Hard work and a lot of sweat.....totally worth it.

Today was beyond amazing. 

It is so hard to put into words all that has gone on today. It always takes me time to process all that I have experienced and seen. But I will do my best.

We started the day bright and early at 7am with a pancake breakfast YUM!  We need to get the work day started before the high heat of the day, today was over 35 plus humidity.  This is a big group, 30 of us, so they split us into three groups to build. And each group was to build two houses today.  They purposely split up any friends/ relatives so that we can connect and get to know others in the group.  So Stephen and I are not on the same team.   We were right next door to each other so I was able to watch from a distance as the guys took him under their wing and taught him all the different things that needed to be done and how to do it.  Being able to observe from a distance was more fun than being right by his side.

I will have to get Stephen to write something about his experience. I don’t even know much about the families that he built for today. But at the end of the day he said it felt really good seeing how incredibly happy the families were when their new house was complete, and to know that he played a part in them getting that house. 

The first house I helped to build was for a family of three. The husband (Vidal) and wife (Berta) are in the 50’s and have an adult son with mental disabilities living at home with them.  Both Vidal and Berta work; Vidal is a janitor at a church and Berta is a maid in a private home.  Between the two of them they make about $140 a month. I chatted with Berta quite a bit learning more about her family and struggles. She has respiratory problems due to the dust in their old house and the dust that would come in their house every time a car would drive by.  She’s so thankful that this new house will have cement floors and good doors and windows to keep most of the dust out.  She’s also a diabetic, and I asked her questions about the health system here. So the government supplies her insulin but she has to buy the needles which are 7 for $3, which is a lot of money for her family, so she’ll use each needle three times before throwing it away.  She’s also supposed to take two injections a day….but only takes one, again to save on money for the needles.  She said she takes her pills after lunch and feels fine so doesn’t really need to take more insulin.

The second house we built was for a single mom, Esmeralda, and her 16 year old daughter Patty. Esmeralda is working full time and makes about $5 a day.  Patty is in grade 11, which is amazing most kids are a couple of years behind. I was talking to them about what it means to be getting a new house and about the community.  El Salvador is not a safe country and there is a lot of violence and corruption. But we don’t always see it.  The community was very welcoming and great hosts to us so I assumed it was a more stable area and a little on the safer side. But I made a comment to that extent saying it felt like a good neighbourhood. She was hesitant but said no, it really wasn’t and that getting this Shelter house meant that for once her and her daughter would feel safe at night with locking doors and windows.  I couldn’t imagine the fear that they had to go to sleep with every night. It is so comforting know that a huge difference has been made in their lives with just a few hours of hard work and sweat.

Aside from building today and meeting the families, I can’t say it enough, this group of people is amazing!  Their passion to share God’s love with the people of El Salvador is inspiring.  They sacrifice their own time and money to come down here multiple times a year to lead groups and build. It has been awesome to connect with them and hear more about their personal stories, how they got connected with Shelter and why they keep coming back. One constant in each of their stories is that they have heard a clear calling from God that they are to be here, that their hearts feel fullest when they are here.

We ended the evening at Stuart and Carie's house (Canadians living here) for a delicious BBQ dinner. And we had our debrief time there too. The debrief is always a highlight as we hear what each person experienced during the day. And tonight we got to hear Gustavos story, he's one of the local workers, hired by Shelter. He had an incredible story of coming out of a life of drugs, crime and three suicide attempts.....but God saved him from all of that and brought Stuart and Carie into his life and three years later he is passionate about God and the work that he is doing in him and through him. Such a powerful story of a life completely changed