Flee or stay.

    Today after a good day of building four homes we were able to once again sit down for a delicious meal at Carrie and Stuart's home. As typical, our translators and drivers stayed and ate with us and I was blessed enough to sit by them. While I have talked to Donald (our driver) before and even met his wife (Ellie) before, I was not aware of the things going on in their lives.  Donald spoke to us about his children. Donald and Ellie have two children they can barely afford, but are also caring for two other children who were abandoned by her sister and brother-in-law when they fled for the USA.  This is a similar story to those we have heard before from others, and these stories always move me as I consider the impact on the children. In this situation, the oldest child (10 at the time) pulled back and would not accept any affection or Love from Donald and Ellie for over three years. 

    What was different this time from the other stories I have heard was their description of the missing father. Their father does send some support (it does not cover their costs) and does phone on a regular basis.  Recently, the father paid for a coyote to bring the children to the USA without even letting Donald and Ellie know, so the kids were suddenly gone. However fifteen days later the attempt had failed and they were back and in trouble with the law due to the failed illegal attempt.  What shocked me was that throughout the conversation they had nothing bad to say about the father, and they even admired him for having the courage to make the dangerous journey to the USA. I was overwhelmed and had to express to Donald that we admired him and his wife because I believe it takes more  courage to stay behind and take care of both his family and the additional kids even though it was a struggle. 

    This very choice is what we have been commending this week in our building community, as so far every home built has been for families with both Father and Mother present and signs of strong commitment.  These families need our prayers as the lure of fleeing to a better life in the USA is still alive, even with the broken homes it leaves behind. 

Thank you for your continued prayers for us and these families.

Pat

A tree

Palo de Los cuches

We used to call it the tree in the middle of the road. Why? Because the road passed on either side of the tree. For years and years, decades and decades, centuries and centuries, this tree was in the middle of the road. That is, until now. Earlier this year, the local government decided to remake half of the street into a pedestrian walkway, with park benches, tables and nice brick work adjacent to a wide side walk. Now it's the tree formerly in the middle of the road.  Even to the locals some of its lustre is lost. 

Why am I telling you this? Because this tree represents some of the identity for the people here. History tells us that this tree was here in 1635.  It's name "Palo de Los cuches" means the street of the pigs. Back in those early days they sold pigs beside or under this tree. But that's not all they sold. They also sold slaves! They sold slaves and pigs in the same spot! That's the value they placed on the lives of other humans - equating them with swine, sold for slaughter, sold as a resource, dirty, disgusting animals...allow that to sink deeper into your mind and heart and be honest with how it makes you feel. 

We come to build houses, it's true. But as Tyson reminded us last night, it's the least important thing we do. The greatest thing we do is to help people who feel they have no worth to discover how immeasurably valuable they are to our God who created them and their Saviour who has paid the price of his life so that they can fully experience a relationship with Him, together with us. 

We are no different than they are, in their history - we can be guilty of diminishing the value of others based on their perceived differences. However, we can all grow in our understanding that we are all equally created in the image of our Creator God - and allow that truth to change the way we respond to others; compelling us to be ambassadors of Gods peace among people. 

Deve

Church services, fireworks, and finally a day of building

Today was our first building day. For those of you who are familiar with the usual timeline of this trip, you will know that this is unusual. Although we arrived on Friday night, the New Year's celebrations meant that most of the area wasn't functioning as normal, so we had a bit of extra time to take things in before we were able to start working.

On Saturday, we met the ten families that we were building for. Despite the fact that we just got a small introduction to each family, it is already obvious that each one is unique. We are excited to hear more about each family as the week goes on.

We were also able to attend a local church on Saturday for a New Year's Eve service, and then again on Sunday for regular service. Although many on the team have experienced this before, it was my first time attending a service that wasn't primarily in English. As I watched the congregation worship God, loudly, despite the frequent distractions that came from the New Year's celebrations on the streets outside, I was reminded again that God is so much bigger than my worship, than my culture, and than my expectations. Taking communion, I think, was one of the highlights for many of us. There is something powerful about standing side-by-side with people who live in a completely different area, with a much different culture, and to know that we all serve the same God and that we are all connected as one body of Christ.

We also got a chance to see some pretty amazing fireworks. We all saw fireworks in the middle of town at around 9:15. Many of our team also saw and heard the fireworks that went off in all of the streets for hours and hours throughout the night. I slept through all of it, so you will have to ask someone else to explain it all to you when they get back. They may or may not be happy about it when they tell you. :)

Anyway, on to what most of you are interested in: the building. Technically, we are building in two communities, but these communities are less than 200 metres apart, so it feels like one. We split into two groups today and built a total of four houses. This is my first time on the team, so it all felt new to me. We were encouraged to see how many community members came out to help out. Although this often meant that we were left with little to do but to watch other people work, that frustration was balanced by the joy we could feel in seeing a community where people truly care about each other. Today wasn't without its struggles. Language barriers, injuries (everyone is fine), heat, and enormous rocks that took hours to dig out all caused us a bit of stress today, but as we sat with each of the four families after the houses were put up, it was easy to focus on the bigger picture of what God is doing.

I'm sure you will be getting more details about the families and their stories as the week goes on, but for tonight, I wanted to give you a general update of what we have been doing, since many of you have been wondering.

Thank you for keeping up with what our team has been doing! Please continue to pray for our team, that we may be open to what God will do in us and through us in the coming week.

Tara