Día Cinco

Today was an emotional day for all of us. We had to say goodbye to the people we really have grown to love in the short time we have had with them. The day began putting finishing touches on our houses--brick walkways, shelving, final painting, mosaics, landscaping, etc. We then filled the houses with all the gifts that were so generously donated to turn the houses into real homes. We fitted beds with sheets, put groceries on shelves, hung curtains in the windows, put toys in the loft, and decorated the homes with various artistic touches.
After the houses were all finished, each team gathered outside the house to dedicate the houses to the family for whom they had built. Each team member had the opportunity to share from his/her heart how the building experience moved them and what getting to know the family meant. Each team then formed a circle and prayed a prayer of dedication over the house. This was a very moving and emotional experience, both for our SLUH teams and for our families in the colonia. After the prayer, the keys to the house were handed to each head of household, who led the rest of their family into their new home for the first time. For most of these people, they had never had a house that had a door, much less a lock on it. This moment represents for many people a real opportunity to change, and gives them a chance to get their feet off the ground.
Today, every family provided lunch for each team--again sharing not from their surplus but from their basic necessities. Some teams feasted on some of the most delicious tamales they had ever had, others had various chicken dishes, and even molé made another appearance. The food was delicious, but what was even more striking was the atmosphere surrounding the feast. Each family was so proud to be able to host a party in their new homes. One man, Jose, was busily opening up Cokes for his guests and making sure that each person had enough to eat. Extended family members were there as well as neighbors and other SLUH, Cor Jesu, and St. Joe's team members. No one was turned away, and there was plenty for everyone to eat.
The actual saying of goodbye to the kids we played with and the people we had grown so close to was difficult. Many kids came to tears when they found out this was our last day. The kids clung tightly to us, giving that one last hug, to show us how much we meant to them. Tonight after dinner, Roland opened the floor for anyone to talk about what was in their hearts about the last day of the trip. Many of our SLUH guys got up and spoke about how much our work had meant. Junior Kevin Murphy likened the feeling of carrying a child on his shoulders from one end of the colonia to another to the kind of love that Jesus showed for us in shouldering the heavy load of the cross on the way to Calvary. Both are done out of great love, without thinking twice about doing it again. Many words of thanksgiving were shared for the students, faculty, and parents that attended the trip. In the end, Roland invited Mr. Stewart to "bring us home" with a closing prayer. The rest of the night was spent sharing memories of the trip and strengthening the bonds we made with all of the members of the St. Louis contingent of Homes for the Homeless 2008.
We are all very exhausted from our hard week of work, and are ready for the long day of traveling back to St. Louis. We all have a Reynosa-shaped hole in our hearts that we will try to fill by remembering the friends we have made here and especially by carrying their love, generosity, kindness, and community back to our lives in St. Louis. Hasta mañana amigos.

Buenas noches San Luís.

Día Cuatro

Most teams are nearing completion of their houses, and one has finished the major construction (see photo). Today's construction focused on roofing, windows, and doors. Today seemed to be a turning point in the trip--we really clicked together both as a SLUH group and as individual teams, but more importantly, we grew much closer to our families and the many kids running around the colonia. The language barrier, although still present, seemed much less of an obstacle to genuine communication today than in days past.

The name of this mission is "Homes for the Homeless" so many of our teams put some creativity and personal flare on their houses to make them homes--one team is crafting a beautiful brick walkway and patio with intricate tile inlay, while another group made window boxes.

Again today, the generosity of the people here was easily seen. The mother of the blue team made delicious tacos with homemade salsa for them, which they shared with the rest of us. The orange team's family prepared what was described as " delicious chicken wrapped in a soft pretzel (~Mike McVey). While for us, chicken is a regular part of our diet, these families only kill and eat a chicken on very special occasions, like Christmas, Easter, or the Day of the Dead. It is an enormous sacrifice for these families, and they spend both much time and money to show hospitality to us and to make us feel welcome.

Tonight at our SLUH prayer service, Mr. Mills described the economic situation here in Reynosa and that of the families we are working with this week. He described how the families came to be in Reynosa and the hardships that these people have endured to provide for their families. The majority of these families came to Reynosa from Vera Cruz after NAFTA and increased US corn subsidies hurt their family farming businesses. They live in the colonia, on property that they own, while working in factories for less than $8.00 each day. We listened carefully and intently, hoping to learn more about these families, whom we have grown to love and care about so much. We finished with a few brief announcements and prayer.

Tomorrow we will finish the finer points of construction, and decorate and furnish our houses. After we put on the finishing touches, we will hand over the keys to the house, and dedicate them to each family. At that moment, it will cease to be a house made of wood, nails and tin and will become a home, made with love and sustained with life and hope for a brighter future.

Día Tres

Our third day in Mexico was a great success. The day started out with our usual 6:30am devotional and breakfast and then we set out for the colonia, where we picked up where we left off yesterday. Today is the day that our piles of lumber began to look like houses--walls were framed together, rafters were nailed to the roof, and the openings for the windows and door were cut out.
The white team's (Tighty Whities) family prepared a traditional Mexican meal of molé with rice and tortillas. In the molé, they had stewed a chicken, which was likely still alive this morning! The family of the Blue Team (Cerulean Thunder/ Azúl Petrúl) also prepared lunch for them--fried chicken, rice, and salad. It is truly humbling to see a family that has so little sharing what they have to make us feel welcome in their home. The people of the colonia are models not only for hospitality, but also generosity. The orange team (The Tangerine Machine) is hard at work personalizing their house by decorating flower pots for their family. The Green Team (Gang Green), working with much deliberation and care, were able to share the building of the house with its future occupants.
We ended the work day with dinner and sharing stories. A few groups hit up the taco stand and a few shopped for odds and ends at Soriana, the cheap, consumerism-driven Mexican equivalent of Wal-Mart. Before bed, the SLUH group gathered for prayer and more sharing of our experiences. We look forward to finishing the major portion of our houses tomorrow (besides the green team) and meeting more people and continuing to have our hearts touched.

Buenas Noches San Luís.

Día Dos

The alarm rang at 550 this morning. Today was a very special day, Eric's 18th birthday. Besides this national holiday, it was also exciting because we started our houses. In the morning we had a short prayer service, led by SLUH guys, Eric, Brian Schwartze, and Ben Merrill. After a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs and refried beans wrapped in a tortilla, we got in our line of 11 unmarked fifteen-passenger vans and took off for the Colonia. After meeting our families we took inventory of all the lumber and materials we had and started building and painting. After a morning of hard work trying to level ground that seemed impossible to level (except for Mr. Mill's team who had the entire base of the house laid out for them) we had lunch with amazing turkey sandwiches (eric's spelling: sandwitches), bananas (eric's spelling: bannannas), chips, and oreos. We worked hard the rest of the day, made a lot of new friends, and made awesome progress on our houses. Now we are all slightly sunburnt, hoping our houses havent fallen over, dead tired and falling asleep while writing this blog. Everything has been great down here and we can only hope the following days will be as good. Thank you for keeping us in your prayers. Here are some pictures of the houses at the end of the first workday.

Buenos Noches San Luís

Día Uno

Day one began at five thirty at Lambert Airport. We made it through security with plenty of time to eat breakfast after a half mile long wait. Our flight left right on time and we arrived in Houston at about 10:00 a.m. We were in Houston for about 45 min then boarded our flight to Harlingen. We arrived in Harlingen around noon. After scrounging for food and witnessing a "Dine and Dash" our stay in Harlingen seemed to last forever. We managed to survive by entertaining ourselves with netless hand tennis. Roland then arrived with his trailer hitch and designer shades. After the angels arrived, (St. Joe angels that is) we saddled up and rode off toward the setting sun in McAllen...Ok it was only three o'clock. After a half hour wait outside a sketchy carwash (see picture below) we arrived a La Plaza Centro Comerciál, partaking in the fine art of notoriously exorbitant American consumerism. After living up to the very low standards set to us by the American media in terms of food consumed, dollars spent, and resources squandered, we fixed our attention upon what brought us here in the first place.
As our stately van caravan crossed the Rio Grande, the Mexican border patrol denied expedient passage into Mexico--detaining them at the security checkpoint to check for contraband. After giving it the "todo claramente" we continued on to the Best Western Camino. Tonight's activities consisted of dinner, fellowship, orientation, and meetings. After a long, tiring, and donkey-filled day (see picture below) we are ready to begin work at the colonia bright and early tomorrow morning.


Buenos Noches San Luís.

The Night Before

Well my friends its game day tomorrow. I hope everyone is excited. I just wanted to try the blog once more before we got down in Mexico. I also wanted to remind all the parents to keep us in your prayers. We can double check the packing list and do everything in our power to make the trip a success but when it comes down to it, its in the big man's hands. So, keep us in your prayers but also take this week to focus prayers for all people who are in poverty (or as my grandma says, pray for the three H's: the hungry, homeless, and hurting.) Thanks for all your continued support and make sure to check the blog because ideally it will be updated each night. I'm gonna go catch some Z's because I have my alarm set for the steep time of 3:50 AM which is really cramping my sleeping style but all will be well. I look forward to seeing everybody bright eyed and bushy tailed at 5:30 AM (credit is due to my fifth grade teacher Mrs Mueller for that terribly awful phrase.)
With much love,

Eric W. Lampe