Beautiful Things

Have you met Jess Hehrer?  She is one of our summer interns. All of our interns are sharing their stories from the summer on our Casas Intern Blog. Keep up with them over the next two months as they follow God into the "strange places" that He leads!

June 15th:

After this week:

• My lips are so chapped I can't feel them
• I have blisters on both heels
• I smashed my knuckle with a hammer, causing bleeding and massive swelling
• My hands hands are so dry I can't fully open them without help
• I learned that you can get a blister within a blister
• I have at least three blisters on the palms of both hands
• My ankle got owned by a 2x4
• I got used to being dehydrated and hungry
• My hands are in so much pain, I can barely wash my hair
• My tank top had salt lines on it from sweating so much
• I have the black lung from inhaling so much insulation and drywall dust.

But none of that compares to the emotional and mental challenges I faced this past week. This week was a pretty big deal for all of the interns. It was our first build without any staff members. No one was there to keep us on track, and there was no one there to fix any of the mistakes or challenges that would occur. Except the interns. [dundunduuun] We were "fortunate" enough to have a double as our first build. The seven of us put over fifty hours in to that house so that it could be finished and dedicated by Friday afternoon. To give you some perspective - they generally recommend that a group has around twenty people if they plan on building a double. Oh. my. gosh. 

I am fairly certain that everything that could have gone wrong this week did go wrong. I could go on and tell you every detail...but seriously. There were a lot of things that we had to overcome, and it would take way to long to tell you about everything. In summary, our site was very small, and very uneven. We had to shorten the house, and use all of our stucco sand to level our the foundation. Our windows were too big for the wall, and we also had to move our materials twice a day until we used them.

Our super small work site. I am on the slab working with others  trying to finish the cement before it dried.

 It was absolutely incredible to watch our team handle the problems. We had to think outside the box, maintain positive attitudes, and work incredibly long days. There were definitely times when frustrations were pretty high, but at the end of the week we were still friends. That in itself is pretty dang awesome.

We put over fifty hours in to a home. Our blood, tears, sweat, and love went into that house, and we received no personal gain at all. The family didn't seem to appreciate the house as much as we would have expected, and we almost ran in to the weekend. We had to deal with hunger, sunburn, dehydration, exhaustion, and injuries. A lot of us had our own personal battles to deal with too. Problems back home, uncertainties about the future, or just working through the changes that God is doing on our hearts.

We paid for this internship. We paid to be uncomfortable. In fact, some of us are still paying for this internship, and Casas is still raising money for us to build houses. The longer I am here, the more I realize that it isn't about money, materials, or houses. It's about relationships. Even though we didn't make a connection with the family we were building for, we connected with the community and a family right next door.

All week we were blessed with little hands and feet running all over the place. The kids in the neighborhood helped us clean up at the end of the day, and they entertained us endlessly. My little guy Moses, would explain to his friends that I didn't speak Spanish [No habla espanol] and that I only spoke English. The other kids would stare at me and slowly nod their heads. Haha. I have never felt so incompetent.

Moses is in the middle. I really hope I see that kid again this summer. The boy on the right is Leslie's brother.

On our last day a lady came over and asked if I spoke Spanish. After explaining yet again that I don't know Spanish, I went to go get David to see if he could help her. She wanted us to come over when we were done to pray for her daughter who was 'special'. 

When we were finally done with the build and packed up the trailer we walked around until we found her. She took us into her home and led us to her daughter. Her home was beautiful. When I walked through the door I was greeted by a smooth concrete floor and stuccoed walls. Simple but clean. She and her husband had built it themselves piece by piece. The house was relatively small, and the living room was also the bedroom. Immediately to our right we saw her daughter. Her name is Leslie and she was wrapped in only a sheet and was laying on the bed in front of a fan. She smelled like stale urine and sweat, and her legs were so limp that I knew she wasn't able to walk. Her eyes wandered back and forth but never seemed to focus on any particular spot, and her fingers were constantly moving. I am pretty sure she had a silent seizure while I was in the room. She was smacking her lips and her eyes were fluttering in the back of her head. Not for very long...just a few seconds, but long enough for my heart to break. I would imagine that she was probably eight years old or so. We prayed for her, talked to her mom for a bit, then headed back to the States.

I went to watch a movie with the guys later that night. I cried all the way back...from Hawkins all the way to Rich Beam tears rolled down my face. I cried for the people of Juarez. I cried for Leslie. The very fact that she has a family who loves her enough to take care of her is a blessing. I cried because I knew I didn't understand, but I was filled with confidence in knowing that she has the love of Christ with her. I cried because of how faithful her family was in asking for prayer. No matter where I am in the United States, I will never be in the same spot as that family. We are so fortunate to have so many options for healthcare. I cried because that family is the most beautiful thing I have seen in Mexico so far. It broke my heart and renewed my Spirit.

The Lord is so much bigger than I ever imagined. I don't need that 'feel good high' or miraculous signs. His presence is made known every single day, and my reliance on Him grows deeper with every week.

In Christ,

Jess

"All around
Hope is springing up from this old ground
Out of chaos life is being found in You

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things

You make beautiful things out of us.."

Beautiful Things - Gungor