Hello from your Vision Team,
As we wrap up our first full day here, the feeling among all of us is that we have seen, heard, tasted and experienced far more than just a day’s worth.
Yesterday started out rough. Our plane got off the ground two hours late from Charlotte, due to a mix of problems, causing us to sprint to our connection in Atlanta, making it by minutes. From there, the day went much more smoothly and we were received here at the Common Hope project site with warmth and hospitality.
You all would have loved to have seen how the staff greeted Zack and Sally Thomas, who spent five years on staff here. The Thomases are clearly loved and they cannot go far anywhere in the beautiful compound without running into an old friend who runs to greet them with a big hug.
Today, we split up into several teams: Three folks traveled about 1.5 hours to the New Hope village, a development Common Hope created after Hurrican Mitch to relocate families whose homes had washed away. Now 42 families live there and the center of the community is an excellent school that produces students who far outperform state averages.
Others of us accompanied social workers from Common Hope as they visited current and prospective families being considered for services such as education for the children, a stove or a small modular home. These families often live in fairly desperate poverty and the eyes of the Caldwell folk who attended these visits were open wide to the need for what Common Hope provides and the tremendous difference it makes.
Still others of us used hammer and nail to build modular panels for the homes that Common Hope provides to affiliate families. This afternoon we delivered all the materials for a home to a site where the family greeted us warmly and helped us unload the truck. Finally, some of us used part of the day to learn about an occupational training program for special needs teens, also a program Common Hope provides.
The grounds here in the project site are beautiful – well constructed buildings and mature foliage that Zack planted years ago. Its beauty belies the surrounding poverty and hardship, but its beauty must be a welcome respite for the families who come here for help.
Now, perhaps you see why we already feel as if we’ve been here a week, not a day. Tomorrow will be as full. We’ll sleep hard tonight and be a little sore tomorrow from our labors but we are each in our own way deeply grateful for your prayers and interest and for God’s work here.
Peace,
John C