Mas is better?

Well folks, after shoveling ourselves out of the snow, the VIM team to Mexico finally made it to Nuevo Progreso. Our goal: build two houses in three days for two families in desperate need. I have never built anything in my life let alone a house, so tackling two seemed quite daunting. Today we began by laying the block for the walls of the house and painting the wood for the roof. Within five minutes of my arrival I had a trowel in my hand and I began “buttering” the bricks. I quickly realized that despite the obvious language barrier, everyone was getting along quite well.

The word of the day was “mas.” For those of you who are a little rusty on your Spanish, “mas” means “more” as in “I need ‘mas’ (paint, mortar, bricks, wood, etc.)” Without fail, English-speaking or Spanish-speaking folks would respond with whatever the item you needed “mas” of. Together, we buttered mortar onto bricks and slathered paint onto wood. Everyone, from the young partially-paralyzed son of the family to the interpreter who pitched in not only his language skills but his masonry talents, worked together as a team to build this house.

As I thought about the word “mas” I thought about a familiar phrase – “more is better.” As I looked around at the bleak, barren surroundings and saw poverty like I had never seen before (these folks have no running water, plumbing, electricity, shower, washing machine, school , trash removal, toilet, or car) I saw children laughing, running, playing with their siblings and standing side by side to slop paint onto the wood slats. I saw their parents smiling admiringly at the wall they had just constructed together – she bringing him bricks and he buttering them before carefully laying them into place. I saw a happy family, just being thankful in the moment for what they had and the blessing of a new home. I saw people who were not looking for more, but were thankful to know that God had provided this opportunity. I am reminded that while we might think that we need more of XYZ, God already knows what we need.

As we continue to build in the next several days, I wanted to share a passage that reminded me of God’s power to “build” and provide: “So all of you holy brothers and sisters, who were called by God, think about Jesus, who was sent to us and is the high priest of our faith. Jesus was faithful to God as Moses was in God’s family. Jesus has more honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. Every house is built by someone, but the builder of everything is God himself. Moses was faithful in God’s family as a servant, and over God’s house. And we are God’s house if we keep on being very sure about our great hope.” (Hebrews 3:1-6)

Grace and peace,

Tasha Ruth