the last 24 hours have been a whirlwind. We finished the houses late Friday afternoon. Earlier in the day, each site had the opportunity to present the house and other gifts to their family and to have a little dedication service. There were many joyful tears shed as students and the families contemplated how incredible and unexpected God is to bring 5 teams of middle school students to build a house for those in need. The students went to provide a family with a house, but we blown away by the generosity of their hosts familes. They never expected to recieve so much from these "poor" people. In such a short amount of time, the families and the students had fallen in love with each, and now they will most likely never see each other againIts strange to think of the magnitude of the impact of these things. One week. Total strangers. All involved, students and families, changed in such unexpected ways. A house... a simple decent place to live for 5 families... each with their own daily adversity... a new understanding of the image of God in all of humanity gained by our students.
All on our team agree that we received more than we brought. Our hearts come alive when we serve... its like the poor in material things are rich in life... and our material things can cause us to be so impoverished on the inside. The exchange of wealth sets us both free in new ways. For us... we have been free from the worries of wealth for a week, and it has allowed us to remember what is truly important about life and faith...
While Material wealth may make life more comfortable, it also complicates it. We have more stuff to manage, more meetings to attend, more activities to participate in, and no time for relationships and neighbors... These people we served had so little, but had such full hearts... they taught us about joy... and I hope we never forget.
Click here for more pics of our group
Ps. one of the other groups of students that is here also is blogging about their experience... check it out if you are interested.... click here
1 comment:
I am still processing all I learned this past week in Mexico. I am reminded of the verse in Psalm 127: "Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain." Surely God built those houses, for we could not do it in our own strength.
Marilyn
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