Dwellings Blog

Tom, Lynnette & Nathan Brown

My husband Tom and our 21 year old son Nathan went on this home building adventure with Tom Hackett and the rest of the crew. We had a great time giving back some of the blessings we’ve been given.

We have been building custom homes in the Phoenix area for the past 8 years and have enjoyed seeing people realize their dreams….but nothing compares to seeing this family walk in the front door of a secure, brightly painted and lovingly built home for the first time! The little girls were so excited to see the finished product!

We have so much in America and it takes so little to make a huge difference for people in places like this…and they are so blessed.

We would encourage anyone and everyone to get involved in projects like this. The impact we can have for the kingdom is unlimited!

I was really glad to be a part of this team. It was exciting to come together and be a part of building something that will be a useful, practical, and visual reminder of God’s love for this family for years to come. To invest in reaching people for the Gospel is great, but to see that time and resources produce something that has the potential to change thier lives on so many levels is tremendous.

In addition to the privelege of working on this home I have been really blessed by the relationships that have been built with the other team members. What a great group of people!

I have been involved in short term outreaches all of my life and I can honestly say that this was one of the most satisfying I have been apart of. The truth is that on many outreaches in the past I really wondered how much of an effect there was. But I could see the effect in the eyes of the family that we were working with. The most satisfying to me is knowing that we really helped the future of their children by putting them in a safer and healthier environment.

The team really worked well together. It´s the kind of project that can really unite and bring people together. It´s also the kind of thing that just about anybody can help with. There are probably opportunities for doing more in the community while the house building happens. There could be VBS type activities with the children, house church meetings with the older people, youth activities, sports tournaments, more social helps projects…there is a huge amount of potential depending on the team doing the outreach.

All I can say is that I look forward to being apart of these projects more in the future.

I thought that building a home for a needy family in Mazatlan was the best vacation that I have had for some time. Seriously; being allowed to hang out with good people to help others is awesome. Sure we worked for 8 to 10 hours for 3 days but we did a good job well. The reward of seeing the family’s thanks and the joy of socializing with new friends in the evenings was total bonus.

This is a win/win proposition!

It was wonderful to be on a mission trip with one of my children. My daughter Lauren and I went along to document the building of the home for Jesus and Maria with still photographs and with video.

I often go and shoot the operations of a missions organization and see all the various aspects of their work. This time I got to see and film a family receiving a new home. It was fantastic to see the excitement on the faces of the children running through their new house and to hear how happy Jesus and Maria were to receive it as well.

The short version of the video will be done soon and posted here. Then I can get to work on the long version.

If you can come down on a future trip to help build a home you really should. It is a great experience and it will really bless a family that has so much less than we do here in the US.

This trip was a great experience for both my wife Stephanie and me. We had been considering getting involved in a ministry like this for quite a while, and were very satisfied with our experience. In three days, we were able to significantly impact a family’s life with the gift of a new home. It was also a trip that opened our eyes to the very real needs of other people living in the world with us.

Even before our trip was over, we began discussing how and when we could do it again. This is a great way to experience the world while helping people in need.