Hope Through Unity

Several years ago my oldest daughter and I had the opportunity to travel to Acuña, Mexico with my husband’s aunt and uncle. We were joining up with men, women, and children of all ages from all over America as part of a missionary group with an organization by the name of Casas Por Cristo (Houses for Christ). Their main goal is to share Jesus’ love by blessing and serving a family in need through a house building project in one of their designated building-locations.

When we all arrived in Acuña we had a large group of around 100 volunteers with a gymnasium that served as our gathering hub for sleep, food, cold showers, and devotions. We were split into even groups on the first day so a total of five homes would be built in Acuña over a four day period.Our team of twenty-ish made an immediate connection with the same like-minded purpose — to mesh work and Jesus’ love through building a house for a sweet Hispanic family…and goodness the family was precious.

The father and son worked on what would become their new home right along side our team, while the mother and grandmother made it a priority to fill us up everyday on authentic local dishes and Mexican hot cocoa and donuts. Side note: If you’ve never had Mexican hot cocoa you’re missing out! It’s actually available in Walmart stores so make sure to treat yourself!As we came to the end of our mission trip, with the house nearly completed, there was a moment where we all gathered for a dedication ceremony.

David, our Casas Por Christo team leader, translated what the Hispanic father wanted so desperately for our team to know. He shared that in the time before our arrival he and his wife had been struggling with their son’s emotions and depression. This eleven year old boy had been contemplating thoughts of suicide, which unfortunately in that area is quite common for that age group. But when our team arrived to help build them a home his young son’s happiness had finally returned.

Both the father and son had been given a chance to truly experience self-worth by visually seeing how their hands and a remarkable end-goal could help create something of great value for their family.And then David translated something I’ll never forget—

The dad had noticed something within our group that struck him.

Unity.

Our group of twenty, meeting for the first time — some from D.C. to California, others from North Dakota and Kansas, and a mama and her little girl from Nebraska — had come together with evidence of unity to spur us along. Even this native man could sense and had witnessed the unity that had formed in our group without at all understanding our language.

It was finally clear to me that while building that house in Mexico, a structure wasn’t the only thing being made…

I share this story with you because we’re living in a time where uncertainty is prevalent.

In our world things are messy right now…things feel unstable to some, meanwhile others are firmly gripping fear.

And I think deep down many of us have this yearning to be understood…to express our feelings, to be heard…to feel unified…whether we are politicians, doctors or nurses, students, working fathers, stay at home moms, elderly, laid-off or working from home people — we desire connection.

Unity can be described as oneness, one in spirit and like-mindedness. It’s not something that just happens, but it’s something that can be learned when we communicate well with one another to know and understand our hopes and expectations.

The unity that took place amongst two by fours, homemade stucco, and a group of Jesus lovers during my time in Acuña is the same type of unity that our nation and world need to strive for in the midst of the current chaos; even if it can only happen emotionally and spiritually right now.

Unity was formed in the book of Nehemiah thousands of years ago with the rebuilding of the walls in Jerusalem, such a motivational and powerful story. This would be a great place to start reading your Bible if you’ve never done so before, or even if you just need a refresher on this story.

We also see unity throughout the book of Acts when the first church is established. In Acts 2 verse 44 we read, “All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.”

Unity.

With Easter among us it’s such an amazing time to remember perfect unity is truly a gift from God. He longs for us to be united with Him, pouring out His love for sinners through the sacrifice of His son, Jesus. Sweet victory proclaimed, when up from the grave Jesus arose giving us prime unity with His Father as we make the choice to believe, trust, and follow while receiving the Holy Spirit. May our example of faith in Him be a true example of unity to those watching in a way that points to God…For His Purpose.

That daughter of mine that I shared a trip to Mexico with still talks about that experience and begs to go back again one day…in due time…when finances and plans make sense…she’s fourteen now and last week with a fire in her soul said, “mom wouldn’t it be awesome if this coronavirus brought about a spiritual revival!?”

“Ya it would Baby Girl…ya it would”…I responded with a longing hope of unity swelling within.

I pray unity through understanding, relationships, and God would bring us to a lasting celebration of that sort sooner than later.

Author: alimw2013

About For His Purpose~ My name is Alicia and I'm a thirty-something year old who loves Jesus. Only through God’s amazing grace and mercy I have been redeemed from past regret and shame. Reading His word has allowed me to look past Satan’s forceful lies, to see myself for who Christ says I am in Him. Through writing I have learned why I made the choices I made in my younger years and I now have a better understanding of why I desire to love God like crazy these days. Despite my daily failures, God remains faithful always. I am reassured of His unconditional love for me by every ink-drop spilled out on paper, each committed prayer as I cry out to Him, and deep understanding reflected through reading His word as truth. Yes keeping a blog will make me vulnerable to others’ opinions- there will be some who don’t understand, some who may criticize or judge, but on the other hand if just one piece expressed through my writing grabs someone’s attention and directs them to God, then pouring out my heart in a blog for the world to read is worth it. I choose to glorify Him alone through words streaming across a glowing screen. And it wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t reveal the fact that I’m incredibly quirky; I’m my loving husband’s best friend, my vivacious kids’ craziest cheerleader and spiritual trainer (3 John 1:4). I love anything farmhouse and rustic style. I think cupping a warm coffee mug in the palm of my hands is more satisfying than the contents within. I share a common obsession with my husband for the mountains, but I would (without a doubt) settle for waves crashing against my legs at the Atlantic Ocean just as well, and I almost always have a Yorkie curled up on my lap while writing. *All photos are photographed by forhispurpose.blog and therefore may not be stored or photocopied in any manner.

31 thoughts on “Hope Through Unity”

  1. I was blessed to work with the exact same mission group. I went to Juarez Mexico as a college student and our group of 70 built two houses with Casas por Cristo. Wonderful experience and of course in even greater blessing for the families we served!
    Thank you for your insight and encouragement.

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    1. That’s so awesome!!! Love when I have people tell me they’re familiar with Casas Por Cristo or that they’ve been on a house build, such an amazing organization!

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  2. Alicia, what a memory you have to feed on in depressing times. Even greater that your daughter wants to go back and do it again. These teen years fly by. Do all you can to give her opportunities to serve. Afterwards, they often lose that fire. I’ve been on many such trips myself. There are certain moments you never forget. Happy Easter to you and your clan. Lord knows, we all need to rise from the tomb soon. Hugs & eggs, Alan

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    1. Yes absolutely!!! I’m hoping sometime we can go as a family and you’re right it’s sooooo important to set a mission minded impression on their hearts and minds while they’re still living at home…I hear so often of kids going off to college and leaving their faith and thats something that we pray to not have happen daily!!!
      Happy Easter to you also!
      Hugs and eggs! Love that!!

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  3. Wow! You must be well pleased with your daughter. Her soul is so beautiful. It is sad that suicidal thought is uncommon to preteens. That’s heartbreaking. This will perhaps be the most reflective Easter ever. Stay safe sis!

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    1. Ya I was amazed by my daughter’s words because as sassy as she can be she really does have a warm heart after all! Praise God!!
      I’ve reflected a lot on that story from Mexico during this time because of that one word: unity❤️
      Happy Easter to you sweet friend!!

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  4. Such a powerful example of unity from which we can all learn during this time. I’m sad at the fracturing I see over issues that are not important at this time. Thank you so much for reminding us to keep our eyes on the end goal! Blessings!

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  9. Beautiful, Ali! I wish there was unity at one of my best friends work place. He works in a hospital and he says the atmosphere is worse than ever. He said that he once loved his job, but now he dreads going to work. That’s so sad. Supporting one another especially in these hard times is so important.

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  11. Alicia, I love your heart and your gentle approach to speak bold truth here! I can just feel the warmth in your heart in this one. Keep going For His Purpose through you girl! I’m cheering you on!

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  13. This story just melted my heart Alicia! Unity is a very powerful thing! Even with the story of the Tower of Babel.
    Your group were such a blessing to that family. They will never forget your kindness! God bless y’all!

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