The Moment a House Becomes a Home
Blog post written by David Anderlik
Today our team had the opportunity to finish a house building project for the Hernandez family. This is an awesome family that loves the Lord and shares a ton of love within their family. They live in La Libertad, a beachside community outside of San Salvador. Our team was in charge of painting, and though many of our team members came back to the mission house a beautiful shade of beige, most of the paint made it on to the house.
It was also their oldest daughter’s 15th birthday, and we were able to have a mini-celebration with cupcakes and a mostly on-key rendition of “Happy Birthday.”
Our team was awesome! We worked together well in tight spaces and had a blast transforming the house from cinder-block gray to beige. The Sus Hijos team had a special surprise for the family as well, and the Hernandez family was excited to see brand new furniture enter their house. For the first time, each of the 3 children will have their own bed to sleep on, and the parents will have their own separate bedroom.
Once the house was finished and we all had lunch with the Hernandez family, it was time to dedicate the house to the family and hand over the keys. I was blessed with the opportunity to pray for the family and their future in their new home, and Kurt, who has known Miguel for 13+ years, dedicated the home with some wonderful, heartfelt words. I was blown away by the humility and thankfulness of the family, and the joy and excitement was clear as they entered their new home for the first time. They cried, we cried, it was unforgettable.
It’s amazing how God chooses us to be a blessing to others, yet it ends up being us that are just as blessed as those that we are serving. God doesn’t necessarily need us to do His work: He is more than capable of completing His work without us. But He chooses us to help because He knows that it will draw us closer to Him when we step out and put other’s needs in front of our own. I am so thankful that I was a small part of this experience, as well as the so many other awesome experiences this week that God has allowed us to enjoy. Praise be to God!