Creating Places for Christ to Lay His Head

Hundreds of parishioners from Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church in Birmingham, Alabama, spent last Advent making generous offerings of money that ended up radically changing the lives of several families that live in Matamoros, Mexico, a city located just across from Brownsville, Texas. Over $24,000 was collected during a three week period--a stunning demonstration of goodness and faith. The money has been used to build small, two room homes with cement floors and tin roofs. Modest, by any American measure, but a God-sent blessing to families that lived under rotting cardboard roofs with dirt floors. Here are the stories of some of the families. (If you click on the photos, you will get a nicer view).

Francisca Lozano is 58 years old and has three children. She cleans houses and sells Avon and Fuller Brush products. She works in a day care center, where she makes $ 60 a week. When I approached her about building a little home for her, she looked at me as if I were from outer space. She and her children moved in with a neighbor for the week that it took to tear down her old place and put up the new structure. When she saw her new home, she wept.

Maria Elena Macias is 32 years old and single mother. She is a tough woman who has unfortunately learned not to trust anyone. She is a Catholic, but up until now did not see much sense in going to church. She makes $ 30 a week working in a bar. She can’t keep thieves from coming into her home at all hours of the day or night (the house is so flimsy). (The photo is of some friends framing up her new home).

Juana Maria Escalante is 31 years old and has three children of 13, 11, and 9 years of age. She works as a quick order cook, and makes $ 45 a week. Four years ago, her husband immigrated to the USA and they have had no word of him since that time. "When my husband left me, he said that he was going to the USA so that we could change our lives for the better. He left with that same idea of the “American Dream,” that all those who leave us have. Well, things definitely did change, because he never came back for us. Some months after he left, his mother came to tell me that my husband had married someone else in the US and that he wasn’t ever coming back to us. He began to send my children $ 100 each through his mother; as if they could live on $ 100 a year!" Juana was stunned to be able to get rid of the shack that was home for them; when it would rain, water would sprinkle over the whole house. There was no place you could be and not get wet. The house smelled, always, of rot. “God bless you all,” she says.

Sara Torres Ramirez Her husband makes concrete blocks and earns $ 3 a day. She found a vacant lot on the outskirts of town, her sister had purchased it years ago and then had moved to the United States. She was paying $ 100 a month to rent a shack; now they will use that money for food. "Please tell all those who have helped me that I am so grateful and know that God will bless them in many, many ways. I would like to pay them back for this dream. I feel like I am dreaming; how could something so good happen to me?"

Cristina's husband Miguel is a carpenter. He makes $60 a week, when he can find work. There is no water or sewer connected to the family's house. Cristina notes that they do have electricity wired to the house, but that she has to choose whether to have electricity or go hungry. She admits that she has a hard time getting along with her neighbors; her father had left the family when she was young and they grew up dirt poor, fighting all the time just to get by.

Maria Esther lives with her son David, who is 28 years old. She cleans houses when she can find work. Her husband abandoned her when her other children were still small. Her grown children occasionally give her $20 a week to help out with costs. Her son has been diagnosed with chronic schizophrenia. She stays with him most of the time, as the children in the neighborhood taunt him and throw rocks at him, which makes him even worse. (In the photo, the family has gathered in front of their new home).

Frumencio Hernandez Hernandez and his wife Martha have three children (ages 9, 8, and 3 years). He is a carpentar's helper, for which he makes about $ 70 a week. In their previous home, they paid $ 50 a month for rent, but the roof had caved in and when it rained, everything they own would be soaked. They had asked help from an evangelical Christian group, but were refused. They will baptize their children into the Catholic Church at Christmas.

8. Paulina Zunia Samaniego is a 79 year old widow whose diabetes had left her sightless. She was living in a wreck of a home. We had a hard time convincing her to let us build her a place as she said, "But my husband worked so hard to build us this one. I don't want to embarrass him." In the end, she agreed, as the home was really unliveable. Her daughter lives with her and cares for her, although she has her own burdens--her seven year old had been hit by a car and requires much care.

9. Refugio Jaime Guillen and his wife Blanca will live in a home that will be a bit smaller than the others that we have built. Building materials have gone up in price. He is another man who works in carpentry, when there is work to be had, but only earns about $70 a week when there is work. Blanca cleans homes for about $60 a week. They have no running water or sewage. This is the hardest place that I have ever visited—the filth was indescribable and they are difficult people. Sometimes Jesus comes disguised in distressing manners.