Today I thought I'd be in Guatemala City. It's funny how plans so change down here. Instead, I ended up in a very small village in the hills replacing a roof on someone's house. It feels good to be dirty again and to have spent energy and sweat to help others.
The family we helped live in a very small house (if you can call it that). They have 10 children. We gave them a roof for free. They offered to make us dinner, but we knew that'd break the bank for them. We declined. They did buy me a fine bottle of water to say thank you. It was some of the finest water I've ever had.
I wasn't sure what I'd do for lunch. My construction partner looked at me. "My wife made us some sandwiches." And for anyone who knows me, there's really one thing that I don't eat because of allergies. "Do you like cheese?" he said with a smile. That was it. "I love it!" I gratefully smiled back. "Good, cause that's what we got."
Tomorrow, I'm returning to hopefully finish reconstructing the sides of this house. It's kinda fun. These aren't super professional homes. This one was built out of corn stalks! It brings me back to my childhood since it's more like building a fort or tree house. Yet, these are people's homes for life.
Today I walked through a community of very poor people. Homes built from mud or corn stalks. Average family size of somewhere around 8 kids. Only one or two beds for all of them. Kids flying plastic bags tied to a string. Such poverty and such sadness. And yet somehow, they held such joy. They live on the edge of coffee plantations where parents pick coffee beans for next to nothing. Those beans are the very same beans that we buy for exorbitant amounts of money from Starbucks. I love these people. They are beautiful. I will be back tomorrow and hopefully more. It is so rewarding to spend my time and money helping these lovely sons and daughters of God.
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