One warm night in the Dominican Republic, my team met for our nightly meeting. These meetings consisted of bragging about what God had done that day and encouraging one another in strengths and gifting, then we would end with what I called a "road map" for the next day. this was the night before we were going to start building a home with a program called Homes of Hope. In this time one of my students leaned forward and smiled at the group. "hey guys wanna know something cool?" she said, "We are a family, and as a family we aren't just building a house but we are building a home!".
In three days we built a two bedroom home for a grandmother and her young grandson. For many years Miriam and her grandson Sebastian lived in a small tin shanty with one twin bed, dirt floors, and holes in the rusting metal. Miriam, who is the caretaker of her 6 year old grandson had lost her job after suffering from an accident where she was electrocuted by some exposed wire and needed to be hospitalized. With no income and unstable living conditions, Miriam still did the best she could to provide love and care for her grandson and infant granddaughter she watched during the day. The day we met Miriam she looked so exhausted, but in the midst of her exhaustion there was a glimmer of hope to come. She thanked our team for coming and building her a house and how she was so surprised that a group of young people from the states would want to come to a nation not their own to help a stranger. That's when I felt that I needed to tell her that it was not just us who wanted to help but churches and people from all over the united states who all had one thing in common and that was that they loved Jesus and truly believed that He was wanting so badly to bless her and that he wanted to use the church to do it. With that she began to cry. Miriam was overwhelmed by the idea that God would use strangers to bless her and that those strangers would say yes and give sacrificially to do so.
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| Miriam and I in her new home |
The first day of building you could see the excitement in her eyes, she knew that something good was coming and that there was a new hope being built up from the ground up. Miriam and I started everyday with a 2 minute hug. That first day her hug was filled with excitement and peace. She just kept looking at all the building materials and smiled as she rested her head on my shoulder. After a full day of work we managed to get 4 walls up and half the roof done. The second day we were greeted by a very fussy Sebastian and a very exhausted Miriam. It had rained the night before and they had not slept because the holes in the roof did not protect them from the tropical down pour. Miriam rested in our hug and I could feel her body relax as all the street of the night before began to melt in the knowledge that once this roof was done she would never have to stay up and push water out of her home ever again. At the end of day 2 we finished the roof, put in all the dry wall and trim, and had started painting and electrical. Day 3 Miriam and I sang as we hugged because this was the final day. After filling the house with new furniture and some other necessities, we all met outside to speak blessing over the home and to give Miriam the keys to her new home! She unlocked the door and went inside to take in her home by her self and after a couple minuets when she was ready she invited us in as her first guests! This moment was filled with laughter and tears and lots of hugs. Sebastian had 11 new big brothers and sisters and we got a loving grandma in Miriam.
Building something from the ground up is probably one of the most life changing things a person can accomplish in their life time. For this team of 18-31 year old students who had grown up in the states and Mexico there was a lot of lessons learned. For some it was learning how truly blessed and privileged they were growing up with a roof over their head and food always on the table. For some the lessons were more practical like how to use a drop saw and how to put up drywall. The biggest lesson learned was that there are no borders when it comes to who is family. That anyone can build a house, four walls and tin roofs are always a blessing, but it takes intentionality and caring for people past what our western culture says is caring. To truly love someone from another culture and background and not speak the same language, yet confidently say that they are family, that is the lesson learned. That is what these 11 students will be bringing back to the states and their home towns and to their communities. That anyone can build a house but it takes a family to build a home and that is what we are called to do, welcome the world home.
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