Mi Casa es Su Casa

Today was a big day for mission group – it was the final day of the home build.  This day was very reminiscent of that TV show “Extreme Home Makeover”.  All week the family has been with us, working hand in hand with us on the build.  Noel, the father, helped build the roof rafters.  Gerado and David, the sons, painted and helped nail in dry wall and trim.  Many of the mothers of the community, who watch over the children of the neighborhood, have provided coffee and bread to us all week.  Much like the TV show, today we sent the family away for a few hours to the church to see the kids’ camp and medical clinic.  This gave the construction team time to finish last minute preparations.  Through the generous donations of team members, we were able to not only build a complete home, but furnish it too.  The family now has a new stove, kitchen table, and bedroom furniture.  Like every good reality show, we had the last minute drama of touching up painting, running furniture in and hurrying to make everything perfect with mere seconds to spare. 

When the family arrived we held a dedication ceremony.  Each member of the construction team passed around the keys to the house and said a few words to bless the Perez family.  Noel thanked God foremost for all His blessings and then thanked the constructions team for giving his family a home.  The dedication ceremony was emotionally moving and there wasn’t a dry eye in the bunch!  While we built their family a house, the foundation was already there when we arrived. 

It may just look like we built a house, but really we were servants of God, making a home for Christ and his family. The Perez’s will become a pillar in their community to spread God’s love.  So many hands contributed towards making this possible, including the supportive hands from home.  Noel asked all of us to place our hand prints over his doorway, along with our names, so that we can always be remembered and welcomed in his home.   As we handed over the keys to the family it was symbolic of hands coming together in service for a life aimed at living out our faith-by being an experiencer, and not just a believer.

the neighborhood of the house that we built

construction team on the first day with only the foundation 

the construction team

and the family with the newly built house on the last building day

each member of the trip painted their handprint on the front of the new house and signed their name upon the father's request

morgan in action

bob the builder (can he fix it?)

a picture of the house the family lived prior to their new home