letter to a friend...

Things here are going well, despite the Swine flu and drug cartel. Satan really doesn’t want homes to be built in Juarez, and with that the need is growing. We have had to stop accepting applications from families and there are 586 families on the waiting list. We are only scheduled to build around 150 houses this year as opposed to our normal 400+, so the waiting list has gone from 6 months to a few years. This is heartbreaking for us as we are having to tell the families that they will have to continue to wait. God’s been faithful to provide opportunities for us to help in other ways though. Janette and Jason felt led to start collecting money for an outreach program and are currently filling bags with beans, rice, tortillas, and other basic necessities and taking them around to families. They are telling the families that we have not forgotten about them and neither has God. One of the hardest things that we are dealing with is that when teams cancel at the last minute, our distributor has to go to the families and take back the building materials that were already delivered for the new home to be built. In this, we aren’t just taking away 2x4’s and insulation, we are taking away their hope and a lot of times their faith in the belief that there is a God that loves them and will provide for them. The implications are far larger than any of us can grasp. So in hopes to encourage the families and let them know that we are still coming to help and haven’t forgotten about them and neither has God, we are taking these bags to each family. We are explaining that because of the problems with the drug cartel Americans are fearful to come and help and in turn our waiting list is getting longer and longer. They all seem to understand immediately why Americans are fearful and not coming and are just happy to know that we haven’t deserted them and are still going to build them a home, despite the long wait. I’m continuously encouraged by their faith and their smiles as many families told us that they are just trusting God for His timing. Some of these families said that they have been waiting 3 years for a home! I don’t understand why they haven’t given up believing or hoping, but I’m glad that they haven’t, or are trying not to. I’m encouraged to be a part of this and I continue to be baffled by life as I end a day of giving bags to these families then return home and rinse the dirt off of my feet and hands before I settle down into my “blessed” life. I have everything materially and they have nothing, and the dichotomy is killing me.

please follow the link below to view the pictures related to this post. this is where the real story is; in the faces and the lives of these families.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2535034&id=4936508&l=af452f0ce0