Yesturday we built our first house!! It was amazing, it does not matter how many times you experience it, it rocks your world. Then for those of our group who had never been part of this....they were overwhelmed!
Before
After
We returned to San Miguel to build a house that was funded by several sources. Ryan and JC made a fundraising effort for a house after they became aware of all the disasters in San Miguel due to flooding. With the money they raised we built a house for a family that had alot of water damage due to the rain. They had an adobe house and one wall had already fallen in and had been replaced with cardboard and plastic. The rest of the house was unstable and when it rained it filled with water. This family of 4 with a "due any moment" mom really needed a new house and this was one of the sites the kids picked for our trip. We arrived on Tuesday morning and surprised the family, that they would be getting a new house!
The Happy Family
It was a beautiful day on the mountian and we had lots of help from the community and "our boys". All of the kids commented at how they loved that the community took such an active role in helping this family build there new home. Everyone worked really hard and it was a great house when we were finished....it is a beautiful house infact. The love given in building it certianly showed in the final product. Building is a hard day of work. Because we work in remote communities getting supplies to the sites can often be a challenge and this was one of those sites.
The Marine
hauling wood
All the wood had to be carried by hand from the road up the mountain, this is hard work but all of our girls got in there and hauled the wood allong side of our family Marine. The site was small so building was a challange in having space for supplies and work to happen at the same time. Mark is a great crew leader and he kept us moving all day.
It was a 14x20 house when we completed. It was so cool for me to watch all "the kids" working together on this project. Chris and Erin had never built before so Eric did a great job at guiding them through some processes. Carly and Chris even took a turn with the chain saw..they were inpressive. It was good to see Eric back in the groove. He really loves it here and does a great job. As Chris said "Eric just looks like he should have a chain saw in his hand!"
We built the house in about 5 hours which is great and with a little extra wood and a little extra time we were able to build a new bed for the family, a really nice addition as most families sleep on mats of the floor.
Erin Siding
Lori Flooring (no time for a water break? get it from a bag)
Jenny and baby flooring
Mark Roofing
One thing we always do when we finish a house is bring the family into the house and pray with them. It was then that alot of emotion surfaced for many. Crystal was overwhelmed as she looked at the very real and huge impact this house was for this family. Tears flowed abundantly as she felt the joy of true and pure giving, giving so completely of yourself with no expectation of receiving anything, and what that does to your soul. There is nothing like it. Carly spoke last night about "pure love" and she is right in saying we see it here so very clearly as we walk the steps of the Christ in sharing that love. Ryan spoke of how we can no longer look at the world as "us and them" that we can not turn away from what we have seen. It was an exhausting day but boy was it a GREAT tired!
Joy of Giving
Today was not physically challenging but emotionally challenging!
Eric and Jenny in the oncology ward
Today we went to the hospital and the special needs orphanage. Days like this are trying to the soul and days you question and struggle with beliefs you felt were so firm within you. Our first visit was to Hospital Esquela. It is the hopital "of the poor", So you can just image..well actually no your probably can not. It is a hard place to be..our reason for going is to bring hope to the hopeless.
Erin and the kids
You know, often in our experience, when we are faced with a hopeless situation we will say "I will pray for you". It is often, I feel, an empty almost "last resort" kinda thing to offer. But here when you tell a parent of a dying child that you will pray for them, It means so much more...I think it is because they rely so deeply on God because he is truly all they have that to offer pray on behalf of their child is an incredible and much desired thing...I love that!
I loved to watch all our kids interact with the patients...Chris spent a long time with a young girl, painting her nails, face painting, coloring, they became fast friends...I know that the "time" Chris gave her was healing to her soul, you could see it in her face. I watched as Eric and Jenny stood with a boy who was alone and needed some one to hold his hand as he was getting shots and IV's, to comfort him, they did that! I watched as Ry and JC went it a room with a little girl who had "cancer of the skin" (we are not sure about what that really ment) and was extremely deformed, she hid behind a hat and did not want to make eye contact. But they went in and squated down and looked at her and talk with her as if she was totally normal..what a gift to that young girl!
and the greatest of these is LOVE
I watch Erin sat and made a necklace with a young girl and played with a dozen kids in an activity room and for a short time brought smiles and allowed them to forget their pain. I watched Carly come from the oncology ward and sob in Eric's arms from pure compassion and from a heart that so deeply wants to change the world for those in need.
It was a proud moment for me...and I know God was smiling too!
Carly...a glimpse of compassion
Our second stop was to the special needs orphange. Here all the children are in some way handicapped. We had a great time spending time and playing with these special children, they truly are the forgotten in many ways. They range in age from 5 to 21. There are 24 children in the facility. We arrived when all the kids were quietly having a movie time and we busted in and it was FIESTA TIME! The kids were so happy to see us and it was LOLLIPOPS for everyone!!
Erin
Ryan
Chris found her training in PT was very helpful here as she sat with 3 severly physically limited children and massaged them, I think we may see her here one day volunteering her time and skill to the needs of these children.
Chris
Mark had the chance to just be and enjoy the kids...he is usualy in a "managment role" but today it was just us and he had the chance to play and love on these kids... I know he LOVED THAT!!
Mark
We all loved our time here and felt more joy and blessing than we could have ever given. This is not the place where all those cute little honduran children are found. Their limitations and handicaps are evident but that did not stop this family..everyone jumped in and played and laughed and loved on these kids just like the kids on the mountains who may be poor but are really cute and easy to love. I thought about how Godly that is...to love the unloveable and again I was proud to watch as everyone did that so effortlessly.
Tommorow we build Grandma Jan's house...it will be a wonderful day of memory of a women we all loved so much!!!
3 comments:
Hi All, What can I say, how awesome you are doing this together, Maybe this can become an annual summer event for the fam, with more of us being there each year. I am so sad I can't be there, but so happy to see what a difference you are all making in such a short amount of time. I love and miss you all. Momma, Mom, Aunt Che Che , Cher. I hope Ry and JC are feeling better.
Hi all, your friends in Andover are following your journey with admiration, pride and love,
R
Wow! What a gamut of emotion you all are experiencing. So great that you could visit the kids at the home and in the hospital. Not the most fun service but maybe one of the most meaningful and those are often the most rewarding. Thanks for the willingness to stretch, grow and GIVE of yourselves. My favorite pics (and they may be under different posts) are the one of Erin and all the kids in pink and the one of JC and the pink toolbelt!
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