STORIES OF POVERTY

We finished the 12 houses yesterday. We sit down and interview familes so we can hear their stores and learn more about the family.

Yesterday I was blessed to be able to sit and listen to 2 families life stories as we built their homes. Helen is just 19. She has a 2 year old daughter named Delia. Her husband has a sentence of 20 years and is in jail in San Vicente. He is a farmer and he planted corn and beans. His crops were being stolen and so he purchased a gun so he could protect the crops that fed his family. One morning as he was walking to the field the police stopped him. He did not have a permit for the gun and so he was arrested. Because of their poverty the family did not have the money for a lawyer he recieved a 20 year sentence. He has served only 1 year. She is now alone raising her daughter and tries to sell used clothes to provide for her daughter. Some days she does not have enough to feed her daughter. She explained that the house was a great blessing for her and her daughter. She said she was so grateful for the team. She has family in San Salvador and when I asked her if she could go to them for help she shared that they turned their back on her when she left to marry Carlos. They did not want her to marry him as he was poor. When we first arrived at the job site I saw Helen caring for her severly disabled brother in law Juan. She was a beautiful women with a generous heart and sensitive spirit and it breaks my heart that she has to endure this life in poverty.

The 2nd family we interviewed was a family of 3. Manuel and Marin have been married for 25 years and they love the Lord. They have 3 children but only their son Juan will be the only one living in their new home as their daughters are married. They are farmers and Juan is 22 and still in school. He wants to finish high school. He takes time off from school to farm with his dad. Manuel loves his family and the Lord. He shared that they are very poor but that they are happy. He said that material things cannot buy happiness. They don't look to tomorrow but are content if they have enough for today.

We in Canada can learn so much from this family. This is not how we live life in Canada. We are constantly being told by advertisers that we need the big house, new cars, the latest i phone. Yet, we see that this is not bringing happiness to the masses. Rates of suicides are shocking, divorce rates are at 50 %. Canadians have now out passed Americans in debt load. We need to learn to be content with what we have and not get caught up in the things of the world. Jesus taught us not to invest in things that moth and rust can destroy and thieves can steal but to invest in things that cannot be destroyed. Investing in people and using God's resources to help the poor is one of the greatest blessing. We can learn a lot from Manuel, you see he has found the secret. We just have to listen.