Building Houses in Guatemala Didn’t Go As Planned

Last holiday season, I wrote about donating to build a family home in Guatemala. As a recap, I wanted my grandkids to join me and help me build a house for a family in need. I thought this would give my grandchildren a chance to travel together and work on a common goal.

Our Church’s Involvement with ConstruCASA

My church, the First-Plymouth Congregational Church in Lincoln, and the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Crete have built homes and the Xeptetan City Library in Guatemala for years. Both churches partner with ConstruCASA, an international organization that coordinates everything from our housing to finding the right families to receive a new home.

Being the eternal optimist, I figured everything was going to work out perfectly. We’d all quickly find a time for our mission work, which would coordinate with our church’s trips and set up our travel arrangements to Guatemala. Soon, everything would fall into place.

Timing Challenges & Adjustments

I learned our church’s next planned mission trip to Guatemala might be January or February and thought this timing would work great. But then, the plans changed. ConstruCASA’s next build date was in June. Our church’s youth group would be building six homes in Guatemala at this time, too—and one of them was the house we had donated money to build. I knew all of the church kids would love the experience, and I was very excited for them.

Sadly, I knew the June timeframe would not work for us. After two deep breaths and regaining my senses, I realized I had no control and needed to move on. I told the grandkids. They were disappointed they couldn’t participate due to their university classes and jobs.

Taking a New Direction to Support the Cause

So, we did the next best thing, which was to make cards and gift boxes for our family in need. It was the least we could do to show them how much we cared and supported them moving into their new home.

The Final Results

In August, ConstruCASA announced that 39 youth volunteered on the June builds and shared photos of the locals helping out and the families with their new homes.

I shared this information with my grandkids. Although they still wished they could have participated in the building of “our” house, they were thrilled to have a visual of the family and their new house. I told my grandkids, “There’s more work to be done, so we might be able to try again another year.”

We all agreed that not being in Guatemala to build our home was hard, but knowing we were helping others certainly felt great for all of us!