My God Saves

Today we finished building the house we've been working on. The family we are building it for is a family beyond brokenness. This is a family that has been torn apart. The mother is pressing charges against her brother for sexually abusing her young son. She can't talk to any of her family because they are all mad at her for pressing charges. She and her son had to move away and cut ties from their family. She is the bravest woman I have ever met. It is extremely rare for a parent to press charges in ES.

When we build houses I tend to get distracted by the children. Today was no exception. I grew to love this boy we were building for. He is funny and sweet and always willing to help. He stole my heart.
As we left, his mom ran after us to tell us goodbye. She began to tell us that her son had been angry and violent lately and she believed it had something to do with the abuse. She told us that his grandma once told him he shouldn't have been born and he only brought problems to the family. I was overcome with sadness and pain for this boy and I asked if I could pray for him. I was already holding his hand, and I wrapped my other arm around his shoulders. I began to pray that he would realize how much he was loved and wanted. I prayed that he would continue to grow into the strong man that he had been for us. And for the third time in all my trips down here, I cried. The translator took over praying and as she prayed, he began to pray too. He prayed that God would take away the anger that he was feeling. And he prayed to accept Jesus into his heart.
We had to leave and I was hit with how powerful God is. I know that sounds dumb, but it's easy to forget that sometimes. I will never forget him or his fearless mother. Tonight I go to bed satisfied because God let me be His hands and feet, and He let me see Him touch lives in the moment. But I also go to bed with a heavy heart for all this boy will have to deal with in the future because of sin.

Thank you all who helped us give these two a home with beds. God is definitely at work.