An aye for an eye! God answers "YES" to prayers for Pete's healing!

Although this is very belated in coming, our heartfelt thanks goes to all who prayed for the healing of Pete's eye, punctured by a wire. It happened a few weeks ago, while Pete was on the job, wiring a ceiling light box at the new church where he works everyday. What a scare that was! Gil, the director of Casa de la Esperanza, sent Pete to an ophthalmologist in nearby Cuauhtemoc, after Pete spent a very painful night of suffering. Three days later, Pete's eye was pretty much good as new! Glory to God, and thanks to all the saints who rallied!

Oklahoma team members, visiting Casa that week, drove into Anahuac to purchase antibiotic eye drops and eye patches. Jazmin, our bilingual teacher, accompanied us to the  doctor in Cuauhtemoc and interpreted. The children queried countless times with anxious eyes and hearts, "Como esta Pedro?"; "How is Pete?" Rodrigo and family, our resident Colombian missionaries, gathered round to pray, and Bertha, from the Oklahoma team, interpreted so we could understand. Our family at home prayed, and so did our church family at Calvary Belmar. Love for Pedro was obvious as the Oklahoma team broke into spontaneous applause when he returned to work. 

Enrique,  a bilingual staff member at Casa, accompanied us to the follow-up exam the next week. The doctor declared, "Mucho bien!" or "Much better!" All praise to God who is so faithful! What a visual for us, of the body of Christ, living and breathing and working together as it's designed by God to do!

1 Corinthians 12:26 "And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it."

Such a time

The photo above is a before-and-after of the first of 6 units that will be used for housing for our friend Rodrigo and his family (from Columbia) as they dedicate their lives to the children of Casa and to the outreach to the Anahuac community. The rest of the units, to be used as emergency housing, also have the potential of being used as family housing for students and/or a Bible school is established for theological students.


Thoughts on: “Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14

This verse has come to my mind several times during our short time in Mexico. For me, personally, I think back to getting my first “real” job where I lived totally off of the money that I earned. I was fresh out of college and hungry, so I took the first job that I could find. It was at Foster Lumber Company in Broomfield, Colorado. I was hired as a delivery driver and soon took on more responsibilities as I became more familiar with the building materials that we sold. That led to a job driving semi-tractor trailers for a wholesale building products supplier. At that time, I took an interest in the cabinet shops to which I made deliveries. This interest eventually led me into making and finishing custom cabinets, then to boat building and repair, and eventually to being self-employed, designing and fabricating high-end custom interior woodwork. My last 15 years have been dedicated to different phases of the hardwood flooring business.
As you have probably already deduced, all of this interest, experience and training has led me to “such a time as this” right here and now at Casa de la Esperanza in Anahuac, Chihuahua, Mexico. Grace and I are amazed at God's hand over the years as He has chastened and prepared us for this time at Casa. He knew the future as He molded and shaped both of us, me through my woodworking experience, and Grace through her 22 years of teaching and mentoring kids in which God shaped her compassionate heart for this time and place.
For me. childhood carries some great memories, but it was also a time of hurting and confusion over what a “normal family” should be like. I love being able to hug the kids here, put a smile on their faces and spend time with them. In a way, it helps to heal the time that I missed when  I was a kid. As we get better with the Spanish language, we know that it will allow these relationships to grow even stronger. We think that the kids perceive us as being “old,” but on the other hand, a lot of my best memories included my grandparents!
On further reflection, I think of Grace's missionary grandparents dedicating their lives in China for  “such a time as this,” during the time that China was changed forever by the communist party. I think of our grandsons and their “tech & games.” They are in a very different “such a time as this;” their battles and blessings will match the time that God has planned for them. For those of you who are considering coming to Casa, I believe that if God has put it on your heart, then he has prepared you to have a special place here “for such a time as this.”

Here we are in Mexico

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.” 1 Corinthians 13:1

Mexico! A country of many contrasts, all under the canopy of a night-sky painted with myriads of twinkling stars, drawing our attention to our God who placed them there and named them all. We’ve come here to serve; Pete, mostly in construction of the new massive, cathedral-like Community Service and Worship Center and myself, in the fledgling school with 35 first through sixth graders, all at various stages of learning. And of course, our biggest mission is to love on the kids-somewhere between 45 and 50 of them-to be ‘abuelo y abuela’ (grandpa and grandma) to any who give us invitation and even to those who don’t.

In our first month here we have faced a big learning curve, but now we’re settled in our two-bedroom adobe house, enough so that it feels like home. We’ve learned the children’s names and given countless hugs. Our biggest challenge has been learning Spanish. Studies say immersion is the best way; we are counting on that being true as we still struggle with almost every word we say. I’ll never forget the first time I heard a whole sentence and UNDERSTOOD it! Pete had the same sense of exhilaration when he spoke a sentence-a COMPLETE sentence-without hesitation!

One day, at the end of our third week or so, I was feeling discouraged about our language abilities and took it to the Lord in prayer. He ever so gently reassured me that we would learn our Spanish, and then He exhorted me with these distinct words, “LOVE speaks louder than Spanish!” Of course! That’s why He had brought us here in the first place-to love on these kids! We are to let the love of Jesus shine out of us to all of them. By His grace, we can do that! We can love them with the love of Jesus, in spite of our Spanish! The burden I was carrying lifted from me, and my step was lighter as I turned to obey. If I spoke in perfect Spanish, but I did not speak in love, then my speaking would be empty words, sounding like brass or clanging symbols.

Dear Father, Help us to learn our Spanish, but please don’t ever let it override our desire to love You and all those You place in our lives. Amen.

Nuestro primer mes en la Casa de la Esperanza

Pete and Grace Allison

Our impending trip to Mexico was full of days of trying to complete the final items left on our checklist. After a tearful departure from Denver, we arrived in Las Vegas, NM, where we checked in at the Plaza Hotel. Unloading our baggage, we discovered that the trailer hitch carrier mounted at the rear of our car was only a few inches from the tailpipe. Melted plastic coated the contents of the tote. It was a cold and windy night as I pried the plastic from the carrier. Grace casually mentioned that she was thankful the nail polish was on the other side of the tote and that God must have been watching over us. I apologize for not getting a photo but I was cold, tired and stressed. The next day we continued south on our journey and arrived in El Paso just in time to join Gil and Becky Sanchez (the directors of Casa de la Esperanza), and their pastor and his wife for a delicious dinner in a local Mexican restaurant.  Early Monday morning we followed Gil, who was in his Casa van, into Mexico.

The drive through Mexico took on a new perspective as it would be our new home for at least a year, and we enjoyed the beauty of it.

Grace in the classroom

We settled into our new home, unloading an endless supply of boxes and various configurations of furniture and carpets. Several boys were assigned to help us organize, and their eyes found the toy box in short order. However, they were easily guided back to the job at hand (pictures to follow).

Grace was first to receive her job assignment as a coach/tutor at the newly opened Casa Christian Academy. She will also assist with updating the website and helping with thank you letters. There are almost 40 children in the school, and the staff includes a male teacher (who is provided by the state) and two young women that are college graduates. (picture to follow). Jasmine is one of the teachers and has about 1-1/2 years experience at teaching, but she can also speak English! Aidee is new to teaching and this is her first job out of college. Grace is excited to be a part of the new team!

Roberto

My initial job assignment is primarily to complete the first duplex prior to the arrival of Rodrigo Pinzon and his family (the missionary family coming from Columbia) at the end of this month. 

I have two men that I work with; Roberto has experience in construction and Enrique not only has good overall skills, but he is bilingual, too. At this point, the primer is on all of the walls and the ceiling is painted. I will start painting the walls tomorrow, and I will enjoy listening to the MP3 player that Howard gave to us to learn the Spanish language. 

Roberto is spraying KLZ and white paint on the cabinets that Scott had donated to Casa. We still have cabinets, countertops and sink installation in the kitchen and bathroom, final plumbing and electrical, tiling the backsplashes and baseboard and  painting the walls and floor. Then a final clean up, and we will fill the new home with furniture!