Felipa Mejia : Hope and Healing

Felipa is a single mother from Flores de Oriente, the poorest section of Nueva Suypa, which is itself one of the poorest neighborhoods in Tegucigalpa. Several years ago, her teenage son began hanging around with members of a local gang, using drugs, and committing petty crimes. Felipa felt helpless to do anything about it. Then police officers showed up looking for her son, and only made things worse for Felipa. The police, frustrated that the son was not home, vented their anger by hitting Felipa and destroying what little furniture she had. Felipa descended into a deep depression and considered suicide. She stopped eating and was in danger of starving herself to death.

But thankfully, the story doesn't end there. A neighbor of Felipa's who was attending a domestic-violence support group run by the Gideon Center in Nueva Suyapa convinced Felipa to come along one day. There, Felipa was quickly put in touch with both the Gideon Center's lawyer and the Gideon Center's psychologist.

The lawyer wrote up a legal document for Felipa stating that any police officers who violated her rights would be immediately reported to the authorities by the Gideon Center. Next time the police showed up at her house, she showed them the document and they backed down!

The Gideon psychologist met repeatedly to talk with Felipa about the sources of her depression and to tell her about how God loved her and had a purpose for her. Felipa pulled out of her depression and now has a smile on her face. At the time this article was written, Felipa's sone was so impressed by the change in her that he was even considering going into counseling!

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