Casas Por Cristo Day 5

Thursday, June 14

“Seeing the family walk into their new home was one of the proudest moments of my life.”

We finished the houses! We installed the wiring, hung the sheetrock, put up the soffit, and laid on the stucco. [picture] It was a looong day, leaving us all tired but also strangely invigorated. During our siesta, many of the youth just wanted to sit in the hall and talk about all the amazing things that had happened, but a week’s worth of hard work finally caught up with them. Instead of talking we found them sleeping – in a heap – in the hall.

It wasn’t until we finally finished the construction that we realized what we’d done. The Blue team dedicated their house this evening, conducting a brief worship service and handing over the keys to their home-family. At that point, the magnitude of what they had accomplished—they built a house in 3 ½ days—finally hit them and pretty much the entire team, as well as the home-family broke down into tears. A veteran of many mission trips described it like this: “I will never forget the feeling of awe of God and what He was able to do with our little group as I felt when we gave the keys to the house to Hector and his family.” The scene was similar at the Green team’s worksite. Although their dedication was scheduled for Friday morning, they too were finally able to stand back and see what they’d done and marvel at the greatness of God and what he had done through them.

After dinner, we had an extended worship, including an opportunity for everyone to share their most meaningful moments from the prior week. It was amazing! Many of us reflected on the similarities between Mexico and home—people are people—as well as the differences, particularly the poverty. Many reflected on the apparent paradox that the people in Mexico, with so much less to share than the folks back home, seemed much more willing to share, and that these people, who had every reason to be fearful and reserved in their dealings with strangers and each other, seemed so much more open and welcoming than back home. Others were touched by the repeated professions of brotherhood and sisterhood from our home-families and their neighbors. We came to Juarez as foreigners—out of place, nervous, unsure of ourselves—aliens in a strange land. We left as brothers and sisters of the people we had met there. Brothers and sisters in Christ.

After worship (about 12:30 A.M.) we again headed to bed for (not even remotely close to enough) sleep.