I Thank God for Answered Prayer

Gabriel met Erika while working in Los Angeles. They had both traveled to the US from small towns in Mexico, as young people in search of a better life. They lived with family members and rented apartments as their own family grew. Soon their children, Jonathan, Angel, and Karen were born. Erika cared for the children while Gabriel worked as a painter.

 But Gabriel struggled with alcohol and was soon deported when Karen was only 3 and Jonathan was in 1st grade. Erika, desperate for her children to receive a good education, told her husband they were staying in LA. This is where the story ends for many. Families split up often as one or both parents are deported. But the children cried and desperately missed their father, of course, Erika missed him too. So they all went back to Mexico so they could be together as a family, not sure if anything good awaited them. 

For many years they lived with their family in various parts of Mexico. Hoping to find a place to make their home. Economic challenges forced them to move often. Gabriel stopped drinking and found work occasionally, but it was never enough. Eventually, they made the journey to Ensenada in the hopes of finding steady work. They were able to buy some land and even some plywood to build a simple structure.  They didn’t have a car or much money, but they were together and the future was looking brighter. Then 2020 happened. 

Work slowed. Schools closed. No neighbors visited. They applied for a Home of Hope and settled in to wait. Each morning Erika sat on the rock in her front yard and looked at the spot where her dream house would one day sit. She prayed, not quite sure if God heard her. And then one day they got a phone call, they were finally getting a home!

During the dedication, after the keys had been passed around, Erika shared, “I asked God to send an angel. I just didn’t know there would be so many.” Erika still sits on the rock in front of her new home. The view from where she sits is the same, except for one thing- her dream home is now there, a tangible reminder of an answered prayer.

As For Me and My House

Brian Villarruel has been on staff with YWAM San Diego/ Baja for almost three years, serving in different capacities as well as staffing Homes of Hope builds. Throughout this time the situation of his family loomed in the back of his mind. While he was spending his days building homes for other families, his mom, Rocia, sister, Michelle and her children lived in another part of Tijuana in dire circumstances. Crammed in a small shelter, built over 35 years ago, their kitchen would flood every time it rained. They prayed and waited for a miracle but had issues making ends meet each month and didn’t have enough to pay to be able to get the proper paperwork to own their land.

Brian’s grandpa had first moved to Tijuana from the south of Mexico, 40 years ago, looking for a better future, all 7 of his kids ended up in drug use. One day, someone handed them a card for a Christian rehabilitation center- Brian’s mom and one of her sisters decided to enter and it turned their life around. They encountered God and were able to get clean! 

In all the ups and downs and even in the midst of a global pandemic, the Villarruel family held on to hope and God showed up for them in a miraculous way! After getting the rights to their land, they received one of the first Homes of Hope that we were able to build after almost 7 months of not being able to build any homes. 

At the dedication of the home, Brian led the family in declaring scripture, “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).  What a beautiful declaration. As they dedicated their lives to the Lord, they were claiming a new future, rather than a future plagued by drugs and poverty- they were claiming a future brimming with hope.