Our church is currently doing a series called 40 days of Others. Each week, the church is challenging us to get involved and make an impact on the Southwest Valley (of Phoenix). There are different opportunities to help neighbors, the sick, orphans, prisoners, widows, and the poor. Learn more here (http://www.therefinerycc.com/#!about1/c20mc).
You never know the impact your small service can make on a person. Often we serve and never know the long term outcome. We see the immediate need filled, but we sometimes never know the long term results of our service.
I recently got to hear about the impact I (and many others) made on a family over a year ago. I want to tell you this story not to boast about myself, but to encourage you to continue to do for others and serve, because you may never know what it means for them.
Every Veterans Day weekend (for the past 3 years), my husband and I go on a mission trip to Mexico with the organization 1Mission (see more at 1Mission.org). We sign up every year, not knowing the names of our family until a week before we leave.
1Mission is an AMAZING organization that does so much footwork before we even arrive. They have people in the community who work with families and help them earn a home (which is really just a “shed”, but it’s a home to them). Families volunteer 200 hours and then we come in and serve a weekend and build them their home. Here's a picture of the conditions in the barrio:
Last year, we built a home for the Ramierez-Torres family- Manuel the husband, Lupita the wife, and their 3 kids. This build was a special one because this was a family of faith. When I heard Manuel and Lupita talk, it was clear they had a relationship with Jesus. Manuel even shared his testimony. He used to be a drug user and was homeless on the streets. He neglected his wife and his family, and then he came to know Jesus and everything changed. God helped restore his marriage and forever changed him.
We finished our build last year and went home. I hadn’t thought much about Manuel and Lupita and their family until we started getting ready for this years trip. I decided I would purchase a few items for them and stop by and see how they were doing.
We pulled up in our truck and the family was outside working on building an outdoor kitchen. They at first looked confused and were wondering why this truck pulled up in front of their house. We got out and they all started smiling from ear to ear. One of the kids ran up to me and started hugging me. “Andrea!” she said. I almost started crying.
We got to see what they had done with their house and got to talking. Manuel shared that he has never been better and they have never been more blessed since we help build their house a year earlier.
Manuel shared that he thinks of us (the group that built their house last year) on a daily basis. He pulls out his bible and keeps a picture of our group in it. He prays to God for blessings on all of us and our children. He says that we were God’s angels that were sent to help him and his family.
Manuel also shared a vision he has. He wants to turn his home into a ministry center. He wants to invite the community into his home and share his testimony. He wants to teach others God’s word and use this land and home to help others, just as we helped him. The family is working on building an outdoor kitchen where they will be able to feed and help others and share God’s word with them.
Who knew that when I signed up to help build a home in Mexico that it would have such “Kingdom” results? Manuel is turning his home into a ministry center for the community. I am so excited to visit next year to see what has taken place. Here's a photo of their family:
My whole point in sharing this story is that you may never know the full extent of what your service or giving is doing. Your act of service can have eternal effects. I want to encourage you, especially during this holiday season, to give and serve others. It doesn’t have to be big, as simple act of kindness can go a long way.
1 Timothy 6:17-19
“17Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. 18Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.”
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