2025 Year End Summary
Dear friends of ASJ-Canada,
The past few months have been an incredibly busy and fruitful season for ASJ-Canada. As 2025 draws to a close and we reflect on the Christmas season and the new year to come, we want to share some of the year’s highlights—moments that fill us with gratitude and give us much reason to celebrate.
Early in 2025, our team at ASJ-Canada joined the ASJ Joint Executive Committee—together with ASJ-Honduras and ASJ-US—represented by our Board President, Matthew Van Geest, and our Vice-President, Sasquia Antúnez Pineda. Since then, we have met quarterly to share updates on program activities, celebrate our achievements, address challenges within Honduras’ political context, and explore collaborative strategies to advance our shared mission as sister organizations.
In June, two of our board members, John Bron and Sasquia Antúnez Pineda, traveled to Honduras to take part in the tri-board retreat. During this time, they met with community leaders, visited schools and clinics, and worked side by side with our ASJ-Honduras and ASJ-US partners to renew our shared covenant and strategy. Shortly after their return in late summer, we received exciting news: the Canada Revenue Agency officially granted ASJ-Canada charitable status! This long-awaited milestone opens the door to new opportunities for growth and expands our ability to make a lasting impact in
Building on this momentum, we have been growing our social media presence by launching our brand-new ASJ-Canada website in October, followed by refreshing our Facebook page. With the invaluable support of our sister organization ASJ-Honduras, we are now working closely with their communications team to develop a strong communication strategy for the year ahead.
The launch of these platforms has helped us grow our support base and connect with more Canadians who share our vision for justice. Earlier this month, we introduced our first-ever year-end matching challenge to invite supporters into this transformative work. The response has been inspiring—donors across the country, along with our own board members who contributed over $7,000, have already propelled us past our $15,000 goal, raising more than $18,000 to match the initial gift. This generosity fills us with hope for what it means for vulnerable communities in Honduras.
This momentum has also translated into direct impact on the ground. This November, ASJ-Canada proudly stood alongside ASJ-Honduras and ASJ-US as part of the largest election observation mission in Honduran history! We joined thousands of dedicated international and Honduran observers committed to transparency and integrity, helping to ensure that the voice of the Honduran people was honored throughout the 2025 election period. While election day was largely positive, the election was influenced by external forces, the final counting process was slow, which resulted in a three-week delay in confirming the election winner, and there is now contention about the final results. For a brief summary of the election, please take a look at this article: Trump-backed candidate Nasry Asfura wins Honduras presidential election – BBC News
During this visit, ASJ-Canada Board President, Matthew Van Geest also met with Ioanna Sahas Martin, Canadian Ambassador at the Embassy of Canada to Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras, to discuss the work of ASJ Honduras— especially their recent election-monitoring efforts— and to exchange ideas about areas of shared priorities areas in Honduras.
The path forward in 2026
As we look ahead, our board is discerning how best to direct ASJ-Canada’s financial support to Honduras. We are working closely with ASJ-Honduras to identify priority projects, with a focus on education and environmental justice—areas that urgently need funding and resonate deeply with our Canadian supporters.
We know the pursuit of justice is not a journey to walk alone. That’s why we are committed to finding creative ways to grow our Canadian support base and strengthen organizational governance. In 2026, we will be focusing on several key goals to help us to achieve this ongoing pursuit of justice. This includes: building stronger connections with Honduran Canadians; bringing on new board members with a shared passion for justice; fostering relationships with the Honduran Ambassador to Canada in Ottawa and Montreal; deepening engagement with the Government of Canada both here and in Honduras; working on organizational governance as we continue to stabilize and seek to grow ASJ-Canada; and finally, our dream is to hire our first part-time staff person this year.
Join Us in This Work
We will continue our fundraising efforts throughout 2026 and spread the word about ASJ-Canada and the courageous work of ASJ-Honduras. We invite you to join us in this transformative effort—by sharing our story with friends and family or by helping us meet our year-end matching challenge goal. While we’ve already surpassed that goal, all of your gifts help us to move closer to making a lasting impact in Honduras. If you want to make a final, year-end donation for the matching challenge, please visit our website. You can also sign up for updates and be part of this ongoing work for justice in Honduras: Home – ASJ Canada
All the milestones we reached in 2025 were possible because of your confidence in ASJ-Canada. We leave this year deeply grateful for your generosity and trust in this shared mission for justice. As we step into 2026, we do so with hope for transformation in Honduras and Canada—envisioning strong communities that flourish because “[he] has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
This Christmas season may the light of our Lord Jesus Christ fill your heart with hope, peace, and renewal for the year ahead. Thank you for walking with us on this shared journey of justice and mercy—we couldn’t do this work without you!
With gratitude for your trust and generosity,
