Martha's House. In one day, well....you want believe this!
We arrived at Martha's house on Sunday. While the announcement team was meeting the families to inform them that they had been chosen to receive a new house, part of the team was back at the NCO compound beginning the critical task of cutting the metal beams, precutting the insulation, marking & numbering each piece, and preparing the materials for each of the two houses we would build. I did not realize how fast the projects would move starting the next morning. We were ready. We had been tested the day before and our resolve was such that even a rain storm would not stop us. We were going to build these two houses. We had to. We were born for this moment. Before we were born, God knew we would be needed to step into the lives of several families we would only meet this day. Jeremiah 1:5a states it this way, "“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you." The lord knew Martha and her family. He also knew us. And the Lord designed a moment where our lives would collide and neither of us would ever be the same again. The lord also proclaimed in Ephesians 2:10, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."
When we met Martha and her family, she invited us inside her house. While inside, she should us a picture of her 23 year old daughter. She had died very soon after giving birth. It was at that moment that we learned that the baby Martha was holding was Martha's daughter's child. Martha and her family were one of the first people to live in the small community of Kilombo. She had lived there with her family for 6 years and had patiently waited for the day her and her husband would receive the gift of a new home. We were so moved to be present when she was told that her day had arrived. Her family was so thankful and explained to us that this day was a blessing from the Lord. We celebrated with her. After a few more conversations, some of our men began measuring the property and deciding how best to approach the building project. After the evaluations and the decisions were made, we were ready.
We told the families that we would be back the next morning to begin. This meant that they would have to tear down their existing structure and have the spot cleared for the construction to begin. As I looked at the present homes, I was thinking that it would take me a day just to figure out how to take it all down. When we came back the next day, we found that people in the community banned together to help the family and not only was the old structure taken down and their belongings moved to another location, but, they had hauled dirt one load at a time and filled in the site area and leveled it. They also had cut away the embankment to give more room to work and to build. I was amazed at how fast the family and community worked to be ready for our team. When the project started, the family was already at work, and continued to help us throughout the process.
On Thursday, the community gathered with us as we celebrated the completed construction and dedicated the house. We presented the family with a cross to hang in their home to remember what the Lord had done and to be a witness to all who enter their home. The final step was the ribbon cutting as Bro. Bruce helped the dad cut the ribbon. At the ceremony, the government community leader was there. He stayed for the dedication and publicly thanked us for helping this family and their community. The moment was deliberative and the people showed it.
Now, imagine, that something is about to happen, and you are about to be right in the middle of it, and the Lord designed this moment before you were born, so that you would walk in it. Well, that means, "Yo were Born For this".
We were born for this moment.
Martha's Story.