We just spent the past week in the beautiful country of Guatemala building houses, stoves, and chicken coops for the people in the village of Pacaya. Of all the villages I have traveled to in Guatemala this was, by far, the most poverty stricken one I have ever seen. Of course, the country itself is so beautiful so one could look past the dirt and see God's incredible creation in so many ways.
If you have ever been on a mission trip, you know how easy it is to bond with one particular family. It is just something that draws you in to them and makes you want to love on them and relate to them in ways no one else ever has before. Well, that happened to me with 2 families this year. Our team built 6 houses while we were there. However, there were families at 2 of these houses that I felt drawn to during the week. The first family consists of a 36 year old mom with 11 kids and one on the way. The entire family was covered in dirt, mud, and flies. They lived in a one room house with only 1 bed which meant the children had to sleep on a dirt floor. It was a mud floor while we were there due to all the rain. Here is a picture of 3 of the children watching us while we worked. They were just precious!
The second family I felt drawn to during the week actually just consisted of one 86 year old man. You could tell this man had lived a hard life, yet he lived in a house made of cornstalk and cardboard walls. His house was so small that only his twin size bed could fit in it. While we were finishing his house, this man told us his wife recently died. You could tell his heart still ached to be with her. Here are some pictures of the man's house and bathroom:
The last day we were in Pacaya was my favorite day of all. It was time for the house dedications! Our group first dedicated the house with the 12 kids. This was VERY emotional. The dad of the family told us how no one cared about them until we came along and built this house for them. The sad thing is that 6 of their kids will move into the new house and the other 6 will stay in the old house with the parents. They are still in terrible living conditions, yet they were so grateful for what we had done for them. I watched the mom as tears ran down her cheeks. There was not a dry eye in the group.
Once we finished all our hugs with the family, we walked down a short path so we could dedicate the old man's house. He wanted to tell us his whole life story through the interpreter of course. He told us how, years ago, he and his wife had found 2 abandoned baby girls. They took these girls in to raise as their own. One of the girls died. He did not tell us how but went on to tell us that he worked hard in the fields to pay for the other daughter to go to school and give her a good life. Then he went on to tell us how the girls' birthdad came back and found her and wanted her to go with him. The old man said he was embarrassed and ashamed because of his poor living conditions. He was worried she would not love him anymore and she would choose to leave this poverty stricken village and move on to a better life.
I asked our interpreter to please ask him where this girl is now. We had to know how this story ended. At this point, with our entire group hanging on to every word, the old man looked just past us and pointed. We all turned around to see the mom with 12 kids standing there. It hit us like a ton of bricks. This was the daughter he worked so hard to raise. It also hit us that she chose to stay in the village with her "real dad" who raised her. The mom walked forward and told us how this man was her father and she loved him very much. Of course, we were all literally sobbing!
The point is that it does not matter how much money you have or how hard you have to work to get the things you have. It also does not matter if you physically came from the ones you love. Family is the most important thing!!!!
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