It was like any other day when we pulled up. We had been making maps and delivering food bags all morning, and this family was at the end of the list. We were just about ready to head back. But then we pulled up to their house.
Francisca (70) and Jose (81) have lived in this remote area of Juárez for nine years. They have no electricity or running water. For that matter, when we pulled up, they didn’t even have a home. What they lived in could be best described as a shack, but even that doesn’t capture the condition of the structure. The walls were constructed of pallets, old fencing, bedsprings, and any other scrap materials they could gather. The gaps between each new piece of material were so large that you could easily see inside. The roof was made of pieces of tarp that were tearing and falling apart. The front “door” was a slatted gate. Working here for over nine years, I thought I had seen it all. But when we pulled up to this house, my heart broke. Most families with homes in this condition leave to live with other family, but Francisca and José have no other family. They continued to live year after year in this shack, both of them sleeping on one rusty twin-sized cot that was falling apart. There was no other furniture. We wondered what would happen to this elderly couple in the upcoming winter months.
It is one thing to walk away from a family with a heavy heart, knowing they would have to continue waiting for a home. It is another thing to walk away knowing that if we don’t do anything, that the people might not live. This sense of urgency lead us to action. Members of our staff set to work raising money that very afternoon. We sent emails. We made announcements on Facebook. We prayed that in the midst of the holiday season, that people would find it in their hearts to spare some change and help this couple.
By the grace of God, the $4400 we needed to build them a home was donated in less than 20 hours! We sent messages letting people know we’d raised everything we needed, and still the money continued to roll in. In total, we raised over $13,000 to build a home for this family! Not only were Francisca & José going to receive a new home, but so would TWO other families because of this outpouring of generosity. Some donors gave up Christmas gift money; some children donated their jars of spare change. People from all over the country came together, all burdened with heavy hearts for this couple, and now three families will be warm this winter.
A group of Casas por Cristo staff members pulled up to start building Francisca & José’s home just five days after that first visit. They cried. Throughout the entire building process. Their world was turned upside-down. We bought them a new, full-sized bed, and when Jose saw it, he grabbed me and wept. Francisca couldn’t believe she would have a pillow. José was amazed by the “pink stuff” we put in the walls that would keep him warm. When the borderland received two inches of snow this past week, we all rested better knowing that at least one family was safe from the sting of the cold.
The lesson learned here is that God is always waiting to provide for His children. We just need to be sensitive to the stirrings in our hearts. Three families will be safe this winter, both in the comfort of their homes and in the comfort of Christ’s love, because so many responded to the whisperings of God over this holiday season. He has provided warmth and shelter for this family. He has given us a chance to be blessed by their humble attitudes and sweet spirits. And He has once again given us the opportunity to bring hope to the hopeless in His name. What an amazing God we serve!
-Janette Roth
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