Mission on Sincerity Street

Each time we go on a house building mission to Mexico, Jeff and I reflect on how grateful we are to be able to be of service. We are continually moved by the generosity of our donors to send us out on this work, and we are especially moved by the heart and soul of the families we build for. We were blessed on this mission to have with us, another of my Dominican University of California work colleagues, Henry Jamison, Sr.

And, we are, of course, always grateful for the work of Amor.org and the pastors in Mexico that make it possible for us, and all who wish to participate, to come to Mexico to help families stay together.

On this mission there were three families who received homes, built by a group of over 60 folks from across the United States. The home that Jeff, Henry and I worked on was for the Munguia Lopez family. The neighborhood was in eastern Tijuana, in the town of Valle Verde where the streets in the neighborhood were names like Valor, Dignity, Cooperation, and in our case, Sincerity. These street names were especially poignant because we saw how the family we built for, and their neighbors, came together not only in the building of the house, but also recently during a terrible tragedy. Only one month before our arrival, the father of our family, Norberto, lost his home to a devastating fire. The fire leveled Norberto’s home and several others. But the most tragic loss was that of Norberto’s 32-year old son, Manuel, and Norberto’s best friend, Jorge, when the fire caused the house to collapse as Manuel raced back in to save Jorge.

Each family that we have built for in our twenty years of mission work has had a unique story and they have often expressed to us how their home will be the beginning of a great new chapter – for Norberto it will be a bittersweet new chapter, the joy of a new home tempered by the grief of his loss. His surviving children and grandchildren do live close by, and one of his daughters, Veronica, and her three young children, will be moving into the new house with Norberto.

In this time in the world it can feel like things are falling apart, and in Norberto’s world, that is most true. But, at the same time, there is hope, there is cooperation, there is dignity, and there is valor – in every word and deed we have the ability to make the world a better place with love, and with sincerity.

Blessings to all, from Leona and Jeff and LifeSupportM.org