The End of the Road...

There is a place in Choluteca where the road ends.  Quite literally, thick cement and curbing just drops off dramatically to a brief but steep gravel  decline into a riverside neighborhood known as Las Brisas. For us, it is each day's gateway to our project and to projects of years' past. 

It is the gateway to the river community known as Las Brisas, a place where kids play, sometimes half-clothed, with a happiness like no other.  But it is amid extreme poverty and many homes made from sticks, mud, trash materials or whatever. The house we are building for Anna is starting to take shape.  In her words [translated] it has its hair [tin roof] now and will begin to get dressed tomorrow, Wednesday when the clothes [walls] go up and shoes [ledge porch] get poured. 

We made cement by hand in the dirt and poured the floor of the house.  She will no longer have a dirt floor at ground level vulnerable to rain, ants and such.  We have limited materials and have to get creative at times. One example when we floated the floor. Reaching the center spots required a long reach and flexibility. That's where I came in. Strike a yoga pose and shave someone to hold onto my waist. Whamo! Job done. 

After working at the site in the morning until lunchtime and then eating lunch, we went into a city park with a group from the local church and met people, talked and shared the gospel to those willing to listen.  That went longer than planned and then we took a long way back to the mission house picking up some people on the way. We didn't know why.  They were keeping a surprise from us. 

Apparently, pastor Geovany had assembled a gathering of past families who had received houses built by Elevate church.  The orphan children of Casa Hogar Vida were there too. It was a great reunion with lots of smiles and laughter. Anna looked like a "Disney Princess" in her beautiful dress and Santo from two years ago was dolled up as well.  It is still amazing to me how clean or pretty some of their clothes can be in that dirt environment. 

For me, it was one of those mission days where you just don't seem to connect.  So this gathering was a great reminder that even though you may not connect in the moment or feel like you would expect, you are taking part in a greater thing of beauty. Thank you everyone who helped make this or any prior year possible.  God's love is being reflected in what is being done here and is leading many in this community to Christ. 

God Bless,

Aaron Mason