making ready

As part of the process of becoming acclimated to the area and discerning where and how we'll be serving in the future, we're getting out into the community. We're learning about groups already working hard, and we're meeting people, and we're watching and listening. This week, we had opportunity to go out to visit a project of Proyecto Azteca, a group that seeks to assist folks with low cost quality housing in the colonias.

At this particular site, a volunteer group from Houston was demolishing a house that had burned in a fire due to faulty wiring. Their task was to completely raze the building, and make the lot ready for a pre-fab home to move in. It was encouraging to see many from the community, including the family, helping the work. It seems a bit ironic that an act of destruction can provide hope, but certainly, that was the case on this hot day for the single mom and her two kids.

This week I've learned of a hard situation in another community that we've visited, and I have been frustrated with how difficult it is to be part of positive change and action when you are not a part of that community. Increasingly, I long for the time when we will be living and earning trust among people, with opportunity to share problems and speak daily the hope and promise of the Gospel. And in the meanwhile, my constant prayer is for patience and vision and wisdom and discernment, and the opportunity to be used in and for His kingdom.