The McAllisters in El Salvador: House #1: Edgar, Flor, Fernando & Kimberly

allow me to introduce to you a very special family. Edgar, Flor, Fernando & Kimberly live in San Antonio Caminos on the old train line. i see a lot of beautiful things about this family. the joy i feel in their family is well above the norm. the smile on flor's face seems to light up the world and fernando their son is something pretty special. now eight years old, fernando had a very high fever when he was young which unfortunately caused some brain damage resulting in some disabilities. he is bound to a wheelchair and has limited abilities of speech and general motor skills, but the joy he exudes is astounding. when you sit down beside him his face lights up and he answers your questions in short bursts "bien!" and "Si!" His eyes on the other hand say, "i am so happy to see you! i am filled with joy in my heart because you are here spending time with me!" and "i love my life and this is a great day!" it is never a burden or a chore to spend time at this home and last week we spent a fair amount of time with them building a new home.

the morning we started building, our family was reading about king david and the fact that God looks on the heart, not on outward appearances. we chatted about fernando and it was a cool moment as we talked about what place fernando has in God's ranking system. he has some difficulty outwardly, but i think that little heart in there is one of pure gold. one that loves and has joy and thinks the best of others... i was glad to see the lights come on in my kids eyes as they realized the place fernando has in God's eyes, in God's economy...

daniel, teresa & seth goldstein (carie's brother and family) came down last week to visit and help out in our ministry down here. it was fun for all of us to see someone from home, especially since they brought down little gifts from home for all of us! i was the proud recipient of 5 peanut butter cup chocolate bars. it's funny the little things you miss when away from home... daniel & theresa not only came to work hard helping our efforts, but also graciously supplied the money to pay for this home. so, we showed up on site with the crew from san filipe (basilio, roberto, noe & miguel) who have become quite proficient at the building process. they are close to understanding every part of the building process now and i look forward to the day stu and i cannot be onsite and they do a house without one "white guy" there to be the "boss"! the ground was quite hard so the hole digging was tough slugging, but we had lots of help from Edgar and other family and friends which was good to see. we really want to see the men step up and too often they aren't around to help as i believe it's sometimes too hard for their pride to swallow taking this gift from us. kerrie-lynn said that she was impressed with Edgar for sticking around after their firstborn had this fever. with so many absent dad's in this world, this family again shines some light in this little village. once the holes were in, the rest seemed to fly up without a hitch. the kids were on easter break so they were all out there with us. the guys built, the kids played with the kids in the village and the ladies visited and continued with some interviewing of nearby families. ellis spent the better part of the day up in a tree wacking fruit out with a stick (when not up a tree he was drilling holes into the ground with a 5/16" driver and a makita drill), elias played cars with fernando, kade & ben ripped around and played some soccer in the pasture behind the house, winnie & annah searched for goats, cats, horses, puppies or any other type of animal that they could pet, while isaiah helped out with the building quite a bit (predrilling holes, measuring and holding material in place). by the end of the day their was a sweet new house standing ready for a concrete floor.

a couple days later we returned with a couple house warming gifts and did a little key ceremony. when teams come, the key ceremony is a big event with one hundred plus people coming out, but even with just our 4 families standing in front of their 'almost finished' home, it was quite moving. stu said a prayer, daniel said a few words and handed the family the keys. we took pictures of all of us, then seth & fernando posed for some pics! those will be ones the goldstiens will cherish for some time i think...

we build two more this week with the boys from san filipe and we'll share their stories too. outside of building, we are kept busy filling in cracks for pastor jorge, meeting with the mayor two days back to back, helping a single mom start a small business, connecting with some street people, and helping our kids stay on top of schoolwork and spanish. on a final note, if you could, offer a prayer for our friend juanita. her house is bought and paid for, but is under risk of losing it to the previous owner because she never received the deed (kerrie-lynn shared her story in a previous blog). eviction has been threatened and the other morning she came over in tears... her and her youngest daughter have spent a lot of time with us during this time. we have a lawyer and others helping to bring justice to this situation. we are often blown away by the chaos here in el salvador. the lack of order and an honest system. we are so grateful for life in canada and hope in small ways we can work to restore things to the way they ought to be down here in san vicente, el salvador...

trent