On Wednesday, we all headed out to a village to help build a new home. When we got there, we were so awe-struck at their lifestyle-they seemed to make due with very little. At first, about a third of the group got straight to work, measuring and digging post-holes for the new house. It was nice to be surrounded by so many mango and banana trees, they provided a much needed shade for the workers. We met a lady named Migdalia who had six kids, including a set of 9 month old twin boys. She was so elated to see us there, she invited us all in her home right away. Their homes are made up of four post with tarps or tin sheets as their roofs, and tarp walls, and dirt for their floors. There was not much room, just enough for two small cots and a hammock, which she had her twins in sleeping. Only about three of us could fit in there!
One of the first things we noticed was the babies weren’t wearing diapers-they didn’t have enough money to buy them. Talking with her she said, “Dios es todo,” which means God is everything. This woman may have been poor, but she was rich in heart. At one point, we handed out some new toy trucks to her children, and had brought diapers for her family. They had the hugest smiles on their faces!
After the home was nearly done, about half the group headed to another village to have a VBS for the children, and about 5 of us went to another home site that needed to be built for a man with a sick wife. The site was in the open, no trees provided shade, so we were exposed to the direct noon sun. The men got straight to work and the ladies were constantly refilling water bottles, spraying bug spray, and covering everyone with sunscreen. All the house needed, was one good push and it would have collapsed. There were a lot of family and friends at the old house, they had made corn and had offered us some. We had to refuse because we didn’t know how clean the food would have been and didn’t want to get sick. That was really hard to do, but we showed God’s love through small talk and smiles. At one point, we ran out of tin metal sheets so we had to call it a day. We were desperately trying to finish the house that day, but we believe that was God’s way of bringing us back another day. While we were waiting for our truck to show up, we had about 2 ½ hours of fellowship with the homeowner Alberto, and his neighbor Jesus. With the help of our translator, we found out that Alberto had just accepted the Lord into in his heart one day earlier. We were in awe, and prayed over him, asking for God’s influence in his life. We let him know that one of the Nicaraguan pastors would be over in the next couple of day to speak more in depth with him. Everywhere we turned, we saw God working in unfathomable ways. Even though there was a language barrier, we were able to share God’s love by building a home and praying for them.
