Building Lives & Homes in Ensenada

Each January for the past 12 years, we have joined friends, neighbors, and fellow church members to head south of the border for a home-building expedition.  Our next adventure begins this coming Friday!  While those who know me will agree that I am prone to hyperbole, this trip is truly transformational.  A few stories should suffice to illustrate this point.



First of all, we have 49 people joining us on our mission adventure this weekend.  We will be building three homes in a matter of about three days.  26 of the 49 have joined us one or both of the past two years.  Many whole families return year after year, despite the media reports of danger in Mexico.  Mimi and I will be taking our girls for their fourth and fifth years respectively.

Many families are barely getting by when we arrive.  They are living in little more than boards, cardboard and tarps put together to separate families from the elements.  Some families have rain and wind that run right through their houses prior to our visits.  By the time we leave, they are able to enjoy a safe, warm home that includes beds and many of the accommodations that we take for granted.  The highlight for me is the when we pass around the key to the home and each team member says a word or two of blessing and dedication to the family.  The family is then handed the key and able to open the door to a whole new life.

Last year we had the amazing privilege of visiting a family we had built a home for the year before.  As our vans approached, the teenage daughter ran inside to alert her unsuspecting family of our arrival.  We were greeted with hugs and tears.  The family was quick to show us all of the improvements that they had made.  There was now an outdoor kitchen attached to one side of the home.  A garden was planted with fresh vegetables and fruits and a new dog had moved into the little dog house that we had built.  The family was able to purchase a car and had donated their old shelter to a family more desperate than themselves.  And then we were greeted with a question that was completely unexpected.  "Do you need any help completing the homes you're working on?"  And of course we did.  Alfonso and his two teenage sons dropped what they were doing and spent the next six hours working their tails off to complete a home for a family they didn't even know.  They had truly paid it forward.  All of the cynicism was gone from my heart and mind for good.

While each trip has its own blessings and uniqueness, we are always grateful for the opportunity to give and to serve.  Wait....a new father and his two sons have just signed up to go.  Another miracle awaits us.