Don’t Stop Believing – Building Again in Guatemala

“I’m dreaming of making a big difference in a village in Guatemala. I dream of helping to build 100 homes for widows and orphans in this little village. So far, I’ve built one. 99 more to go!”

These were my words I shared in the comments in response to a recent blog post by Matt McWilliams.  In the post, titled How William McGirt Made $2.7 Million In 3 Years Doing What He Loves, Matt asked readers the following question:  What dream are you not willing to give up on? Whose dream can you support today?

Over the weekend, we were blessed with a visit from Dave Sgro, our missionary friend from Guatemala.  During his visit, we talked about our family’s plans for our return trip to Guatemala this summer.  We talked about helping with the feeding program for kids in and around Xenacoj.  And we talked about helping to start a jewelry project for the widows in Xenacoj.  Finally, we talked about building a house for a widow in the community.

Once we started talking about this, our daughter’s eyes lit up.  She was so excited about the prospect of building another house in Guatemala.  Apparently, she shares my dream.

The house we will be building costs $1,500.  It involves installing a concrete floor.  The walls start with 3 layers of concrete block on the base with wood on the upper parts of the walls.  The roof is made of corrugated metal.  This is a huge improvement over the dirt floors and cornstalk walls that make up many homes in Guatemala.

We hosted a fundraiser recital over the weekend.  The recital was a big success in helping us reach our goal of getting back to Guatemala and building a house.  We still have a little work to do to get back, but I’m confident we’ll get there.

Here’s the cool thing.

We are not going build a house in Guatemala this year.

It looks like we are going to build TWO houses in Guatemala this summer.

Yes, I said TWO houses.

Someone stepped up to donate funds to build a second house during our trip.

When I responded to Matt’s question in his post, I typed my answer of building 100 houses in Guatemala.  It’s a goal I’m not sure I completely grasp.  Honestly, I don’t know if it’s even possible.  But I know the goal can only happen by building one house at a time.  This summer we’ll have the chance to get two houses closer to the goal.  Don’t stop believing!

If you want to find out how you can help fund future homes or if you want to help us fund the rest of our trip (we need just $750 more), let me know.  Send me an email at jon@jonstolpe.com, and I’ll get back to you with details.

What dream are you not willing to give up on? Whose dream can you support today?