Wilder View - November 2009

It is the beginning of the holiday season…a time when people think about going home. Through our ministry at The Bridge, I find myself thinking about home, and what actually is home. I have had conversations with guests about home. For some, it is a physical place where their family lives. Others think of home as the community where they were raised, and some consider home to be where they are at the present moment. There is something really powerful about the feeling of being home. For most, it is a place that is safe, nurturing, and hopefully full of love.

One of the most joyful aspects of serving our ministry at The Bridge is being able to help many people go home. Whether through helping with transportation home, or providing referrals to places which provide transitional housing, or helping women escape a domestic violence situation and find safety in a new home, helping people go home is exciting!

This past month, our Juarez team built a new home for Jesus, Carmen, Jonathan, Candy, and Jose. I hope you hear some of the wonderful stories they have about how important it was to this family to help them build their home. Both Jesus and Carmen (husband and wife) worked along side of our team to build their home. Jesus took off two days of work. On the third day he worked from 8 am to 1 pm, dashed off to the factory where he worked a ten hour shift at his factory job. After returning home he mixed cement and put two more courses of block on top of his home and was waiting for our team when they arrived the next morning.

We have helped several families experience the joy of owning a home through our Juarez VIM teams. We have built 7 homes in Juarez in the last five years. Each year we visit the last year’s family (after all, they are now our friends.) It is always a great joy to see the improvements they have made over the ensuing year.

Back in the late 1980’s Lafayette Park was a home for people who had a strange illness, which was later named AIDS. People who were abandoned by their families of origin found deeply caring families and a home at Lafayette Park. The people of Lafayette Park adopted people who were struggling with AIDS, and lovingly cared for them as they lived and died with dignity.

I guess all these thoughts about home make me realize that I truly feel like I am at home at Lafayette Park. As I begin the season of Thanksgiving I am reminded of how thankful I am to be at home at Lafayette Park. Wherever your travels may take you this holiday season, I hope that you always feel the warmth and love of being home.

Grace and Peace,
~Pastor Kathleen