God's Heart for the Poor 
Bringing Christ’s hope to the underprivileged women and children of Honduras, Maria Elena Umana Alvarez’s journey with Christ has led her to national impact and recognition. Her story is a model of how God creates each of us for His specific purposes.

Maria was the youngest of six children. Her father worked for an American company, Chiquita Banana, on the northern coast of Honduras. Though still poor by western standards, Maria had many material advantages over other Honduran children. Her family lived in an American compound and in her English-speaking school she had teachers from Boston. She even traveled to the United States to attend high school. As Maria grew, she was outwardly prosperous, successful and popular. Internally, however, Maria was filled with conflict and pain.
Maria’s older brother married a Christian and came to accept Christ as his personal Lord and Savior. He witnessed to Maria.

“No, I can’t be a Christian,” Maria would say. “These people can be Christians because they were born good. I was born bad. If only I was born again,” Maria kept saying, “then I would be a different person. I felt I lost my chance.”

But this was not true! In 1976, at the age of 23, Maria came to Washington, D.C. She was recruited to work in the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) as a bilingual secretary. While attending an ISI Bible study led by staff person Sheila, Maria recognized something different about the girls in the study. They reminded her of her brother.

“My first impression was that I wanted to have what these people had,” said Maria. “They were so joyful and loved me for who I was.”
On January 7, 1977, Maria was faced with the question of what to do with all she had learned about Jesus. She knew the only decision for her was to walk with Christ. She accepted Him as her personal Lord and Savior. Maria’s desire to serve the Lord was immediate. She had seen Sheila and the others serve faithfully and wanted to join them.

Over the course of several years of discipleship and spiritual growth, God led Maria back to Honduras. While the transition was challenging, Maria continued to depend on God. Eventually Maria married and she and her husband, Arnoldo, brought their ministry together through Latin American Mission Project, Inc. (LAMP). As County Directors, Maria and Arnoldo arranged and coordinated teams from the United States for short-term mission trips. Arnoldo led them through work projects in villages, and Maria oversaw public relations, coordination of logistics, and the correspondence and follow-up of the projects.

Though this ministry, Maria and Arnoldo have been able to help meet the needs of the poor in Honduras as well as share the Gospel. Maria, who has become a champion of the poor, says that she would have never had a love for the people of her country if she hadn’t met Christ through ISI.
“Before Christ, the poor people were like paintings on the walls. I didn’t even notice. I knew they were there, but they didn’t have anything to do with me. This is why that was such a change, the Lord in my heart. What came to me was a love for my country. It was incredible. I was born there for a purpose.”
Maria’s new life in Christ, the one she thought she’d never have, gives the poor in Honduras an opportunity for a better life on earth, and an eternal life in heaven.