It was hard to for me to contain my excitement when I met the Hiraldo family this past April. I had driven out to their neighborhood to meet up with Pastor Freddy so he could take me to their property. He kept telling me that this was a family with a lot of need. When we arrived I was grinning ear to ear. Some people would frown in the same situation or be overcome with sadness, but I felt joy. I took one look at this family that was skin and bones and the shelter they had built out of garbage, and I knew God was about to do something wonderful in their lives.
Ana Rosa and her husband Fermin have struggled. There are not a lot of jobs to go around in the Dominican Republic, and if you are elderly or handicapped, you are likely to be one of the 60% of the population that are unemployed. Fermin is 75, and the years he spent farming were not kind to his body. He doesn't get around well anymore, and Ana Rosa has had to take care of him more and more as his body has continued to break down. She has also had to take care of Rosano, her son, and William, her grandson. Rosano was working as an auto mechanic, but in the last five years he has developed an exaggerated tremor in his dominant arm. This has rendered him unable to continue his work as a mechanic.
The situation is difficult. Her grandson William is too young to make any major financial contribution to this family. This has put Ana Rosa in the position primary breadwinner in her home. When I asked her what she did for work, she began to tell me about her day-to-day scavenger hunts for thrown away plastic bottles or packaging. For every ten pounds of plastic that she can sell to a local recycling plant, she receives the equivalent of two US dollars. So, if you are doing the math, that would be ten pounds daily she would have to find in order for each family member to live on a mere $.50 a day.
Ana Rosa was delighted when I asked her to tell me her preferences for the layout of her home. To her, the fact that she was going to live on a cement floor for the first time in her life was enough. For me, giving her the opportunity to stand on Christ as her foundation for the first time in her life was enough. Fermin is the only one in his family that calls Christ his Lord. To see his joy when we handed the keys over to him and his family was satisfying to the core. For Fermin, God had provided and shown his family love on a personal and extraordinary level. It is our prayer that Ana Rosa, Rosano, and William will respond to the Gospel, the ministry of Pastor Freddy, and the seeds that have been planted in their hearts and minds. Please join us in this prayer.
Thank you Spring Road Christian Church for responding to the call and ministering to the Hiraldo family.
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