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Look What God Is Doing!

Casas Por Cristo

By Traci Clayton as told to Joan Clayton

“The heart is the happiest when it beats for others.” –Anonymous

An immense fear swept over me as I heard the news. My friend going on the mission trip to Mexico with me had gotten the flu. Her absence made me feel like a timid, terrified freshman. I brushed back the tears that wanted to fall down my cheeks. Now I was going to Juarez to do the impossible task of building a house without a friend to lean on for support for the long, arduous week.

Throughout the terribly long bus trip the only thing that brought me comfort was the thought of the glorious tan I would have upon returning to my wintry home. This hope was shattered the moment I stepped onto my dusty worksite. It was freezing! As if it weren’t enough for the clouds to hold the sun captive, they also pelted us with freezing rain. The unrelenting wind threw handfuls of sand that stung our faces. Through all of this horrible weather, I worked the hardest I had ever worked.

At the end of the day that finally came, the family for whom we were building the one-room stucco house motioned for us to come to them. They had labored all day to cook a simple meal. It had taken their meager income of a month to give such a gracious gift.

The family’s generous act changed my entire outlook on the trip, and that trip changed my entire outlook on life. My brief emotional and physical discomfort produced a lasting mark on the community. A week of my life changed the lives of a family forever.

I too, walked away changed. I realize how truly blessed I am, and see now that we must answer the call when the world is crying out for help.

TRACI CLAYTON is a 20-year-old Junior Advertising/Public Relations and Spanish double-major from Amarillo, TX. She attends Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, and has taken missions to Mexico, Chile and, most recently, Guatemala.