A Home For Juana

Rogelio and Wilmar put the finishing touches on Juana's new home

I have had the privilege of living and working in Guatemala for just over six years now. During that time, there have been a few special moments that will remain forever in my heart no matter where I go:  the time I got to witness Desi's baptism in a damned up mountain stream in the middle of nowhere surrounded by people speaking in Mam...the time I delivered baby Sochi by the light of my iphone...the day I got to cut the ribbon when we dedicated the new church in Cochico.  Such amazing experiences I've had here!  Last Wednesday was another one of those times that I'll never forget:  we prayed over and blessed Juana's completed house, and she started to move in. It has taken me a couple of days to process this enough to even be able to write about it. 

People spread out to pray over each wall of Juana's new
home.  Marina is Juana's best friend and couldn't contain
her tears of joy!  The two men praying over the front door
and wall are part of the construction crew.

To fully appreciate all that this means, you have to know a little bit of Juana's story.  She grew up in a very abusive home.  Her father was (and remains) a drunk; her mother was too beaten down by life to defend her children. As soon as Juana turned 16, she ran away to the city to find work.  She scraped and saved every penny so that she could buy a little piece of land for herself and escape from her family. Before she could do anything with that land, she met and married a man who ultimately abandoned her when she was pregnant with their first child.  He later died in the desert trying to get to the US.  Her in-laws promptly kicked her out of their house, even though she was expecting their first grandchild.  Her son, Angel, has never been an accepted part of their family and never even knew his father.  Juana and Angel have been forced to bounce back and forth between her various family members for the last 12 years, staying until their hosts were sick of them and then forced to move on.  Most recently, she has been living with a younger brother who decided he no longer wanted them underfoot when he brought his girlfriend home.  The land she could afford to purchase all those years ago was a tiny plot on a very steep, lonely hill with no road access, and no water nearby.

But God...

New beds, mattresses, and a stove vented outside!

Juana and Angel now have a secure home on a new plot of land with one of the most amazing views of anyone I know. More than a dozen church family members and her pastor came last Wednesday to dedicate the house, and it was unlike anything I'd ever seen.  We prayed, cried, sang, prayed some more, ate, cried again...we were all so truly happy that something good had finally happened for this sweet mom and her son who have suffered for so long.   I can't tell you how wonderful it makes me feel to know that they'll never have to sleep on the floor of a dank room in the house of someone who doesn't really want them there.  Their new house comes complete with two new beds, blankets, pillows, towels, a stove, a table and chairs, kitchen supplies, a pila (giant cement sink sort of thing for washing dirty clothes and dishes), a cement floor, and a private, clean latrine.  I know that in my little corner of the world, there are still thousands of starfish stranded on the beach, but these two are now safely back in the ocean.  It makes my heart happy.

Most of the church crew who came to pray over the new house.  Pastor
Bacilio is the handsome fella in front with the cowboy hat, squatting
next to Juana.  Notice the big smile on her face!

To any of you who have ever sent me a dime, thank you is so very inadequate.  You allow me to not only be here, but to help people in a very real, tangible way.  Sometimes people ask me how many people have gotten saved as a direct result of my ministry.  I wish I could answer that question, but I can't.  I have shared the gospel in Bible studies, in sermons, in conferences, in youth events, and one on one, but no one has ever responded publicly, so it's not a number I can count.  But I will tell you this--in poverty-stricken areas like Santa Barbara, generally speaking, families stick together and take care of their own.  They don't share because there isn't enough to go around.  So when word gets out that the people in one little church are blessing the neediest of people around them, it brings people in.  They want to know what's different.  Building Juana's house was no exception.  In fact, one of Juana's own brothers got curious about why people were going out of their way to help his sister, so he came to church two Sunday's ago and ended up getting saved!  The real beauty of Loving InDeed is that the assistance people receive points them to Jesus, the father of orphans, defender of widows, healer of the brokenhearted, and friend of the sinner.