Ensenada - Day Seven (Part 1) :”2800 Miles to New Jersey”
I write this to you in the morning, in anticipation of the day ahead. This is the day that we finish the house. This is the day that we hand it over to the family that we are here to serve.
There is still much to be done, sanding down the walls, painting them, finishing of trim, the wiring, and finally cleaning. But we will work hard with the finishing line in sight.
This time we have been greatly honored by one of the the families, who are in the process of establishing a pig farm (which is also the location for one of the houses we are building). As a thank you they will be slaughtering and cooking a pig for us. This is an incredible gesture on their part and I know that all of us are humbled and intrigued by the meal that will be prepared for us.
In the afternoon once we are finished, we will be handing over the keys to the homes to the respective families. I have done this three times before, each time was moving, but I know today will be especially so.
I know for each of the teams, this time we have really had the opportunity to build up a relationship with our families. In a matter of five days we have been immersed into a part of their lives, a very exciting part for them. We have played with their children, worked alongside them and broken bread with them. I know that today above all days, will be very emotional, it will be wonderful to hand over the house but so tough to say goodbye. Lauren yesterday with the children constructed a sign post. On it they placed a series of signs, including one pointing to New Jersey (2800 miles) and London (5400 miles). While soon we will be far from these families, I don’t think that they will ever leave our hearts.
My prayer as we leave these three houses to their families is that they too will never forget us, and more importantly that they will never forget why. We do this so that they might know that God loves them and longs for a relationship with them. I pray that what is happening in this region through this ministry will lead to more and more coming to know Jesus, that a movement will be born and that soon, as it says in Acts, we will see that:
“Day after day, … from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.”
