Over New Years I was so very blessed to go to Mexico and be apart of building a house for the man on the left in this photo. His name is Tomas. He and his family had been in prayer for a house for 4 years. God answered that prayer through a ministry called Casas Por Cristo.
The man on the right is Da'vid, a true follower of Christ who works with CPC as a liaison in Acuna.
This is the site where we built the house. Behind the men in the picture is Tomas' existing house. I'm not sure if you can see but the right side of his house had no roof.
Our goal was to build a two bedroom house in 3 days.
Day 1:
Starting on the frame work for the slab.
Making sure it is level.
Cutting the lumber...
This is Tomas' son.
Me and my hubby working together building walls.
Pouring the slab...
Tomas' sister and niece watching. All of his family was so very sweet! I don't speak much spanish and they didn't speak much english but we seemed to communicate well through broken conversations, smiles and hugs.
Sifting sand for stucco.
End of day 1: The slab was poured, insulation cut and ready to fill walls, walls built and chicken wire was cut, and we had started sifting sand for stucco.
Day 2:
Black board and electrical.
Chicken wire.
Suah, Tomas' wife.
Roof.
Stretching chicken wire is not as glamorous as you would think. Okay, maybe you didn't think it was glamorous in the first place. Well, you are right, it's not.
I was thrilled about being able to serve alongside my husband.
The family served us lunch two of the three days. This meal we had beans, ribs (we weren't positive as to what kind of rib meat we were eating), tortillas and pickled peppers.
It is possible that the family used all of their food money for the entire month in order to feed us those two days. And not only did they provide food, they bought drinks as well. They were so overly generous. These people had next to nothing and yet, they were serving us.
End of day 2: We had put up the walls, blackboard, the roof, chicken wire, started on electric and sifted more sand for stucco.
Some sights that stirred me...
Church building.
Do you think this congregation has much say so over how hot or cold it is in their sanctuary?
Neighborhood pup.
Laundry.
You can't see well because of the size of the picture, but there are little baby clothes hanging on the front line.
A home.
Materials used on this home were tin metal sheets, wooden crates, plastic tarp and anything else they could find.
A lady washing her dishes.
This lady washes her dishes outside everyday and I complain because I don't have a dishwasher inside my house. Ouch.
The evening of the 2nd day we served the community.
Early that afternoon a group went out and walked the neighborhoods inviting people to come. 130 people showed up.
We served Taco Soup, cookies and bottled water.
They were so grateful for everything.
We brought boxes of clothes, shoes, bags, diapers, and other items to give away. After they got their soup they formed another line to get their turn to go through the donations.
They waited so very patiently, never fussed or complained about anything. Even as we started losing light and the temperature dropped by the minute.
The kids jumped on a box of stuffed animals with pure excitement and delight! This little girl ended up with a cute teddy bear.
Day 3:
Tomas' children playing ball.
Mixing stucco.
Pedro, Tomas' father.
Stucco.
Sheetrock.
It was amazing to watch everyone work together.
Lunch on day 2 was Chicken Mole`, rice, tortillas and salsa.
It was delicious. So very spicy. But delicious!
Gifts we brought the family and left in the house. Things like toiletries, a heater, fan, rugs, bedding, towels, pillows, cleaning supplies and cookware.
Tomas and Pedro embracing. About 45 minutes to an hour before we finished the project, Tomas started weeping and he hadn't stopped by the time we left. He sat in the corner of one of the rooms in the house watching as we made the finishing touches, overwhelmed and thankful to the LORD for the blessing of the house.
Just about ready to dedicate.
This was taken during the dedication of the house. Da'vid read the Word and preached. We gave them a bible that we all signed, told them thank you for serving us while we were there and how much of a blessing they were to us. One of our men had the honor of giving Tomas the keys to his house. We laid hands on the walls and prayed over the house all at once in a concert of prayer. Tomas and his family are believers and knew exactly where the praise and glory was due, before we closed our time of dedication they led us all in a song of praise, "Gracias Cristo". I know their words were sweet to our Fathers ears. It was beautiful.
Tomas nailing the last nail in the house.
The crew and family in front of the finished house.
I took 272 pictures in these 3 days. It was hard to narrow them down to the 48 you saw here. I pray you were able to see the need that was met through God's provision for this family and even their community. I fear my words are lacking to describe the full magnitude of these 3 short days, but it was truly life changing for me. I pray one day I will be able to return and be apart once again!
To God be the glory forever! Amen.
