Building Bayon’s House, Day One (Feb. 14, 2011)

Current home for the seven members of Bayron's family

I managed to get a few hours sleep Sunday night, after going to the airport with Chris Mooney to pick up two guys from my home church, Westside. Caleb Smagacz and Thor Johnson have come down to prepare for a family mission trip the Children’s ministry is sponsoring as part of VBX (Vacation Bible eXperience—not your grandma’s VBS!). This week the guys will be helping to build a house for Bayron and his family, as well as video-taping much of the work we do here in Guatemala.

I’m never too comfortable with people coming in to video, but I know these guys and trust their hearts to tell the story of what God is doing here, and of the many here who are in such dire need.  (Any fears I had about bringing video cameras into the homes we visited were unwarranted.  Thor did a great job not only of being sensitive in the way he videod, but involving the kids in the process!)

After a two and a half hour drive and a quick breakfast at Camperos, we arrived at Bayron’s home. We were pleasantly surprised to discover that the family had totally leveled the land where we would be building, and had taken down the lamina that they had been borrowing since moving to this land. Four large barrels of water were also waiting for us, as we had requested. This family had done all that we had asked and more to get ready for the construction of their new home.

We unloaded the truck, including the metal bunk beds we had brought, and Chris began apologizing because we were short one mattress. Dona Maria quickly explained that this would not be a problem—since yesterday someone just so happened to give her one mattress, which just so happened to fit the bed we had brought perfectly. Another Godincident that reminded us this was His work and not ours. He had it all under control.

As we were getting started, Chris had the opportunity to sit and visit with the family for a few minutes. After sharing with them that the house was a gift from God, not from us, he asked them, “How is your life with God?” Every time I have heard him ask this question of someone we were visiting, I could feel the power of his words. Today was no different. After sharing with them about the life Jesus was offering them, four of these young women committed their lives to Jesus. God had readied the soil of their hearts even as they had readied the soil for their home. And now the seed was planted.


I was really quite honored, as well as more than a little panicked, when Chris asked me to sit and visit with these women about how to walk with Christ. I still worry about my inadequate Spanish in situations such as these, but, of course, God came through and we had a wonderful visit about the life set before them.

The Proclaimer

When I asked if they had a Bible, Dona Maria excitedly ran into the house and immediately brought out a small box. In it was a solar powered audio Bible which Melissa and Ryan McCue had brought to the family last July. It was well cared for, but obviously well used, too.

Dona Maria explained that her father had taught her much of the Bible, but she had wandered when she was married to her husband. After his death, she returned to the Lord, but had not been able to really share this with her daughters. She was overjoyed to know they now had a relationship with Jesus.

This was Day 1 of the construction—preparing and pouring the foundation. Pastor Juan and Saul, who are part of Bethel Ministries, expertly measured and strung the foundation.

Cement block was layed along their string lines, and the real work of leveling the earth inside the “walls” began.

All of us, both the visitors and the family, began shoveling dirt into the outline of the house, while Dick and Chris leveled the terrain, working from one side to the other, using only a line strung between two poles to guide them. This was a bit chaotic, with so many people working, but it was wonderful to see the family, even Dona Maria the grandma and the kids, taking a part in building their house. You can get a taste of the action from the video Bayron took with my camera. . .

After lunch the guys began the process of mixing the cement by hand, getting a good bit of help from Bayron. The wet cement was moved by wheelbarrow into the foundation, where Dick leveled it, Thor and Benjamin (Chris’s son) smoothed it with a metal bar, and Chris put the final finish on it. It was astounding to watch this whole process, all done without the help of any heavy equipment, but with a huge amount of team work.

I got to spend much of my time just playing with the kids in the family. . .and was pleased to see just how friendly they had become. Bayron and Edgar had always been comfortable with us, but some of the younger children had been pretty shy on our previous visits.

Today, all of them enjoyed our company, and approached us freely. We spent a lot of time just sitting in the back of the pick up talking, and especially Edgar really enjoyed it when I told the story of Jesus and the children. We then play about an hour of “you can’t catch me,” and I think I was more worn out by the game than I would have been working on the foundation!

As we readied to head back to the hotel, Dick invited Bayron to go with us. We had been a little concerned about how Edgar would feel about this. Our worry was in vain. Edgar explained that he couldn’t come with us, because he had school tomorrow and had already taken one day off to help us with the house! Pretty awesome words from an eight year old. Words that give us much confidence in his future.