Carlos Barahona
For over twenty years, Carlos Barahona has served as the Executive Director of Nueva Esperanza. Being raised in an orphanage near Tegucigalpa, Honduras has granted Carlos with the compassion and desire to make a difference in the lives of poor Honduran children. As Executive Director, Carlos oversees the ministry and projects carried out in Honduras through Nueva Esperanza Inc. One of his desires as a child was to have a family of his own.
Carlos and Barbara along with their four children call Honduras their home and have dedicated their lives to serving God. They enjoy working with the ministry of Nueva Esperanza, Inc. and especially are blessed to be able to witness long term changes taking place in the lives of underprivileged children. It is a special joy for them to attend the high school graduations of children who began in Nueva Esperanza at three and four years of age!
Carlos and Barbara along with their four children call Honduras their home and have dedicated their lives to serving God. They enjoy working with the ministry of Nueva Esperanza, Inc. and especially are blessed to be able to witness long term changes taking place in the lives of underprivileged children. It is a special joy for them to attend the high school graduations of children who began in Nueva Esperanza at three and four years of age!
Barbara Barahona
Barbara Maurer graduated from Bible College in the spring of 1992. She had always had an interest in children and a special gift for working with them. She knew that she would eventually work in children’s ministry, but she didn’t know exactly where or how. While in college, Barbara had a roommate who was from Honduras and often talked about the country, about its beautiful people, about its tragic poverty, and especially about the unfortunate plight of the children. Barbara began to feel a burden for these children, and when an opportunity to work with poor children in the capital of Honduras arose about the time of her graduation from college, she knew she was receiving her calling. On July 7, 1992 Barbara left her belongings and her way of life to work in Honduras.
Her first month living in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, was difficult. She knew little of the Spanish language and even less about the culture of Honduras. With God’s help, however, she was able to persevere through this trying period and was already making preparations to open a small children’s center in a church by the end of her first month. The church was situated on a poor hillside neighborhood away from the center of the city, and they had agreed to allow Barbara to use the sanctuary for the proposed children’s ministry. By August 1992, she was ready to “open-for-business.”
Nueva Esperanza officially began on August 3rd, 1992 with 10 children.Barbara Barahona came to Honduras in 1992 and became the founder of what is now “Nueva Esperanza, Inc.” In Honduras she met and married Carlos Barahona and since that time they have worked together to serve God in ministry to the poverty stricken of families of Honduras. They have four children of their own.
Her first month living in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, was difficult. She knew little of the Spanish language and even less about the culture of Honduras. With God’s help, however, she was able to persevere through this trying period and was already making preparations to open a small children’s center in a church by the end of her first month. The church was situated on a poor hillside neighborhood away from the center of the city, and they had agreed to allow Barbara to use the sanctuary for the proposed children’s ministry. By August 1992, she was ready to “open-for-business.”
Nueva Esperanza officially began on August 3rd, 1992 with 10 children.Barbara Barahona came to Honduras in 1992 and became the founder of what is now “Nueva Esperanza, Inc.” In Honduras she met and married Carlos Barahona and since that time they have worked together to serve God in ministry to the poverty stricken of families of Honduras. They have four children of their own.
Elizabeth Lovejoy
Elizabeth Lovejoy was born and raised in North Kingsville, Ohio. She went to Mount Vernon Nazarene University majoring in Intervention Specialist and Early Childhood Education where she graduated in 2013. Throughout her time at college, she had opportunities to start traveling the world. Throughout this time, God was opening up her heart to the possibility of living and teaching internationally.
Elizabeth ended up applying to work at a bilingual school in Tegucigalpa, Honduras for the 2013-2014 school year as an Intervention Specialist and was offered the position. She worked at the school for a total of three years from August 2013-June 2016. During this time, Elizabeth fell in love with the people, culture, and country of Honduras during her time at the school. During her third year of teaching, she started to think about pursuing ministry opportunities in Honduras.
Elizabeth had already known about Nueva Esperanza before even moving to Honduras as Barbara and Carlos went to her home church in Ohio to speak about their ministry in August 2012. When she moved to Honduras to work at International School, she visited the ministry a couple times a year to work with teams and learn about the organization. Through her interactions with Carlos and Barbara and involvement with Nueva Esperanza, she began to think about becoming even more involved with the ministry. Through lots of research and prayer, Elizabeth decided to talk to Barbara in May 2016 about the possibility of working with Nueva Esperanza. After being approved by Nueva Esperanza’s board and doing about five months of support raising, she was able to start working at Nueva Esperanza in January 2017 as the Child Sponsorship Coordinator. She also tutors kindergarten students and helps students who have problems with behavior.
Elizabeth ended up applying to work at a bilingual school in Tegucigalpa, Honduras for the 2013-2014 school year as an Intervention Specialist and was offered the position. She worked at the school for a total of three years from August 2013-June 2016. During this time, Elizabeth fell in love with the people, culture, and country of Honduras during her time at the school. During her third year of teaching, she started to think about pursuing ministry opportunities in Honduras.
Elizabeth had already known about Nueva Esperanza before even moving to Honduras as Barbara and Carlos went to her home church in Ohio to speak about their ministry in August 2012. When she moved to Honduras to work at International School, she visited the ministry a couple times a year to work with teams and learn about the organization. Through her interactions with Carlos and Barbara and involvement with Nueva Esperanza, she began to think about becoming even more involved with the ministry. Through lots of research and prayer, Elizabeth decided to talk to Barbara in May 2016 about the possibility of working with Nueva Esperanza. After being approved by Nueva Esperanza’s board and doing about five months of support raising, she was able to start working at Nueva Esperanza in January 2017 as the Child Sponsorship Coordinator. She also tutors kindergarten students and helps students who have problems with behavior.