Seeing What Isn't There

What do you see when you look at this picture?...Go ahead, zoom in...take a moment to consider your options...
Here let me help...maybe you see a black tarp, but you can't quite see the big hole in the middle of it. (It's ok though, it's not the rainy season right now.)
You might also see a single hammock. Under the shade of the big trees on a hot El Salvador afternoon, this might be somewhat inviting.  You may also notice dishes and some clothing, and then maybe you might start to think a little further than just an afternoon siesta...
You can also see a fairly sizeable freshly cut tree stump. You can't see the tree that was felled, laying off to the right of the picture. You can't see the hundreds of machete (yes, machete) marks made over 2 straight days of determined chopping to bring the tree down.
You can see the silver glint of metal posts. You can't see that they will be assembled together to provide a new home for this family who have been living under that tarp. 8 days ago, they took down their old "house" and moved into this temporary dwelling.

You can't see this family of 5: A husband (Juan), a wife (Vilma) and three girls, plus another baby on the way. You can't see the horse off to the left which Juan mounts every morning at 3am to go to his first job - milking 56 cows...by hand. You can't see the farm where he harvests corn and beans to help provide for his family, working hard during the heat of the day. You can't see his past, orphaned at 2 years old, his parents killed by gang members. You can't see his desire to honour the Lord in his marriage, and as a father. You can't see his love and care for horses. his hobby, he says, which allows him to relax.

We know, you can't see any of this...and truly, neither can we. However we can feel the strength of God's presence as we sat across from him, looking into his hope-filled eyes, and listened to his no-excuse love for life despite the negative perceptions that our first glance provides.

"God Willing" (Primiero a Dios) was a phrase that he repeated throughout our conversation. It is a reminder that in everything God is in control, that we function, purposefully and consistently, in grateful response to His provision as we anticipate His leading for the future. That future, now includes a house: to protect his girls from predators, to shelter his family during the rainy season and to provide security from which to build a future.

Please pray for Juan and Vilma and the other families like them. Thanks for providing for them. Thanks for allowing us to be here, for just a few moments, to be inspired and challenged to see what isn't there.

Deve

The Student Becomes The Teacher

  Wow! Today has just been incredible, it's hard to even put it into words. The weather was beautiful, the scenery was beautiful, the people were beautiful. Every year that I come back to El Salvador the beauty blows me away just as it did the first time.

  Today we were building in the community of San Jacinto. Myself and Christine have found our groove on Team Verde (green), hammering circles into squares and drilling holes into the trusses that will support the roof the house. I found my rhythm fairly quickly asI remembered doing something like this the previous 2 years I was here.

  While building the first house today, for a family of three (dad, mom and son), I met a boy named Gustavo. It took me a minute to realize that he was the boy receiving the house we were building. He so desperately wanted to be a part of the building process, but could get in to her dig the holes or out together the walls. So he came over alongside me and I was able to teach him how to use the drill.  He was so excited to learn, and so passionate about being a part of building this home for his family. I was so impressed with how hard he was working and how fast he was learning. It started out with me teaching him, and by the end he was pointing out my mistakes and correcting them. And just like that the student became the teacher!

  For the rest of the day, this boy followed me around everywhere I went. He followed me every time switched tools, when I walked back and fourth between the work sites, and even sat right by my side as I played with the other kids. At first it seemed kind of funny to me, but on second thought it just reminded me that even simple gestures can leave a huge impact on someone else's life.

Brittany

The Best Gift You Can Give

Stories. You hear them, you tell them. Some are amazing, some are inspiring, and some... not so much. I'm going to share a story I heard today and you can be the judge.

Hugo Antonio, he is 17 years old (the same age as I am). He lives with his mother and his younger sister. He was in the first family that we built for today. There is no father figure in this home, so Hugo has had to step up and fill this role. 

Each family that we build for has to clear and level a spot of land upon which  the house would be built. Hugo, being the man of the household, had the responsibility of doing this. The only dilemma is the land he had to prepare was not level at all, in fact, it was on the side of a hill. To level the ground, he had to dig down at least 6 ft on the one side. The top 8 inches (at the most) was dirt, the rest was rock. The community leaders told him that if the land was not ready, he would not get the house and it could be some time before he could get the opportunity to receive another house. So he hacked through the rock for 18 hours a day, for 7 days straight, with next to no breaks. All by himself.

After all of this hard work, there was a big pile of dirt and rock. He rented two bulls and a cart and loaded the dirt and rock into the cart and transported it to four other sites that houses were being built on. The other families would have had to purchase this dirt in order to level their plots of land. This took him two more 15 hour days to complete.

Before coming on this trip, I was having a conversation with my dad about coming on this trip taking a week away from school and how one of my teachers was not very supportive in that decision. After discussing this for a while, he finally said to me, "If you need to justify your decision to your teacher, tell them the best gift you can give in life is your service to others."

One of the questions we asked Hugo was: Why did you deliver all of the dirt to the other families when it was not your responsibility? His response was that he didn't have any money and with Christmas coming around the corner, he couldn't buy any gifts for his friends and their families. He knew that his friends would have to spend the little money they had on dirt to level the land for their houses. He thought he could bless them with the gift of his service by delivering the much needed dirt. 

Being the same age as Hugo, I try to put myself in his position and I wonder if I would ever do the same. Not only did he take care of his family and make sure their land was ready for their new home, he took it one step further, and blessed others with his service. Hugo's story inspires me not to just think only of myself, but to go to extra mile, take the extra step, and to serve others to the best of your  ability. 

Silas