passes it, Zelaya will be reinstated to power and serve the last three months of his term, reports MNN.

"If Congress agrees, control of the army would shift to the electoral court, and the presidential elections set for Nov. 29 would be recognized by both sides," a New York Times article stated. Additionally, neither Zelaya nor Roberto Micheletti, the country's interim president, would be candidates in the elections.

While the legislature backed Zelaya's ousting on June 28, they said they would not stand in the way of this resolution, according to Associated Press.

Two past efforts to arrive at a resolution failed. However, with United States and the Organization of American States stepping on these negotiations, the end is visible.

"Passage could mean a bookend to months of international pressure and political turmoil in Honduras," NY Times said.

Ministries in the area, such as Orphan Outreach, sincerely hope this is the case.

Mike Douris, president of Orphan Outreach, said the political instability in the country has affected education and their ministry.

"The big issue has been in the education side. The teachers have sided with the former president, and they've gone on strike. So the kids hadn't been in school, and then the current administration has canceled school two months early," he said.

While Orphan Outreach provided support to one school for kids to continue their education, it has been a tragedy for the rest of the country's kids.

Not only has Honduras's education system been affected, so has Orphan Outreach's ministry.

When Zelaya was first ousted, they had two teams and interns in the country. They had to immediately remove these three groups. Since then, they sent a team back in August away from the unrest. However, without the usual amount of teams from Orphan Outreach and other ministries, their impact has been affected.

"The support that teams bring when they come down and the activities they do with the kids are so important ... the teams add that extra enthusiasm, and the kids look forward to it so much," Douris said. "It's such an encouragement for them to know that there are believers in the United States that care enough to come down and develop relationships."

Douris said they plan to send down a team in December, and these new political developments should not hinder this.

If this resolution is passed, Douris said, he hopes it will ensure the elections take place on Nov. 29, increasing the country's stability.

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TAGS: Honduras Manuel Zelaya power-sharing agreement Roberto Micheletti presidential elections Orphan Outreach

[11/02/2009]

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