New Beginning

This past week I was working with a group of high school students on a house that had been firebombed in February. The homeowner, Ken, had thought he had made a good investment for his daughter and himself when he bought that home, only to have it burn up on him. There are limitations to the work that we can do, mostly due to budget constraints. So for Ken we were told that we would be able to insulate his house, put up drywall, paint, and add some kitchen cabinets that were donated. The problem was that the entire house needed to be redone because it had been stripped after the fire. When groups arrived to work, the home was nothing more than a shell.

However, Ken had faith that his house would be reborn. Our first group put in all of the insulation, the drywall, and two exterior doors. Things were looking pretty good and, when we got our second group in at the beginning of the week, we were excited to get to work. As our group pulled up to the house, a different story was beginning to unfold. The doors were gone. As well as a bunch of tools and the kitchen sink. As Ken put it, "they took everything, including the kitchen sink." 

This is the hard part of this job, knowing that sometimes, no matter what your intentions, there will be someone who does not care, who chooses not to see the good in the neighborhood. (That same week, with that same group, a few young guys walked by and told the group that white people weren't welcome and their help wasn't needed.) It was tough watching Ken and his daughter pull up to the house, knowing that once again he was getting knocked down. Ken was noticeably upset by the situation but after a few moments by himself in prayer he was back to his old self, helping out and joking with the group.

A little later in the day Ken was able to find another door and that's when the good news started rolling in. JSCDC decided that Ken's house would be a perfect example house because it was a complete rebuild. That means that funds that were previously unavailable for the regular jobs were now open. Ken would be receiving an entirely redone home. 

That's the beautiful part of this job, knowing that, no matter what, God will care, God will see the good in the neighborhood and choose to do something about it. I'll be working on Ken's house more this coming week, trying to finish more of what we started, and I know Ken is grateful for a new beginning.