Last November we told you about Pedro Valenzuela and his family who had been on the house-building waiting list for a long time. Our work crews had been putting off his request due to the challenges and difficulties involved in building a house on that steep hill. But finally, as another cold winter descended, two of our work crews joined together and began the grueling work of digging out of solid rock the foundation for the new house.
If you remember, Pedro’s existing house, which is on a plot of land he has deed to, is nestled high above the other houses in the area and is accessible only by a foot path. Up and down this winding path, the men (including Pedro and his sons) lugged jackhammers, power tools, sacks of cement, and all the adobe bricks needed for construction. With the back-breaking work, broken tools, and seemingly impenetrable rocks, the workers wanted to throw in the towel several times. But seeing Pedro’s family shivering in their cardboard hut with very little protection from the freezing weather, the men buckled down and persevered. They ended up making a split-level foundation rather than trying to clear an entire flat area for the regular style house we usually build.
At last the foundation was laid. The adobe walls and the rest of the building followed quickly. On went the roof and the metal bars over the windows (a must in these crime-ridden times), and in went the kitchen shelves, interior walls and tiled floor. What an amazing house it turned out to be – one of the best our teams have ever built.
Pedro’s wife Maria, crying tears of joy told us, “I used to look at my 5 kids and wonder what would happen to them if Pedro and I were to die — they wouldn’t have anything. Pedro is a good man, a hard-worker. He would tell me, ‘One day I will make us a house of adobe.’ But times got worse and worse. It was all we could do to make enough to feed the kids. Even my 13 year old son works in a little store making tortillas. He brings me whatever he earns. I would cry out to God, begging Him, ‘God, please help us. We need a house – not for me, but for my kids.’”
Really sobbing now, Maria continued, “He heard my prayer. God heard my prayer! He not only gave us a house, but the most beautiful home in the whole neighborhood. Thanks be to God! Thanks to all of you!”