Day 4 in El Salvador – “Our Last Build Day” by Troy Western

36 homes completed!

The most prolific writers could craft an epic novel describing the beauty of El Salvador, the resilience of its people, and the strength of God’s love within it all and still not capture an accurate depiction of this experience we have shared.

I have witnessed things I never thought I’d see in my lifetime and have checked off things on a bucket list I never knew I had. I have stood on an active volcano next to its hot springs. Then, as if not to be outdone, we shared church on its hillside.

On our first build day, there was a perfect trifecta that left me awestruck. In a single moment, I looked up from my work to see how my beautiful wife, Shari, was doing with hers and was immediately hit with three things coming together that I never thought I’d see: Shari was (a) on a construction site (b) in a foreign country, and (c) not only holding a power tool, but was actually using it! And I couldn’t have been more proud or more in love with her.

We finished building our 36^th home today. It was a mix of emotions as we continued to build friendships as we built houses, knowing we were approaching our goodbyes. I also had the privilege of meeting the families we were building for and, in most cases, working alongside them during many of the builds.

With our first house today, I met Maria. In a slightly unusual turn of events, we finished building before meeting with her, so we spoke with her (with help of our amazing interpreter, Miguel) in her new home instead of off somewhere nearby. There was a brief moment where everyone else left to find chairs and the two of us were left alone in her house. I turned to her with great excitement wished her “Felicidades!” Although we were in the shade of the indoors, her face lit up the room like nothing I’d seen on this trip. Her smile beamed more radiantly than the sun itself and then she wept with sheer joy. That moment will surely live with me for the rest of my days.

We have made many amazing friendships, which for me includes Marie, a beautiful little girl in an equally beautiful white dress who, during one of our Kids Ministry afternoons, kept asking me to blow up balloons for her. Each time I did, she would disappear with it, only to reappear moments later asking for another. I quickly realized she was stashing them somewhere in her house, so I like to imagine she had a fantastic fiesta last night with them! Next, we played for a long time with a beach ball, just bouncing and passing it back and forth. Her laughter and smile stole my heart. Then I invited her to come with us to see the spectacular view from up the hill. Another bucket list item checked off I never knew I had. Marie sat serenely on a rock while the rest of us were speechless with the magnificence of the El Salvadorian landscape spread out before us.

Then there’s Franklin, Oscar, Jose, Roberto, Maria, Karla, Miguel, Levi, Walter, Mauricio… the list goes on and on. Each one of them, whether they realize it or not, have impacted me in ways that this blog will never, ever be able to convey. And my heart will never be the same.

By Troy Western