Wednesday for our community outreach project we were able to bless a family through a food basket, prayer, and the making of a new concrete floor.
[outside the home]
This family is quite unique. There are two special needs children living here. The oldest daughter is 31 years old but has the IQ of a 7 year old. The oldest son is 24 and has spent his life in a bed. He tends to grab the dirt from under his bed and eat it. The mom said the concrete will be very helpful so that he can’t do that any more. It will also attract fewer rats. The youngest son Hector is 9 and he is progressing with all the usual milestones and shows no signs of development delays or special needs.
[the family]
The mom works cleaning houses on her street from 7am-1pm Monday through Saturday. During this time, the 24 year old boy who is confined to his bed is alone. The mom tried taking him to work but he rocks back and forth too much so it is too dangerous she says. Now she only takes the oldest daughter. When we asked the mother what we could pray for she mentioned her work and her family. She broke down when we asked her about her husband. The mom shared with us that he left 18 years ago because he blamed her for the kids having special needs. Seven years ago he stopped sending money. We went to prayer over her family and asked the Lord to fill the home and all of us with the Holy Spirit. Pablo, the mission coordinator, and I were talking about how we think there is more going on but we just couldn’t put our finger on it. The mom avoided eye contact a majority of the time. I wanted so badly to do more in the realm of encouraging her but I just didn’t know what to say. I was reminded that building the concrete floor that day was an act of love itself.
[before: the dirt floor]
Making and laying concrete is tough on the body. I think the Lord poured out some supernatural strength during our work. Nicole and I had fun naming a WOD surrounding the different things we had to lift and move and the ways we had to maneuver ourselves during the process. The WOD consisted of sledgehammers, cleans, and deadlifts. (The next day I felt like I had been hit by a train, so did everyone else.) Check out our form:
[Photo edit and collage: Nicole]
After a while we thought we might run out of materials to finish the concrete floor. We prayed that the Lord would stretch it. I’m going to let you all in on a little something, the Lord likes to humor me from time to time. Not only did we have enough, we had extra! The worker, who evens out the concrete out after we mix and lay it, put the extra in buckets so that the mom could keep it moist and choose where she wanted to lay it.
[after: scooping out the excess, and the finished room!]
Side note: It is interesting that we keep working with special needs because those are the ones usually most rejected. I’m happy to be apart of this work.
In the evening we did a lesson with the kids on thanking the Lord for our hearing and that we can listen. We made maracas and played “Simon Says”. I really enjoyed the time I got to spend with my kids shaking to the sound of the maracas and goofing around during the game.
[Abe showing off his maracas]
[all the kids singing along]
[simon says, in spanish of course]
Oh and another amazing thing happened this day. I met a lady named Ruth. You can actually see her in the back of this last picture. She has been in the adoption process for seven years with her little one named Luis. She began the process when he was two months old. He spent a lot of time in the state orphanage but thankfully she was able to work with her lawyer to get him transferred to Dories Promise, a much better, safer, and more loving environment. I shared with her my heart for my kids and adoption and she actually sparked more hope as she shared with me some possibilities. I loved learning about her life and journey and it really touched me that she said “Luis is my only mission right now.” God seems to be placing the right people in the right places and connecting me with them for very specific purposes. More to come on that with what happened on Thursday!
