Mennonite Central Committee

IVEP was 'Ray of Light'

Press Release, June 2000
San Pedro Sula, Honduras
by Eric Timar

Melvin Flores remembers the International Volunteer Exchange Program (IVEP) as a 'ray of light' in his life. As he explains the connections he made through the program, and the seeds he planted for his future, it's clear he is not exaggerating.

Flores tells of the path that led him from a small town in Honduras to IVEP, and then eventually to his current position as Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity in Honduras.

Flores applied to travel to the United States with IVEP late in 1985, when he was working with the Social Action Commission of the Honduran Mennonite Church. "I had quit studying because I wasn't getting any results from it," he says, "and I felt I had no future in Lempira. The IVEP was a ray of light." He knew of the program from an aunt of his who had participated.

Flores applied to the program in 1986, and soon found himself in Kismet, Kansas for the first six months of his term. While in Kansas he worked on the farm of Evelyn and Harold Lambert. In the second half of his IVEP term Flores was in Sarasota, Florida he worked at Sunnyside Village, a Mennonite nursing home. There he was hosted by Dr. Lowell and Miriam Nissley.

After returning to Honduras, he went back to the United States in January of 1988 and began a Small Business degree at Hesston College in Kansas. "The family that hosted me in Kansas took me to Hesston College to see the campus," he says. He did not think seriously about attending the college at that point, but he sees the hand of God in the next coincidence: "The couple I lived with in Florida had worked as professors at Hesston. Imagine it."

While in Florida, Flores was also introduced to Habitat for Humanity, and he volunteered as a construction worker on Saturdays. "I had no idea there was a Habitat in Honduras, as well," he says. His experience in Florida helped him land his current position as Director of Habitat Honduras, which he began in January of 1994.

"Everything came together," he says. Finding a connection to Hesston College and learning about Habitat for Humanity pointed him to his life now. "God was preparing me with English skills, experience in construction, personal contacts and education," remembers Melvin. "IVEP was the first step."