Day 2 in Honduras: Extreme Home Makeover. . . Honduras Edition

When arrived at our build site in Mololoa, we found an old house that resembled more of a shack. Just like in the show, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, we began our project with the demolition stage...which only took approximately ten minutes. But out with the old and in with the new! You have to tear down before you can build up again.



The "before" shot of the old house

As soon as we began our work on the new house, the whole community began to gather around us. But they did not gather to watch, no, they gathered to help. At one point, I do believe that we were all standing around watching the men, women, and children work proudly on their new house. I will never forget watching a row of young boys as they nailed down the floorboards. You would have thought they were at Disney World by the smiles on their faces.

By the end of the afternoon, we had built a complete 16x16 wooden house with an elevated floor and a tin roof. This kind of house is very well-built, sturdy, suitable for living in the climate, and an enormous upgrade compared to the previous home. And it only takes a day to build! At the end of the day, we gathered inside the house, held hands, and prayed with the family as we dedicated their new house.

The "after" shot of the new house

Although the main job of the day was to build a house, the most meaningful task I accomplished was the building of relationships. Hammering nails is never more important than loving on kids and making them smile. It's okay to take off the work gloves so that you can better catch a frisbee. By laying aside work in order to spend time with people, I was able to meet and talk with Freddy, Kenzi, Fani, and Pabula. We may have only known each other for a day, but they touched my life and I hope that I was able to touch theirs.


My friend, Freddy



My friend, Fani





I am thankful to know that one more family in Honduras is sleeping dry with a roof over their heads and a floor beneath their beds. But more importantly, I am thankful that the family knows that the gift they were given was given in the love of Jesus Christ. I hope they saw that we valued them as people more than we valued the work that we had to do. And now may they realize that God is the same exact way.