When I went to Juarez, Mexico to work with Casa por Cristos, we built a home for a family that pastored a church next door. The church building was made out of scrap wood, and wouldn’t even qualify as a shed by our American standards. When we finished the house, the daughter of the family was charged with going to the store to buy a bottle of Fabulosa cleaner, probably costing more money than they ever would have spent at the store. I saw her looking at it as she walked back to the house, clearly not quite sure what it was, but proud and happy to have a new home next to their little church and innocent of what this grand blessing of a home was for her family. This young girl had worked hard on the worksite with us, even despite getting itchy from touching insulation.
I think the family was so humbled by the house that they may have considered using the new home as a church instead of their home, swapping the humbler wood shed for their main home. I see this as a testament to their faith. A humbling testimony that teaches me volumes of how to truly put God first and above my own importance. I think going on this mission trip taught me so much more than I could ever “teach” or give to our partners.
Esther lives in Sanford along with her husband, Brian, and two children. She is a volunteer leader for Young Life Sanford. She works as an ASL/English interpreter and Cued Speech transliterator in school settings.