by Michael Miller, Jr. 7.7.21

I’m sure all of you have been asking what happened to the hurricane victims and the homes we promised to build. I inserted this picture because it is owned by a man in his 90’s and his son that is in his 70’s. They live close to the banks of the river and when the two Hurricanes hit, the river swelled to the edge of his house but never took it. When we arrived for the first time those who were leading us yelled out to the 90-year-old man who is blind and said, “we have food and materials for you.” He sat on his box and said, “God told me that a man was coming to help this community.” I sat with him as he told me about his vision and how he saw me coming with relief before we arrived. We have worked diligently to help the community. One of our callings was to build homes if God wanted it to be. We never asked for donations for the building of these homes. However, funds came in to help build two new homes!!

Our last meeting with the mayor from the community introduced us to the plot of land that we will be building the homes on. He promised that he would have the land donated for the people.  This is the piece of land that can handle 8 homes and more. More land will be acquired if feasible to build more than 8 homes. 

Our last meeting with the mayor from the community introduced us to the plot of land that we will be building the homes on. He promised that he would have the land donated for the people.  This is the piece of land that can handle 8 homes and more. More land will be acquired if feasible to build more than 8 homes. So, I went back home and thought about a simple, low budget home that could be structurally safe. I came up with the Blue Prints for a home: 

It is an 18’x26’ home with two bedrooms,Kitchen, and living room area. No bathroom. I know, you are asking why no bathrooms. Bathrooms in these towns are disconnected from the homes for a reason. The major reason is so that they can move the bathroom from one location to another. When the holes are filled with sewage, they will need to move them. The mayor approved and loved the plans. The homes will be block built with a metal roof. The plans were submitted in early January of this year and approved by the Government. 

Then we waited and waited for a phone call stating they have all the correct papers in line so, we can go ahead and start building. This community is 4 hours from where we live and in the most rural areas of Honduras. This type of project needs to be very organized and planned out well from shipping 8 truckloads of building materials, to coordinating sand and gravel, to organizing with whom we will stay with and eat. Unfortunately, nothing was heard until the end of May. 

The mayor for this community is in the blue hat. Director Juaquin is with his thumb up and is Director of the 21 de Octubre Junior/Senior High school. Also, Juaquin is from this community where the mayor resides and they grew up together. 

The other two young men are from the same community and work with the mayor. We talked about the project and his community for 3 hours. One thing he is missing and one very important point for me is making sure the plots of land are in the names of those who will be receiving new homes. (If we don’t secure this point the people could lose their homes back to the Government and we just donated homes for free) He promised me that would be finalized by October. Our projected date to start is the last week of October. We discussed in how he and his community can help the ministry to keep costs down. He promised us to deliver all the building materials for free. Also, he will donate all the sand, gravel, and local youth to help with the digging and in anything we needed for manual labor. The mayor also promised us that he will provide a gas-powered concrete mixer. Praise God!!! All this will help us to build a home in 4 weeks and keep costs down. The average costs for a new home are about $7,000. (per home) If the mayor didn’t help, we would be talking closer to 10k to build each home. God is providing the land and moving hearts to help. This is phase one. The second part of why we are going out to build is to build a community of strong believers in Jesus Christ. To host Bible studies. Equip each person with a Bible. To strengthen the children with learning workbooks walking them through the Bible. The pastors are open and willing to receive the help. We can only wait upon the Lord in what His will is for this community. 

Thank you for your prayers and patience. Honduras runs in slow speed with everything and anything.