This is a story to inspire anyone who has ever given money to a better cause.
Meet Faustina Sula.
She has six children, three that live with her: Alex, Francisca and Carlos. She is a widow. Her husband died several years ago, but she has never remarried because it is against her Mayan culture to remarry. She is taking care of her three children on her own. Thanks to our contact ministry here in Xenacoj, Go!Ministry, she is provided with food through the feeding program they established a little over a year ago. We had the pleasure of meeting her and her lovely family on our second day of ministry, when we immediately started tearing down her house! Literally, we took all of their belongings, moved them into the shack next door, and began taking her house apart brick by brick, bamboo stick by bamboo stick. Within an hour, her house that was once standing, was now in a pile underneath her clothes line of drying clothes, on the side of the mountain. The only thing left was a neatly swept dirt floor & toilet.
Enter in the second group of missionaries.
Over the next couple days, a group of missionaries from South Dakota & Minnesota began to put in a new pre-fabricated house. The total cost of the house; concrete, nails, steel, everything, etc. was $2,000. We didn't go back to Mrs. Faustina's house until the unveiling ceremony one week later. I don't know what I was expecting a pre-fab house to look like, but this was not it. It was nice – not just to a third world country's standards – but to everyone's standards. There was a steel roof, a concrete floor, plastic drainage pipes, two separate rooms, and wooden beds with mattresses (beds donated by Go!Ministries).
Everyone who had a part in building this house was at the ceremony. As I stood there, taking it all in, alongside 30 or so other missionaries, all from different organizations, I experienced a God moment. This blessing was a divine appointment set up by God long ago. It all started off with Faustina, who fell in love with her husband. When her husband died, she experienced obvious hardships, but remained strong in her faith. God is faithful to his children who are faithful to Him. From there, God called His other children to play a part in His master plan. He tapped their shoulders…. someone like you, to give money – any amount of money – to a church, organization, group, or individual. This money was then passed on to any one of us, to go to the nations, spread the good news, love the lost, feed the hungry, heal the sick, and raise the dead. The spirit then planted this plan in ours and other missionaries' minds (who had never even met before) to go to Mrs. Faustina's house & bless her with a new home. You are the giving, and we are the going; one cannot happen without the other. We are the hands and feet; you are the heartbeat.
The finished house!
As I continue this journey that God has called me on, I encourage you to listen to God's voice as well. Some people are not in the position to go, so they give in order for others to go. This story was not one to guilt you into supporting my journey. This was a story to inspire you to give more. Give to a cause you believe in. Give out of the joy of your heart. Give because you know you are a beloved daughter and son of God, who has called you to be apart of a plan that is greater than you could ever imagine.
I am here. I am here because I am healthy and able. I am here because I want to tell the world of this beautiful life He has given me. To speak of this indescribable joy that fills each day, even through the difficult times. To tell people there is a Savior and no matter what they did in their lives, they can be a new creation.
Thank you to my supporters and anonymous donors, I have met my next deadline of $11,000!! I am once again humbled and thankful to you all. Thank you for helping me continue my journey, and for going on one of your own. Thank you, thank you, thank you, and God bless!
