I have the privilege of leading the Dwellings home building ministry for Alternative Missions. I love the "hands on" and personal nature of this ministry. I have benefitted by my involvement and received far more than I have given. Let me share with you what building homes for others has meant to me.
Join me and Pray, Give and Go.
How Building Homes for Families in Need is Changing My Life
Poverty
- By entering the world of the "poor" I learn how people can be marginalized by economic class and it helps me be more aware of how I view and treat others.
- I learn about how people survive in tough times and it gives me peace to know that I can do the same if the time comes for me to do so.
People / Community
- I see how helping one another is the essence of community life and that makes me a better person back home.
- The build gives opportunity for new friendships to form and love to be shared across race, ethnic, and economic barriers which is a blessing for all involved. Working together allows relationships to form that may not have a chance in any other way giving place to love and shared life. Shared life changes me. As I love others I see life and hope and love birthed in them and in me.
- As I build I connect with people with different life experiences but the same dreams like health and safety for children and the hope that they will have better lives. It grounds me in the truth that we are really very much alike. As new friendships are formed confidences are shared, discussed, and prayed over. God is there and good things happen in all of our lives.
Simplicity
- I enter a world that I would otherwise never experience and it gives me the ability to think differently.
- I am exposed to how little is needed to live, which affects what I want, leading to contentment with a simpler lifestyle.
- I watch how those who have less to distract them have more time for each other which encourages me to evaluate both what I posses and what I spend my time doing.
- The build is a time dedicated to serving which is a form of worship and an excellent time for contemplation.
Giving
- I see how giving encourages giving and when we choose that lifestyle we create an environment that others will join. I participate in miracles of provision and those miracles build my faith and renew my hope for all aspects of my life. I have opportunity to meet people on planes, in taxis, at restaurants, and on the worksite and as I share what I do it is encouraging to hear how many people want to help. I meet and experience interesting people and those people enrich my life.
- Building homes (hands on) puts me in a place of doing that thinking or wishing or dreaming can not accomplish. We live in a fast paced technological world where reading or thinking makes it seem like we are doing more than we really are. The doing is making me a better person.
- I experience extreme dependence and sense the very real need for God to be our friend, father, and provider which helps me recognize that God is my source.
By Scott Montagne
(Wednesday, May 12, 2010 8:50 PM)
Looking forward to sending more people down to help with this great ministry...