Day 2

Tuesday March 13

The task was accomplished of building 12 homes and changing 11 families yesterday but for me and my family, our hearts have been impacted deeply by the love and kindness shown to us by these lovely people.  When I saw Naomi who we built a home for the following day I called her name across a busy work site and the smile she gave me warmed my heart. As she ran to hug me so tightly I felt a bond from her as she is my sister in the Lord and a mother of a son and daughter as I am. We share a lot but so little.   The people here have touched me more that I could have imagined as I have travelled a lot but never been into homes of people who have so little in material but so much love for life and loyalty to family.  The kids want to learn English and my husband set up an English class. It warmed my heart to see Kezia and Fred laughing with the kids of all ages.  Praise God!  Hoping you can pray for our remaining days here for our team.  

Build Day 2 - by Jeff & Brenda Suggett

Team Bethany has just finished our 2^nd Build Day. Like yesterday, we managed to build 12 houses, making the total for the two days 24 houses! It’s amazing to think about the lives that we have impacted so far – when you consider the number of people that will be living in each house and the room that they have left in the houses that they left behind. We estimate that we have touched the lives of over 200 people so far.

Today was much smoother than yesterday as we all learned our roles as a team and really connected with the El Salvadoran Build Team and the local people who were helping us on the job site. We were awestruck as to how the local people really wanted to help out with tasks, particularly the hard ones like digging holes in the rocky soil that were required for the frame to go into. Some of the local people were tireless in their efforts – working in the hot sun throughout the day.

One of the highlights that Brenda, Carson, Emily and I had was interviewing a couple, Franklin and Anna Margarita with their daughter Mikela. Franklin and Anna Margarita currently live with his parents in a very small home that is very crowded. Franklin is 20 years old and Anna Margarita is 16 years old. Their daughter is 1 ½ years old. We were struck at how young they were to be starting their life together. Franklin works on a farm that is 1 ½ hours away by horse. There he grows beans and corn. Franklin told us that he makes 3$ a day and they would never be able to purchase or buy the materials to build a home like the one we built for them. We shared with them that we did this because we wanted to show the love of Jesus to them and wanted to have our hearts open to learning about the people of El Salvador and being able to participate in this project. They thanked God for the wonderful gift of a home. As we took their picture in front of their newly built home, they were so happy!

Build day of firsts

It was a day of firsts for the Bethany team!  Half of the team just got back to the hotel after the longest build day ever and it’s 8pm.  The other truck with half of our team are still on the road as I write this and we haven’t even had supper yet.  We had 6 different build teams working on houses today, with each team building 2 homes  (some in communities that had never had homes built before).   That’s a first! And in total that makes 12 homes completed in one day!  How incredible is that?

Although it’s late and we are in serious need of showers, we’re hungry and pretty much exhausted.  But when you hear the stories we heard today you will know why it is so absolutely worth it.  One of the families that received a home this afternoon was Andreas (age 70) and his wife Paula (age 55).  Their grandson, Jose (age 18), will also be living with them.  Andreas became a Christian 16 years ago when he accepted Jesus Christ into his heart.  He said his life changed completely after he knew Jesus as his Saviour.  Before that he was an alcoholic for many years and his wife and children suffered greatly because of it.  He became a changed man, and when Paula saw the difference in Andreas life, she accepted Jesus in her heart as well. 

Andreas said that there was no way he could ever afford a house, like the one we were building for him.  As a farmer all of his life, he could barely provide for his family. He knew this was God’s blessing in their lives and he couldn’t be more thankful!  Paula said that in the morning she went to another build site and saw one of the houses we were building.  She couldn’t believe how beautiful the house was!  She came home and cried that she would receive such a beautiful house this afternoon.  She had never seen a Shelter house before.

Their old house was ready to fall down, they told us.  They were worried that it would actually cave in on them.  In the rain season, they had to put buckets out for all the rain that came in their roof.  Now they couldn’t believe they would have a roof that doesn’t leak.  What incredible joy to see their happiness and thankfulness.  We praise God for what He can accomplish through us as we give of our lives for His service.

Day 1 in El Salvador

It’s always a great time reuniting with old friends in El Salvador and making new friends, as we meet so many new people and also start to bond as a team.  Bonding goes quickly when you’re riding on the back of a truck together!  It took about hour to get out to the villages to meet the families in the San Felipe and surrounding area.

What a privilege and joy to meet the 30 families we will be building homes for and working alongside all week.  It blew me away me how many young families were in the group – several with babies of only a few months old.  Almost 20 of the families had children under 5 years old.  What a great thing to see that these young families will come under a roof of their own, providing the security and shelter from the elements as they raise their children.

We also had the chance to meet the community leaders in each of the communities we will be building.  These are people who serve and make sacrifices to improve the lives of others in their community.  And the leaders are usually no better off materially than their neighbours.  One of the leaders, Marta, has served her community for 8 years and is finally receiving a home for herself and her family this week!  She has worked tirelessly to help her neighbours and has put others ahead of herself all of these years.  How great that we can be part of her joy in seeing her house go up.

There were many smiling faces today, many “holas” and much anticipation of the week to come.  As much as we are excited to get going and become friends with these families, we sensed the same anticipation on their side.  It impacted our team when one of the community leaders shared about how he had been praying for our team for months already.

At our church service this afternoon we were able to sing worship songs in Spanish and English together.  What a beautiful picture of how we serve the same God and are lead by the same Holy Spirit.  May God’s spirit be present in us and all around us as we bring the love of God to the families and communities this week.

Meeting Families

426 homes will be built this year by Shelter Canada. We are contributing 30 this week, and today we met the community leaders. Sticker number 2700 will be placed above someone's door. 2700 new homes and we are entering communities that have never been built in .  Locals,  leaders and all of us are thrilled for the work that will be done this week.

The Value of a Home

If more people valued home above hoarded gold, this world would be a merrier place.

 “The Hobbit, J.R.R.Tolkien”

Flora, Elba and Julio
in front of their new home

Home became a merrier place for a young mom named Flora with her two children this past November in El Salvador.  We had the awesome privilege of building Flora a home about a third way up the volcano – inactive volcano, that is J  It was a remote location with rugged roads trying to even reach her property.  But when we got there, we found Flora and her very happy and excited children- 5 year old Elba and 3 year old Julio.

As a single mom, Flora struggled to earn enough for the $50 rent per month that she had to pay.  During harvest, she worked high up on the volcano where a local fruit grows, called Jacote.  

Build site on the volcano beside
Flora's mom's home

When it wasn’t harvest, she relied on neighbours to hire her for cleaning or laundry.  But earning just dollars per day and sometimes per week, left her destitute.  The stress built up at the end of every month as rent became due and she didn’t know how she would pay.  Her mom gave her the land on the volcano (right next to where her Mom lives) so that she could have her own home. Now that she has her own house, she can use the rent money towards other necessities of life.

There are few things more rewarding than working side by side 

with the local community to provide a family a home.

Little Elba with Julie
in her new home

The deep gratitude that the whole family showed for this new home was so genuine. Elba and Julio, as small as they were, wanted to help in any way they could.  Flora said that she knew that this was a blessing from God.  She said that her dreams have come true.  Flora’s mom gave me such a big hug that I think she straightened my back!  And as we left the site with the home completed, little Julio ran up to us and said in Spanish “Thank you for my new home!”

 “God is on the side of the broken.” 

      Quote by Andrew Mills from his sermon “Blessed are the poor in spirit”

Bethany team - 36 people
(we didn't all fit in one picture!)

And now in March we have a team of 36 people going to El Salvador to build a total of 30 homes for those who are in great need!  Praise God for the way He is providing! It’s incredible to see how many people are supporting this ministry and giving towards homes - helping to give families a new hope for their future. 

Building a total of 30 homes in
two communities

  It takes a village 

to change a village. 

So we thank the many people who are part of this village for their part in helping transform the lives of families in the villages in El Salvador.

Please pray for our team as we go and that the families receiving homes experience the love of God!  Pray for transformed lives!

PREPARING FOR EL SALVADOR

      I have been to El Salvador 3 times so part of me knows what to expect, the other part knows that I have no idea what God has in store for me, our team, and the community that we will be working in, but God goes before and prepares the way, so I am excited.

            The fun part of preparing is for the Compassion Center visit day.  I will be meeting my sponsored child and her family for the 3rd time. Ivania is such a bundle of joy and energy.  It's like Christmas. Seeing her and spending the day with her is like Christmas morning, but this time preparing to see her is like advent.  I am thinking, pondering and praying about our time together, about how to best bless her and her family, about choosing the perfect gift to convey my love for her and her family.

  The anticipation builds until the beautiful moment that we are reunited.  What a gift and priveledge to be a part of a bigger family.

          Then there are the build days.  The first time I went I spent most of my time building - I'm a task orientated person and I was there to help get the job done.  The second time I was recovering from surgery and was forbidden to lift a thing, not even my suitcase, so gentle children's ministry is where I was. Children's ministry is not a calling or gifting so I was concerned and put some thought into it ahead of time and thought, what do I like to do that kids like to do?  Puzzle!!!  I found spanish/english puzzles with colours, numbers, shapes and animal themes.  My cozy blanket was our floor and we had a great time putting together the puzzles and then teaching one another our languages.  

         So I am putting my magic backpack together and expanding from just puzzles to a few spanish/english books and games (like Snakes & Ladders - need to learn those Spanish words yet, Connect 4 and Checkers).  Looking forward to reading, puzzling, playing and loving on the children.

         As an introvert, people are often amazed that I thrive in a setting like El Salvador. Knowing myself, I am also amazed that I thrive in El Salvador, but that story started a long time ago in another Central American place - Panama - where God planted a seed of love for the people of Central America that has rooted deeply in my soul.  The pressure is also off for constant conversation, as relationship building is done in other ways.  Getting off the plane in El Salvador is like coming home, I can't wait.