Faithfulness: The Poor Become Rich.
The question running through my mind, and I’m sure Beatrice’s too, was why it took so many years for her to receive a home. I had this sense that part of the long wait had to do with God chasing her.
This year, I spent the weekend before Thanksgiving in Reynosa, Mexico, a stone’s throw from America, located across the border from McAllen, Texas. It is a regular trip we’ve taken as a family to work with Strategic Alliance, a missions organization that builds homes for the homeless. Being home a little over a week now, I've been processing my time across the border.
If I've counted right, this is the 7th house I've worked on — six in the last nine years. The home we build is exactly the same every time we go, but each year is vastly different in terms of who we build for and the conditions we build in. Last year, we built in a non-stop, 40-degree drizzle. In America, this wouldn’t be a problem. We have gutters and sewers to carry water away, but that is not the case in this part of Mexico. We built in inches of water. Our worksite was definitely not OSHA-approved.
This year was exactly the opposite - hot and sunny. I prefer sunshine.
Just as the work conditions are different, every family we build for has a different story. Every family is poor (surviving on a few dollars a day), but some are worse off than others.
Maria
Nine years ago we built a home for Maria. Maria was a woman poor in every sense of the word. When we arrived at the work site, she was living in a tiny lean-to made of material scavenged from the nearby dump (this is how most of the people in the neighborhood survive). She lived there with her husband and two teenage sons. Their roof was a series of tarps held down by old tires, and on rainy days, their roof leaked directly onto their one bed.
That was just their financial situation.
Maria’s sons were either currently or soon-to-be cartel members (the next year, I saw one of the boys shepherding migrants across the Rio Grande). Her husband left her, supposedly choosing to live in a homosexual relationship. One of the years we went by her home, it seemed as if it might have been abandoned (though she was back this year). On top of all of this, Maria struggles with physical disabilities, as she appears to have suffered a stroke.
If I had one phrase to describe Maria, it would be ‘down-trodden’. Maria is poor in every sense of the word.
Beatrice
The next year, we met Beatrice and 3 of her children (Vainey, Joselinne and Brenda). We were building for a friend of Beatrice, and my family fell in love with her family. My kids played non-stop with her kids, and then the next year we met up with them again and the bond deepened even further.
Every family we build for is poor, but their poverty looks different. Compared to Maria’s family, Beatrice had children full of life, but she lacked the basics to truly provide for them. In those years, Beatrice asked Kia to build her a house — which was out of our hands. All we could do was pray.
This year, we met Beatrice the Friday afternoon before Thanksgiving for just a few minutes as we dropped off our tools. Her story was familiar, but only in the sense that it sounded like every story from the Colonia we built in. It wasn’t until we went back the next morning to begin the project that Kessa put together who this family was — the very kids they played with year before all grown up!
Last week, I re-shared a post from the first time we met this family. Below, you can click to see a picture of Kia posing between the two older girls. I scheduled that post having no idea we would see those same children all these years later!
It was like a homecoming for Kia, Kessa, and Beale (Chilton and Sephine weren’t able to make it this year). If there hadn’t been a bond before with Beatrice and her family, there was now. Not only was the bond renewed, but it went deep. Beale met their two sons - Christian and Gerardo - and they connected over soccer. Kessa painted with all the kids. Kia talked and loved on the kids and Beatrice. I spent time getting to know Beatrice’s significant other, Dario.
The Faithfulness of God
On these trips, we build for 3 full days and then finish and present the house to the family at lunchtime on the fourth day. The night before we presented the house, I prayed and meditated about what God wanted to say to Beatrice as she walked into a new home for her family. The question running through my mind, and I’m sure Beatrice’s too, was why it took so many years for her to receive a home.
The first part of the answer we see throughout scripture, but is summed up well in this passage:
Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your justice like the ocean depths.
You care for people and animals alike, O Lord.
-Psalms 36:5-6
I highlighted those 4 words and phrases for you. I want to make sure you catch it.
I don't know why 9 years later was the right time for Beatrice, but God remained faithful, loving, righteous, and just. God has been and always will be faithful to Beatrice and her family — not because of anything she does but because of who God is and will always be.
God cares for Beatrice.
This brings me to the other part of the answer I heard as I prayed that night. In the book of Luke, Jesus tells a parable about a shepherd with a flock of 100 sheep:
So Jesus told them this story: “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away! -Luke 15:3-7
I had this sense that part of the long wait had to do with God chasing and searching for Beatrice. As I relayed this to her, the tears streaming down her face seemed to confirm what I heard.
It was beautiful to watch the fulfillment of this scripture play out on earth. My family stood outside this home built for Beatrice and her family. They were part of our family now, and we rejoiced with her. Looking back, a week later, there was a sense Jesus was bringing Beatrice home not just on earth but in heaven too.
That Tuesday afternoon, the poor become rich. I was able to witness the faithfulness of God.
This year, God took me to Mexico to remind me of his sweet, loving, kind, and forever faithfulness.