A Day of Celebration

It was a great day celebrating with our 12 families who have received houses this week. In a more low-key ceremony than in previous years, we honoured our new homeowners, praised their perseverance and prayed blessing over them. These are men and women who had a dream of a new home and put in the work and the prayer to see it happen.


They believed God would provide and He did! We also presented each homeowner with a new Spanish bible.


One of our homeowners commented that it was an even greater gift than his new home! He knew that the word of God was powerful and life changing. This man has seen what God can do. Imagine what He might do next…


Amanda

Ready for the Rain

Every morning and most evenings we have dinner at a little restaurant two blocks away from where we are staying. We're the only people there, and the staff are always welcoming, and the food is prepared to give us a good cross section of Salvadoran flavour (refried beans, plantains) as well as some of our own comforts (salads and tonight's lasagna are a good example). 

As we started eating tonight we heard the roll of thunder and the claps of lightning. These quickly gave way to a downpour of rain, which echoed in our space because of the tin roof above us. I looked around the table and could sense what many were thinking during this unexpected thunderstorm, which ended up lasting a couple of hours.  During a little break in the storm we darted back up to our "home". The water was flowing down the street in waves, pieces of garbage were setting sail in water that was ankle deep in some places. 

After we headed out for our evening snackie (this time it was Ice Cream Sundaes) and returned for our debrief, Deb Firth (my friend from Alberta who joined our team), put into words what we had all been thinking. She said something to the effect of, "How do you think those 12 families feel tonight, knowing that this kind of rain, will not destroy their homes or their health anymore?"...

We then spent a lot of time talking about the evidence we have seen of the former "houses" in which the families had lived. Rusted and broken pieces of tin, so many buckets and bowls that were used to collect rain water. Plastic sheeting, or mud packed bamboo pieces piled in a corner.  And the stories we heard...so many...

Being here on the edge of the rainy season, God provided an unmistakeable, tangible reminder that what we're doing is making a signficant practical difference in their lives. With twelve families we have built homes, more importantly, with these 12 families we have built hope in the name of Jesus, through whom all this is possible. And now they are ready for the rain!

Every prayer for these families, every dollar supported is greatly appreciated and much needed. 

We have so much more to share from our experiences, hopefully you'll get the chance to ask us about them. 

A little game of cards to end the day

Deve