Silvia's Sweet Family

Back in May I met Sylvia who stopped by her friend's house as we were putting in a concrete floor. Sylvia asked me that day if I could help her family with a house. She explained that they owned a small piece of land nearby and was even so desperate that she said her son could be a gift for me if we could build a house for them. We had a very long list of families that were living in terrible conditions and needed some help and I sadly explained that I didn't know if we would be able to help her family.

I did take a picture of her little boy and shared on the blog how awful it is to not be able to help every family that is living in poverty here. The needs can definitely be overwhelming! Not long after, I met Jody (via emails) who works for Children of the Americas and also has a non-profit called Finding Freedom Through Friendship. She wanted to help this family as well and her non-profit was able to raise the funds to build Silvia's family a home.

Robby, along with Orily, Carlos, Silvia and her husband, worked together to build the home this past week. Finding Freedom Through Friendship also sent money for food for this family. I guess the best part of working here in Guatemala has been to see how God orchestrates the details. Sylvia did not know we were stopping by today. The family has not moved into their new house yet because Robby is going to install their stove and have the dedication service next week. So when we arrived at the "house" they are renting, one of the daughters had to run down the street to find Sylvia. Literally the only food this family had was one small onion and so their mother was trying to sell a chicken so that they could afford to buy tortillas for the family. Thanks to Jody and her friends we were able to surprise this family was enough food for a month!

But we were reminded again today that God doesn't just care about this family's physical needs -- He wants a relationship with each of them as well. We were happy to hear when Sylvia shared with us today that two months ago she accepted Jesus as her Savior.

"The LORD hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those who are crushed in spirit."

Psalms 34:17-18