By Ellen Batty & Gretchen Seidel
A passion project like this can only be led by one Carpenter, the Holy Carpenter, and He chose the Santos family to receive a new home. “It’s amazing how a plot of land can become a home in just two and a half days when God is involved,” says volunteer Gemma Batty.
Casas por Cristo (Houses for Christ) is the organization God chose to make it happen. The group defines their story—”Casas por Cristo exists to open the door for local pastors and churches to share the love of Jesus Christ by serving. Our mission is to build and serve.” This year volunteers from Faith Lutheran joined together with Casas por Cristo interns, Acuña pastors, and other community members to build a house in just 2.5 days.
You read that correctly—a house, complete with a concrete foundation, metal roof, windows, electricity, a fan, and a door, was built in 2.5 days! Faith’s Director of Youth Ministries, Nic Cass, shares, “Casas por Cristo has a great system set up to build a quality home in such a short time. They have done it literally thousands of times, and it shows. We were also blessed to be able to work with local pastors who have experience and did an amazing job of coming alongside us and teaching us as we went.”
The house we built became a home for the Santos family. Javier Santos lives with his wife, Vannia, and their three-year-old son, Javier, Jr. Until now the Santos family had been living with Vannia’s parents and had dreamed of a place of their own. That day came this June, when local pastors in Acuña prayerfully selected the family based on their need.
Each day on the worksite, Javier put on his tool belt, rolled up his sleeves, and helped to build the home for his family. Vannia helped out where she could. To show her gratitude, she cooked for everybody on the site. Even little Javier, Jr. was around every day. While he didn’t build on the site, he definitely made memories. “The Santos’ lives will forever be changed,” says volunteer Grace Buckman. “God’s love has been shown through us and onto this beautiful family by getting the opportunity to build their new home. Not only was a house built, but a long-lasting friendship.”
Although this project was mainly for the Santos family, all participants were deeply moved and impacted by the mission. “It is truly the work of God that such strong connections can be made with people over [such a short] time,” says Nic Cass, “even when we don’t share a common language. I think the knowledge that we were working together to serve God by serving the Santos family immediately breaks down barriers that would normally exist among groups that have not met before. Seeing God work through us to build these connections and accomplish his work is something I will not soon forget.”
A number of Faith’s volunteers were on their second Casas por Cristo trip. This build reunited them with old friends from earlier missions. Lots of smiles and hugs were exchanged when people met again, and this continued throughout the build. Those making their first trip had the same experience building new friendships. The Carpenter provided the foundation; our common passion to serve quickly put up the framing for new connections. “Even though we only just met, it was so hard to say goodbye,” shares volunteer Ellen Batty.
A trip like this might be scary, uncomfortable, and seem like a lot of hard work, but you mustn’t let perceived weaknesses cause doubt. The bigger picture is allowing God to use us as tools in His ultimate plan. We all had different jobs and used our different strengths to make this happen.
Your strengths of generosity, support, love, and prayers also made this happen. Thank you! This trip would not have been possible without you. Each one of us is a unique and valuable part of the Carpenter’s toolbox. Your financial support was the tool belt that carried the supplies we needed. Your bags of encouragement were the mixer that cemented our belief that we could do this. Your love and support were the ladders we needed to lift us up, and your prayers were the drill and screws that secured everything together. “Although we had this amazing opportunity to travel to Mexico, none of this would be possible without our amazing congregation and their support through prayers and especially their kind donations,” shares Grace Buckman.
There is passion inside of all of us. Faith will work again with Casas por Cristo. Do you think the Carpenter will call you?