home construction

During the middle of the week, it became increasingly hard for me to find time to update the blog to share with you about the ministry that was happening while the Carlisle BIC church team was here. Even though it's a little delayed, hopefully this entry will give just a little insight into what happens when teams come to serve.

Each morning on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, the team packed up their gear and headed out to some of the remote villages surrounding Chichicastenango. They would then split into various groups, some that put together children's programs similar to a VBS and others that worked on construction of little houses.

In our organization, people in need can submit applications to have groups come and build a house for them. Then, local pastors as well as the Guatemalans entrusted with leadership positions in CCDA (the Guatemalan side of Missions Frontier) sort through those applications, decide which ones to accept, and prioritize them based on need.

People here need houses for a variety of reasons. This year, the team built a house for a 74-year old widow who had been raped by four different men who then proceeded to burn down her house. Another house was built for a pastor who lost his home, his possessions, and his church in the mudslides following Tropical Storm Agatha. Sometimes homes are built for elderly couples who are still caring for an adult, disabled child.

At other times, homes are built for an older woman whose alcoholic husband has sold their property out from under her...all so he could get another drink.

The teams who come to build always go through a wide range of emotions as they meet the people they have come to serve, as they hear their stories, as they see the tears of joy on those recipients' faces at being handed the keys to their new house, and then as the team members wrestle with questions about their own lives of privilege.

It's an emotional, challenging, leave-you-in-a-state-where-you-know-life-will-never-be-the-same kind of experience. We're still dealing with some of the confusion, disappointment, wonder, and awe even after serving here for three years. And we feel blessed to be able to walk this journey even if for a very short period of time with the people who choose to come on a short-term mission. It's not just life changing for the people who receive a house. Team members seem to see God and to meet him here in ways that are completely new and heart-opening. And we are blessed to be a part of the ministry that happens for the Guatemalans, but also for what happens within our friends and co-workers from the U.S.

(Heather)